Some Notes on the Motorola CM / PR Mobile Radios

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Back to Home Some Notes on the Motorola "Commercial Series" Mobile Radios
Compiled and Maintained by Mike Morris WA6ILQ

The "Commercial Series" (CM200, CM300 and PR400) mobile radios were the follow-on series to the "CDM" / "Waris" mobile / "Professional Series" mobile radios. The CM series has unfortunately been discontinued. Moto sales suggests the XPR series of mobiles or the CM "D" series (digital / DMR variant)... Your author has seen the CM200D and CM300D but at the time of this writing have no hands-on experience. All depot support for the non-D series has ended. Parts are limited.

Note that the CM / PM mobile radios have a MUCH smaller heat sink that the previous CDM radios and hence are a MUCH lower duty cycle radio. One piece of literature says it's a 5% duty cycle.

Like the Maxtrac, Radius LRA, GM300 and CDM series the antenna connector is a Mini UHF female and very easy to break if you use an adapter and use stiff coax like RG213. Your author considers a pigtail (mini UHF male to UHF or N female) to be a requirement. The pigtail relieves the stress on the radio connector. The problem got so bad that Motorola came up with the 8 inch long HKN9557 Mini-UHF male to UHF SO239 female Antenna Adapter for about $19, and an 8 foot version as the HKN9088A Mini-UHF male to UHF PL259 male Adapter Cable for about $40. You can make your own for a lot less money... and you will have the option of a different connector. I made up a few mini-UHF-male to N-female cables for my test bench back when I got started with Maxtracs. A friend prefers mini-UHF-male to BNC female for his bench. It's your choice when you make your own.

You CAN hex edit a saved codeplug file and stretch a 146-174 MHz radio down to 144 MHz amateur radio frequencies, or a 438-470 MHz down to 436 or even 435 MHz and a 465-495 MHz down to 462 MHz for GMRS. WA6ILQ did it on a bunch of CM300s to allow their use on a 145 MHz amateur radio repeater for a special event. See the article on the CM-Index page.

The CM200, CM300 and PR400 radios use a 8 pin programing cable, but it's a bit different than the ones used on prior models. If you use a regular cable you will get either get no connection or maybe an error message. Motorola wants you to purchase an FKN8096B Flash Adapter to adapt your standard RIB-to-8-pin-radio-cable to program the commercial series mobile radios. Not needed... you can just jumper pins 1 and 3 of the microphone plug together - this forces the radio into programming mode... but that has potential negative issues if you plug that modified cable into some of the previous generations radios. You can modify / upgrade your existing Maxtrac / Radius / GM300 / etc. series RJ45 progamming cable by adding a 100 ohm 1/4 watt resistor.
The cable that is modified with the resistor is completely backward compatible and can be used with all of the older radios.
Bob Meister WA1MIK wrote an article on this: Updating the standard Motorola mobile programming cable for the CM series.

The front panel microphone jack is a normal 8-pin, not the 10-pin of the CDM. The official DTMF microphone for the Commerical Series is the RMN5029. The DTMF microphones made for the prior models (Maxtrac, Radius or CDM) will not work with the CM / PR mobiles.

A replacement volume knob for the CM140, CM200, CM300, CM340, CM360 and PM400 mobiles is part number 3689331U02.

The replacement faceplate for the CM200 is the FCN6288C.

Samlex offers a SEC-1212-SM (12 amp) and SEC-1223-SM (20 amp) power supply and tabletop cabinet that fits the CM200, CM300, CM200D, CM300D, PM400 and also the SM50, SM120, M1225, GTX, XPR2500, DM1600 units.

Motorola specifies a HLN9457AR or a HLN9457 16-Pin Accessory Connector Kit for the CM series and the M1225s.
16- and 20-pin connectors and connector / interfacing kits / cable kits can be purchased from ebay seller "mre1032" (Kurt Meltzer, KC4NX / WB9KNX, Meltzer Radio Engineering).

The accessory catalog also includes:

The HLN9242A expanded Accessory Terminal kit for "Radius Series mobiles CM200 CM300 PM400 M1225 M1225LS GM300 Radius MAXTRAC GR300".

The same old power HKN4191B cable "20 Amp Power Cable 10ft" is still specified.

Part number GLN7317 is a "high profile" mounting bracket for the CM and CDM series.

Part number GLN7324 is a "standard profile" mounting bracket. It supposedly fits the CM series, the PM400, the CDM series, the M1225, and the SM50 and SM120.

Part number RLN4779 is a key lock mounting bracket.

The DIN dashboard mounting kit for the mobiles is the FTN6083.

Part number HLN9227 is a 8 inch goose neck mounting bracket.

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This page was created 12-Oct-2021 by WA6ILQ.

This web page, this web site, the information presented in and on its pages and in these modifications and conversions is © Copyrighted 1995 and (date of last update) by Kevin Custer W3KKC and multiple originating authors. All Rights Reserved, including that of paper and web publication elsewhere.

	The "Commercial Series" (CM200, CM300 and PR400) mobile radios were the follow-on series to the "CDM" / "Waris" mobile / "Professional Series" mobile radios. The CM series has unfortunately been discontinued. Moto sales suggests the XPR series of mobiles or the CM "D" series (digital / DMR variant)... Your author has seen the CM200D and CM300D but at the time of this writing have no hands-on experience. All depot support for the non-D series has ended. Parts are limited.
	Note that the CM / PM mobile radios have a MUCH smaller heat sink that the previous CDM radios and hence are a MUCH lower duty cycle radio. One piece of literature says it's a 5% duty cycle.
	Like the Maxtrac, Radius LRA, GM300 and CDM series the antenna connector is a Mini UHF female and very easy to break if you use an adapter and use stiff coax like RG213. Your author considers a pigtail (mini UHF male to UHF or N female) to be a requirement. The pigtail relieves the stress on the radio connector. The problem got so bad that Motorola came up with the 8 inch long HKN9557 Mini-UHF male to UHF SO239 female Antenna Adapter for about $19, and an 8 foot version as the HKN9088A Mini-UHF male to UHF PL259 male Adapter Cable for about $40. You can make your own for a lot less money... and you will have the option of a different connector. I made up a few mini-UHF-male to N-female cables for my test bench back when I got started with Maxtracs. A friend prefers mini-UHF-male to BNC female for his bench. It's your choice when you make your own.
	You CAN hex edit a saved codeplug file and stretch a 146-174 MHz radio down to 144 MHz amateur radio frequencies, or a 438-470 MHz down to 436 or even 435 MHz and a 465-495 MHz down to 462 MHz for GMRS. WA6ILQ did it on a bunch of CM300s to allow their use on a 145 MHz amateur radio repeater for a special event. See the article on the CM-Index page.
	The CM200, CM300 and PR400 radios use a 8 pin programing cable, but it's a bit different than the ones used on prior models. If you use a regular cable you will get either get no connection or maybe an error message. Motorola wants you to purchase an FKN8096B Flash Adapter to adapt your standard RIB-to-8-pin-radio-cable to program the commercial series mobile radios. Not needed... you can just jumper pins 1 and 3 of the microphone plug together - this forces the radio into programming mode... but that has potential negative issues if you plug that modified cable into some of the previous generations radios. You can modify / upgrade your existing Maxtrac / Radius / GM300 / etc. series RJ45 progamming cable by adding a 100 ohm 1/4 watt resistor. The cable that is modified with the resistor is completely backward compatible and can be used with all of the older radios. Bob Meister WA1MIK wrote an article on this: Updating the standard Motorola mobile programming cable for the CM series.
	The front panel microphone jack is a normal 8-pin, not the 10-pin of the CDM. The official DTMF microphone for the Commerical Series is the RMN5029. The DTMF microphones made for the prior models (Maxtrac, Radius or CDM) will not work with the CM / PR mobiles.
	A replacement volume knob for the CM140, CM200, CM300, CM340, CM360 and PM400 mobiles is part number 3689331U02.
	The replacement faceplate for the CM200 is the FCN6288C.
	Samlex offers a SEC-1212-SM (12 amp) and SEC-1223-SM (20 amp) power supply and tabletop cabinet that fits the CM200, CM300, CM200D, CM300D, PM400 and also the SM50, SM120, M1225, GTX, XPR2500, DM1600 units.
	Motorola specifies a HLN9457AR or a HLN9457 16-Pin Accessory Connector Kit for the CM series and the M1225s. 16- and 20-pin connectors and connector / interfacing kits / cable kits can be purchased from ebay seller "mre1032" (Kurt Meltzer, KC4NX / WB9KNX, Meltzer Radio Engineering).
	The accessory catalog also includes: The HLN9242A expanded Accessory Terminal kit for "Radius Series mobiles CM200 CM300 PM400 M1225 M1225LS GM300 Radius MAXTRAC GR300". The same old power HKN4191B cable "20 Amp Power Cable 10ft" is still specified. Part number GLN7317 is a "high profile" mounting bracket for the CM and CDM series. Part number GLN7324 is a "standard profile" mounting bracket. It supposedly fits the CM series, the PM400, the CDM series, the M1225, and the SM50 and SM120. Part number RLN4779 is a key lock mounting bracket. The DIN dashboard mounting kit for the mobiles is the FTN6083. Part number HLN9227 is a 8 inch goose neck mounting bracket.