Motrac & MoCom 70 Question?

Got a few questions on these radios. I now have two Motrac radio bases and cable assemblies (Thanks Paul) and a complete set up for a MoCom 70 (that I've had) in car unit. My questions are, can the frequecys be changed with out using ocilliscopes, volt meters, amp meters, etc? Will the two models Motrac and MoCom communicate between one another, IE, car to car or even car to hand held radio? Can you comunicate from one of these to one of the little hand held radios you by at the sporting goods stores? Can the heads interchange? Ie, using a Mocom 70 head hooked to a Motrac radio base? I'm debating keeping them and actually installing them in cars one day if they will work in the above manner. THANKS!

You first need to find out what type of radio's you have. Are they VHF; if so are they low or high band, or are they UHF? You can find out by using the serial numbers on the cases, and cross referencing them using this site:

http://www.radioreference.com/

Once you know what you have, then it's a matter of getting the "rocks" for the frequencies you wish to operate on (or just receive on.) Transmitting on a licensed channel is frowned upon by the FSCC, so be careful.

I would suggest you contact a Motorola shop that has been in business a very long time, and has a seasoned tech that can work on your radios. You may also want to hook up with a local HAM Radio club, as they can be very helpful.

Also...

The antenna should be the correct one for the frequency range you are using. Tuning the antenna as well as the radio makes it efficient as a means of communication. Also, as mentioned earlier, the FCC has rules that govern the transmission of radio signals. Most radios require licenses to transmit except "Family band" and Citizen band. But even those have rules that govern the power output etc. If found in violation, heavy fines can be imposed.

Have fun,
Jerry

Jeremy, the radios you bought are probably from a public safety frequency range. They could probably be made to work. As everyone else said, to transmit (talk) on those frequencies, you would need an FCC license.

But it would be a lot easier to just use the "family radio system" radios to talk car-to-car. OR.......CB radio still exists, too! I still have one, I talked to the truckers who were looking at the ambulance on the way home. And you find out where the Smokeys are, too! "10-4 good buddy, looks like we got ourselves a convoy!"

Thanks for the replies on this guys! I'm pretty good on putting period correct items in cars and since I have these radios I was toying with the idea of one day installing them and having them working since I have at least one complete setup. Didn't know what all it encompassed to get them actually going and all. So I posted here about that. Figured they would be nice for car to car communications during PCS events and to show they actually work as well. I've already got the MoCom 70 radio head, mic, 1 footer roof aerial wire, and speaker setup in my combo as most do as display only. The system looks simple enough to install it self but getting going and working would be another thing it looks like.

Both radios came from the same source, so they are probably a matched pair as to the channels. They were supposedly working units, but that might have only been a "selling" tactic. Personally, I think that the personal hand held radios that are available today for very little money would be a better choice, since these old radios are energy hogs.

As the years go by, it's getting harder to keep Motracs functional. One of my favorite tricks is to use a Mitrek chassis with a Motrac control group. The Mitrek is a four channel solid state radio and it uses the same control cable connector as the Motrac. Channel elements and crystals are easy to come by and the older control group (which is what shows) is period correct for 1958-70. That is, unless you're my old employer (La Habra Heights, CA Fire Dept.) who used them until 1990. At that point, they were forced to upgrade because no local radio people would work on them.

Do you know what frequency band you want to operate on?

Jeremey I had the next generation installed in my 77. The radio came from the ambulance service I was volunteering with at the time. The radio was functional when I got it. The owner of our radio shop didn't want to touch but fortunately I had talked to the tech first and he wanted to do the job. He had worked on Caddy ambulances in the day and thought it would be fun to do again. This was in 2000 or 2001 and I paid about $300 for the install. The unit worked great the few times I used it. It was cool to have a working radio in the ambulance.

Personally I woudn't bother with all the work installed to get both units working and talking to each other.

All Good Advice

Jeremy:

All good advice from the various posters. A lot of the old (Non-Low Band) Motorolas and GE's that were originally set-up to work on community or agency owned repeaters especially "UHF's".... didn't have a "car-to-car" feature or now referred to as talk around "TAR".....so even if they are "re-vamped" will be somewhat useless for caravaning with other club members to Local and PCS Events.

We have a radio tech here (similar to what Kevin-O has described above) mate old "era correct" radio heads with more modern, useable and reasonably priced programable radios (No ROCKS as Robert-S put it) that's mounted out of sight, under the seat, cabinets etc.) The last one he did for us was used in a 1952 L-Model Open Cab Mack Pumper (X-New York State Prisons / Warwick, NY) that originally had an old Motorola "Dynamotor" that had to "wind up when keyed" almost like a small siren before you could transmit.

A possible agenda item for the next National PCS Meeting might be applying for (Itinerate) FCC License(s) for PCS Chapters and Members to operate on a set of Low-Band and VHF Frequencies Nationwide. Our Two California Chapters of SPAAMFAA teamed up about 5 years ago to do that here in CA. that has been VERY sucessful. The So-Cal Chapter even has a (portable) UHF Repeater on FCC Assigned Club Frequencies they set-up on hotel roof tops at major events. Good Luck! MM