What was your first /\/\otorola radio?

[rp2785]

my first radio was a mt500 since then i had a p200 low bad mt2000 a5 uhf mt2000 a7 vhf (having problems programing any help is gratefully) two mtx 800 a spectra a? uhf and a spectra 9000 uhf and a mintor II pager.

[GJ]

My first Sony..eh!! Motorola, the MX3000.

Other models:

portable's:

MX1000
MX2000
MX360
GP320
GP340
GP380
GP300
MT2100
MTS2000
HT1250
Visar
GP1200

mobile's:

mcMicro
GM1200
MC2100
MCS2000

My favorite portable: MX3000, HT1250 and MTS2000 (in that order!)
My favorite mobile: MCS2000

Greetings,
GJ

[calif dave]

I remember a old motorola portable TV that my parents had in the early 60's it was green with white trim.
the best I can remember when I was about 10 I had the Motorola control head and mic(didnt have the radio to go with it)off of the 3 wheel motorcycle from the local PD.
I bought it from a friend not knowing where it came from.from what I understand that officer was
really upset until he got a replacement.
as for ham gear I had a NC300 rcvr
and a EICO 720 xmtr(if you watch some of the old Andy Griffin shows there is a 720 in the court house in the back ground on a table)

[Robert HT220]

My first, and still is, a Motorola MT500 UHF 8 channel portable. Currently has 3 channels with elements installed. Was sold to me AS IS, but I just grabbed my scanner's 12V power-pack, got some small wire, and hooked the battery up for a while, took it off, put it in the radio, and it powered up! Channel 1 is on 465.6250, TX only, no RX. Channel 2 is 460.6250, TX and RX. And 3 is 460.5375 TX and RX. Checked for squelch noise, works fine. Tried transmitting, and that worked just fine also. All I need now is a charger and possibly a newer battery! (by the way, I'm 15)

[Carl]

my first radio was a portable, a Motorola Sport SS buy at the Canadian Tire !!! i still have them (2) and now i own 3 p110 and 1 gp300..i only have the gp300 in my possession.. don't need the other

[wa2zdy]

Wow, I'm glad I only have nine HTs !!!!

I had a bunch of American and homebrew ham rigs as a kid (I got my license at 13), but the first REAL VHF-FM rig I had was a Hammarlund FM50. Anyone hear of that one?! After that I had my brother's old GE Pre-Prog on 146.52 (it was the 4ER21A1 receiver and 4ET1E1 transmitter) mounted in a six foot rack in my bedroom!!! Yes, that was a monster - and all of 50w out. Geez . . . (And I have the schematics and chassis layouts for most pre-1955 GE rigs. Anyone needs anything, let me know.)

My first Motorola . . . I had an H23 packset on the local repeater with autopatch. And I had a DTMF pad attached to one end of the radio. I actually had the goofiness to carry that thing to HS. As goofy as it was though, this being about 1977, before cell phones, I was the only kid in school carrying a portable "phone." So I was Mr All That!!! But looking back on it, it sure was a goofy thing to do.

I was 17 when I had a T power hi band rig - all tubes, 50w out or so - on 2m in my 1971 Ford Pinto. Yeah, that was rough on the alternator and headlights.

Now among all my more common big M stuff (Syntor X, GM300, MT1000s, P200, etc) I have a 1969 vintage HT200 on 29.6. I use the 38 inch whip and yes, I've made contacts with it. I also have PT300 that will soon be on 29.6. I hope I get more use from them before the band shuts down completely until the next sunspot cycle.

Now I'm about to bid on a LB Syntor X. My brother's new idea is a 6m repeater. What the hell. Anyone have a head and cable for one?

Fun thread, I'm glad it got bumped up to where I found it.

[Lord Velveeta]

I don't even know what my first Mot radio was... well let me explain... I was almost literally born in the back of a Motorola service van.

I was born in '69 a few years after my old man was dircharged from the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) as a radar telecom technician (he maintained, programmed and operated the old early 60's vaccum tube radar computers).

Upon leaving the RCAF (and I mean the day after he was discharged!), my old man went to work for Motorola as a radio technician. I still remember that big M white service van parked in our driveway every nite. He later moved to sales. I remember we ALWAYS had a (or 2 or 3) radio in his company car. The coolest were in the late 70's, 4 door Plymouth Fury police pack. Old man had 3 mobiles and 3 VHF antennas on it. I still remember going down the highway at Warp 6 and all the cars were moving out of the way, including the cop cars! (well dad was a bit of a leadfoot back in the 70's).

I've played with everything, from the old VHF low lunchbox monsters to radiotelephones and even had a chance to play with the first generation cellular phones as the networks were being developped.

Now don't ask me for model names or numbers... couldn't remember them. When I grew up, I definetly took radios for granted.

LV

[jcobb]

Gawd, How long ago.......

2 channel VHF T43GGV first mobile - 1968 - HT 200 first HT. Then a series of HT 220s and U43s and U73s - plus a real find: a 12 channel Motran UHF !

After many years (and 2 wives later):

MOTOROLA

1 VHF Spectra A9
2 VHF Astro Spectras A5s
1 800 Astro Spectra A7
2 800 Spectras A5s
2 VHF Maratracs 99 Ch
1 Lo band Maratrac 99 Ch
1 JT 1000 VHF
1 Saber II VHF
1 Saber II UHF
2 HT 600s UHF 6 Ch
3 P200 VHF 2 Ch
1 P50 VHF 2 Ch
8 VHF/UHF/Lo band Alert Monitors

STUFF

A bunch of scanners, and junk like Midland (2 VHF and a lo band) mobiles, 5 RCA Superbasefone VHF receivers (out of repeaters), and a few military units - 2 PRC 77s and a PRC 66, and a couple of 200-399 AM receivers.

And at one time I had a T43GGV base unit with the serial number of "1". My first wife threw it out - just one of the things which led to the split.


And I wonder why I have gray hairs in my 'stache.


Jack

[APCOMAN]

My First Motorola rig was a XTS3500. Yes, i know, but that was the first that I personally owned. My fist radio period was a Yaesu FT-101.

[larrymedic]

Let's see .. where to begin!

Did the scanner thing for a while when I first got into EMS ("real" radios cost a fortune, remember?), and used some crap at work like the tiny midlands (with quality to match, I might add). Finally said the heck with it, and bought my own stuff.

First radio I owned was a VHF MT500, with convertacom. I found a bunch of parts for them, too, while packing to move, so if anyone needs anything, let me know! Anyway, I had all sorts of goodies for it - spare batteries, rack charger (who knows why!), speaker mike, etc. That got stolen - I had uninstalled everything from the car for the obligatory FCC check (!!) when someone decided that they wanted them more than I did. So I collected the insurance money and bought a pair of brand-new (just out) 99-channel MT-1000 radios (1 vhf, 1 uhf), enhanced convertacom, charger, and my very own RIB box. I was dangerous. Over time added 16-channel VHF, HT600 VHF x2, etc. Anyway, they lasted nearly 15 years before I started having problems with them. Sold them off, bought a pair of MT2000 (1vhf, 1uhf), convertacom, and a HT1000. The HT was the best of the three. Would not do all I needed, so I sold them off and bought HT1250s. I know that they get a bum rap here, but I have not had a minute of trouble out of them.

[Donnie5063]

My first that were issued through my FD was a 2CH VHF P100 w/speaker mic OOOOOOHHHH! and a crappy Minitor I Pager (how lovely). Since then i've been through so many its sad. I just received my GP2000 Field Programmable from FEDEX Wednesday and talk about a small radio. It has tons of features and the programming is easy after getting the hang of it.

Can You Hear Me Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MX3013]

Well, I´m a newcomer, too!

My first Motorola was a MX 2000 for the 4m Midband.
Later, I made an upgrad to MX 3000 on my own, I just changed the part of the housing with the keypad. New housings are expensive, to espensive!

Now I have

MX 3000 MB the on and only in my opinion

MX 3000 VHF (a original one, no upgrade)

MX 1000 VHF

HT 1000 VHF

GP 900-11b (German government version of GP 900)

Covertacom for GP/HT

And looking forward to get a convertacom for MX series

Tried a lot of radios, but M rules!

[Jay911]

First owned/issued Motorola was an 8-ch UHF MT1000.

Currently issued a 16-ch UHF HT1000 and own an 800mhz MTS2000-III, 800mhz MCS2000-III, UHF MCS2000-II, and VHF HT1000.

Oh wait, do those brick phones count for my first radio?

[Tron]

The first Motorola I had as a high band 30w T power, but then went backwards to a Motorola Twin V UHF mobile with the lighthouse finals. They worked well as the UHF T Power ones I had next did.

My very first radio ever was a Knight Kit "Ocean Hopper" superregen receiver. Heard alot of countries with it. Too bad I got rid of it for a Philmore receiver..both would have been collectors items today!

Tron

[n8uhn]

wow i am really drooling!

all this talk about dynamotors and lunchbox portables.

yes i am just as insane as the rest of you - i still have my small collection of moto tube rigs.

my first moto radio is still in my collection - a "t-power" yep single channel vhf all tube rig with transistors in the inverter circut complete with orignal mic,head and 4 gauge power cables!

my first cb was a johnson messenger 3, i think it had six xtal channels.

also in my collection is a ge all tube (x-ray machine lol) prog line dc controlled base in the six foot rack cab with two channel xmitter and two rcvrs and yes i have the all tube controller too.

moto cab's: "rt" repeater and the "ra" dc controlled base station yep both six foot rack cab's also.
the repeater even came with two motorola vhf can's !

hmmm mobiles ummm just about every hybrid tube transistor rig.

transistor rig's: mocom 70 and the yj radio telephone complete with controll head.

i've got motos universal controll head - but no moto test set (darn)
got a modax paging encoder and several "metro page xmtr" parts (i.e. rack chassis)


wow i only wish i could add a dynamotor rig to the list - but the shipping would break me!

73 DE N8UHN
Bill

[brians2way]

My firs i have to say is a Motorola SP50 VHF that was 3 to 4 years ago

[mt1000ff]

First radio was a HT220 single channel. Fell out of bunker coat into a burning pile of leaves. Burnt covering off of ant, melted case in funny shape. Found radio still receiving. Screwed new ant on and trimmed case so it would fit into charger. Couple of years later had to use Dremel tool to open up battery compartment (batteries lasted longer then) to replace battery. Traded up to a HT90 TWO channel, could talk to us and them. Amazing how many people their first radio was programmable.

[firetech02]

Motorola 110w low band Mocom 70 Loved that radio, I could light a 8 ft fluorescent bulb 5ft from the 5ft whip antenna...What, I was 16 then

[RadioSouth]

Started my Motorola affliction with a Ht600, then a GP300, then a MT1000, Ht1000 Visar MT2000 JT1000 MTS2000. 2 channel Maxtrac in car which turned into a Spectra, have had a couple of CDM1250, 1550's sitting on the bench with the intention of installing them in my Sequoia but in 2 1/2 years I haven't drilled em yet, just a mts2000 in the cupholder.

[jhooten]

MoTran. Before the crystals came in to put it on the local ham frequencies someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it.

[fineshot1]

Mocom 35, i think it was back in the late 70's which started off in life as a single channel radio and
I soon converted to a 4 channel radio by simply adding the additional parts some of which i acquired at a local area MSS
along with the service manual.

[escomm]

MX360 engraved "FIDO" xD

[WX9EMS]

GP300 was my first....

[MT2000 man]

My first radio was an Sp50 back in 2000 or so. I still have it in fact. It still looks like new, sitting on my desk on the charger as I type this. Never use it much anymore ( even when it saw active "field use" it was mostly in a vehicle, or on my belt in a holster ). I ordered the radio brand new from Bearcom. Cost me $600+ back then. Still looks and works like the day I bought it.

My first radio :



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Latest addition ( added a good number of years ago now ) with the oldest in the background



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I've come a long way in 10+ years LOL

[FireCpt809]

HT220 VHF 6 freq with PL Omni with the speaker mic adapter

[k2hz]

FMTR-140D Low Band and FMTRU-80D High Band (1962)

I also had a FMAR-13V reciever part of the original two piece mobile FMT/FMR series.

[stay-con]

OK, so I'll start a new topic.....what was the first Motorola radio you ever had? Here's mine:

First mobile: 80-D 2 channel

Same thing, except I had mine powered off a bench power supply using one of the old enormous HP synthesizers with 120 buttons for TX and the VFO out of a Polorad panadaptor for the RX. I used to hang out in the garage on the W6FNO repeater in the evenings having fun talking with folks.

One notable occurrence was some old gomer accused me of illegally transmitting since I was a Novice. He deduced that from the fact I had a 2X3 call sign.

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi (Still with that 2x3 call sign)

[mikegilbert]

My first Motorola was a Radio Shack PRS-102.

Sometime during middle school, after countless months of yard work, I convinced my dad to buy me a pair of Radio Shack PRS-102 radios. The 102s were badge-engineered Motorola Spirit 10-channel GMRS radios.

Had them all kitted out with CTCSS boards, spring belt clips from a regular Spirit, stubby antennas and Radius speaker mics. The coolest discovery I made with the radios, was learning that several local business had grandfathered business frequencies on GMRS channels. One was a local courier company with a very active phone patch- the other was a building supply yard. I loved listening to the calls that would come in.

Sadly, a year after I got them one of them was stolen from me.

Ended up replacing it with a used Kenwood TK-340 from a local radio shop. The 340 was cool as it had scan and you could program all 16 channels using the continuous rotary channel knob. All you had to do was remove some plastic, which revealed contacts on the back. To program, simply short out two pins while powering up the radio.

PRS-102


TK-340

[Tim]

41V.

My aunt & uncle ran the cab company in San Antonio, and they had a storage room full of them. I was a freshman in college back in 70, and I re-sold (for them) many of the rigs for newbies coming to 2m. Think they were $25 with heads & cables.

In one of the trips to the 'vault', I found a T-Power.... I was in hog's heaven.

Then had a 6 meter mobile that had a dynamotor... only left it on one time!

aah, the good old days.

tim

[DJP126]

My first Motorola was a 27" Quasar (radio with pictures). I bought it for my mom when I first started at Motorola and they were getting ready to sell the TV division. My first radio (mine, not an employer's) was a high band Mocom 35 that I used for the local Emergency Management Agency (back in those days it was called Civil Defense). We trained with and assisted the local PD, FD & PW when they required additional manpower & resources.

[BigTex1136]

Such a fun topic to read I just had to join the fun.

16yrs old bought a maxtrac 2 channel for the car. Loved it till it died later. Also just had to have a Moto Saber II VHF. I took that brick with me everywhere. It still sits on my desk at home. Also had a VHF Kenwood portable in there was good radio too. Years later carried the p-200 for work then ht1000. Aww the good old days. I even had an old expo radio I found on ebay. I loved that liitle thing.

Today
Porables
SABER II VHF
6 Ht1000 VHF
4 MTX 800mhz
3 MTS2000 2 VHF one UHF
MTX LS 800mhz
XTS3000 VHF
XTS2500 VHF
LPE-200 w/Provoice
700p w/provoice

Mobiles
Astro Spectra VHF
GTX LS 800mhz
Kenwood TK780
Another Kenwood that is FPP not sure the make
2 700m w/Provoice
Converta-com for my 700p
and a base scanner too LOL

Not sure how I have ended up with all this over the years but I keep getting more and more.

[AL7OC]

Motorola T43GGV, mounted in my '67 Ford LTD. Second was a Motorola all tube 40w VHF Compa Station, third was a Motrac re-tuned for 52.525 and a repeater pair. $20 each, + 5.00 per crystal from LNX. The Motrac still lives.

[w1rc]

BC-611(Galvin) was the first one whenI was a kid.
As a ham my IRS was a HT-220 in 1978.

[JustinMoon205]

First portable an HT220 slimline 1 channel VHF portable that my uncle gave me from work. They changed radio systems to something new and he found it, still in the box, somewhere after they had traded the rest in. Begged a charger off the local Motorola shop and I was good to go. Recrystaled to the local HAM repeater and I still have it to this day. Great radio.

First mobile, a Mitrek VHF that I traded a friend for. 110 watt with the 4 channel remote head. Only had 1 channel in it, but that quickly changed, had some ham simplex freqs put in it. I spent MANY nights playing on 146.52 and 146.5 simplex using this radio. Never used it in a vehicle, it was always used as a base station.

Fun topic.

[w1rc]

My first Motorola radio was a US Army BC-611 "Walkie Talkie" on 3.885. Still have it and it still works. There's a fellow in Italy who makes a power inverter that allows operation using a couple 'D' side cells. The radio was made by Galvin Manufacturing in Chicago.

My first contemporary Motorola radio was a VHF HT-220 which I acquired in 1978. It had 4 channels. Currently I use a couple JT1000s on VHF and UHF.

That's the equipment rundown here.

73,

Michael, W1RC

[fail999]

VHF 30D/16V running with its Dynamotor and vibrator supplies in a '49 Plymouth.

[k4vks]

xts1500 model 1

a member here convinced me that Motorola is the way to go with Amateur radio gear.. .many $$$ later I have a collection of astro sabers, jedis, xts's and recently 2 apx's... damn you "MP" for getting me addicted lol

[motorola_otaku]

I can't believe some of y'all had batwing radios in high school. At that age I counted myself lucky to have scanners, and when the first trunk-tracking scanner fell in to my price range... hoo boy. But I digress.

The first Motorola radio I owned that I could actually do something with (not counting the MTX900 a guy gave to me) was a M120 T-band mobile. A buddy of mine had just put up a GMRS repeater in his back yard and he pushed that one down to 462/467 so I could get on it cheap. Shortly thereafter I horse-traded another buddy out of his UHF HT1000 and upgraded the M120 to a M216. Once I heard HFD and HPD out of those radios with zero intermod in Houston's "intermod alley" it was all over but the crying. Then came the day when we all acquired CoveragePLUS 800 MHz Maxtracs. To this day those radios have the best and most sensitive receivers I have ever seen in a trunking radio. Combined with an elevated-feed gain antenna they could routinely pull in systems 20-30 miles outside of their intended footprint.

In 2001 I bought my first Astro Saber, a UHF-S split. I still have it, in fact right now it's sitting in an Impres charger on my desk at work parked on the local 440 machine. Another milestone in my Mototard timeline was the day in 2003 that I coerced it into doing MODAT with LA_ROVER.S. Free for all.

[tbergman]

Well I guess I will show how young I am, I haven't owned anything that used RSS. My first radio was a CP200, I sold it and moved to the CP200XLS. I still have the XLS but I have just acquired a XTS3K which is my first P25 radio.

[WA6OXN]

L43GGT when I was 16 and my mom let me install it in her Datsun 510 sedan.

Crystalled up on 146.28/88.

Good times....

-Steve

[W2IBC]

1st moto was a maxtrac.

I still have a maxtrac.. course going to have to swap the VHF stuff for UHF

[illini52]

Borrowed a VHF MX-340 on 2M when I first got my ticket. Then upgraded to a HT-600.
First mobile was a VHF Syntor X programed for some simplex and a few repeaters in the Chicago area. Still have it.

[Mfire39]

GP300 VHF 16 channel.. How times have changed..


-Marc

[posse401]

HT-90 VHF 2 channels for me. Got them in high school and still have them in the garage. It took me a while to get some other Motorola stuff, went through some Relms and Kings, and then was able to get some SP50s, then my Spectra and MT2000 which I still use today. Solid radios can take a beating and perform like the day I got them.

[giguchan]

MOTO MT500 portable
for the mobile i had a Mocom 70

these were all hand me downs... but they were my first.
Gig

[MiXiN]

P60 Radius and HT220 here, quickly followed by the MT6000E, GP900, and MTS2000.
Only recently got into Motorola stuff, and have a large collection of UK Pye, Philips, and Burndept ex Police rigs.

[KitN1MCC]

Whats a P60

[MiXiN]

@KitN1MCC
I have 3 of them (Motorola P60), and they're a slim radius model operating on VHF - 169.4875Mhz.
I did a search on here, and only one mention is made of the P60, with some contributors saying they've never heard of them - only the P50.
I'm in the UK, so maybe they're specific to here. I don't know.
Will post an image tomorrow as it's 1am here and I'm in bed posting from my phone.

[RADIO]

first radio was a motorola talkabout and first real one was a vhf mts2000 model 2