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Some Thoughts on Computers and Laptops Dedicated to Radio, Repeater or Field Programming Written, HTML'd and Maintained by Mike Morris WA6ILQ.

This is an opinion and experiences piece… What works for me may or may not work for you… The content below is derived from my experiences.
Thhis page focuses on the Toughbook CF‑30 and CF‑31 but touches on many aspects of rugged computers.
I'd appreciate your comments, corrections, critiques, suggestions, ideas and updates for this page (or any page at this web site).
(Even if it's juat a "Hey, you have a typo at…")

Note: This article was origianlly written in 2019‑2020 and some paragraphs have been updated.

Background:

I have known the owner of a local two-way radio shop here in Los Angeles since the mid-1970s.   I was about 20 or 21 when I was introduced to him when I asked aother gentleman for help in moving an all-tube Motorola mobile from 152 MHz to the 2 meter amateur band, specifically 146.76, 146.82, 146.94 and 145.30 (the local RACES channel) and converting it from one channel to multiple channels…   I'm now in my 70s, semi-retired, and have been helping out at his shop a couple of days a week for over a decade.   He's an Icom dealer however a lot of his customers have fleets of Motorola or Kenwood radios.

His shop takes care of a number of hospital radio systems (including the paging transmitters), around 45 channels of analog LTR trunking plus a similar number of channels of digital trunking (Icom IDAS MultiTrunk) and several conventional repeaters plus a privately owned multi‑site trunked P25 system, all spread across eight sites, six of which can be accessed with 4‑wheel‑drive‑only Forest Service fire roads.

Like any two-way shop they get into situations where uncommon radios (including Black Box, Harris, Tait and Bendix-King and once a Pye) come in the door.   As a result the programming environment that the shop has to support ranges from Windows 10 (both 32‑bit and 64 bit), Windows 7 (32‑bit), and the shop still has one desktop that runs XP and another one that runs MS‑DOS and Windows 98.   All in all, there are (at last count) about 25 different radio programming software packages from over 8 different manufacturers (roll over for a list).

The shop has to be able to field program radios and repeaters at our mountaintop radio sites, at customer sites and mobile radios in over 500 customer vehicles (delivery trucks, tow trucks, ambulances, the tractors that pull semi-trailers and in strange places such as in the cab on top of a tower crane, etc.).   And handhelds.   Lots of handhelds.   Especially at hospitals (one has over 600).   And one customer still has a Syntor X9000 in his car.   Los Angeles has a major harbor, and the shop has a relationship with a company that specializes in marine radio… the shop points all marine inquiries to them, they point all of their land mobile inquiries to the shop.

Consumer Laptops versus Field Laptops:

Modern retail (consumer) laptops are made for the office and home environment.   They are designed and built to a price point and that results in units that can't take much abuse because they are cased in thin plastic and nothing inside is shock mounted.   Yes, a padded carry-case helps, but there are times when it's out of the case…

Examples: A friend's sister broke a Sony laptop screen with a simple fall from the seat level of a couch onto a carpeted floor.   Another example was when a ham radio friend broke the housing around the screen and cracked the screen itself of an IBM Thinkpad in a fall from a laid‑back recliner chair to a hardwood floor.   Both were repaired and put back in service with parts purchased on eBay.   A third incident was when the owner shattered the screen on a Dell M4700 laptop six weeks out of warranty when he accidentally tripped over the charger cord, as he fell he yanked the laptop off the top of a workbench.   A duplicate screen assembly (the entire top half of the laptop from the hinges up) was acquired on eBay and swapped onto the unit.

Experience shows that a laptop used outside of the office, home or classroom needs to be much more ruggged than the average office laptop.   They need to hold up in challenging environments, survive being banged around or dropped, tolerant of vibration (both powered off and in operation), operate in outside temperatures, and be resistant to physical abuse, dust, dirt, humidity and moisture.

Panasonic Toughbooks:

These days the CF‑series Toughbook laptops are, frankly, the major player in the rugged field laptop market.   They are made by Panasonic Industrial Company, a division of Matsushita Electric Corp. and built to work where users have to work, not just use casually.   And many Toughbook models have the 9‑pin serial port including the CF‑18,CF‑19, CF‑29, CF‑30, CF‑31, CF‑53, CF‑54, CF‑55, CF‑74, FZ‑40, FZ‑55 and more.

The history of the Toughbook as we know it now started around (1993-1994) when the Japanese military published an official request for a rugged field laptop that would meet US MIL-STD-810 plus a few of their own extensions to that specification.  (off-site pointer to Wikipedia, opens in a new browser tab)

The MIL-STD 810G (the current one as of my writing this in 2022) is a military standard that specifies how equipment should perform under various environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, shock, vibration, dust, rain, and more. It is not a certification, but a set of guidelines and test methods that manufacturers can use to design and test their products. They include:
Altitude: Storage/Air Transport
Altitude: Operation
Dust: Sand and Dust
Explosive Atmosphere
Freeze / Thaw
High Temperature Storage
High Temperature Operation
High Temperature: Tactical - Standby to Operational
Humidity
IP Dust
IP Water
Low Temperature: Storage
Low Temperature: Operation
Rain: Blowing
Rain: Drip
Sand and Dust
Shock: Functional
Shock: Transit-Drop 48-inch, 60-inch, 72-inch
Temperature Shock
Vibration: General Vibration - non-operating
Vibration: General Vibration - operating
Vibration: Loose Cargo Transportation
Vibration: Vehicle operating

I was told that one of the requirements that the Japanese military added to the list of tests was that the laptop, when closed, needed to survive being driven over by a Main Battle Tank.   Wikipedia says that a Japanese Type 90 MBT - one that was in common use at that time - is about about 110,000 pounds / 55 US Tons / 50 metric tons.

The first "Toughbook" that I am aware of was a product called the CF‑41 Toughbook in 1994.   I do not know if it was in response to the official military request.   It had a 50 MHz 486 processor, 4 or 8 MB RAM and a 10.4 inch (640×480 pixel) screen.   The accompanying literature claimed that the CF-41 Toughbook was "designed to withstand vibration, drops, spills, extreme temperature, and rough handling".   The term Toughbook could have come from the unusual construction: the screen, keyboard and lower body opened up like pages in a book ( click for photo).   The CD-ROM drive is on the left, a storage spindle for a second compact disk is on the right.   The Mark 2 model appeared in 1995. (links open in a new browser tab)

Note: Panasonic uses "Mark" numbers to identify successive hardware versions.   The various sets of improvements within a model are referred to as "Marks" – a Mark 1 is the original hardware version, a Mark 2 is the first major hardware change, a Mark 3 is the second major hardware change, and so on.   Using my CF‑30KQPAQ2M Toughbook as an example…   The "CF‑30" is the actual base model, the next character (in this case, a "K") is a sequential production indicator.   If you found the letters C, D or E in place of the "K" that would translate to a Mark 1 unit.   The letter "F" was skipped, the letters "G" through "J" indicate a Mark 2, and "K" through "L" plus "Q" is a Mark 3.   Other models have Mark Identifiers that extend into numberics, for example the CF‑31 Mark 1 through Mark 4 uses "A" through "Y", "Z" was skipped, the Mark 5 is "1" through "4", the Mark 6 is "6" through "9".   The Mark can be important on some models, we will get into that further down in this document.

The CF‑25 was the first laptop that was described as "Rugged" in the literature.   It was introduced in 1996 but it wasn't called a "Toughbook".   It had a 100 MHz processor (later Marks went as high as 166 MHz), a 10.4 inch (800x600 pixels) color screen, 8MB (expandable to 40MB) of RAM and 840 MB of hard drive (later Marks went as high as 2.1 GB).   It had a real 9‑pin hardware serial (COM 1) port.   And it did meet all of the then‑current MIL-STD-810 specifications.

After the success of the CF‑25 the successor (in 1999) was the CF‑27 Toughbook and it was advertised as a "Toughbook".   It had a 200 MHz Pentium II (later Marks went as high as 300 MHz), 64 MB of RAM (expandable to 192 MB), a 10.4 inch 1024×768 Touchscreen, a 6.4 GB hard drive, and a USB port, all in a 3.6 kg / 8 lb magnesium alloy case.   And it had a real 9‑pin hardware serial (COM 1) port.

Over the next few years the product lines were expanded to include "Fully Rugged", "Semi Rugged" and "ToughPad" models.

Primary features of the CF‑27 and later "Fully Rugged" Toughbooks are chemically strengthened glass on touchscreens, TFT active-matrix color LCD screen designed specifically for visibility during daylight use.   There's a replaceable plastic sheet that covers and protects the screen without affecting the touch-screen or the digitizer (if equiped).   There are also weatherproof flaps over all of the ports and protective hinged side panels to protect the connectors and optical drive.   There is a swappable shock-mounted hard drive, a rear (or bottom) connector for a docking station (desktop or mobile) and more,   Some models can be certified for operation in explosive atmospheres (important for oil and gas and for mining).

Ever since the Panasonic Toughbook "Fully Rugged" and "Semi-Rugged" product lines have been the laptops of choice where the utmost reliability is critical and durability is essential.   Major users are the military, emergency services, law enforcement, EMTs / Paramedics, railroad, electrical, oil and natural gas utilities, field service, marine (navigation, chart plotters, engine management), telecom, contruction, farming GPS, surveying, government, healthcare, heavy duty mechanics, field data collection, mining and cave exploration, manufacturing, and more.   Docking stations and vehicle arm mounts are available.   The standard Panasonic warranty is 3 years and optionally 5 years but it's not unusual to see units that are in the field for 7, 8 or even 10 years.   Panasonic stocks parts for all models for 7 years after end of production but some components that are used across several models are 10 years.

Other writers have done an excellent job of defining "Rugged" in the field laptop context, a good one is here.   Even Forbes magazine did a test you can find on YouTube (3 and 1/2 minutes, the last minute is the best). (both are off-site pointers, open in a new browser tab)

Panasonic takes the Department Of Defense (DOD) US MIL-STD-810 seriously.   The "Fully Rugged" models exceed the requirements of US MIL-STD-810 and more. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)   They ignore high humidity, rain, dust, smoke, rough handling and have an excellent thermal design so they operate up to +50°C / 122°F and down to -30°C / -22°F.   The outer case, the screen, the keyboard and then touchpad are designed to resist moisture, dust and grime.

As part of the MIL-STD-810G the Fully Rugged models have an Ingress Protection (IP) rating.   The first digit following the letters IP pertains to protection from solids while the second digit pertains to protection from liquids.   Protection from solids ranges from 0 to 6 with 6 being the highest level of protection while protection from liquids ranges from 0 to 8 with 8 providing the highest level of protection.   The IP Rating provides a more usable explanation instead of vague terms like dust-resistant or waterproof.   The most common IP Ratings in regards to Toughbooks are IP51, IP54, IP65 and IP67.   The IP65 rating translates to completely protected from dust ingress and protected from low pressure water jets from any direction however cannot be submerged in water.   Again, another writer has done an excellent job in explaining IP here.   And this video is another explanation of IP ratings. (both are off-site pointers, opens in a new browser tab)

Years ago I saw a YouTube video of a gentleman who showers with his open Toughbook after spending a day in his sailboat on the ocean.   I can't find it as I'm typing this, but I remember him standing under the showerhead washing the dried and damp salt out of the keyboard, off of the screen and off of the Toughbook body.

The Toughbooks are a niche product designed and made for a niche market for extremely durable laptops.   They are engineered from the inside out for the field work environment.   Panasonic can charge a premium because there is no real competition.   A second reason for the high price is the excellent design and build quality.   A third reason that the cost is high is because the market is so small compared to a consumer plastic laptop… the small market prevents spreading the development cost across a large production run (no economies of scale).

Panasonic also offers a series of "Semi Rugged" Toughbooks that are more durable than a retail laptop computer but not "Fully Rugged".   They not as common on the used market as the Fully Rugged models.   The "Semi Rugged" models are intended for people in situations that get an occasional thump (like home visits by insurance agents or as a travel computer for a heavy traveler (i.e. someone that spends 100 nights a year in hotels) where the Fully Rugged models are designed for the grimy, dirty, dusty, could get wet, could get dropped, been in the summer heat, or the winter cold.

A Panasonic Tech once told me:

• The CF-27 to 31 are the Fully Rugged and more common in the secondary market (which means more spare parts).
• The CF-18 and 19 are Fully Rugged laptop / tablet models with a single center rotating hinge and a slightly smaller form factor and less common.
• The CF-20 and CF-33 are switch hitters - they can be a tablet or snap into a cradle and can be a pretend laptop.
• The CF-51 to 54 and some of the 70-series models are Semi Rugged.
• There are other tablet models.
• There are exceptions: The CF-20 and CF-33 should have had a tablet prefix, the FZ-55 is a semi rugged, and the FZ-40 should have been the CF-40 (it's the fully rugged follow-on to the CF-31).

This paragraph added March 2024: I was pointed to a web page at Reddit where wa gentleman was looking for information on a strange CF‑series Toughbookmodel number: a "CF‑ALEPEMALT".   Looks like it was a big order for the US Navy with a custom configuration and thus got it's own model number outside of the standard format.   It was shipped with Windows Vista and has the sticker for the later generation Core 2 Duos (the blue rectangle one).   Another reader stated that it was a special aircraft and engine tool for aeronautical ground support equipment and targets/drones at Naval Air Systems Command in Philadelphia, and that internally it was a CF‑30.   The CPU descriptor on the BIOS page indicated that the system board was a Mark 3 model.

My Toughbook Experiences:

I like the secondary market CF‑series because they are are rugged way beyond my needs, are configurable and bench repairable with minimal tools.   From my point of view a one-generation-old used CF‑series Toughbook that I was able to make fully operational for $248 (about 5% of the original price of about $4,900) is one helluva deal!   A one-generation-old laptop is plenty "good enough" for a lot of things.   The two big things in field service and field programming of 2-way radios are the ruggedness and the real 9‑pin hardware serial (COM 1) port (opens in a new browser tab) that when used bypasses all of the driver problems inherent in USB connections.   It just plain works!

I was introduced to Toughbooks in either 1999 or 2000 by an acquaintance who at that time had an agency-issued CF‑27 back when that model was current.   He referred to it as a "military grade" laptop.   I had never seen anything like it and was amazed that it had everything… a screen that was usable in sunlight, a full rubber (waterproof) keyboard, a printer port, a serial port, a floppy, everything…   It booted into MS-DOS and you could run Windows 95!   It did not have an internal modem but it did have two PCMCIA slots, and one of them had a modem card in it.   Later I saw Toughbooks used by field personnel from Pacific Telephone (the Bell system telephone company in southern California).   At that time a ham radio friend worked for Pacific Telephone and I was able to get an hour of hands-on time with a Pacific Telephone CF‑28 Toughbook.   The friend said that they order was large enough that Panasonic had created a custom cover with the company logo (the metal back of the screen).   I wish I had a photo of a Pacific Telephone CF‑28 Toughbook.

The first Toughbook I actually owned was a box of three well-used "dead" CF‑28s (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) that a friend gave me.   Those were parts units that were left over from an earlier decomissioned fleet (not Pacific Telephone).   I frankensteined (assembled) one working one from the three and had a bunch of parts left over. &nbp; All of the CF‑28s used a 600 MHz Pentium III in the days when RAM was still measured in hundreds of megabytes (the manual has a copyright date of 2001).   The CF‑28 came in three Marks, the CF‑28M units (Mark 1) had 128 MB soldered to the system board, the CF‑28P units (Mark 2) and early CF‑28S (Mark 3) units had 256 MB, the later Mark 3s had 512 MB.   Once it was operational I maxed it out with 768 MB and installed MS-DOS and Windows 98 on it.   When I retired that unit it had Windows 98 Second Edition on it because that version implemented the FAT32 file system and supports hard disk partition sizes greater than 511 MB.

A few years later I was given two "dead" CF‑29s (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) and frankensteined them into a single working one and installed Windows XP.   About a year later I passed the CF‑28 on to a friend who had dropped his Toshiba 386 radio programming laptop.

A year or so after that I was given a working CF‑27.   A Toughbook that old can be useful to someone that wants a native MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows laptop that is slow enough (200 MHz Pentium II) to field program Maxtracs. GM-300s or any other slow MS-DOS programed radios.   The biggest problem is that the battery is unique and pure unobtanium (but could be opened up and rebuilt).   When I use it I just run it off the charger.

I would discourage aquiring a CF‑27, CF‑28 or CF‑29 Toughbook today (2020) for multiple reasons, including they are old enough that parts will be VERY difficult to find and that they have hardware limitations especially in RAM.   At the time I acquired the CF‑28, CF‑29 and now the CF‑30 they were at least one generation old, possibly two.   The CF‑30 (opens in a new browser tab) was introduced in 2006 and is the fourth generation of CF‑series mil-spec laptops.   The price of the least expensive CF‑30 model in 2006 was about $4,600-$4,700 (equivalent to around $6,900-$7,000 in 2022 dollars acording to https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl).   My 2006-vintage CF‑30 was in my hands and usable for under $200 (I was able to use my CF‑29 battery and charger) and fully operational for under $250.   At that time the price of an i5-based used CF‑31 was over five times that amount.   About a year after my CF‑30 was proven I passed my CF‑29 on to a friend that was also running a CF‑29 and wanted a spare.

This paragraph and the next added May 2022: The CF‑31 has been replaced by the FZ‑40   The 9-pin serial port is still there, but it is not a standard feature, it is an option.   Fortunately it can be easily added in the field.   Video #1   Video #2   Video #3. (all are off-site pointers, open in a new browser tab).

The CF‑33 model is a total departure from the laptop family, it is essentially a tablet that clips into a keyboard frame.   Because of the water-resistant design, some compromises in cooling had to be made, and the cooling is barely able to keep up with the heat produced by the 15 watt CPU.   Battery life could be better.   RAM is non-upgradable, whatever it was ordered with is what you will have for the life of the unit.

Initially I used the CF‑28 and then the CF‑29 for field programming mobile and handheld radios and repeaters… they had one job – to download, edit and upload the frequency / channel information (called a "codeplug") AND could take a fall from the drivers seat of an ambulance or a heavy-lift tow truck (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) and shrug it off… (am I dating myself to quote John Cameron Swayze?   " It takes a licking and keep on ticking… " )   All three generations of my radio programming Toughbooks have survived several unintentional personal drop tests, one was from the top of a 10 foot ladder.   And here is a public demo of dropping a CF‑31 from 6 feet 70 times (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab).   For the purposes of only that one video the CF‑31 can be considered to be equal to the CF‑30, the CF‑29 and the CF‑28.

Now mind you, over the years that one job mentioned above has expanded… the list now includes:

• Download a customer radio or repeater, modify the codeplug, upload it back to the radio or repeater.   …and /or…
• Run a standard open source office suite like Libre Office or Open Office (both are a free replacement for MS Office)
  and update a document like a a procedure or a spreadsheet to track progress on reprogramming a customer fleet.   …and / or…
• Reprogram a repeater (or a repeater controller) on-site.   …and / or…
• Be able to respond to emails while anywhere in the field (maybe using a cellphone as a hotspot for the WiFi).   …and / or…
• Run WinLink, Fldigi, or other communications programs if deployed on an ARES / DCS / OES callout accessing
  the radio(s) with the standard 9-pin COM1 port, a USB-to-serial adapter or one or more external USB-sound card modem(s).   …and / or…
• Use it at a ham radio meeting or on a deployment to run a powerpoint, excel, a browser or other presentation on a video projector.

…In a used CF‑30 you are getting:…

• A dual core processor.   The CF‑31 models (and a few other Toughbook models) have i3, i5 or even i7 processors.
• Uses standard RAM and SATA hard drives or SSDs.   The smallest hard drive at the time of manufacture of the CF‑30 was 80 Gigs. &nbp; You can replace it with a 1 TB for about $100 (mid-2022 prices), and a 2 TB is a little more.   The CF‑30 has a hardware limitation of 2 TB.   The battery will last longer between charges with an SSD versus a spinning disk hard drive (no motor to suck down the battery).
• Officially the CF‑30 is expandable to 4 GB of system memory.   Several web pages report that the later CF‑30 Marks will support 8 GB of RAM.   Personal experience says that they are right, except that a 32‑bit OS is still limited to 3.15 GB usable (4 GB minus the video RAM).   Yes, a CF‑30 will run Win 10, but you will be happier with a CF‑31 with an i5 or i7.
• About 95% of the surplus units have built-in WiFi, the 5% is because some agencies specifically ordered them without WiFi.   One of the BIOS setup screens will tell you if any specific unit has it.   Just ask the seller if the WLAN option is present on the BIOS screen.
• A wired Ethernet 10 / 100 / 1000 MB RJ-45 jack is standard.
• A processor-connected serial port (not USB-based) with a standard 9-pin connector (COM 1).
  (if optioned with the internal 56kb dial-up modem that's COM 2 and if the GPS option is present it's on COM 3).
• Three USB ports… (two on the back plus one on the right side).   Other models have more USB ports.
• Multiple 100v-240vAC brick style chargers are available up to 7 amps.
  
• Can operate from a vehicle battery (or any other 12 volt source) with a readily available mobile charger / adapter, more on this later in this writeup.
• Meet US MIL-STD-810 (i.e. have a high tolerance for shock, drop, heat, cold and resistance to dust and water).
• The ability to use both the laptop screen and a monitor side by side to implement a larger desktop.   Yes, this feature has been in Windows for several revisions, but I thought I'd include that here.

I find that the stock Windows 7 does not run as well as it can.   There are a few good ideas on Optimizing Windows 7 here.   Not all are relevant (like using a better video card), but there are a few good ideas.

And there are ways to speed up Windows 10 as well.  Yes, that video is oriented towards gaming, but there is some interesting content.

Tools:

CAUTION: The entire Toughbook product line is assembled with Japanese Industrial Standard / ISO-8764-1 screws.   JIS screws look like Phillips but they are not! (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

Note that JIS is not Pozidriv, another Phillips lookalike (frequently incorrectly spelled as "Pozidrive").   The land mobile division of General Electric was a big user of Pozidriv; I first ran into them on the Mastr Exec and Mastr II product lines.

In my case the JIS screws were not a problem as I already had a JIS screwdriver set before I acquired the CF‑28s.   I discovered JIS screws in my days working on on Shimano bicycle hardware and Honda motorcycles (especially on the carburetors).   The local bicycle shop parts department manager was a ham and he advised that a purchase of a set set made by Vessel would prevent a lot of frustration (good alternates are Hozan and Wiha).

JIS screwdrivers will work on both Phillips and JIS screws without damaging their heads however a phillips screwdriver will damage the slots in the head of a JIS screw when torque is applied (the tip of the Phillips screwdrivers will not seat all the way down into a JIS screw head). (opens in a new browser tab)

Grinding down the tip of a phillips head screwdriver won't work.   The angles of the JIS tip is as important as the depth of the tip.   If you use a phillips screwderiver on JIS screws you WILL chew up screw heads and finding replacements is difficult.   This is the voice of experience.   I was lucky as I knew about JIS before I started working on my first Toughbook.   Even so, if I mangled a screw head I was going to have a lot of extra JIS screws left over from frankensteining three CF‑28s into one working unit.

Many JIS screws have a dot on the head.   A lot of the smaller JIS screws don't have the space on the head for the dot. Look at this photo, the small screw does not have the dot, the large screw does.

If all you are going to do is swap a hard drive for an SSD then all you will need is a JIS screwdriver set and a workbench or worktable with adequate light.   A set of tweezers would be useful on some of the smaller screws… they are tiny!   One tool that you might not think of is a head band magnifier.

If you are going to disassemble the lid (the screen), perhaps to swap the protective plastic sheet or the backlight or the backlight supply, or to open the base, perhaps to swap a BIOS battery then you will also need some common hand tools like small needle nose pliers.   If you are adding an internal WiFi kit, Bluetooth or a GPS or swapping a system board then you will run into a number of different screw sizes and lengths, and other loose small parts.   You will need something to keep them organized - anything from two or three egg cartons to a cigar box full of empty pill bottles to a multicompartment sorting bin… Something like this one. (opens in a new browser tab)

USE YOUR CELLPHONE CAMERA and take pictures before and during disassembly.   Extra photos cost nothing except memory space, and when you are done you can delete the photos if you want to.   DON'T rush, especially on things you've never seen before, like the clips that hold the keyboard cables.   Take a photo, enlarge it, maybe take another to get a better angle, enlarge it, and then pick up the tool.   Google is your friend on finding things like Wifi kits and how-to-install videos.   The Bob Johnson Computer Stuff youtube library is wonderful (see the information at the bottom of this page).

RECOMMENDATION: Get the proper tool for the job.   A JIS set with a #00, #0, #1, #2 and perhaps a #3 crosshead / crosspoint screwdrivers would be a good start.   Maybe a #000.   Spend $20-$30 on a real JIS screwdriver set before you start dismantling your first Toughbook.

Note that the Japanese Industrial Standard also includes straight-blade screws, and you will probably not need them for a Toughbook.   Almost everything in a Toughbook is crosshead / crosspoint.

Here is some more JIS background information (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

Serial Ports…

Radio programming has been done with a serial cable since serial ports became common.   IBM introduced the PC in late 1981 and in the manuals for it coined the name "COM port" for what everybody else at that time called an RS‑232 port or a serial port.   The IBM PC and XT used a Canon DB-25 serial port connector with industry standard pinout, the later IBM AT series used a 9-pin Canon DE-9 (the correct name) or a DB-9 (a commonly used but technically incorrect name) connector.   Unfortunately IBM invented their own pinout for the DE-9 instead of using the pinout that several companies, including Zetron, had been using for years.   The 9-pin serial port on the back of the Toughbook CF‑series is a standard hardware serial port that is driven by the processor I/O buss and as such worked (and still works) even with the oldest programs.

The early MS‑DOS operating system versions did not have a software driver to manage the serial port hardware..   The early radio programming software got around the serial I/O problems by totally sidestepping MS-DOS.   Every program included it's own serial I/O driver that directly talked to the serial port hardware.   All of the 16‑bit Windows versions (95, 98 and ME) are just an applications program that ran on top of MS-DOS.

Windows was completely rewritten from scratch for 32-bit Windows NT and the follow-on versions: XP, Vista, Windows 7, etc. and as such had a whole new set of programming rules… one of which was that ALL of the input / output devices (which included the serial ports) were totally owned by the operating system… no more direct access!   This forced the radio programming software developers to reinvent their appcations to use the serial port interface in the operating system.

These days the real hardware 9-pin serial ports on factory desktop and laptop PC's are becoming more and more rare.   A few of the Dell Optiplex desktop series and the Precision desktop series can be ordered with one or two real 9‑pin serial ports on the units.   Dell offers a real hardware 9-pin serial port in their "Rugged" (5xxx) and the "Rugged Extreme" (7xxx) laptop product lines.   At the time I am writing this (mid-2020) I do not know of any other curently manufactured desktops or laptops that are shipped with a real serial port however (as I write this in 2020) aftermarket single and dual port serial cards are available to plug into the I/O slots in desktop PCs.

Years ago I was helping an acquaintance who had an HP Elitebook 8570p (an i5 based laptop) and was having an issue with the serial port.   A phone call to HP tech support resolved a driver issue but during the call the HP tech said that their design group had decided to drop the 9-pin RS-232 serial port option from all future laptop models.   Then the HP tech, said – on the speakerphone – that if my friend absolutely needed a 9-pin serial port in a future laptop to go out and buy a Panasonic Toughbook!

Some laptops, including many in the CF‑series, have slots for PCMCIA / PC Card / ExpressCard expansion cards.   Several manufacturers made / make PCMCIA serial port cards, one is here.   An Express Card serial port is here.   (both links are off-site pointers and open in a new browser tab)
More on PCMCIA cards / PC Cards / ExpressCards later in this writeup.

Some Problems with USB and USB-to-Serial Adapters:   Especially when programming radios…

USB has become much more capable and reliable with every suceeding generation of the USB hardware and both the Windows and Mac operating systems.   USB to serial adapters and USB programming cables are becoming more and more the go-to solution for modern land mobile radio, PBX, alarm system and other device programming.   Some Motorola radios (examples: SL300 handhelds and MTR3000 repeaters) have USB programming ports (no more serial in those product lines!).   The XTS5000 handheld has both a serial programming cable and a USB cable that is much faster (but it is a proprietary and expensive cable).   A number of the higher-end Icom handhelds (one example is the 4400 series) have micro-USB jacks for programming.

Many of the early problems with USB interfacing were caused by the designers not understanding the USB chip data sheets and specifications pertaining to hardware design and software drivers.   Granted, the original chips were poorly documented and as a result a number of the early USB cables were buggy.   Many cable manufacturers ended up with hardware that needed a custom driver to work.  And many of the early USB drivers just didn't work well with the operating system or clashed with other drivers.   FTDI Corp. devices were the most trouble free and their USB adapters and they made sure that their cables worked with the stock Windows drivers.   Succesful operation of some of the Prolific based adapters depend on which of the Prolific chips were used, and some of them work with the current Windows drivers and some work only with an old driver.  Some proprietary cables require proprietary drivers.

This web page at www.miklor.com has some useful information on USB drivers and the solutions to problems with the Prolific chipset, the SiLabs chipset (CP210x) and the WCH chipset (identified as the CH340, WCH340, CH341 or WCH341).   And Prolific has been dropping driver support to push users to buy new hardware (both are off-site pointers, both open in a new browser tab).

The only USB to serial adapters that I have had absolutely zero problems with is the Eaton / Tripplite / Keyspan USA-19HS and the similar units.   Here is the same Eaton / Tripplite / Keyspan USA-19HS unit at Amazon.   While it is not obvious from the photos at Tripp-Lite or at Amazon the data cable unplugs from the back of the module (the module input is the USB-B square connector)   The module ships with a three-foot / 0.9 meter cable.   You can substitute your own cable up to 16 feet / 5 meters long.   (all open in a new browser tab)

Here's a summary of the common USB connector types. (opens in a new browser tab)

Yet another issue is that some legacy USB-A gear does NOT play nicely when connected to a USB-C-to-A adapter connected to a USB-C port on the newer computers or laptops.   As far as I know the Toughbook FZ-40 is the first model with USB-C ports.   If you need a USB-C to 9-pin adapter then use the Eaton / Tripplite / Keyspan USA-19HS-C unit available at Amazon. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

A few details about USB-A, USB 3 and USB-C: The USB-A connector (4 pins, two data wires, two power wires: +5vDC and Ground) was designed for USB 1 and sourced 5 volts at 1/4 amp or 1.25 watts.   It transferred data one direction at a time.   USB 2 increased the speed and the DC current available to 1/2 amp or 2.5 watts.   The USB 3.0 port (on the same connector but with a blue plastic tab) was introduced in 2008 and could deliver 0.9 amp or 4.5 watts and offers a data transfer speed of up to 5 Gigabits / 625 Megabytes per second, which is more than 10 times faster than USB 2.0.   USB 3.1 was introduced in mid-2013 and can deliver 3 amps (also with a blue tab).   A USB connector with a yellow tab is a USB 3 variant that has the DC power always-on.

The USB-C connector (with 24 pins) is different. It has some smarts on both ends and they "handshake" and negotiate the DC power delivery.   The negotiation starts at 5 voltsDC and can handshake to 9 volts, then 12 or 15 volts, then handshake up through 20 volts, 28 volts, 36 volts and 48 volts at up to 5 amps (240 watts if at 48 volts).   A large number of USB-C cables are limited to 3 amps.   Some documents say the highest voltage is 50 volts instead of 48 volts.
Here is the Wikipedia page on USB-C.   Here is the USB-C specification Rev 2.   (both are off-site pointers, and open in a new browser tab)

I solved the USB serial driver issues on my radio programming desktop and laptop computers with three simple steps:

1. As much as possible I use a DB-9 based radio programming cables plugged into the hardware COM1 port (no USB to get confused).
2. If I must use a USB cable I use either a real FTDI-based USB radio programming cable or a real FTDI-based USB to serial adapter (because the USB chips from FTDI just plain work with the stock Windows drivers).
3. I refuse to install any proprietary USB drivers.   Years ago we had an issue with one of the shop laptops… an Icom factory USB cable was shipped with a proprietary driver and that driver and the stock Windows drivers fought for months.   We ended up having to format the computer hard drive and reloading from zero everything except the Icom driver and using a 9-pin serial version of the Icom cable.

RS‑232 ± Voltage Swing:

Eventually you may find yourself in a situation where USB to serial adapters just doesn't work with certain hardware devices…   One possible reason that nobody thinks of might be that the current RS‑232-C specification (opens in a new browser tab) calls for voltage swings of up to ±15 volts from ground (or a 30 volt swing as the signal switches from zero to one and back to zero).

Just in case you are curious. the original RS‑232 standard (RS-232-A) says that a logic high (a "one" bit) is represented by a negative voltage (up to -25 volts) while a logic low (a "zero" bit) transmits with a positive voltage (up to +25 volts).   That's a swing of 50 volts.   Successive specs lowered the nominal voltages.   The original specification also said that maximum cable length was 50 feet, however since different cables had different electrical properties the more recent revisions of the RS-232 (newest seems to be revision F) standard now specifies a maximum capacitive load of 2500 pF and no specified cable length.   Very few documents (especially on the web) mention the capacitive load (like this one at Linear Technology doesn't.).
If you would like more information Wikipedia has the full story on RS-232 (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

That RS‑232 ± voltage swing requires a source of both positive and negative voltage to feed the output pin driver circuitry.   However the common laptop USB connector (opens in a new browser tab) that you find on a desktop or laptop only provides +5 volts DC at 1/4 of an amp (0.9 amp in USB 3).   Making -5 volts inside the USB to serial adapter from +5 volts is not difficult but any higher voltage requires an additional voltage booster circuit and the associated components.   A few of the serial adapter manufacturers cheat and use ±5 volts as the source voltage of the I/O pin driver circuits… and most of the time they get away with it.   On the other hand the same serial port circuity on a plug-in card adapter for a desktop computer will provide an RS‑232 voltage swing from -12 volts to +12 volts (because those voltages are provided by the card edge connector inside the desktop computer).

So if you have a failure to communicate you might check to see what the voltage swing is of your host - it may not be what your target device actually needs.   If your device works with some computers (especially desktops with card-based or motherboard-based serial ports) and not with other computers (especially with USB serial adapters) don't assume its the computer or the software, it may be the serial port hardware that is at fault.   I've seen this behavior twice (back in the 1970s), and in both cases it was resolved by replacing the RS‑232 driver / receiver chip(s) in the target device (fortunately they were in sockets).   In the other cases the target device had the RS‑232 driver / receiver circuitry implemented with discrete components and a circuit modification fixed it by changing the threshold voltages.   A breakout box will allow access to the signals, and an oscilloscope will tell the story.

You will probably never see it or have to work with it, but in case you do there is MIL-STD-188C which flips RS‑232 on its head… a logic "one" is now a positive voltage and a logic "zero" is a negative voltage.   In my days in R&D I've seen three 188 shop-built bench test adapters that did nothing but either pass through or invert TD and RD (the transmit and receive data) by flipping a switch… one adapter box was labeled "188" and "232"), the second was labeled "PASS THROUGH" and "188"), the third was labeled "DAIN BRAMAGED" and "NORMAL").

Identifying USB serial port (COM port) numbers in Windows:

So let's say you are programming a radio out in the field.   You fire up the laptop, and start the program.   Almost all radio programming software needs to know what COM number to use.   Some understand COM1 and COM2, others go up to COM4, others go up to COM16 or COM20.   99% of the time you have to manually configure the software with the COM port number.   The software for some recent Icom commercial radios automatically polls all of the COM ports looking for a responding radio.

The 9-pin connector on the back of the Toughbook defaults to hardware COM1.   If you use radio programming cables with a 9-pin connector on the laptop end the software will never be confused as to what port to use.   That is different with USB cables as Windows handles the assignment of the USB serial port adapters to a COM number whenever it's connected.   A USB-to-9-pin-serial adapter or a USB programming cable could show on any COM number(!) and that's all handled by Windows.

So how to find out what is the COM number of that cable you just plugged in…   That means starting at the Windows Control Panel icon or Start menu entry and then selecting Administrative Tools and then Computer Management and then the Device Manager program.   I had a Device Manager icon on my desktop until I found an easier way…

That easier way is the FREE (!) Helm Software Serial Port Notifier program. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab). I have been using it since 2020 on Windows 7-32, Windows 10-32 and Windows 10-64 computers with zero problems (it is not available for Linux or Mac).
It is also available at the SourceForge repository here: Serial Port Notifier. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)   Local copy, just in case: serial-port-notifier-v1.2.2.exe. (opens in a new browser tab)
Some of the Helm and SourceForge web pages refer to it as a "monitor".   The name was changed to "notifier" as it is not a true serial port traffic monitor, it just announces the COM ports as the adapter is plugged in or unplugged… a small dialog box notification pops up down in the lower right corner…   Example: "New Serial Ports: COM19", or "Serial Ports Removed: COM4".

Two minor nits:
1) I wish that the "Settings" screen in that program had the option of changing: (a) the size of the font used in the notification, (b) the duration of the notification and (c) add the ablility to position the notification in the center of the screen.   That set of changes would help those of us us that have old eyes and wear glasses.
2) I wish that the program would announce FTDI or Prolific when an adapter is plugged in.   Example: "New Serial Ports: COM19; FTDI" instead of "New Serial Ports: COM19"
If my programming skills were better and I had more hours in the day I'd download the source from SourceForge and do it myself and contribute it back to SourceForge.

Caution - Computer Passwords:

When considering purchasing a used desktop or laptop (any brand) make sure that there is NO PASSWORD on the computer startup, or on the screens that modify the BIOS settings.
I speak from experience on this.

Note: I am NOT talking about a Windows password. If you can boot off of a CD or a USB stick then there is a way to clear a Windows XP through Windows 10 password (possibly Windows 11, I've not needed to try).

I purchased a CF‑30 Mark 3 from a reseller that had purchased a decomissioned fleet.   After it arrived I wanted to change the boot sequence - it was set for the hard drive first.   I wanted it to look for a USB thumb drive first, then the optical drive, then the internal hard drive.   Booting from USB would allow me to boot into MS-DOS from a thumb drive.   Well, it had a BIOS password.   This was my first experience with a passworded Toughbook and I figured I'd get past it just as I had on my previous used computers.

Little did I know…  I tried everything I could find on various internet web pages and on YouTube and nothing worked.   I called Panasonic Tech Support… I was told by a Panasonic technician that Panasonic takes their DOD certification seriously and that per DOD requirements there is no password-clearing internal jumper, or any kind of a back door.   According to the Tech you cannot clear a CF‑30 BIOS password unless you already know the BIOS password.   He said the official solution was to replace the system board!   At that time the CF‑30 Mark 3 system board by itself was $500-$600 and he didn't know when one would be available, if at all).

I contacted the seller and emailed him screenshots of the BIOS password screen and a summary of what I had tried, and the statement from Panasonic Tech Support.   The seller was very apologetic and immediately sent a replacement CF‑30 unit (it had GPS!) plus a prepaid return shipping label.   I honestly believe that he did not know that the one I received had a password (he claimed that mine was the only complaint and therefore it must have been the only one in the fleet that had one).

My opinion is that if you see someone selling a laptop (any brand) with a BIOS password the odds are that they do not know what the password is and they are just selling it to get rid of it (and make it someone elses problem).   Or they are selling it as hardware parts.   Always send an email to the seller and verify that there is NO startup password or BIOS password before purchasing a used desktop or laptop (or bidding on an eBay one).

Note that there are Toughbook models that use a different system board design - the password (and other info) is stored in an 8-pin surface-mount memory chip, and there are people that advertise on eBay that they can get past the password by replacing? reprogramming? that chip.   An acquaintance used one of those services to clear the BIOS password on a CF‑52 "Semi-Rugged" model.   He paid in advance, shipped the CF‑52, it came back in a week or so without a BIOS password.

This paragraph added mid-2024: There is a gentleman, Nick Squires, that advertises a Toughbook BIOS Password Recovery Service at https://toughbookbios.com. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
I didn't know his service existed until mid-2024, and I've not needed to contact him so I do not know the cost, but he claims that he can recover a BIOS password usually in less than 48 hours.

On your Mark…

As I said above Toughbook hardware designs are updated during production and the various sets of improvements within a model are referred to as "Marks"… a Mark 1 is the original hardware version, a Mark 2 is the first hardware change, a Mark 3 is the second hardware change, and so on.   A typical Toughbook CF‑30 model number is "CF‑30CAQAZBM".   Another is "CF‑30KQPAQ2M".   The "CF‑30" is the actual model, the next character (in this case, a "C" or a "K") translates to a hardware revision which translates to the Mark.   I've never seen a CF‑30A or B model on any For Sale or auction site.   Mass production of the CF‑30 seems to have started with the "C" series.

A number of resellers will image a desktop or laptop with the lastest operating system that will run on the hardware.   During my hunt for a CF‑30 I found many where the photos showed Vista product key stickers on the bottom of the Toughbook but were advertised with XP, Win7 or even Win10.   I was looking for a laptop that booted a factory Win7 installation as that would guarantee the operating system that I wanted AND a complete set of drivers specific to the Mark (something I never had with my CF‑29).

Model and Mark	RAM MHz and Type	CPU	Chipset	Shipped with
CF‑30(C-E) Mark 1	DDR2-533 PC2-4200 Can also use the DDR2-667 PC2-5300 used in Mk 2 & Mk 3	32‑bit Core Duo L2400 2 MB L2 cache 667 MHz FSB	Intel 945GM	XP or Vista
CF‑30(G-J) Mark 2	DDR2-667 PC2-5300	64-bit Core 2 Duo L7500 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB	Intel 945GM	XP or Vista
CF‑30(K, L, M, Q) Mark 3	DDR2-667 PC2-5300	Ultra low voltage 64-bit Core 2 Duo SL9300 6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB	Mobile Intel GS45 Express	Vista (common), XP (less common), Windows 7 (rare)

Notes:
All CF‑30 Marks used a 1.6 GHz CPU.   All CF‑30 RAM modules are 200pin SDRAM SODIMM.
CF‑30s were shipped with 2x512 MB, 2x1GB or 2x2GB depending on the Mark and the original order.   One web page says that the CF‑30 Mk 1 was also shipped with 2x256 MB.
Official maximum RAM is 4 GB, users have found that 8 GB can work in the Mark 3 models.
The Windows 7 offered on the Mark 3 was 32‑bit Windows 7 Professional with Service Pack 1.
Some documents and web sites say that the Mark 2 units had a 32‑bit processor.
The minimum RAM doubled to 2 GB with the Mark 3 introduction.

The Mark Identifier is important on some models, two examples on the CF‑29 units:
1) The Mark 1 units (the Mark Identifier was C or D) had only one USB port.   The rest of the CF‑29 Marks had two.
2) Also on the CF‑29 the last Mark (Mark 5, Identfier N, O, or P) could boot off of USB, none of the prior Models or Marks of Toughbooks could.
That change in the firmware was accompanied by an undocumented feature: the Mark 5 supposedly will accept a 2 GB RAM module.

Another example is on the CF‑19, which has had 8 Marks!   The Mark 3 model introduced a mechanical redesign that included better (stronger) screen hinges because the inertia involved in the start-drive-stop, start-drive-stop, start-drive-stop cycle of front mounted patrol car and ambulance computers was fatigue breaking the screen hinges over time.

Another model, the CF‑31 (introduced in 2012) used 4 Marks to exhaust the alphabet, the Mark 5 CF‑31s use a number of 1 through 5 as the Mark Identifier.   The Mark 6 units coincidentally have a Mark Identifier of 6 through 9.   The CF‑31s also have i3 and i5 CPUs, and the Mark and the Model together tell you which one you have.   One nice feature: the CF‑31 has both VGA and HDMI jacks.   That means that you could have three screens working at once.

Model and Mark	Maximum RAM	RAM MHz and Type	CPU		Notes
			Speed	Type
CF‑31(A-F) Mk 1	8 GB	DDR3-1066 PC3-8500	2.4 GHz	I5-520M	3 MB Cache (ATI Graphics)(optional)
CF‑31(G-H) Mk 1	8 GB	DDR3-1066 PC3-8500	2.26 GHz	I3-350M
CF‑31(J-Q) Mk 2	8 GB	DDR3-1333 PC3-10666	2.5 GHz	I5-2520M	3 MB Cache (AMD Graphics)(optional)
CF‑31(S) Mk 3	8 GB	DDR3-1333 PC3-10666	2.6 GHz	I5-3320M	3 MB Cache
CF‑31(U-V) Mk 3	8 GB	DDR3-1333 PC3-10666	2.8 GHz	I5-3360M	3 MB Cache (AMD Graphics)
CF‑31(Y) early Mk 4	8 GB	DDR3-1333 PC3-10666	2.8 GHz	I5-3360M	3 MB Cache
CF‑31(W) later Mk 4	16 GB	DDR3-1333 PC3-10666	2.7 GHz	I5-3340M	3 MB Cache
CF‑31(X) Mk 4	16 GB	DDR3-1333 PC3-10666	2.9 GHz	I5-3380M	3 MB Cache (AMD Graphics)
CF‑31(1-5) Mk 5 *	16 GB	DDR3-1600 PC3-12800	2.9 GHz	I5-5300U	3 MB Cache
CF‑31(6-9) Mk 6	32 GB	DDR4-2133 PC4-17000	2.8 GHz	I7-7600U	4MB Cache (optional)

* Some web pages say that the Mark 5 units were Identifier numbers 1 to 4.
If there is a question then verifying the CPU type and speed my help. The first BIOS / Setup screen displays that information.

Why I chose a CF‑30:

Five reasons:

• I was on a budget.   This was not going to be a new primary personal laptop, it was going to be a simple update of my field radio programming laptop… from a well-used single-core CF‑29 running XPsp3 (that was regularly running out of RAM and swapping) to a lesser-used dual-core CF‑30 with Windows 7 with both 4 GB of memory and a large hard drive.   The law of supply and demand was (and at this time still is) in full force…   The second hand CF‑series are inexpensive because there is a huge pool of cheap used Mil-Spec rugged laptops.   At the time I needed to upgrade the CF‑30 Mark 3s were the only reasonably priced Toughbooks that had Windows 7 as a purchase option.
  
  The resulting CF‑30 Mark 3 laptop would be, in my opinion, "good enough" (despite being over 10 years old) to use for the next four, five, maybe six years for field radio programming or running Winlink, Fldigi, etc. if needed during a deployment.   I expected to use a few pieces of the CF‑29 like the battery, the existing charger and possibly more… In fact, I still had a box of CF‑28 and CF‑29 pieces left over from my previous assembly efforts – assembling at least one complete unit from multiple units.
  
  
• The CF‑29 that I was replacing uses an IDE / PATA hard drive (as does the previous CF‑27 and CF‑28).   Yes, my CF‑29 was running but for how much longer?   New IDE / PATA hard drives in a decent size are becoming pure unobtanium (and I don't trust any "refurbished" hard drives from any vendor).   And I've not found areadily available IDE / PATA solid state disk, or a readily available adapter that will allow a SATA drive to work in an IDE / PATA computer (especially fitting it and the drive inside the CF‑29 or CF‑28 caddy).   The CF‑30 uses a readily available and inexpensive SATA hard disk up to 2 TB in size.   More on this below.
  
  
• Neither the CF‑28 nor the CF‑29 are expandable to a reasonable amount of RAM for an operating system newer than Windows XP.   And most of the newer software (like Motorola APX) won't run under XP.
  
  
• The CF‑18, CF‑27, CF‑28, the CF‑29 (and maybe others) all have some of the RAM soldered to the system board.   If / when that RAM fails it is impossible for the average Toughbook owner to fix as surface mount soldering is not in everyones skillset (if you could even source the replacement chip or chips).   The only choice is to replace the system board (or the Toughbook).
  
  I was told by a Panasonic technician that the CF‑30 was the first that did not have any RAM on the system board.   Instead they have a pair of industry standard memory sockets and use two readily available and inexpensive memory modules that just snap into place.   More on that below.
  
  
• The CF‑30 uses totally passive cooling.   Like the CF‑28 and CF‑29 it is built into a magnesium alloy frame and body and the CPU and other electronic heat is conducted away and radiated through the walls and base of the sealed metal body / shell as a giant heat sink.   This cooling is very effective and has no moving parts.
  
  On the other hand the newer and "better" CF‑31 and FZ‑40 has a fan, and fans have a finite life.   By the time your CF‑31 or 40 fan is making a noise it is too late and needs to be replaced (which takes the entire unit out of service while it visits the repair bench).   Check this out: The CF‑31 has two weak spots - the power port (charger connector) on the right sie of the unit is unnecessarily fragile and the fan air intake can suck dirt. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

Here is:             (each opens in a new browser tab).
The CF‑30 Mark 1 brochure (2 pages)
The CF‑30 operating instructions
The CF‑30 reference guide
The CF‑30 Mark 1 service manual
The CF‑30 Mark 2 service manual
The CF‑30 Mark 3 service manual

The CF‑31 operating instructions
The CF‑31 reference guide
The CF‑31 Mark 2 service manual
The CF‑31 Mark 3 service manual
The CF‑31 Mark 4 service manual
The CF‑31 Mark 5 service manual
The CF‑31 Mark 6 service manual

Why a 32‑bit operating system?

In my situation, I had to.   Your situation may be different.

• A large number of the older Motorola, Kenwood, Icom and other mobile radio programming softwares that I needed to use to program customer radios simply won't run on 64‑bit Windows (these radios were built and the software was written when there no 64‑bit systems).   Two examples of those radios are the MTR2000 repeater (several customers and several amateur radio groups have them in service) and the other is the R1225 repeater (one customer has over two dozen in service, across all customers probably about 40).   Multiple people have reported that the programming software for both the MTR2000 and the R1225 runs only in a 32-bit environment and both work nicely under XP, 32‑bit Windows 7 and probably 32‑bit Windows 10.
  If anyone has a reliable solution for running XP vintage Windows applications directly under 64‑bit Windows I'd like to hear from you!
  See the "What's Left To Do:" paragraph further down on this writeup.
  
  
• The Panasonic documentation and most web pages say that all three Marks of the CF‑30 hardware are limited to 4 GB of RAM.   Some web pages say that the CF‑30 product line can access 8 GB.   That difference can happen when the design engineers may use a hardware design that happens to be able to use 8 GB RAM modules and the marketing group decides to sell units with 4 GB RAM modules and the final documentation says only what marketing decides.
  This web page goes into that and more. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
  
  
• I have verified that above statement; my CF‑30 Mark 3 now has two 4 GB memory modules in it.   32-bit Windows can access up to 4 GB so it can only use 3.15 GB (because of the takeaway for video memory). So unless you need 64‑bit Windows for a specific program (like the later Chirp) then go with the 32‑bit operating system as the 64‑bit operating system buys you nothing (and depending on the hardware could run slower than the 32‑bit operating system).

Some Notes on Radio Programming Software and Computer CPU Speed:

As I mentioned above, some of the shop's customers have older radios.   The MS-DOS vintage software that programs the older radios falls into two categories:
a) Software that is sensitive to the CPU speed of the computer.   This is the earliest PC-based radio programming software that used software timing loops to keep the radio programming computer in synchronization with the processor inside the radio.   The Motorola R100 repeater is one of those problem children.   A local school district had one in service until the narrowbanding mandate.
b) Software that is not sensitive to the CPU speed of the computer.   This is software that accessed the timing chip in the PC and used it to control the serial data transfer speed of the programming software.

If the situation is in group (b) I can boot my CF‑30 into MS‑DOS or Windows 98 Second Edition from a USB flash drive.   I use this mode for Maxtracs and GM300s.   The last version of Maxtrac software is not speed sensitive, some of the earlier versions are.

If the situation is in group (a) then I first try the free program DOSbox-X.   It creates a virtual machine inside your computer memory that can run software at a CPU speed as low as 4.77 MHz and with that I've been successful in programming almost all of the older radios.   (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

Note: There is "DOSbox" and there is "DOSbox-X", two separate programs and two different development / support teams.   Both are free for the downloading.   A colleague pointed me to DOSbox-X as the solution to managing an Zetron 42 LTR (analog trunking) radio system as the Zetron management software was MS-DOS based.   He suggested that I use DOSbox-X with the comment that DOSbox seemed to be more of a gamers virtual machine and DOSbox-X seemed to be more of a technical / industrial solution   Then he said that he could never get the DOSbox serial port to work properly but that the DOSbox-X serial port was solid.   So I started with DOSbox-X and it worked fine; as a result I never even downloaded DOSbox.

DOSbox-X is on-the-fly configurable… I can tell it to pretend that it's anything from an original IBM PC (4.77 MHz 8088) to an 866 MHz Pentium III without rebooting.   DOSbox-X just plain works (and it's free).   90% of the time you just set it for a Pentium 90 and your old radio programming software just works.   And you can map any windows COM port to MS-DOS COM1 or COM2 with a a command like this:

serial2 = directserial realport:com19

mount a c:\drive-a -t floppy -freesize 1 -label V-FLOP

If the particular old radio is being recalcitrant and does not respond to DOSbox-X then I break out my CF‑27…   It boots into MS‑DOS.   Note that the CF‑27 uses a charger connector that is unique from the other CF‑series models and replacement CF‑27 batteries are also unique and absolutely unobtanium (but can be rebuilt).   Fortuntely I can run it directly off of the charger.

This paragraph added Sept. 2024: The shop just decomissioned the last MS-DOS-programmed radio in our commercial service (a GM300 receiver on a repeater).   I still have a few GM300s in service on amateur systems as link radios (in the 420-430 MHz range) and a couple more of them in control receiver service.   The CF‑27 is not useful as it once was.   Mine has not been powered up since late 2022 except to demonstrate it to a couple of people.   By the way, if you are going to set up a radio programming computer for MS-DOS and 16‑bit Windows you will want to use Windows 98 Second Edition (based on MS-DOS 7.1) and have it boot to MS-DOS and then start Windows with a comand line.   Win98SE knows about the FAT32 file system which will support partition sizes greater than 511 MB.

Modern Software:

I have a modern laptop running 64‑bit Win10 for programming APX, MotoTurbo, newer Kenwoods, Icoms and other radios.   The newest version of the popular program Chirp also requires 64-bit Windows.
My next field laptop will probably be a used Toughbook CF‑31 or a used Toughbook FZ‑40. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

(This paragraph added August 2024) I was handed a CF‑31 that "I've given up on, maybe you can fix it".   The problem was that the hard drive was dying (it intermittently went brain-dead, and would come back to life anywhere from 1 minute to the next day) and one RAM module was also flaky.   A few days later it had a new SSD and a good module.   I downloaded a driver set from Panasonic and installed 64‑bit Windows 10 and let it update (… and update… and update…).
NOTE: That driver download site is frequently updated and older models (like the CF‑28, CF‑29 and CF‑30) are dropped with no notice.   If your model is there when you first visit it then download your driver set before it goes away.

Radio Programming Computer Tips:  (with emphasis on the Toughbooks)

The relevance of some of these tips is dependent on your situation - what radios or devices you will be supporting and what the computer needs to do as part of that supporting.   Someone who only has to talk to the serial port on a one or several RLC, Arcom or SCOM repeater controllers and a maybe a few YaeComWood ham radios and also run Chirp will have different needs than I do.   As I said above several of the shops customers have older mobile radios in service.   A few are so old that they require MS-DOS vintage programming software (like the 420 MHz point-to-point link GM300 and Maxtrac radios).

Some tips:

1. On a used but new-to-you laptop (any manufacturer) you should change the internal CMOS / BIOS / memory backup battery (opens in a new browser tab) on your schedule before you are forced to on it's schedule.   This is the voice of experience.   Once it dies you will be resetting the BIOS data and time (and more) every time you switch on the Toughbook.
   
   Replacing the CMOS battery on the CF‑30 is relatively easy.   There is a YouTube video on how to replace a Toughbook CMOS battery (using a CF‑30 as the target) (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab).
   
   On the other hand, replacing the CMOS battery in the CF‑27 requires you to do more of a disassembly of the laptop base that you would expect as the battery is on the back side of the system board.   You should plan on 4 to 5 hours of bench time the first time you do a CF‑27.
   
   The CF‑18, -19, -27, -28, -29, -30 and -31 all use a CR2032 coin cell (that is packaged in a plastic insulating sleeve / pocket) with a short 2-conductor cable that ends in a tiny 2-pin connector that is plugged into the system board.   Amazon stocks a brand new CMOS battery prepackaged in the insulating pocket and with the correct connector. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
   
   There are two schools of thought on BIOS battery replacement: One is to install a socket for the coin cell, the other is to just swap the BIOS battery for a new (identical) one… after all, the old one lasted for how many years?   Installing a socket would require you to cut the short 2-conductor cable at the old battery, extend the two wires to a socket and then tack the socket down in an accessible / convenient location for the next time.   Two possible mounting methods are a square of double-sided foam tape, or a blob of hot-melt-glue.   I'm sure there are other methods.
   
   If you chose to go the socket route the CF‑30 has a separate screw-down cover for just the RAM and there is enough empty space there for the coin cell socket.   Just put some heat shrink over it for insulation.
   
   Digikey has an insulated socket on a pigtail (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab).   Just extend the pigtail with a suitable length of similar wire.
   
   
2. As I said above, a significant amount of the older and common radio programming software from Motorola, Kenwood, Icom, Vertex and others just will NOT run on 64‑bit Windows.   Plus, some of the software for a small number of our customer radios is MS-DOS vintage.   As mentioned above my solution was to install Windows 7‑32 on the radio programming computer and carry a thumb drive / flash drive in the laptop bag that can boot into MS-DOS.   You could also use Win10‑32.
   Tip: Since 32‑bit Windows can only access 4 GB of RAM there is no point in adding any more RAM… it will never be used.   And the CF‑30 max RAM is officially 4 GB, whereas other models can do more (like the CF‑31 can do 8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB, depending on the Mark).   An acquaintance has a CF‑52 Semi-Rugged that he reserves for ham radio uses.   That model maxes out with 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB, again depending on the Mark.
   
   
3. Like I said above, the CF‑27, CF‑28, CF‑29 and many other models use IDE / ATA drives.   The larger sizes are almost impossible to find new and therefore are expensive when found…   As I said above I don't trust any "refurbished" IDE / ATA / PATA hard drive from any vendor…   an acquaintance with an old voice mail system got burnt twice.   Years ago you could find an IDE SSD, and later on you could find an IDE / ATA converter that would work with a SATA SSD, but no more.   The CF‑30 was the first Toughbook to use SATA technology.   And you can buy a factory new 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (9.5mm or less thickness) from several vendors for under US$100 (2022 prices).   Or an SSD for a few dollars more…   The SSD is not only faster than a hard drive, it also consumes less power and your battery will alst longer.   If you are going to buy a spinner then get a 7200 RPM drive… the 5400 RPM drives will cause a significant performance hit.
   
   Another reason to swap the hard drive in a new-to-you laptop or desktop is just plain age and runtime hours.   Even before SSDs came along I would advise friends that inherited or purchased a used computer (desktop or laptop) that they planned on keeping to replace the CMOS (BIOS) battery and purchase a new hard drive and image the old hard drive onto it.
   
   Switching to an Solid State Disk (SSD) from a spinning hard drive for a will give you a significant performance improvement in disk I/O speed.   Not only will it help with performance but will also help with battery life because there won't be a hard drive motor to suck power just to spin the platters.   But don't bother trying to put an SSD into a CF‑28 or CF‑29.   You won't find one.   Retire the CF‑28 or CF‑29 and switch to a CF‑30 or CF‑31.

   But before you retire that ‑28 or ‑29 check which keyboard you have in your CF‑30 or CF‑31 as some of the CF‑28s and CF‑29s used the same one as the CF‑30s (but a keyboard made for a CF‑30 will not work in a CF‑29)… and you might need a replacement keyboard some day.   The same goes with the touchpad… the CF‑30s used the same touchpad as some of the CF‑28s and CF‑29s.

   Couple the difficulty in finding a new IDE / ATA hard drive with the limited RAM of a CF‑28 or CF‑29 and you see why the CF‑series model of choice for a rugged field programming laptop is a CF‑30 or a CF‑31.
   
   
4. The CF‑series have their hard drive mounted in a field-swappable shock-mount called a "caddy" (yes, you could have one caddy with Windows and second one for Linux and field-swap them in seconds - it will take longer for the hard drive to spin down and back up than it takes to swap caddies).   Many fleets (like Pacific Telephone) decommissioned their Toughbooks by pulling the caddies and selling the Toughbooks without them (they crushed or shredded the caddies with the hard drive inside).   As such the resellers that pick up those retired fleet laptops have to sell the Toughbooks less the caddy.   Some models (like the CF‑30 and CF‑31) share the same caddy, on the other hand some models (like the CF‑28) have a caddy that is specific to that model.   When you go looking at used Toughbooks you need to make sure that it comes with the correct caddy (or that you can get one! - some, like the CF‑28 are simply unavailable)   And if you have to buy a used caddy make sure it comes with a full set of screws!
   
   The caddy has to be disassembled to remove / install the hard drive.   The screws that secure the top cover of the caddy to the bottom half are very tiny and have a very uncommon metric thread.   Don't drop one, it will bounce and you'll never find it!   (This is the voice of experience).   And your local hardware store won't have a JIS screw that small!   My three CF‑28s came to me with one caddy that was held together with a length of thin shipping tape.
   
   Many of the CF‑series caddies have a hard drive heater that is when the laptop enounters sub-freezing environments.   It switches on to warm the drive before booting.   Some do not have that heater, or they have a disabled heater.   One of my used CF-28 Toughbooks had a caddy and the ribbon cable to the heater looked like it had been cut with a pair of scissors, another had the fuse (inside the caddy) removed.   There was a post-it note (with the fuse taped to it) stuffed inside the caddy… the note said the computer was never used in a freezing climate and that the fuse had been pulled to extend the battery life.   This made no sense as the thermostat would not have switched the heater on unless the temperature was below freezing.
   
   
5. The next performance improvement is to see if your system is low on memory.   Some people chose to stuff as much memory into their computer as it can take.   More memory does not automatically make your CPU run faster.   However when your system needs more memory than it actually has then it uses a technique called virtual memory.   This is where the operating system "swaps" data and programs from memory to the "swap file" (sometimes called the "paging file") on the hard drive or SSD.   The swap file is just some space on the hard drive reserved for temporary storage by the operating system; it is not a user-accessed file.   Depending on the designer of the operating system it can be equal to anywhere feom 1 to 4 times the size of the memory.   Swapping takes time and hard drives (even SSDs) are excessively slow by comparison to RAM.   If what you are doing on the computer does not cause swapping then more RAM will not improve system operation.
   
   Computer RAM, depending on the make and model, can be CHEAP!   A few months after I bought my CF‑30 I chose to spend $35 to max it out (for a 32‑bit operating system).   My attitude was that I can't predict what programs I'm going to be running in the future.   I spent US$35.00 for two 2 GB modules of Crucial brand RAM (they have a lifetime warranty) and purchased through Amazon (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
   
   
6. Don't bother updating the firmware in a Toughbook unless you have a unit that was shipped with custom firmware (at least one of the three letter agencies (TLAs) had firmware that completely disabled WiFi).   Most of the second-hand ones that you find on the auction sites are retired fleet computers that were on a maintenance contract.   Most fleet contracts were from three years to five years.   If there was a bug-fix firmware release the entire fleet was updated as part of the contract.
   
   Aside from that, all of the official CPU BIOS fimware updates and the I/O, hard drive and video controller updates are no longer provided by Panasonic for all older models (including the CF‑27, CF‑28, CF‑29 and CF‑30).   If your computer is working perfectly fine as-is and you don't need or know the benefits of the updated BIOS version then leave it well enough alone.   And you don't know the source of some of the BIOS update files that are out there.   I'd be concerned if I could not verify the provenance… You'd want to get it from the manufacturers web site or from their help desk.
   
   
7. You do NOT want a laptop with memory chips that are soldered onto the system board.   If even one bit in the system board RAM develops a problem then you are screwed…   The chips are vintage and essentially not available and hence not replaceable.   This is the voice of experience on a CF‑28.   All you can do is swap the system board (or get a replacement laptop).   The CF‑28 has either 128 MB or 256 MB of RAM (depending on the Mark) soldered to the system board and has one memory socket for an additional 256MB module.   At one point the design was updated to allow a 512 MB module to work in the one socket.   So the maximum RAM in a CF‑28 can be 384 MB, 640 MB or 768 MB, depending on the Mark (i.e. the system board) and the installed memory module.
   The CF‑29 had either 256 MB or 512 MB of system board RAM (depending on the Mark) plus one memory socket for additional RAM.   The maximum RAM for any CF‑29 is 1.5 Gigs made up of 512 MB on the system board (and that was only in the last Mark, and they were rare!) and a 1 Gig module in the socket.   Yes, I tried several different configurations of 2-gig module in the socket.   Nothing worked.
   This paragraph added January 2024: Supposedly the Mark 5 (the last one) allowed a Max memory of 2 GB.   I do not know how that worked.   I had a Mark 5 with 256 MB on the system board, had access to several different variations on 2 GB memory modules and I could not find a 2 GB memory module that the hardware and firmware was happy with.
   Personally, I am very glad that system board RAM went away, and am unhappy that both the CF‑33 and the newer Macintosh laptops have gone back to it.   And the CF‑33 RAM is not upgradable post-purchase.
   
   Supposedly the CF‑30 was the first CF‑series Toughbook that did not have any RAM soldered to the system board - all memory snaps into two sockets.   A pair of cheap 2 GB modules (DDR2-667MHz PC-5300) will max out all three CF‑30 Marks to 4 GB (the official hardware limit).   The Mark 3 models will accept a pair of 4 GB modules, if you have a different Mark and have them on the shelf I'd experiment and try them… you aren't going to damage anything and you just might be surprised.
   I was told by a Panasonic tech that the RAM modules that are installed in a CF‑30 must be identical (the same size and speed).   I have since been told that one acquaintance is using a 2 GB module and a 1 GB module in his with no problems.   Your experiece may be different.
   
   
8. If you will ever need to run MS‑DOS, Windows 95 or Windows 98 based RSS then look for a laptop that can boot off of a thumb drive.   As I said above, the CF‑29 Mark 5 (Mark Identifier is N or later) was the first Toughbook that could boot off of USB.   A friend had an earlier CF‑29 Mark as his radio programming computer and booted MS‑DOS off of a CD (just for booting, he runs the MS-DOS off of a 5 GB D: drive with \DOS, \MRSS, \KENWD, \MISC, etc. directories.
   All of the CF‑30s and later can boot off of USB and that makes booting into MS‑DOS (or Linux) easy.
   
   
9. The CF‑29s and CF‑30s can run 32‑bit Windows 7… but the CF‑29 is much happier with XP as it needs much less RAM than Windows 7.   The CF‑30s can run Windows 10 but my experience is that it is significantly slower than Windows 7.   If you need a Windows 10 radio programming computer (especially 64‑bit) then my opinion is that you should use a CF‑31 with a mimimum of 4 GB of RAM if not 8 GB (and a few CF‑31s can take 16 GB).
   
   
10. The optical drive in a CF‑30 is in a field swappable slot and you can have a CD, a CD‑RW, a DVD, a DVD±RW (model CF‑VDM302U), a second hard drive (or SSD) or the "Secondary Battery" (see the next item).   Panasonic offered a floppy drive for the CF‑30 but it is extremely rare - I've not seen one offered on any web site in five years.   If you need a floppy for the CF‑30 then you will have to use an external USB floppy.   As often as I need a floppy these days (not in over 2 years) I can live with that.
    
    The CF‑31 has a second hard drive option - a hard drive tray can be slid into the optical drive bay. This provides a fast way to back up your internal hard drive… just image the internal drive to the second drive.
    The CF‑30 does not offer that option.   Image backups will have to be made to a USB-connected external hard drive or to a CD-RW or to a DVD-RW.
    
    
11. The CF‑28, CF‑29, CF‑30 and CF‑31 series battery can be easily swapped in the field but you will have to shut it down, swap the battery, then restart the computer.   Having a "Hibernate Now" icon on the screen will speed that up a little (look for the free program "wizmo" available from https://www.grc.com/wizmo/wizmo.htm). (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)   (local copy in case that goes away)   Some people choose to find an AC outlet and run the laptop off the charger while you swap the battery.   I'm not comfortable popping the battery out and back in with the laptop running off of the charger.   Or you can locate and purchase the CF‑30 "Secondary Battery" option (model CF‑VZSU1430).   It is an option specifically designed to extend main battery life and allow hot-swapping of the primary battery and preventing a reboot.   As far as I know that VZSU1430 battery is a Panasonic-only item – I don't think there is an aftermarket supplier.   Photo 1   Photo 2. (both open in a new browser tab)
    
    
12. There is a section below on AC-mains-powered battery chargers and vehicle-powered battery chargers.
    
    
13. See the notes above regarding the differences between the different CF‑30 Marks.
    
    
14. Options: One of the CF‑30 model options was either a regular keyboard (sometimes called the "chicklet" keyboard) or a rubber keyboard. (both open in a new browser tab)   I've used both.   My opinion is that if you do a lot of typing you will prefer the regular keyboard.   The rubber keyboard is a good part of what makes the Toughbook the rugged field computer what it is…   It is dustproof, dirtproof, grimeproof, rainproof, coffee-proof and soft drink proof - just rinse it off with clear water and wipe it dry.
    There is a youtube video that shows someone pouring a gallon of water onto a rubber-keyboard-equipped Toughbook while it is operating.   No problem.
    
    The rubber keyboard and a standard keyboard can be swapped in less than an hour, some of which will be spent looking for the YouTube video on how to pick the correct Toughbook keyboard (standard, backlight or rubber) or the other on swapping CF‑ keyboards (both are offsite links and open in a new browser window) and a little more time looking for the appropriate JIS screwdrivers.   The ribbon cable sockets on the circuit boards are very fragile!   Plus they are surface mount (essentially not replaceable)… BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL WITH THE LATCHES ON THE CIRCUIT BOARD RIBBON CABLE CONNECTORS. Note the emphasis on the VERY.
    
    
15. Options: The CF‑series comes with either a regular screen or a touchscreen.   Both are very visible in sunlight - that is a major feature with Toughbooks.   My CF‑29 had a touchscreen.   My opinion is that sometimes the touchscreen is more trouble than it's worth as a simple bump can change the focus of the running program.   Also my experience is that the touchscreen retains fingerprints.   I kept (and still do) a bunch of foil-packed alcohol wipes in my laptop bag to clean the screen when needed.
    
    Note that there are two kinds of touchscreens that Panasonic offers.   one is plain touch, the other works with gloves and that is much preferred in cold weather areas.   The glove touch one is more expensive and seen less often (and almost always on ex-military Toughbooks).   And some models have a digitizer.   A touchscreen is just that - touch with finger, pen or other object.   The digitizer won't work unless it has special pen for the screen.   The pen has a lanyard and is stored in the handle.
    
    
16. Options: A number of ex-service-fleet Toughbooks also have a built-in cellular data option card.   Mine came with one that used the 900 MHz band however that spectrum was reallocated around 2008 and 900 MHz cellular is dead.   Besides, cellular data service in a laptop is just one more monthly bill that I don't need…   As often as I need cellular data (2-3 times a year for maybe 15-30 minutes at a time) I get the same functionality by using my cellphone as a WiFi hotspot.
    
    
17. Options: Another option was a fingerprint reader.   I've not seen a CF‑30 with it, even on eBay.
    
    
18. Options: WiFi is / was a factory option on most other laptops of the era including a large number of the older CF‑series Toughbooks.   Most have it however I've run into a few CF‑29s and CF‑30s that didn't have that option (common in the federal government laptop computers - some were just missing the WiFi hardware and could have it added, some had a castrated BIOS and adding the hardware was fruitless as the WiFi could never be accessed.).   I find WiFi useful as locally most of the local hilltop radio sites have a WISP as a tenant and part of the deal is that they provide on-site WiFi for cellphone calls and field technician laptops.   The quickest way to tell if any individual Toughbook has WiFi is to go poking around the BIOS screens.   To access the BIOS just power up the Toughbook, and the instant you see the Panasonic logo immediately hit the F2 key six or seven times (spaced about a 1/2 second apart), and either a password prompt screen or a BIOS "Information" screen will appear.   The right and left arrow keys will select the various screens of the BIOS: "Main", "Advanced", "Boot", "Security" and "Exit" screens.   If that Toughbook has WiFi the "Advanced" screen will have an entry for "Wireless LAN".
    Hint: Below the momentary power on slider (it looks like a switch) there is a slide switch on the front of your CF‑30 that enables or disables the WiFi and Bluetooth (if so equipped, they are separate options, separate modules and separate antennas).   If you think that you will ever be loaning out your WiFi-equipped Toughbook then add a pTouch label to it… (both open in a new browser tab)
    
    If your Toughbook came to you without WiFi and you think you are going to ever need WiFi then you have three choices.   One is to use one of the USB‑based WiFi add-ons.   Another is to use a WiFi Express Card or PCMCIA card.   The third is to locate a WiFi parts set and install them.   At one point or another I've done all three.

    The CF‑30 has an Express Card slot (on the left) and a PCMCIA slot (on the right).   Each laptop was shipped with a grey plastic dummy filler piece in the slot.
    Here's where the card slots are located       Here's where the PCMCIA card slot is located.
    I used this card in one of the shop CF-30s until I located and installed the factory WiFi parts.
    Unfortunately you can't close the media door with that card in place.
    (all links open in a new browser tab)

    Either the Express Card, PCMCIA card or the USB adapter are easy to set up and use but it's one more thing floating around in the laptop bag to get damaged or lost.   Some laptops (like the CF‑29 Mark 2 through 5) only have two USB ports (and the one on the right side is shrouded and can't accept a common thumb drive, just a mouse cord or an extension cord).   And some (like the CF‑29 Mark 1) only have only one USB jack!
    
    When the boss saw my CF‑30 he liked it and went looking for a couple more.   He found three second-hand CF‑30s, two Mark 2s and one Mark 3, unfortunately only one of the Mark 2s had factory WiFi.   It can be added using original parts that are occasionally available from eBay or from Bob Johnson Computer Stuff (see the information at the bottom of this page).
    
    Adding WiFi can be a pain as it is a multi-hour DIY workbench project -  but don't start until you have all the parts on hand…   I said it above but I'm repeating myself: If you are not a do-it-yourself type then it's better to find one that already has WiFi built in or use the USB, Express Card or PCMCIA options.   Finding the WiFi module and snapping it into the socket under the keyboard is not difficult (many laptop companies used that module), the problem is finding the two tiny JIS screws that hold the module in place and the two diversity antennas and proprietary mini-coax cable assemblies (one JIS screw each).   Once you have the antenna assemblies then you need to thread them up from deep inside the base (under the center of the keyboard) into the top of the laptop lid (and the left side and the right side antenna cables (they are color coded) are different lengths!
    
    Here are several very informative videos (all are off-site pointers that open in a new browser tab):

    Note that the technician in each video mistakenly calls them Phillips screws (he should have used the word Crosshead or JIS, and explained what JIS is and means), they are NOT Phillips!   Remember the entire Toughbook is JIS metric.
    
    How to remove and install the WiFi card in a Toughbook CF‑30   The tech does NOT mention how fragile the two coaxial cables and snap-on connectors are, he uses his fingers (he's works on Toughbooks every day, he's VERY familiar with them).   If it's your first time I'd suggest using tweezers or very small needle nose pliers on those cables / connectors.
    
    How to Replace the WLAN Antenna Boards in a Panasonic Toughbook CF-30 This video is part 1 of a two-video project and despite the title includes disassembly and reassembly of a CF‑30 for WiFi antennas.   There is more than enough info on how to do the install to a unit that came without Wifi.
    
    How to Replace the WLAN Antenna Boards in a Panasonic Toughbook CF‑30 This video is Part 2.
    
    Just for completeness I'll mention that there is a video devoted to the Bluetooth module and antenna and another video devoted to the GPS module and antenna.

    Note that Intel made multiple WiFi modules including the "4965AG_  MM1" (single band ) and the "4965AGN  MM1" WiFi modules (dual band).   You want the dual band module.   As I said above If you are not a do-it-yourself type then it's better to find a Toughbook that already has the WiFi option.
    
    Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS kits for the CF‑30 are available from from Bob Johnson Computer Stuff (see the information at the bottom of this page).   Occasionally you find one on ebay from someone that is parting out a Toughbook.   The parts are different between CF‑series models!
    
    Before you purchase a Bluetooth, WiFi or GPS kit make sure it is for your model and is complete!   In the CF‑30 the GPS and Bluetooth hardware use the same bracket.   Look at the GPS video for details.   You may have to order the bracket and related screws.   For WiFi you will need the WiFi module, the two diversity antenna assemblies (with different cable lengths) and the correct screws to mount the Wifi module and the two WiFi antennas (one screw for each antenna).   If your add-on kit is for Bluetooth then it will require the Bluetooth module and the Bluetooth antenna that mounts at the top left of the keyboard.
    
    Hint: On the CF‑30 the WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS were separate options.   If you are going to be installing any of those with factory part kits then install all of the ones you purchase at once.   The dissassembly and reassembly of the Toughbook for bluetooth is pretty simple, the process for GPS and WiFi is much more extensive but 90% the same.
    
    
19. Options: Another option was Bluetooth.   In my experience it's ususally paired with WiFi.
    
    
20. Options: There are CF‑series models with built-in GPS - it appears as COM 3…   The GPS option, like the WiFi option can be added as a DIY workbench project.
    COM1 is the 9 pin serial port on the rear.
    COM2 is the modem (if present).
    COM3 is the internal GPS.   I don't know if the GPS will be COM3 or COM2 if the modem option is not there (all three generations of my Toughbooks came with modems).
    
    The factory GPS option, if present and set for the default COM port and speed, is easy to test.   In my case the GPS was set to the default which is 4800-8-N-1 and COM3.   Just use any terminal program. and you will see the NEMA sentences stream by.   I have found that "Tera Term" (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) is an easy-to-use and flexible terminal program for Windows and it does everything I need except brand-specific terminal emulation (like ADM, Televideo or HP).   If you do have the GPS option then try Google Earth Pro (not plain Google Earth) and point it at COM3.   And this article is worth reading. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
    
    A simpler GPS for your Toughbook is the the Garmin model 18x GPS.   This device plugs into a USB port on any laptop.   Boaters love these, in late 2022 Amazon had them for about $50.
    Garmin also makes the model 18x PC that plugs into your 9-pin COM1 jack. (opens in a new browser tab)   In late 2022 Amazon had them for about $75.
    CAUTION: There is a +12 volt to +5 volt converter inside the cigarette lighter plug!   The hockey puck GPS receiver itself is 5 volts DC!   Don't remove the cigarette lighter plug and put +12 volts on the cable!   This is the voice of an acquaintances experience!
    (both links above are off-site pointers to Amazon and open in a new browser tab)

Conclusions:  When I decided to retire my CF‑29 dedicated radio programming laptop the above reasons were why my chosen target was a CF‑30 Mark 3… I couldn't financially justify a CF‑31.   Another reason for the Mark 3 was that Windows 7 was not offered on the Mark 1 or 2 models.   And not just any Mark 3, it needed a the Windows 7 Pro product key sticker on the bottom of the case and it needed to have the caddy and hard drive - I wanted the Windows 7 Pro already installed and working as I didn't want to have to do a search for a full set of hardware drivers.   Back when I set up my prior CF‑29 I had to use a regular XP SP3 install disk (that's all that was available to me then) and never did find some of the Panasonic proprietary drivers.   The driver sets are different with each combination of operating system and the Mark due to the hardware differences.   The CF‑30 product line had multiple restore CDs as there were a total of seven sets of drivers.

I also wanted factory WiFi however that wasn't a deal-breaker as I knew it could be field-installed.   The keyboard could be either rubber or standard as I had both a leftover regular keyboard and a rubber keyboard from a CF‑29 in the Toughbook spare parts box.   In my mind the Windows 7 Pro product key on the case bottom and booting Windows 7 was mandatory, Wifi and GPS were nice-to-haves and a touchscreen was a don't-care.   And by the way, that Windows 7 product key can still be used for Windows 10 activation should you want to switch later on to Windows 10.

It took almost six months(!) but I found a CF‑30 Mark 3 with a working factory Windows 7.   All it was missing was the battery, charger and an optical drive.   As a bonus it was in an 8‑to‑9‑out‑of‑10 condition.   The fact that it booted and ran Windows 7 meant that it came with a caddy and a hard drive of at least 80 gigs (that was the smallest factory supplied drive during the time that the CF‑30 was in production).

I sent the seller an email inquiring about the presence of a BIOS password, the presence of Wifi and asking about the Windows 7.   His reply email said that it had factory WiFi, that the Windows 7 was an actual factory install of Windows 7 Pro (so I knew it had all the Panasonic-specific drivers) and the fleet did not have a BIOS password.   I ordered a brand new 7200 RPM hard drive the day that I bought the CF‑30.   As I mentioned above the seller replaced the first one as it had a password (the only one in a fleet of about 40 that did) with a second one that didn't (and the replacement had a bonus: it had the GPS option!).   After both the replacement CF‑30 and the new hard drive arrived I used a borrowed a USB-connected DVD drive to allow imaging the old hard drive to the new one using a bootable CD with CloneZilla.   During the partitioning and imaging process I created an MS‑DOS partition (drive D:) just to keep the MS-DOS universe separate from the Windows universe.

My new-to-me CF‑30 Mark 3 fully rugged Win7-32 radio programming laptop was operational with a new hard drive for US$180.

• $90 for the Toughbook, including shipping (sold without optical drive, battery or charger)
• $90 for a new 7200 RPM hard drive (you definitely want 7200 RPM as a 5400 RPM drive will cause a significant performance hit).

Later I added a DVD±RW optical drive and removed the pair of 512 MB modules and installed a pair of 2 GB modules.   These two additions made the total $248:

• $33 for the DVD±RW ($24+$9 shipping)   Either the CF-VDM312U or CF-VDR302U will work.
• $35 for 4 Gigabytes of RAM

Added Sept 2024: If I had known then what I know now I would have purchased a pair of 4 Gig modules for my CF‑30 Mark 3 just to preserve my future options just in case I ever switched this Toughbook to 64‑bit Windows.   A friend had a pair of 4 GB DDR2 modules in his junque box (the high quality junk) and loaned them to me to try in my CF‑30 and they worked.   Windows 7 reported 8 GB present with 3.15 GB usable (the 4 GB limit imposed by the 32‑bit Windows minus the shared video RAM).

Added late 2023: If I were to do this today I would select a CF‑31 with at least an I3 and preferrably an i5 CPU model as they are approching a reasonable price.   The one i7 model is rare and therefore pricey.

About eight to nine months later I had to buy a new battery.   The CF‑30 battery is a CF‑VZSU46U and is readily available because the current production CF‑31 also uses it.   Figure $35 for a new clone battery or over $100 for a new OEM Panasonic battery (2022 prices).

The CF‑29 battery works fine in a CF‑30 or CF‑31, however a battery made for a CF‑30 or CF‑31 will not fit in the CF‑29.
Similarly a CF‑18 battery will work in a CF‑19, but a CF‑19 battery won't work in a CF‑18.

The CF‑29 battery (which also fits the CF‑30, CF‑51 and CF‑52) was made under several numbers: CF‑VZSU29, CF‑VZSU29A, CF‑VZSU29AU, CF‑VZSU29R and CF‑VZSU29ASU.

Both the CF‑27 and CF‑28 battery are unique to themselves and useless in a CF‑29, CF‑30, CF‑31 or any other model I am aware of.
The chargers, however are useful.   This is covered in the next section.

AC Mains Powered Chargers:

The factory correct charger brick for the CF‑18, ‑19, ‑20, ‑28, ‑29, ‑30, ‑31, ‑33, ‑50, ‑51 ‑52, ‑53, ‑54, ‑73, ‑74, FZ‑40 and many other Toughbooks (and a few Toughpads) is the model CF‑AA5713A2A, and is 15.6 volts at up to 7 amps (110 watts).   The charging connector on the laptops is a very common 5.5mm O.D.×2.5mm I.D. coaxial plug (center contact positive).   The CF‑AA5713 charger can recharge the CF‑30 and CF‑31 battery from flat to full in approximately 5 hours if the laptop is off or about 8.5 hours if the laptop is running while charging.

As I mentioned above, my first Toughbook was a CF‑28 that I built up from three parts units.   I was surprised when they arrived with an IBM Thinkpad 92P1020 charger (with a P‑Touch label of "T‑BOOK") – it has the correct DC voltage and 5.5mm×2.5mm connector, and worked fine but it's only a 4.5 amp charger.   If you google "Panasonic Toughbook Charger CF‑(pick a model number)" you will find a LOT of chargers from a number of vendors.   Most, like the IBM ThinkPad unit, are chinese generic units that are under-amped at 3 to 5 amps.   Do yourself a favor, look for a CF‑AA5713A.   They are available from a number of sources and will cost anywhere from $20 to $35 (2020 prices).   An under-amped charger can be useful when you shelve your Toughbook.   Given long enough they will drain the battery even when off.   More on this later on.

Minor nit:   Almost all of the OEM Panasonic chargers (including the CF‑AA5713A) do not have a LED that shows the presence of DC power out.   Unfortunately the two pioeces of the case are either glued or sonic welded; if it had been snapped together or fastened together with screws I would have opened it up and added a green LED into a drilled hole in the case.

There is another charger brick, the CF‑AA1653, that I suggest you avoid.   It is a 15.6 volt 5 amp charger originally supplied with a CF‑27 and has been sold with two different laptop connectors on it, and frequently the vendors aren't helpful on what they are selling.   The CF‑AA1653-M1 and ‑M2 have a connector that is 6.5mm outside diameter (O.D.)×4.45mm inside diameter (I.D.) and a 1.4mm diameter pin in the middle (center contact positive) on it. (link opens in a new browser window)   I have a limited knowledge of the Toughbooks and Toughpads, as far as I know the CF‑27 was the only use of that connector.
Interestingly, the CF‑AA1653-M5 and ‑S1 (the same model number with a different suffix) DOES have the correct 5.5mm×2.5mm connector!   I still prefer the CF‑AA5713A charger as it can charge at a 7 amp rate and is confusion-proof (it only came with the 5.5mm×2.5mm connector).

Mobile Chargers: (+12 or +24 volts DC in)

A friend recently retired out of the Los Angeles City radio shop (LAPD, LAFD, etc) and at one point he shared that every city owned vehicle that has a laptop (over 6,000 police patrol cars alone, plus all of the fire vehicles, ambulances and more) has a Lind Electronics . (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) "auto adapter" (DC-to-DC converter) to power the vehicle laptop, which might be a Toughbook, a Dell, or an HP.   The Lind units are VERY well designed, are made in the USA, and were selected due to their quality and their availability for every laptop voltage and current range and connector. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)   The most common Lind product line (and the one we are interested in) has a neat feature: The input and output cables plug in.   This way if a vehicle has a Toughbook (15.6v) and needs to switch (for any reason) to another make that is 18 volts the DC input cord can be unplugged and the converter unit itself can be swapped along with the output cable.

Adapters from Lind Electronics do show up on eBay in the $30 to $95 range depending on the model and current output (note that not every Lind adapter is Toughbook compatible, more on this below.

According to the Lind web site the Toughbook models CF‑18, -19, -25, -27, -28, -29, -30, -31, -33, -35, -37, -40, -50, -51, -52, -53, -54, -61, -62, -63, -72, -73 and -74 all use the same Lind auto adapter, model number PA1580-1642 (link opens in a new browser window)   The input for this unit is 12-32 Volts and the output is 15.6 volts and can supply up to 8 amps.   One of the Lind engineers shared with me on a phone call that they relabel the PA1580-1642 unit for Panasonic under the model number of CF‑LNDDC120 and ship it with a 3 foot long cigarette lighter plug input cable or as the CF‑LNDDC120HW with a 3 foot long bare wires input cable ("HW" = hard wired).   The input and output cables plug into the Lind body. (both are off-site pointers, open in a new browser tab)   The unit has a Low Input Voltage and High Input Voltage Disconnect, an Output Overcurrent / Output Short Circuit Protection and an Internal Over Temperature Protection.
There are other Toughbook-compatible models including the Lind CF‑LNDDC80 which is made for some of the smaller Toughbooks and Toughpads.   It has the same DC voltage out but can supply only 5.5 amps.
A replacement cigarette lighter plug input cable is Lind part number CBLIP-F00451.
A replacement bare wire input cable is Lind part number CBLIP-F00051.
A replacement Toughbook output cable that fits the above CF‑ model numbers is the Lind part number CBLOP-F00692 (about $19 direct from Lind in 2022).
Amazon has some of the Lind cables.   Lind also makes models with a multi-screw terminal strip for the input and output connections.

Lind also makes Toughbook adapters with 20-45 VDC and 40-60 VDC inputs.

I found one of the Toughbook 12 volt CF‑LNDDC120 Lind adapters new in the box on eBay for a good price. With it I can run my Toughbook off the cigarette lighter outlet in the vehicle and not worry about the laptop battery running dry partway through a fleet reprogramming.   Onc customer has 130 mobile radios.   An acquaintance has a Lind adapter for his agency-assigned field computer, he cut the input cable a few inches back from the cigarette lighter plug and added Anderson Power Poles.   I plan on doing the same.   See this web page for the proper comfiguration of the Anderson power pole connectors (Opens in a new browser window)

CAUTION:  Not every Lind adapter is Toughbook compatible.   Lind makes units for all the various brands of desktops, laptops and other equipment.   A friend found two a while back at a ham radio swap meet… one was for a MacBook, the other was for a D-link 5-port ethernet switch: 12 volts DC in and 5 volts out at 3 amps.   Lind has a VERY wide laptop computer product line because different manufacturers and product lines use different connectors and are different output voltages and currents.   My limited experience says that many Dells, Lenovos and HPs are 18, 19 or 20 volts where almost all CF‑series Toughbooks are 15.6 volts.   Lind also makes special purpose adapters that are 24 volts DC out and others that are 12 volts DC out.
An acquaintance found a Lind model MD2450-1661 in surplus, it is 9-42 volts in, 24 volts out (at up to 5 amps) and while it was not made for that he uses it in his RV to power his CPAP breathing machine (24 volts at 4 amps).

Toughbook CF‑series Shortcomings / Difficulties:

The only shortcomings or annoyances that I have found worth mentioning with the CF‑30 (and Toughbooks in general) are:

• The CF‑28, CF‑29, CF‑30 and CF‑31 series all have a 1024×768 XGA display.   My current main laptop (not the radio programming one) has a 1920×1080 display and the CF‑30 feels cramped in comparison.   I don't care !   Again, my Toughbooks were originally acquired for field work including fleet reprogramming and 4x4 visits to mountaintop sites, not as a web surfing / gaming / word processing computer!
  
  However… that 1024×768 is the laptop screen.   Things change when you have the Toughbook in a docking station, or when connected to an external VGA monitor or projector (which allows both screens to be used, with the external monitor as an extension to the side of the screen)   Either situation enables the video controller to access additional modes, including 1280×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1360×768, 1336×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080 and maybe others.   It all depends on the capabilities of the external monitor.
  
  
• There is no true power "OFF" mode on a CF‑28, CF‑29, CF‑30 or CF‑31 (and maybe other Toughbook product lines),   The battery will eventually be drained if the Toughbook is just powered off and left to sit.   I've solved this by removing the battery when I put it back on the shelf.   It's easy – just open the battery door, pull on the colored ribbon tab, slide out the battery, close the door, and stash the loose battery in a pocket of the laptop bag.   See this photo   (Opens in a new browser tab)
  
  At one point I considered modifying my CF‑30…   Adding an off-on switch between the battery and the rest of the internal circuitry… a switch labeled Use / Store,   I looked at repurposing the WiFi switch but the contacts looked to be undersized for the load current.   Then I looked at mounting a new switch somewhere on the case… I compared the available space on the outer case versus the interior positioning of the circuitry and components.   I could not find a suitable location anywhere on the case that had clearance for the body of the switch inside.   Even if I had found a suitable location and switch then mounting it would have required a full disassembly, then taking the case to a drill press or milling machine, then a full reassembly and after all that it might not have worked (it's too easy to break something like a ribbon cable connector during disassembly and reassembly).   And if I did mount a suitable switch I would then have to connect it in such a way that it allowed charging but prevented discharging…   Just too many unknowns.
  
  I decided to leave the CF‑30 unmodified and just continue to pop the battery out of the Toughbook while in storage…
  Or leave the battery in, and plug in a low current charger (like the IBM Thinkpad one that came with my CF‑28s)…
  
  
• The CF‑30 does not have a DB-25 printer port / parallel port.   The CF‑29 was the last one that did, and when I had one (and the previous CF‑28) I was using the printer connector more often for a PROM programmer than a printer.   I've not missed the DB-25 on my CF‑30 as I now have a more-capable PROM programmer that connects with USB.   And these days all of the printers I use are wired Ethernet, USB or WiFi…   I have two network connected printers:   An older laser printer does 90%-95% of my printing at 27 pages per minute and at about a half-cent per printed page (about 10 to 12 ppm when printing double-sided).   I have an inkjet printer that I use only when I need color or an 11×17 inch printout (like for a spreadsheet).   The ink cost for that inkjet printer is about 7 to 9 cents per page.
  
  
• The speaker in the CF‑28, CF‑29, CF‑30, CF‑31 (and maybe others) is tiny, and monophonic.   Like I said above, I don't care !   I'm not using it to listen to nusic!   That's what a hi-fi system is for.
  The small monophonic speaker was a design decision as a military field computer rarely needs speakers.   So the designers put a stereo external speaker jack in the back and a small plastic mono speaker in the front.   The front speaker is very durable and I've not had a problem with it in three generations of Toughbooks.   However it does happen.   An acquaintance purchased a used fleet CF‑30 that arrived with a dead speaker (the voice coil was open, I have no idea how that happened).   I found a youtube video that showed how to replace the Toughbook speaker (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)   He used one from my box of leftover Toughbook parts, (it came from a CF‑28 or CF‑29) and it now works fine.
  By the way, there is a small hole in the left hinge cover that is for a microphone but I've never seen one with it installed.   The one time I particiapated in a Skype or Zoom call while at a customer site I used my cellphone, not my CF-30, so the lack of a microphone doesn't matter.   And I could always plug a microphone into the mic jack on the rear.
  
  
• See my comments above on JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screws.   They look like Phillips but they are not!   This item will become a non-issue and you will prevent a lot of frustration simply by putting a $20-$30 JIS screwdriver set in your tooklit.
  
  
• The CF‑series are heavier and a bulkier than the equivalent modern plastic laptops.   Again, I don't consider that to be a problem!   I'm in my 70s and not planning on running a marathon with a Toughbook in my backpack.   I have a lighter weight everyday laptop.   The Toughbook weight and bulk comes from the fact that there is no plastic, the entire frame and case is made from a magnesium alloy and the case is also a heat sink for the electronics (in an email back-and-forth with a Panasonic rep he said that the "casework" – his term – was over 20 times stronger than the common structural plastic used in a comsumer laptop),  Dropping a CF‑28, CF‑29, CF‑30 or CF‑31 laptop from table height at your local coffee shop will probably crack the floor tile… and probably won't even scratch the paint on the Toughbook.
  
  Over 10 years ago I was told that a Toughbook CF‑series was dropped and bounced as it was loaded into a service truck at a hilltop radio site and slid about 400-600 feet down the side.   Four or five days later (it took that long to set things up) one of the local Search And Rescue guys went over the side on a rope and recovered it.   It had been rained on at least one if not two nights.   After the recovery it was cleaned up, recharged and it worked fine.
  
  The bottom of this web page (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) has a story about a CF‑19 that spent about 24 hours completely submerged in a fresh water river but was restored to service with minimal effort.

Older programs, help files, and a Windows Vista, 10 and Later "Gotcha":

Some of the Help files embedded in the older radio programming software are plain text, however a large number of them are specially formatted and marked with the .HLP suffix.   All of the older Motorola and Kenwood (and others) radio programming software have them.   Well, as of Windows Vista (or 10 or later) the .HLP formatted files are "deprecated" because of "security risks".   Someone discovered that there was no checking for maliciously embedded executable code in the .HLP file read routine.   A bad actor could create a poisoned HLP file and somehow get it to a targeted system.   An unknowing user could set off that time bomb by just clicking Help.

It appears that Microsoft just walked away from the problem.   Rather than FIX the problem (by modifying the .HLP file reader so it can't execute code) they disabled the .HLP files in Windows Vista (or 10 or later) by replacing one file - the winhlp32.exe executable - with another that just displays a canned message.   The result is that if you try to open a .HLP file in Windows Vista (or 10 or later) it informs you it's not supported, does not tell you why, or offer you any solution.

This article is Microsoft's spin on the problem. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

What did Microsoft expect?   That every single publisher of old software was going to rewrite and reissue their old programs with the new help file format? (a .CHM suffix)   Not going to happen - Motorola isn't going to reissue any software for a product that is not currently being supported.   Likewise for Kenwood, Vertex, Bendix-King, Tait or any other manufacturer.   And some companies are no longer around.  You have to go find a solution so that your existing radio programming software help files remain usable.

This article told me how to fix it so the Kenwood and Motorola .HLP files worked again in my Win10 laptop and desktop. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

Note that this method leaves your computer vunerable to a poisoned .HLP file.   You will be safe as long as you are installing original Motorola / Kenwood / whomever radio programming software and never install a .HLP file from an unknown source.

This paragraph added August 2024: An acquaintance pointed me to this page at Softpedia.   The page says it's been around since 2018, but Google couldn't find it when I was looking for it.   I've not tried it but it looks like Softpedia did the rewrite of the .HLP file reader that Microsoft should have done.   (local copy in case the softpedia.com one goes away).   I've not tried that fix (yet).

Summary:

I took advantage of the availability of a technically adequate and very inexpensive used mil-spec rugged field laptop that met all of my needs (and then some).   The physical ruggedness, the hardware COM 1 port (that always works) and other characteristics are worth the inconvenience of the slightly bigger size / heavier weight.

I ended up with a complete CF‑30 Mark 3 with maxed-out RAM and a massively oversized brand new hard drive, all for under $250.   I could have got by with a smaller drive but the 2 TB hard drive was on sale and was about the same price as a 1/2 TB.   If I could have justified the higher cost I would have started with a used CF‑31.

There is a company in Delaware that has over 25 years of experience in the sales, service and as a source of parts for rugged computers.   They specialize in Toughbooks and to a lesser extent handle other rugged computers.   Their web site has new and refurb Toughbooks and parts for sale.   I've referenced a number of their YouTube videos in the writeup above.   Plus they have a YouTube Playlist of videos they have made covering the Toughbook models that they sell and service. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)

The company is:

Bob Johnson's Computer Stuff Inc.   Also known as "BJCS".     www.bobjohnson.com (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
133 N Dupont Blvd.
Smyrna DE 19977
(302) 659-2727
They are in the Eastern Time Zone (GMT-5).   As of the time of this writing they are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.

What's Left To Do:

1. If anyone can figure out how to reliably run XP vintage applications on a 64‑bit computer this functionality would allow using a 64‑bit Windows computer for everything as long as I could continue to dual boot into MS-DOS.
   
   I've been told that the key is at https://github.com/otya128/winevdm but I don't know enough about Windows‑64 to know how to make it work. (link is an off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab)
   Here's a local copy in case the github one goes away. (opens in a new browser tab)
   
   
2. Right now my CF‑30 boots into Windows 7‑32 from a cold start and runs off the Windows partition (drive C:) just like any other stock Windows 7 computer.   I carry a bootable MS-DOS thumb drive so that I can so that I can field program radios like a Maxtrac or GM300.   I'd like to dual boot the CF-30 into either Win-7 or MS-DOS.

Other Rugged Laptops:

As I said above, the Toughbook is the major player in the rugged laptop niche market.

Dell has the "Rugged" (5xxx) and the "Rugged Extreme" (7xxx) product lines… the models include the 5424, 5430, 7424, 7030 and 7330.   Some of them have the 9-pin serial port.   I do not have an opinion as I've not had an opportunity to spend any time with any of the Dell units.   The Dell units show up on eBay occasionally.

One useful feature of some of the Dell units is that they have dual identical batteries - you can run those models continuously on battery power just by alternately hot-swapping a discharged battery for a fully charged one.

An acquaintance maintains the radios and repeaters at a local hospital and he once commented that the contractor who maintains the hospital emergency electrical power generators uses a company-issued Getac (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) brand laptop and loves it… but there aren't many Getac laptops out there (almost never on eBay) and parts (like a replacement keyboard or battery) have to be ordered from the company in Irvine, California.   The Dell models are somewhat easier on spare parts as they share a number of internal parts with their retail cousins.

According to a Getac telephone sales representative Getac has both fully rugged (the Bxxx series) and a Semi-Rugged (the Sxxx series) product lines and on some models the 9-pin serial port must be factory original (not able to field add).

Dynabook Inc., formerly Toshiba Client Solutions Co., Ltd. (who used the name "Toshiba" from 1958 to 2018) supposedly makes (made?) a rugged laptop but I've never seen one or know anyone who has.   Note that the term "Dynabook" was invented by Allan Kay who was a key progenitor of laptop and tablet computers and while at Xerox PARC in the 1970s was the architect of the modern overlapping windowing graphical user interface (GUI)).

There is a company called Durabook that has a few models, but like Getac, are not common.   I've never seen one except on a web page.   The web site says that a "Serial port (RS232, RS422 and RS485)" is available.

ASUS makes the TUF Gaming Series and their web page claims that it is designed for durability.   Though primarily aimed at gamers, the page offers some rugged features that could be beneficial in tough environments.   I cannot find any mention of a 9-pin serial port so I have no reason to investigate them any further (especially when used Toughbooks are as cheap as they are).

I do not know of any others, and the only hands-on Rugged experience I have is with the Toughbooks.

One Last Note:

Put an identifying label of some kind on your laptop charger AC power plug.   Maybe a piece of passionate purple electrical tape, a couple of inches of glow-in-the-dark safety orange heatshrink, or obnoxious neon green spray paint it but do SOMETHING to make easily recognizable by both you and your assistant (if you are lucky enough to have one).   You do NOT want be on a hilltop for over 19 hours beating a trunking repeater system into submission and be mentally exhausted to the point of accidentally unplugging the power cord for the ambulance dispatch repeater power supply instead of your laptop AC power cord.   Ambulance dispatch centers can be unforgiving about unexpected outages (even ones as short as 6 minutes).

Contact Information:

The author, Mike Morris WA6ILQ, can be contacted here.

Mike would like to thank Will Martin KA6LSD (SK in early 2024), Matt Lechliter W6XC, Donald Best N6ALD, Sam Skofield KJ6QFS and several other fine folks for past radio programming computer help.   He'd also like to thank Bob and the staff at Bob Johnson's Computer Stuff Inc. for their very informative web pages, YouTube videos and for their past email help on the Toughbook CF‑28s. CF‑29s, CF‑30s and CF‑31s.   He looks forward to sending them more money.

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This page originally posted on 10-Jan-2020 and updated infrequently.

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