Motorola Mitrek and Motrek Mobile Radio and Mitrek-based "Super Consolette" Tabletop Base Station Information Index

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Back to Home Information and Modifications for the Mitrek and Motrek mobile radios and the Mitrek or Motrek-based Super Consolette tabletop base station
Compiled by Mike Morris WA6ILQ
Web page maintained by Robert Meister WA1MIK
I know nothing about this equipment so please don't ask!

Note: Any Motorola prices mentioned on this page (or on any page at this web site) should be taken only as a rough guideline. Motorola adjusts prices quarterly, and offers one set of prices to their dealers/service shops (the so called "NSO" or "National Service Organization" pricing), another to "self-maintaining" fleet customers (i.e. those that have their own radio shops: cities, counties, police departments, fire departments, etc), and a third on their telephone order desk (i.e. retail sales). For these reasons readers should use the prices mentioned in an article only as a rough indication.

The list of manuals below is from the official Motorola list. Prices listed are August 2007 unless otherwise noted. NLA indicates that they were No Longer Available at that time. Click here for instructions on how to order manuals and parts.

Note the trailing chassis version letter on your radio. The "A" version chassis are unique and have their own set of manuals.

A-revision Mitrek chassis: (i.e. TnnJJA-nnnnAx where "n" is a number, and "x" may be blank or one or two letters):

Low-band low-power (25-50 MHz) - T51JJA-nnnnA: 6881037E65 NLA
Low-band high-power (25-50 MHz) - T71/81JJA-nnnnA: 6881039E70 supplement to the low-power manual (i.e. you need both the 37E65 book and the 39E70 supplement for the high-power radio - but both are NLA).
High-band low-power (136-174 MHz) - T43/53JJA-nnnnA: 6881037E70 NLA
High-band high-power (136-174 MHz) - T63/73/83JJA-nnnnA: 6881039E75 supplement to the low-power manual ((i.e. you need both the 37E70 book and the 39E75 supplement for the high-power radio - but both are NLA)
UHF low-power (406-512 MHz) - T34/44JJA-nnnnA: 6881037E75-B (9.6 MB) NLA
UHF high-power (406-512 MHz) - T64/74JJA-nnnnA: 6881039E80 NLA
(despite the official list showing this as a separate manual; it's actually a supplement to the low-power manual (i.e. you need both the 37E75 book and the 39E80 supplement for the high-power radio).

B(or later)-revision Mitrek chassis (see the note on the "Mitrek Plus" radios below): (i.e. TnnJJA-nnnnBx, Cx, Dx, Ex, etc):

Low-band (25-50 MHz) - T51/61/71/81JJA-nnnnB, C, D, etc.: 6881045E65-O (7 MB) NLA
High-band (136-174 MHz) - T43/53/63/73/83JJA-nnnnB, C, D, etc.: 6881045E70 ($30+)
UHF (406-512 MHz) - T34/44/54/64/74JJA-nnnnB, C, D, etc.: 6881045E75 ($30+)
800 MHz - all models - Tn5JJA-nnnnB, C, D, etc.: 6881045E80 ($117+)

Other:

The 800 MHz Mitrek is pretty useless in the amateur world. It uses a single oscillator/multiplier chain for both receive and transmit, and the IF is equal to the repeater offset, something like the old "Pulsar" series of VHF or UHF mobile telephones. You could hack and slash at it and make it receive at 900 MHz (it will never transmit at 900 MHz), but there are easier and much smaller radios that work just as well if not better to start with (an 800 MHz MaxTrac comes to mind, and a conversion article is on this web site). In short, the 800 MHz Mitrek radios make pretty good doorstops.
If you are going to do a mobile install of a Mitrek, and if you can find the official Mitrek Installation manual (6881110E50) at zero or very low cost, then it's worth spending five minutes and looking it over.
The standard control heads and cables are covered in the regular mobile manual. Motorola also offered the "Systems 90" control groups for the MICOR, Mitrek and Syntor line for mobile installations that needed multiple radios, PA, Siren, scanning, MPL (operator-controlled Multiple PL encoder tones), etc. The "Systems 90" control set boards and housings were originally used on MICORs, later on Mitreks, and were retrofitted to Motracs, Motrans, Mocom-70s, and a few other radios. The "Systems 90" control groups are covered in their own manuals. There are several posted on the MICOR page of this website.
- Siren / PA... 6881108E05 ($11.26)
- Alternate Control Module... a 4-channel control head on a card... 6881109E56 ($7.52)
- Channel Scan... 6881102E23 NLA
- Channel Scan... 6881109E58 NLA
- Voice Privacy Adapter... 6885900C35-F NLA
- Multi-PL encoder... (don't have it yet)
- Wildcard... 6881102E35 NLA (just a board with momentary and latching switches, extremely configurable by the installer... light bar, alley lights, siren, dome light kill, stop light kill, etc).
- The complete module wiring diagram showing how all the units cable together is 6881109E49.
If anyone has PDFs of any of the System 90 documentation we'd appreciate a copy so we can offer them for download.

A note on mobile installs: Mitreks make great install-them-and-forget-them radios. Several friends have 4-channel Mitreks stashed in the trunk or under the back seat in their cars, and set up on a couple of local repeaters. A couple of the UHF ones are configured for full duplex, with two antennas, and until you have actually USED a full duplex mobile you don't know what you are missing, especially on an autopatch or a remote base. And the receive antenna can be shared with something else.

That said, a lot of Mitreks were installed in the cabs of 18-wheel tractor-trailers. Because the truck manufacturers (Mack, Kenworth, Peterbilt, etc.) had not standardized the polarity of their tractors when the Mitrek was introduced, it was common for Mitrek cables to be modified in the field from negative to positive ground when a positive ground truck was encountered. As a result, you will find some cables on the surplus market labeled for negative ground but rewired for positive gound, in other words the part numbers stamped or printed on cable assemblies may not correctly reflect the polarity for which they are wired. On a new-to-you cable kit it is best to open the connector shell and compare the cable wiring to the negative ground and positive ground cable diagrams in the service manual before you power up the radio on the bench, or before installation - look at the diagrams and compare them, then take 30 seconds with an ohmmeter and check (thanks to KI4BQQ for the reminder).

The "Mitrek Plus" radios were originally special purpose / modified Mitreks and are described in the Mitrek Plus Supplement, part number 6881046E05. 626 KB. I was told that the "Plus" changes were later rolled into the "B" or "C" version chassis and manuals - but I haven't taken the time to verify that - it would take comparing an "A" version manual to the Supplement and to a "B" or "C" version manual to verify that.

The Mitrek Plus supplement also notes that the Mitrek is an all-metric radio. Don't go casually throwing any extra screws into your non-metric screws bin.

The Motrek was the single-channel or two-channel economy version of the Mitrek. It was a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than a Mitrek (which had one to four channels), so there were a lot of sales in basic radio systems such as in taxicabs and delivery trucks.
Where the Mitrek model numbers are in the format of TnnJJA-nnnn (where n is a number) all models of the Motrek use JEA instead of JJA. The manual for the T43/53/73 VHF radios is 6880100W30, the T34/44/64 UHF radios is manual 6880100W35. As of early 2012 the VHF manual is still available; the UHF manual is NLA.
The model charts for the VHF Motreks are here as a 105 KB file.

Information common to the Mitrek and the MSR2000

Channel elements for the Mitrek and MSR By Mike Morris WA6ILQ
The Mitrek and the MSR2000 are crystal-based radios, and the crystals are installed in self-contained oscillator/tripler plug-in modules called Channel Elements. Earlier products used crystals, or crystals in miniature ovens. Here's why: Why should you really spend $50 to re-crystal a channel element or ICOM?.

The replacement microphone coiled cord for the Mitrek mobile, the MSR2000 station, and several others is part number 083731M01. Yes, the MSR station uses a mobile microphone as a test microphone.

Mitrek Mobile Radios

First, let's figure out what chassis you have:

Mitrek Model and Chassis Numbers Identifying the better Mitrek Model and Chassis Numbers By Mike Morris WA6ILQ
This article also contains some info on the "Mitrek Plus" radios.

Mitrek Parts Catalog

RF related Information:

The official Mitrek and MSR2000 tuning tool is part number 6684230K01. GET ONE (preferrably two). The misery caused by a cracked slug is not worth the few dollars it costs. If you are new to the Mitrek or MSR I'd get two, and leave the second in its little envelope in the tool box. Then when you break #1, you unwrap #2 and put the wrapper in your pocket. That night, at home, when you empty your pockets you will find the wrapper and that will remind you to order #3. (Note - some MSR manuals list two tuning tools, 6683398A01 and 6682977K01, but both are NLA from Motorola).
You will want to add a flap of tape to the tool - for two reasons - one to keep it from rolling off the bench, and a second to count turns as you twist a tuning slug.
UPDATE (June 2011) The original tool(s) are now NLA, so the current tool of choice is the MICOR Universal Tuning Tool 6684387C01, which is still available, for about $6 each. This tool has a thin steel blade on one end, and both 0.075" and 0.100" hexes on the other end. In addition to being the tool of choice for most Motorola equipment, it also is suitable for tuning General Electric radios such as MASTR II, Exec II, and MVP.
What sets the MICOR tuning tool apart from many other commercial tuning tools is that it has a large-diameter finger grip that allows the user to make sensitive adjustments very easily.
Thanks to Mike Besemer WM4B and Eric Lemmon WB6FLY for the update and info.

Low-band (30-50 MHz)

Mitrek low-band service manual 6881045E65-O Donated by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 7 MB PDF file.

A conversion of the Mitrek VHF low-band mobile to 6 meters By Wes Nicholas KD3IJ

Another conversion of the Mitrek VHF low-band mobile to 6 meters By Tom Herman N1BEC/7

Additional helpful info and manual scans useful to the above two mods By Eric Lemmon WB6FLY

Tuneup of the low-band Mitrek (Including coil presets on the RX-1 and TX-5 pages) Courtesy John Clark KI4AWK
RX-1 RX-2 RX-3 RX-4 RX-5 TX-1 TX-2 TX-3 TX-4 TX-5

Tuneup of the low-band Mitrek receiver (Including coil presets) Full width page scan courtesy of by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 858 KB

Tuneup of the low-band Mitrek transmitter (Including coil presets) Full width page scan courtesy of by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 2.4 MB

High-band (136-174 MHz)

Conversion of the Mitrek VHF high-band Mitrek mobile to repeater service By Peter Harrison AA1PL

Tuneup of the high-band Mitrek radio (4 pull-out pages covering both receiver and transmitter, including coil presets) Full width page scan courtesy of by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 1.6 MB

High-band and/or UHF Conversions

Conversion of the Mitrek VHF or UHF mobile to a repeater Courtesy Doug Spreng W7MCF

Yet another conversion of the Mitrek VHF or UHF mobile to a repeater Courtesy Lou Harris N1UEC. (offsite link)

UHF (406-512 MHz)

Conversion of the Mitrek UHF mobile to full duplex link or repeater By George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU and the Sierra Radio Association

Conversion of the Mitrek 406-420 MHz 30 watt mobile for 420 MHz link service By the Cactus Radio Club, Inc. 110 KB PDF file.

Motorola Mitrek conversion to a repeater or link radio (offsite link)
Karl AK2O and the Spokane Repeater Group have a different take on converting the Mitrek. Karl's writeup builds on Mike WA6ILQ's interfacing article and goes much further, with some serious re-engineering towards optimizing it for packet, or for point-to-point linking. Well worth reading and printing for your Mitrek documentation binder.

Alignment of the UHF Mitrek Receiver (431 KB) Transmitter (583 KB) Alignment instructions from the manual - full width scans by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY

Tuneup of the UHF Mitrek Receiver Transmitter Courtesy of George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU and the Sierra Radio Association

Non-RF related Information:

Interfacing the Mitrek mobile radio to your repeater controller (over 175 KB of text on over 50 pages, with lots of photos) By Mike Morris WA6ILQ
Includes an introduction, interconnections, COR/COS, repeat audio, MICOR squelch, PL and DPL boards, duplex mods, cabling, interfacing, cooling modifications, and mounting hints.
This info will also help those that are setting up a Mitrek as a beacon radio. Just ignore the audio input (or short it to ground). Until you add modulation a dead carrier from a FM transmitter is the same as one from an AM transmitter.

Mitrek HLN4181 PL Board Information By Mike Morris WA6ILQ
Technical secrets of the Mitrek HLN4181 reedless PL Board, the TRN4224 tone element, plus some notes on the HLN4020 reed board.

Mitrek HLN4181 PL Board Schematic 840 KB PDF of a scan of the schematic sheet from the Mitrek mobile manual.

Mitrek HLN4020 dual reed PL Board Schematic and PCB Layout 793 KB PDF. This board will let you alternately encode one tone and decode a different tone, selected by the state of the PTT line (sometimes called "split tones").

Mitrek HLN4011 Digital PL Board Schematic 733 KB PDF.

Mitrek HLN4011 and YLN4011 Digital PL (DPL) Board Basic Information The YLN4011 is a redesign of the HLN4011 to allow multiple DPL codes. Does anyone have any documentation on it?

Mitrek TLN5730 DPL Two Code Adapter Schematic 205 KB PDF. This board allows the above HLN5011 DPL board to encode one DPL code and decode another, sometimes called "split codes". However this board is not full duplex - it won't let you encode and decode simultaneously, the codes are switched by the PTT line. If you need simultaneous encode and decode then forget the TLN5730, use the HLN4011 board as the decoder and a Com-Spec DPL board as the encoder.

Interfacing a KPC-9612 to a Mitrek By Oliver Buland W9ZGS

A better squelch for the Mitrek Using a MICOR squelch chip in the Mitrek; Courtesy of SEITS

The Mitrek bottom plate (the mounting plate) is a part number HLN4034C. The new price in 2006 was about $29.

The Mitrek (and the previous mobile designs: the Mocom-70, the Motran and the Motrac) all use a variation on a plug-in relay connector (pin 13 is removed) as a metering socket. Here's a photo of the metering plug, and a diagram of the socket. Photo and diagram courtesy of Eric Lemmon WB6FLY

The Mitrek mobile radio is a nice package for making a portable repeater. The domed lid (part number??) that was used on the 12-channel version makes a nice space for an interfacing board containing volume and squelch pots and small controller board (like an ICS or a NHRC, a homebrew, or an Allstar node. The holes in the chassis that were used to mount the 12-channel board can be used to mount those boards (night need tapping/threading).

I think that these current draw values are a worst-case scenario. However, remember that all of the Mitrek tabletop base station transmitters are rated at a 20% duty cycle.

The current draws listed in the manuals (in amps) are:

VHF UHF

Receive Standby (squelched) 0.45 (13.8v) 0.45 (13.8v)

Receive unsquelched 2.25 (13.8v) 2.0 (13.8v)

Transmit

40 Watts 10A (13.6v)

60 Watts 17A (13.6v)

75 Watts 22A (13.4v)

110 Watts 27A (13.4v)

30 Watts 12A (13.6v)

50 Watts 16A (13.6v)

75 Watts 23A (13.4v)

100 Watts 30A (13.4v)

Mitrek Tabletop Base Station: ("Super Consolette")

The "Super Consolette" tabeletop base station manual 6881040E80-A is available here as an 11.8 MB PDF download courtesy of Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. Note that you need the appropriate mobile radio manual (low-band, high-band, UHF or 800 MHz) to go along with it.

The "Super Consolette" tabletop base station is essentially a desktop cabinet that contains a mobile radio chassis, one of five different power supplies, a speaker, the control head components, and any options like channel-scan, a metering kit, an alert tone generator, a wireline remote control card, etc.

The "Super Consolette" User's Guide 6881159E69-A is available here as a 196 KB PDF. If you have an IQ higher than egg-white you don't need it.

Mitrek DC Metering kit Extracted from the complete manual by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 120 KB PDF file.

Connections to the Mitrek Consolette tabletop base terminal strips Plus a few other Mitrek tabletop notes... By Mike Morris WA6ILQ

Base microphone documentation: TMN1004A, TMN1005A, TMN1012A, TMN1013A, TMN1014A, TMN1015A and TMN1023A 711 KB PDF

Base microphone documentation: TMN1004B and TMN1005B 836 KB PDF

Motorola used the same outer housing for the Motrac / Motran-based stations and the Mitrek-based stations; all that was different was the dye in the plastic: the Motrac / Motran-based stations were a brownish-tan and the Mitrek was black.
The peel-and-stick label kit part numbers are 5483327G01 (Tan) or -02 (Black).

TRN6125A and TRN6703A Electronic Clock Kit 508 KB PDF
The 6125 is for the Super Consolette (Mitrek) and the 6703 is for the other consolettes. I'm pretty sure that the only difference is color of the dye in the plastic.

The HPN1001A and HPN1002A power supplies are the low-power supplies and were used in the 60w low-band stations, the 40 and 60w high-band stations, and the 30 watt and 50 watt UHF stations. The HPN1001 was 120v 60Hz only, the HPN1002 was designed to be jumperable for 120v, 220v or 240v AC and the transformer could handle 50 or 60 Hz.

The service manual says that the 60 watt low-band or high-band station draws 15 amps on transmit, the 50 watt UHF station draws 19 amps.

The HPN1000A and HPN1003A are the high-power supplies and were used in stations where the transmitters drew up to 30 amps. The HPN1003A was 120v 60Hz only, the HPN1000A was designed to be jumperable for 120v, 220v or 240v AC and the transformer could handle 50 Hz or 60Hz.

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This page was created 10-Dec-2006.

Motorola® is a registered trademark of Motorola Inc. Image used with permission.
Channel Element, Mitrek® and MSR-2000® are registered trademarks of Motorola Inc. So there!

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.

	Channel elements for the Mitrek and MSR By Mike Morris WA6ILQ The Mitrek and the MSR2000 are crystal-based radios, and the crystals are installed in self-contained oscillator/tripler plug-in modules called Channel Elements. Earlier products used crystals, or crystals in miniature ovens. Here's why: Why should you really spend $50 to re-crystal a channel element or ICOM?.
	The replacement microphone coiled cord for the Mitrek mobile, the MSR2000 station, and several others is part number 083731M01. Yes, the MSR station uses a mobile microphone as a test microphone.

	Mitrek Model and Chassis Numbers Identifying the better Mitrek Model and Chassis Numbers By Mike Morris WA6ILQ This article also contains some info on the "Mitrek Plus" radios.
	Mitrek Parts Catalog

	Mitrek low-band service manual 6881045E65-O Donated by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 7 MB PDF file.
	A conversion of the Mitrek VHF low-band mobile to 6 meters By Wes Nicholas KD3IJ
	Another conversion of the Mitrek VHF low-band mobile to 6 meters By Tom Herman N1BEC/7
	Additional helpful info and manual scans useful to the above two mods By Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
	Tuneup of the low-band Mitrek (Including coil presets on the RX-1 and TX-5 pages) Courtesy John Clark KI4AWK RX-1 RX-2 RX-3 RX-4 RX-5 TX-1 TX-2 TX-3 TX-4 TX-5
	Tuneup of the low-band Mitrek receiver (Including coil presets) Full width page scan courtesy of by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 858 KB
	Tuneup of the low-band Mitrek transmitter (Including coil presets) Full width page scan courtesy of by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 2.4 MB

	Conversion of the Mitrek VHF high-band Mitrek mobile to repeater service By Peter Harrison AA1PL
	Tuneup of the high-band Mitrek radio (4 pull-out pages covering both receiver and transmitter, including coil presets) Full width page scan courtesy of by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 1.6 MB

	Conversion of the Mitrek VHF or UHF mobile to a repeater Courtesy Doug Spreng W7MCF
	Yet another conversion of the Mitrek VHF or UHF mobile to a repeater Courtesy Lou Harris N1UEC. (offsite link)

	Conversion of the Mitrek 406-420 MHz 30 watt mobile for 420 MHz link service By the Cactus Radio Club, Inc. 110 KB PDF file.
	Motorola Mitrek conversion to a repeater or link radio (offsite link) Karl AK2O and the Spokane Repeater Group have a different take on converting the Mitrek. Karl's writeup builds on Mike WA6ILQ's interfacing article and goes much further, with some serious re-engineering towards optimizing it for packet, or for point-to-point linking. Well worth reading and printing for your Mitrek documentation binder.
	Alignment of the UHF Mitrek Receiver (431 KB) Transmitter (583 KB) Alignment instructions from the manual - full width scans by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
	Tuneup of the UHF Mitrek Receiver Transmitter Courtesy of George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU and the Sierra Radio Association

	The "Super Consolette" tabeletop base station manual 6881040E80-A is available here as an 11.8 MB PDF download courtesy of Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. Note that you need the appropriate mobile radio manual (low-band, high-band, UHF or 800 MHz) to go along with it.
	The "Super Consolette" tabletop base station is essentially a desktop cabinet that contains a mobile radio chassis, one of five different power supplies, a speaker, the control head components, and any options like channel-scan, a metering kit, an alert tone generator, a wireline remote control card, etc.
	The "Super Consolette" User's Guide 6881159E69-A is available here as a 196 KB PDF. If you have an IQ higher than egg-white you don't need it.
	Mitrek DC Metering kit Extracted from the complete manual by Eric Lemmon WB6FLY. 120 KB PDF file.
	Connections to the Mitrek Consolette tabletop base terminal strips Plus a few other Mitrek tabletop notes... By Mike Morris WA6ILQ
	Base microphone documentation: TMN1004A, TMN1005A, TMN1012A, TMN1013A, TMN1014A, TMN1015A and TMN1023A 711 KB PDF
	Base microphone documentation: TMN1004B and TMN1005B 836 KB PDF
	Motorola used the same outer housing for the Motrac / Motran-based stations and the Mitrek-based stations; all that was different was the dye in the plastic: the Motrac / Motran-based stations were a brownish-tan and the Mitrek was black. The peel-and-stick label kit part numbers are 5483327G01 (Tan) or -02 (Black).
	TRN6125A and TRN6703A Electronic Clock Kit 508 KB PDF The 6125 is for the Super Consolette (Mitrek) and the 6703 is for the other consolettes. I'm pretty sure that the only difference is color of the dye in the plastic.
	The HPN1001A and HPN1002A power supplies are the low-power supplies and were used in the 60w low-band stations, the 40 and 60w high-band stations, and the 30 watt and 50 watt UHF stations. The HPN1001 was 120v 60Hz only, the HPN1002 was designed to be jumperable for 120v, 220v or 240v AC and the transformer could handle 50 or 60 Hz.
	The service manual says that the 60 watt low-band or high-band station draws 15 amps on transmit, the 50 watt UHF station draws 19 amps.
	The HPN1000A and HPN1003A are the high-power supplies and were used in stations where the transmitters drew up to 30 amps. The HPN1003A was 120v 60Hz only, the HPN1000A was designed to be jumperable for 120v, 220v or 240v AC and the transformer could handle 50 Hz or 60Hz.