Minitor V Engineering mode

OCSD117 · Post by **OCSD117** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:56 pm

Anyone come up with a procedure for this?

jclendenen158 · Post by **jclendenen158** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:18 pm

I have been successful in modifying the MinitorVPPS.exe file to allow access to the Engineering Mode of the PPS.
The following are the steps I took to modify this file:

NOTE: I am using version 1.4.0 with a build date of February 23, 2006. There is a possibility that some of the parameters being changed in this tutorial may be different as I have not tried this on any other version.

First off, I used a free file editor called Resource Hacker; you can download this at http://bit.ly/4FUKg.

Once you have Resource Hacker installed, open it and go to File > Open. Browse to the location where the Minitor V PPS is installed on your hard drive. Once you have found that folder, choose the file called MinitorVPPS.exe.

Now that you have the file opened, we are ready to begin modifying it.
WARNING: Changing unnecessary parameters can cause the software to break; only change what is needed by this tutorial!

The first parameter that we will need to modify is the main menu that runs across the top of the PPS.
To modify this menu, in the "tree" along the side browse to Menu > 128 > 1033. Out to the side you should see a bunch of text appear (as shown below), this is what you will be modifying.

Go to the section that reads:

This is the 'Operation' menu, where we will add the "Engineer Logon" menu item.

Go to the end of the line ending in '32776' and hit enter to create a new line. We will now add a separator line to separate the new option from the old ones. On the new line, make sure it is tabbed in to align with the others, and add the following:

Code: Select all

MENUITEM SEPARATOR

At the end of this line, hit enter again to create a new line.
On this line we will add the option to logon into the 'Engineer Mode'. Again, make sure you are tabbed in with the previous line and add:

Code: Select all

MENUITEM "Engineer Logon",  32774

At this time, the block of text should look similar to the following:

Next, we will move on to the 'View' menu, which is the block of text directly following the Operation menu and should look like:

Go to the end of the line ending in '32777' and hit enter to create a new line. On this new line, make sure it is tabbed in to align the the other lines and add:

Code: Select all

MENUITEM "&Engineer Data",  32778

Once you have added the final menu item, we are finished modifying the PPS. In order to save the changes we have made to the script, we need to click the 'Compile Script' button at the top of the Resource Hacker window.

After compiling the script, go to File > Save As. Depending on your preference, you can either overwrite the original .exe or save it as a new file. I chose to save it as a new file so I could still have the unmodified original should anything go wrong with the modified version.

USING THE MODIFIED PPS

Open the modified version of the Minitor V PPS, and either read from a pager of open a saved codeplug.
Once you have a codeplug loaded into the PPS, go to Operation > Engineer Logon. The following dialog box should open if you correctly entered the new menu items:

The dialog box will ask you to enter a password, and that password is: Taipei (case-sensitive).
(You will notice in my version I further modified it to show the password in case I forgot it or someone else was to use the PPS and didn't know the password.)

Now that you have logged into the PPS, go to View > Engineer Data. The following dialog box should then appear:

This is where you can change your Minitor V's core settings (i.e. Radio Band (LOW, VHF, UHF), Band Split, Number of Frequencies).
I would not advise changing anything other than what I mentioned unless you know what it does. Blindly changing parameters could lead to undesirable results.

(If for some reason your pager has a Stored Voice button on top of your function selector switch and it is NOT enabled, you can change the Modulation option to '9 - SV' to enable Stored Voice.)

I would also not advise clicking the 'Advanced' button unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Once you have made the changes you needed to make, and depending on those changes, you will need go to View > User Data and modify any data in that dialog box (i.e. Channels, Frequencies, Switch Functions, etc.).

Then, when you are finished editing your codeplug, save or write it to a pager like you normally would.

If you have any questions regarding the Engineering Mode modification of the Minitor V PPS, please reply in this thread.

OCSD117 · Post by **OCSD117** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:07 am

Thanks for the quick response it looks great!

ai4ui · Post by **ai4ui** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 7:36 am

Works as shown on build 1.7.2

Nice work.

RG

OCSD117 · Post by **OCSD117** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 1:38 pm

works quiet nicely!

firemedic4 · Post by **firemedic4** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 4:58 pm

Thanks for the help. How do i add a 2nd channel to a 1 channel pager ? What box is it under ? Thanks

firemedic4 · Post by **firemedic4** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 4:59 pm

Never mind found it... Thanks again

KG4LHQ · Post by **KG4LHQ** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:59 pm

WOOHOO!

This is awesome.

Thank you!

OCSD117 · Post by **OCSD117** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:30 pm

Works good only wish I could convert a non SV to SV...but there is no button!

Post by **montyny** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:29 pm

Great article.

I know that there is a lot of caution about the advanced settings but ....

My pager squelch is really 'tight' - ie it cuts out too early so it misses a lot of transmissions.

I've tried getting the latest firmware (its currently 2 something) - but haven't found that yet.

On the advanced section, there is an area for squelch settings. Anyone have any idea on what the meaning of these sections are?

My settings are currently:
SQ_V10_LVL 29
SQ_V4_LVL 54
SQ_ON 1
SQ_OFF 5

Thanks - Bryan

jclendenen158 · Post by **jclendenen158** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:22 pm

Unless someone here is really good at deciphering those settings, you might have to find an engineer, considering this is the 'Engineer Mode'.

Post by **FFMikeM** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:17 pm

Kinda off the topic of this discussion... but in regards to the engineering mode... If I change from a NSV to a SV in the settings, can I just replace the knob and it'll work? Or is it required to change the internal components?

tcash158 · Post by **tcash158** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:35 pm

Has anyone done this and converted a vhf pager to a uhf? I ahve been told by radio tech's that you can change the band split with this program from vhf to uhf but the board in the pager will have to be changed for it to work. Someone please let me know if this is correct please.

ai4ui · Post by **ai4ui** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:00 pm

Even if you tell your VHF pager it is a UHF pager it won't work. Electrically the reciever of the UHF pager is not resonate on VHF frequencies. There's a guy in another post wanting to do the reverse. You guys should talk...

Post by **slingshot202** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 2:34 pm

I tried to modify my file to put the password in the dialog of the logon screen but it will not show up. I seem to be able to modify any line but that one with the text I want.

Any ideas?

jclendenen158 · Post by **jclendenen158** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:32 pm

slingshot202 wrote:I tried to modify my file to put the password in the dialog of the logon screen but it will not show up. I seem to be able to modify any line but that one with the text I want.

Any ideas?

I originally tried that, with no success. I don't know the language well enough to figure out how to get it to autofill the text entry field.

chrismoll12 · Post by **chrismoll12** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 11:40 am

Changing from NSV to SV isn't quite as simple as changing some knobs and mod the software. You need to put in components that can record ie. memory board

ai4ui · Post by **ai4ui** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:40 am

If you happen to accidentally send one of these modified pagers to the depot for repair it will come back with the correct model number

Post by **kvblax** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:36 am

does anybody know what each of the options in the Advanced Engineer Data do, some of them i can figure out, need help with the others. if there is anyone that knows this let me know please, thanks

Post by **jims123** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:56 am

kvblax wrote:does anybody know what each of the options in the Advanced Engineer Data do, some of them i can figure out, need help with the others. if there is anyone that knows this let me know please, thanks

I
I will test some of this I have over 600 units to play with..

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:38 pm

jims123 wrote:
kvblax wrote:does anybody know what each of the options in the Advanced Engineer Data do, some of them i can figure out, need help with the others. if there is anyone that knows this let me know please, thanks
I
I will test some of this I have over 600 units to play with..

Careful there, don't put someone's eye out wagging that e-peen around. I only have 75-ish pagers... someone else may only have 1... they can play around with the settings just as easily... just write the values down before you start changing them!

Post by **JBell** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:15 pm

Hey guys I followed these to a "T" but after compiling the script I saved as "MV" (for example). Then I was not able to open it. It was simply just not there....any advice?

J. Bell

Post by **JBell** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:32 pm

With the help from a friend I was able to see what I was doing wrong...haste makes waste...i know...i know.

Have a good night all!

Post by **ClandestineMint** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:54 am

This is quite interesting; it would be fantastic to see a tutorial on some of the advanced settings, I would be extremely pleased if I could tweak pagers to this level of detail.

Andy2712 · Post by **Andy2712** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:23 am

I have some Minitor IV's I need to change the VHF band split on from 159-??? to 151-159. Is it as simple as changing the band split in the engineering section or do I need to make other modifications? Thanks.

DJP126 · Post by **DJP126** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:47 pm

You will also need to change the RF board.

Lombard, IL? Well go RAMS (and I don't mean St. Louis, but Andy2712 should understand).

Post by **skoobyj** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:28 pm

I did this mod and it seemed to works flawlessly. Thank you for putting this up.
I have built a programmer too.

radio64 · Post by **radio64** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:33 pm

slingshot202 wrote:I tried to modify my file to put the password in the dialog of the logon screen but it will not show up. I seem to be able to modify any line but that one with the text I want.

Any ideas?

I had the same problem. Was driving me nuts! Then, for a strange reason, I clicked on the the 'words' in the display screen and; low and behold, size boxes came up (you know, the little blue dots in the 4 corners) I dragged the right side over farther and the password now appears!

It's kind of scary how simple the mod was (thanks to all of the research done and reported here!) I'm now the most popular radio geek at work (as if I wasn't already!)

northstarfire0693 · Post by **northstarfire0693** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:20 am

Well I did everything that was shown here and when I try to open the file it wont work....What am I doing wrong ?

jclendenen158 · Post by **jclendenen158** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:06 am

northstarfire0693 wrote:Well I did everything that was shown here and when I try to open the file it wont work....What am I doing wrong ?

Did you make sure to include .exe on the end of the file name when you saved it?

northstarfire0693 · Post by **northstarfire0693** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:20 pm

jclendenen158 wrote:
northstarfire0693 wrote:Well I did everything that was shown here and when I try to open the file it wont work....What am I doing wrong ?
Did you make sure to include .exe on the end of the file name when you saved it?

sorry..... I did everything but that part.......Thought I did at first.....Talk about stupid....Now that did that it worked great...Thanks for the help and research on this

Post by **ronworkman** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:56 am

Seems to work fine, but I notice that the help function no longer seems to work. Could my hacking having caused this?

rileym · Post by **rileym** » Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:22 am

Anybody want to zip and post the modified .exe file so all others have to do is replace it... I may think about it if I get the time... I don't think that would be an issue since M now supplies the soft free right?

Post by **akardam** » Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:25 am

rileym wrote:I don't think that would be an issue since M now supplies the soft free right?

Regardless of whether Motorola gives it away for free or not, distributing modified versions of copyrighted material via the board is still against the rules. Any links posted here to modified copies of the software will be removed.

Having said that, what you do off the board is your own business...

rileym · Post by **rileym** » Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:00 pm

Ok thanks. I figured that one may be of question.

Nonetheless, the tutorial is handy in any case...

Anybody know of the changes of going VHF Low to VHF High?

ai4ui · Post by **ai4ui** » Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:43 pm

rileym wrote:
Anybody know of the changes of going VHF Low to VHF High?

No chance at all - the radios are electrically different. You can make the pager think it is a VHF high, but it won't work at all.

RG

kyfireman143 · Post by **kyfireman143** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:23 pm

jclendenen158 wrote:
slingshot202 wrote:I tried to modify my file to put the password in the dialog of the logon screen but it will not show up. I seem to be able to modify any line but that one with the text I want.

Any ideas?
I originally tried that, with no success. I don't know the language well enough to figure out how to get it to autofill the text entry field.

Look under "Dialog" > 135 > 1033

You should see a line that starts out:

CONTROL "Please Enter Password:",

Change this to:

CONTROL "Please Type Taipei:",

Remember to compile the script and save it as in original instructions, (Kudo's btw for that information!). Hope this helps.

nick.dejohn · Post by **nick.dejohn** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:30 am

I changed the band split from 151-159 to 159-166.9975 and it worked flawlessly. My question is if the pager has to go back to Motorola, what will happen then?

Nick

K8COP · Post by **K8COP** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:46 am

I tried moving one to 146.000 Would not receive. Anyone else tried that?

JD

Post by **dxporker** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:08 pm

I changed my V from a single channel to a 2 channel. The Freq range is E: 453 - 461.9875 MHz. My first channel 453.1750 works fine but my second channel 460.8750 does not work. Any ideas, I made no other changes to the Eng Mode.

Post by **kinnelonfire75** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 3:56 pm

Check the technical paperwork that motorola provides in "HELP" or something or another...

There are some frequencies that Motorola pagers refuse to work with. I forget the exact reasoning but you may be one of the unlucky ones.

Post by **Sooomoney** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:22 pm

There is a "CODE" drop-down menu in Engineering Mode. Can this be accessed to change to DTMF, 5/6-tone, or other format of tone signalling?

northstarfire0693 · Post by **northstarfire0693** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:12 pm

montyny wrote:Great article.

I know that there is a lot of caution about the advanced settings but ....

My pager squelch is really 'tight' - ie it cuts out too early so it misses a lot of transmissions.

I've tried getting the latest firmware (its currently 2 something) - but haven't found that yet.

On the advanced section, there is an area for squelch settings. Anyone have any idea on what the meaning of these sections are?

My settings are currently:
SQ_V10_LVL 29
SQ_V4_LVL 54
SQ_ON 1
SQ_OFF 5

Thanks - Bryan

Mine is the same way. If anyone has any idea on how to loosen the sq up and what these settings are plz let me know

SteveC0625 · Post by **SteveC0625** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:40 am

I have bumped into a bit of a puzzler in regard to using the engineer mode of the Minitor V software.

I successfully used ResHacker to edit the code and add the Engineer mode access. Everything seems to work just fine.

However, in browsing about the code, I found this menu under DIALOG --> 164 --> *1033

My problem is that nowhere in the software can I find access to that menu to actually make a Falsing Alert Adjustment.

Am I missing something or is it time for a visit to the optometrist for new glasses?

Al · Post by Al » Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:06 am

It's a "secret menu popup". IIRC, load a codeplug, mouse over the Min V window, and press the letter s on your KB.

SteveC0625 · Post by **SteveC0625** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:30 am

Al wrote:It's a "secret menu popup". IIRC, load a codeplug, mouse over the Min V window, and press the letter s on your KB.

Thank you!

Are there any other "secret menu" items to be found?

Al · Post by Al » Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:20 pm

Not that I'm aware of with version 1.7.2.

Post by **pogscomp** » Mon May 02, 2011 1:43 pm

I have modified the files as instructed and the enineer mode is gray and I can't access it after putting in the password any Ideas

Al · Post by Al » Mon May 02, 2011 5:35 pm

You have to load a pager codeplug or read a pager before the engineering mode becomes available IIRC. Have you done this?

Post by **raff92** » Tue May 03, 2011 12:12 pm

kyfireman143 wrote:
jclendenen158 wrote:
slingshot202 wrote:I tried to modify my file to put the password in the dialog of the logon screen but it will not show up. I seem to be able to modify any line but that one with the text I want.

Any ideas?
I originally tried that, with no success. I don't know the language well enough to figure out how to get it to autofill the text entry field.
Look under "Dialog" > 135 > 1033

You should see a line that starts out:

CONTROL "Please Enter Password:",

Change this to:

CONTROL "Please Type Taipei:",

Remember to compile the script and save it as in original instructions, (Kudo's btw for that information!). Hope this helps.

In place of entering this you can also enter:

135 DIALOG 0, 0, 234, 81
STYLE DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU
CAPTION "Engineer Log-in"
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
FONT 8, "MS Sans Serif"
{
CONTROL "", 1128, EDIT, ES_LEFT | ES_PASSWORD | ES_AUTOHSCROLL | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_BORDER | WS_TABSTOP, 39, 42, 74, 14
CONTROL "OK", 1, BUTTON, BS_DEFPUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 177, 7, 50, 14
CONTROL "Cancel", 2, BUTTON, BS_PUSHBUTTON | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 177, 24, 50, 14
CONTROL "Please Enter Password:", -1, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 39, 26, 76, 8
CONTROL "Taipei", -1, STATIC, SS_LEFT | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_GROUP, 115, 26, 76, 8
CONTROL "In Order to View Engineer Data", -1, BUTTON, BS_GROUPBOX | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE, 7, 7, 160, 63
}

-raff92