THERE IS NO SUCH RADIO AS A SYNTOR XX
To paraphrase Paul Bennett N7OCS, "The Syntor X, Syntor X9000 and
Syntor X9000E radios use a 'drop shadowed' X graphic. This drop
shadow is cosmetic only and there is no such thing as a Syntor XX,
Syntor XX 9000 or Syntor XX 9000E radio. On the
other hand, there are Syntor X2 and Syntor X3 trunking radios, so
the use of the "XX" can be confusing and should always be avoided."
Also there is a space before the "X" and no dash or hyphen between the X and the
9000. In other words, "Syntor X9000" is correct, "Syntor X-9000" is incorrect, as
is "Syntor-X9000" and "Syntor-X-9000".
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The Syntor line of mobile radios are synthesized VHF and UHF
32 channel radios (actually a 16 channel rotary switch and a
Zone A / B switch). The Syntors were made in the 1980s
and were a synthesized sucessor to the crystal controlled MICOR series.
Note that PL was not standard on the Syntor and required a plug-in option circuit
board. If you are purchasing a Syntor and will need PL make sure that option
is in the radio before you hand over the money. The RF frequency information
was held in a PROM chip and the PL tone information in a second PROM chip.
Both chips are 82S129s in sockets and an 82S131 can
be adapted to fit. Both the 82S129 and the 82S131 chips are one-time
programmable and hard to find. People have created a plug-in module that replaces
both chips with 27-family EPROMS but that source is no longer in business.
The Mike Blenderman K7IC web site is the fount of knowledge on
the entire Syntor / Syntor X / Syntor X9000 series.
The Syntor X radios followed the Syntors and were completely different
inside (they really should have had a different product name). They offer more
options including talkaround, low band and more than 32 channels (still in
16-channel zones). The programming is held in a plug-in memory module. The
orange-labeled modules had a 2816A, 2816B or 2816C EEPROM memory chip.
The white-labeled modules had a one-time PROM that could not be reprogrammed.
There is a procedure to convert a PROM module to an EEPROM module that was
documented in "Field Retrofit Procedure for EEPROM Modules", manual number
68P80100W53 and the page maintainer has never seen a copy (if a PDF shows up
he'll put it on this page, or if anyone would like to loan a paper copy he'll scan it and
return it).
Most modules had the chip in an internal socket. The module was programmed with
the R1800 / R1801 series suitcase programmer that had to be configured
for the Syntor X (the RTL-4801C Radio Service Software was installed inside
and the RTL-5816B Memory Module Adaptor board plugged into the front).
The programming information holds separate receive and transmit frequencies,
PL or DPL (tone or digital encode / decode), a timeout timer
(programmable in 15 second increments to over 7 minutes) and a
scan list (up to 32 channels) with two priority channels. There is a modification
that provides 64 channels, but it's not as desirable as you would think (go read
Mike Blenderman's page on it to find out why). Short
form: you end up with essentially two 32-channel codeplugs stacked, with a
switch to select 1-32 or 33-64. Another "gotcha" is that you can't scan across the
boundary between channels 32 and 33. A third is that 64 channels and MPL
are mutually exclusive.
Two sources of Syntor or Syntor X memory module programming are: (offsite links)
You can contact either of these people via the contact information on
their web sites.
If anyone else would like to be added to this list just send an email to the page maintainer listed above.
The Syntor X9000 followed the Syntor X and is the same radio
from an RF standpoint, but… Aside from minor circuit revisions, the Personality
Board and Common Circuits Board are all that separates a Syntor X from a
Syntor X9000. The control heads, cables and accessories of the Syntor X
and Syntor X9000 are not compatible at all (yes, the connector on the
radio end of the control cable is the same, but the cable is not compatible).
As far as these external connections go, the antenna and 12 volt DC
power source are about all that they have in common.
The X9000 uses Systems 9000 accessories and options that communicate
with the radio via a 9600 baud serial bus. The control head(s) are smart heads
with their own microprocessor inside. Unlike the Syntor X the X9000 is
programmed with RSS (and a slow PC), a RIB and special adapter cable that
goes in series with the normal radio cable. The special cable is not
an absolute requirement; there are several ways to make your own connection
from a radio to a RIB. In other words, the X9000 is a more desirable
mobile radio than a Syntor X since you don't need the
almost-impossible-to-find suitcase programmer for the plain Syntor or the
Syntor X... you just connect a slow PC or a laptop to the X9000 and program
it. The RSS package for the X9000 contains two programs, one to program the
radio, and one to program the head (you program the radio with the information
(frequency, tone, etc) for each mode, you program the head with the text to
display for each mode).
One quirk about the 255 channel X9000 radios: the memory chip in the head
only has room for about 209 text labels. When you go to any channel above
the limit the display changes and displays the word "MODE" plus the
channel number. The firmware allocates a fixed number of display memory
bytes for each label - in other words using fewer characters in modes 1-209
does not move the switchover threshold. I've found that 209 text labels
is sufficient for my needs.
The Syntor X9000E models are actually conventional
Syntor X9000 radios with an internal trunking controller board
added. The "E" model offers nothing to the non-trunking user and are
not any more valuable than a plain X9000. These radios can be easily
converted into conventional Syntor X9000 radios (which is not true
of trunking Syntor X models).
Note that there are a wide range of Syntor line accessories and that the
cable and head are not compatible between the various Syntor, Syntor X
Syntor X9000 and Syntor X9000E models. The only accessories that
are the same across all radio lines are the speaker, microphone and antenna.
If you do not have experience with the Syntor series and decide to buy any
Syntor you really need to purchase a complete installation kit - the radio,
cable and the head. Mike Blenderman's and Paul Bennett's web sites (linked
below) will help sort out the confusion, but it's best NOT to try and mix
and match unless you have the full manual that covers your radio(s) and
accessories.
Mike Blenderman K7IC has his own very extensive web site on the Syntor,
the Syntor X, the Syntor X9000, the Syntor X9000E and the trunking
models of the Syntor X and X9000 listed below. There is no point in duplicating
his effort here at Repeater-Builder. This web page is only going to cover topics
that are not covered at Mike's site. I really suggest that you go to Mike's site
first (and bookmark it).
John W1GPO discovered a bad situation dealing with grounds when using Syntor
X9000 radios and external power supplies, as in base/repeater installations.
We finally realized why three X9000 radios I recently repaired failed, whereas my
personal X9000 radios have never failed over 15 years. Two of the failures happened
to X9000 radios used as a base, and one was a mobile, where in this case neither the
mounting tray nor the antenna were grounded to the car body (a mag mount antenna was
used). None of the failures involved antenna power or SWR circuitry, or a burned-out
neon bulb coax surge protector, so the problem was not a surge on the antenna. In one
radio I had to replace three boards where one component in each went bad (mostly ICs),
and in another radio (the hardest to find) a ceramic chip cap on the feed-through wire
to ground on the current sense line from the PA became leaky when voltage was applied.
The problem is that the black A- power lead is not grounded to the radio's case, which
the coax shield goes to, but half of the interior boards ARE grounded to the coax
shield/radio case, and half have a floating ground associated with the black A- lead.
Everything is just fine if the radio is installed in a vehicle with the radio tray and
antenna shield grounded to the vehicle's body, along with the black A- power lead, as
per Motorola's installation guidelines. When an external power supply is used that does
not tie A- to the radio case/coax shield, a voltage surge between the antenna and power
line ground develops inside the X9000. The radio case / coax shield likewise
needs to be connected to A- via vehicle ground or directly to each other in the case of
no antenna ground to the vehicle. Note that most Astron power supplies tie the negative
lead to chassis (power line) ground.
This situation could affect any radio with a configurable (positive or negative) ground,
such as a MICOR.
The Syntor, Syntor X and Syntor x9000 can use 4, 8 or 16 ohm speakers.
All use an internal audio output transformer and you don't need to do anything special
to do measure quieting, etc. (as opposed to the later Mitreks, MaxTracs, etc that
drive both sides of the speaker audio outputs, where you have to use an 8 ohm,
1:1 transformer in line since you can't connect either side of the radio's speaker
output to ground).
After Skip Hansen WB6YMH and Lee Dusbabek K7KAJ/N7LD picked up a
fleet of radios that had been sold without the memory modules, they designed, built
and now sell a replacement memory module for the Syntor X called the
Xcat. It plugs into the Syntor X in place of the original Motorola memory module
and provides complete funtionality plus it is programmable by a PC using a
Windows-based program. A Syntor X plus the Xcat is a much more
capable base station or remote base radio than an X9000 – and
much cheaper!
However, if your interest is in a standalone mobile radio then the X9000 is
still the way to go as the X9000 came in 32, 64, 128 and 255 modes and
offers an 11-character alphanumeric display control head. In contrast, the
Xcat provides 32 modes and you can't run some accessories (like a PA-siren)
from the Syntor X main control head (when the Syntor X was a current
product Moto provided an accessory control box that mounted on top of the
radios control head).
Click here for a photo of the Xcat board
Click here for a photo of the installed Xcat board.
The brown connector at the top of the first photo plugs into the Syntor X
in place of the original Motorola module (so if you end up with an eBay
Syntor X that was decomissioned by pulling the module you can add
the Xcat and turn your doorstop back into a working radio).
Again referring to the first photo, the 10-pin header that is visible in the
lower left connects to a DE-9 connector that plugs into your PCs serial port
(COM port) for programming the Xcat. The 20-pin header at the lower right is
for a connection to a repeater controller when used in
a remote base application (it's the multicolor ribbon cable in the "installed"
photo). The Xcat allows remote selection of RF frequency, PL encode and decode
tones, and power level via the Doug Hall "RBI" protocol that is supported by
most controllers (and you don't need the Doug Hall box!). The Icom CI-V
protocol or the serial protocol can be used by controllers that don't support
the Doug Hall protocol.
The Xcat module, when plugged in place of the original Moto memory module,
provides:
- Computer control via a professionally written open source
Windows application that talks to the Xcat module via a serial port.
- A simple interface to repeater or remote base controllers using either the
"Doug Hall" or Icom CI-V protocols. Yes, a Syntor X equipped with
an Xcat makes an exact and excellent replacement for a Kenwood mobile
as a remote base (but it has a real receiver with really good intermod reistance).
The Xcat has been used successfully with RLC 3, RLC Club, Pacific Research
RI-300s or an Scom 7K or 7330 – and without the Doug Hall RBI box
in the middle.
- If you interface it to a repeater or remote base controller you can use a Syntor-X
as a fully frequency and PL tone agile remote base. And you can have multiple Xcats
sharing the same controller port (i.e. separate low band, high band and UHF
Xcat / Syntor-X remote bases on one repeater controller port).
The Xcat was designed to make a Syntor X into a high end remote base radio,
with the Xcat cabled to the site controller. However, if installed into a mobile
(i.e. in simple standalone operation) you end up with a 32 mode code plug that
can be programmed by your home PC without any superfluous hardware (i.e.
no RIB, RSS or old 386 computer required).
From the point of view of the Syntor X the Xcat is an exact replacement for
the orignal Motorola memory module and your radio won't know the difference.
The Windows application uploads the information to the Xcat and then the computer
can be disconnected until the information needs to be changed.
More information is available on the Xcat email list at
https://groups.io/g/xcat/topics.
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Contact Information:
The author / page maintainer, Mike Morris WA6ILQ, can be contacted here.
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Motorola® is a registered trademark of Motorola
Inc. Image used with permission.
Syntor, Syntor X, Syntor X9000, Syntor X2, Syntor X3, the
stylized / drop shadowed X, MCX, Mostar, MCX100 and MCX1000 are all registered
trademarks of Motorola Inc.
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.
