PACNWComms

I was able to play around with the CRFS RFeye nodes recently. Usually, another division of the company handles this, but I was out with former military units I was once a member of.....seeing how this can detect FRS/GMRS/MURS and potential use for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) detection (around airports in this case). Was fun putting GMRS radios into people's hands and having the system track their transmissions around an area. These were Motorola XPR6550 and XPR7550e handhelds. Attached is what a typical node looks like. We had three set up so the system could triangulate position. I then sent a "curveball" by transmitting from Motorola DTR410 Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) radios. I could sense them, get a rough bearing and distance, but could not "lock" onto them due to the frequency hopping aspect (902-928 MHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical [ISM] band). Anyone else use this system or something else for finding location of radio transmissions (APRS is common and also useful)?

As mentioned above, I hoard solder with lead as well...often found at garage sales. Coming back to the thread after a few days, dropping this meme picture.... I must admit though, I have burned myself and things around me over the years with a hot soldering iron. I have a co-worker from the oil industry that was a military veteran (like me) that still gives me a "demerit" for the burn mark in a plastic cart, where I let the soldering iron slip. That permanent melt mark was while soldering Motorola PR1500 handhelds that had broken antenna connectors ~ 2008 or so.

I have been pretty good at leaving a paper trail (or Internet trail), so the correct people know what I am up to......it does "out" the boot lickers though, often. If you just pay out the rope far enough, most people will not only pull the rope, but hang themselves with it. The ones that don't, I assist as much as possible......keep good people around you, and let the rest fall by the wayside.

Most of those components between the portions of the Chip Dragon picture are antenna connectors and channel pots for Motorola handheld radios.

Luckily, with the warranty period ending, and the fact that we have Chip Dragon (I miss labeled the picture as Air Dragon though) stations spread across the country, we can do this. In fact, Motorola XTS series radios as they age also have this problem.....but it only manifests after 10-15 years of use. And why we still use XTS series handhelds, we can repair them, they work well, and Battery Universe sells IS rated batteries for them, even though Motorola ended support and manufacture a few years back now. Soldering is a skill that I wish more "radio" technicians were taught. Now, it is IT types being handed a radio system, that in some cases do not even know how to change a car tire (if their car even comes with a spare now), let alone solder. Then, crappy solder that does not last, or flow well because it is hazardous....that gets to be a crazy situation for a large company and anyone that even tries to solder. I had an intern in a safety class mention that "soldering" should require a specific hazmat class and safety classes as you could get burned and contaminated with lead. I told my "leadership" that if they push too hard on that route, they may see some of the older techs leave...with no replacement. The youngest member of my team came from Icom America and is almost 40 now....and he can solder (but most often is working on Kenwood NX-51xx/53xx series radios, yes those fail too). Thank you for the reply.

Could be interesting, thank you for sharing......you know my attitude toward CCR's though Better late than never, and not amazed it has taken this long to reign in some of those products/manufacturers, some very "dirty" RF emitters in some cases. Doing some testing with several series of Motorola radios myself soon.....how they operate in GPS and radar compromised environments. Using my own XPR6550/XPR7550/e radios in GMRS band (have to use my personal license) - work does not even want to be tied to this project (unless it goes well, then the "brown nosers" will try to say they supported me all along - funny how that works), so doing while on "vacation". But it caught the eye of the Feds. Received their personal invite, as I also tested cameras, which helped result in the Hikvision ban. For CCR's I do own a lot of them, (purchased to evaluate) which confirms my use of: Motorola, Harris, Thales, and Icom radios instead. The Anytone 878 series is the only CCR I bring along these days to the field.

Yes, good test equipment will last a very long time. Still using an old Fluke 87 (no series III or white backlight here). Leaking LCD crystal around its display.....and believe it or not, a metrology tech put the main knob on in the wrong position, had to correct that myself. (My personal fluke ended up in the work pool as it looks like many others.....has happened with a Motorola XPR7550e radio as well). Black gasket broke, so electrical tape seals the gap in places.....but still accurate and great for use in dark corners of electrical cabinets or floor board of cars. Some co-workers bought the cheaper Kelin Tools multimeters, only to find they lacked a backlight. The old expensive Fluke 87 continues to do the job (suspect mine is 30 years old or so). By once, cry once. Get good gear.

Yes, these (all 177 of them) were Malaysia built Motorola Trbo XPR7550e radios. The Trbo series is also often made in Mexico as well.

Yes! It is not just one device, it might be thousands, or an entire shift of production "products" impacted. I had to warn a dozen sites across the United States of this, 177 Motorola XPR7550e radios that were in the same batch and appear to have the same problem. I am used to Motorola and battery issues, but actual radios......this is getting ridiculous. A decade ago, out of 100 Motorola radios, there might be one bad one in the batch. Now, it might be 5-6 radios, or in this case ....all 177 bought in a specific batch. I wonder how many others out there are impacted by this specific production "batch" of radios?

Something to watch out for as well.....not limited to mass production radios, but other devices/accessories.

Well, it seems that my Motorola XPR7550e also has cold solder joints (in fact 177 radios all from the same batch) near the top of the board. Dreaded issue with many series of radios, with wave soldering being used in production, the top of the board (where the antenna, channel selector, and volume/on/off knob are located) gets the cooler solder joints that fail over time. Or, as I put it.....Motorola Planned Obsolescence. Often times, Motorola (and other brands/model) radios end up in auction sites as they have intermittent issues related to their antenna connectors, power and volume settings (radios get bumped "Off" when the potentiometer begins to fail), or channel select issues when worn on the belt and the knobs are rubbed. This can often be cold solder joints from manufacture. This is not limited to Motorola (I have seen this with Kenwood as well 5100/5300 series handhelds). The fix is to re-solder the connections if the pots or antenna connector is just loose, to replacement of potentiometers if volume/on/off or channel select is too loose. 3D printing also came in handy as shields can also prevent torque on the top knobs and antenna connection, preventing wear on the circuit board connections that may be prone to poor soldering during manufacture. As for Motorola XPR7550e radios, Motorola has repaired them under warranty, or via flat-rate repair if out of warranty.....but will only support them for another three more years (the model was discontinued and replaced by the Motorola R7 series radio), you often get five years of production and five additional years of support. For those buying second hand, buyer beware, or use for negotiation of price. Anyone else experience this with their radios (any manufacture), if so, what was the fix?

I recall seeing a variant of this radio when I first saw "Jaws".

Work had me get rid of a bunch of old Motorola HT220's, various versions (some with PL capability, some with more than one channel), all pretty beat up, but kept a few for pictures....this type of use.

Better than a radar detector in my area of the country