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The Quantar & Quantro Station and Astro-Tac Receiver Index Page Compiled by Robert Meister WA1MIK (SK) and Michael Morris WA6ILQ. Currently Maintained by Michael Morris WA6ILQ. |
Mike has very little experience with this equipment so please ask on the repeater-builder mailing list!
Contributions, comments / critiques / suggestions / corrections / updates for this page (or any page) are welcome and appreciated.
Actually that applies to any page at this web site! (even one that just points out a typo).
The Astro-Tac Receiver is essentially a standard Quantar receiver module and a receive-only controller in a rack-mount box that is 2 Rack Units (3.5 inches) tall.
Here are some of the major differences between the Quantar and the Quantro:
As of December 31, 2020 the Quantar product line is no longer supported by Motorola.
Quantars generally show a Model T5365A on the manufacturing plate, along with the serial number. Astro-Tac receivers usually show T5367 or T5589. There is NO way to find out if that unit is VHF, UHF1, UHF2, UHF3, UHF4, 700, 800 or 900 MHz from the manufacturing plate but you can get some idea just by looking at the front of the receiver module: You will see either five holes or no holes. The VHF receivers have the adjustment screws visible in all five holes (but you won't know what range the receiver is (132-150 MHz or 150-174 MHz). The UHF receivers (like in the photo at the top of this page) have the same five holes but only the three middle holes have visible tuning screws, but again you won't know which range the receiver was made for (403-433 MHz, 440-470 MHz, 470-490 MHz or 490-520 MHz). If there are no adjustment screws or no holes it's 700, 800 or 900 MHz.
Here's a photo of a VHF receiver module with the front sheet metal panel missing. The preselector modules look like the ones used in the MTR2000 / MTR3000 repeaters.
On a new-to-you Quantar you will have to pull the individual modules out of the chassis and copy all of the (3 or 4 letters plus 4 or 5 numbers) part numbers off of the back of the modules, and then look them up to find out what you have.
Despite what you read elsewhere the Quantars and Quantros were never specified for FCC Rule Part 95 (GMRS).
The known Quantar ranges are as follows:
VHF Range 1: 132-154 MHz.
VHF Range 2: 146-174 MHz. Some specification sheets say 150-174 MHz.
UHF Range 1: 380-433 MHz.
UHF Range 2: 438-470 MHz.
UHF Range 3: 470-512 MHz.
A different manual says R0=380-433 MHz, R1=403-433 MHz, R2=438-470 MHz, R3=470-494 MHz and R4=494-520 MHz.
Usually the exciter VCOs will lock a couple of MHz above and below. The spec sheet says that the receivers are 4 MHz wide on VHF and 6 MHz wide on UHF.
Motorola made a kit of two brackets (0785412U01) that would center the Quantar (front-to-back) on a two-post rack.
Programming:
The Quantar and the Quantro stations and the Astro-Tac receivers (essentially a quantar receiver and a receive-only controller in a rack-mount box) all use the RVN5002 RSS / CPS. The early versions would not work on 64-bit windows. The later versions locked you into narrowband unless you had an entitlement key (and as far as I know those are no longer available). Version 14.12.00 is the one that you want to look for. Anything later forced the unit into narrowband. The final version was R14.13.00. If additional information is received I'll add it here. You program the Quantar through the 9-pin female connector (DE-9 / DB-9) on the front of the control module. The programming cable is Motorola's part number 30-80369E31 or E32 but you can make one yourself, no RIB is used, it it a simple null-modem connection and has a DE-9 (nine-pin female) on the computer end and a DE-9 (nine-pin male) on the Quantar end:
Computer | Quantar
9 pin female | 9 pin male
|
2 --------------------- 3
3 --------------------- 2
5 --------------------- 5
7 --------------------- 8
8 --------------------- 7
|
In most cases a three-conductor connection (pins 2, 3 and 5) is all that you will need.
Both ends have no connection on pins 1, 4, 6, and 9.Power Supplies:
The Quantar power supply modules come in 3 generic versions (and a couple of sub-versions):
One of the Motorola Quantro rack-mounted power supplies is the TPN1186B... originally spec'd for the MSF5000 station.
It is rated at 14 Volts and 35 amps continuous duty and weighs about 50 pounds.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
| Quantar Power Supplies Comparison | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part Numbers | Power Input1 |
Manufacturer | Backup / Revert2 |
Battery Charger3 | Watts | Other | |
| OEM | FRU | ||||||
| CPN1031 | TLN3377 | 48/60v DC | Motorola | N/A | N/A | 600 | |
| CPN1042 | ? | AC | Onan | ? | ? | 700 | |
| CPN1047 | TLN3259 | AC | Motorola | ? | No | 625 | Output: +28.6v at 12.5a, +14.2v at 8a and +5.1v at 3a |
| CPN1048 | TLN3260 | AC | Motorola | Yes | Yes | 625 | Output: +28.6v at 12.5a, +14.2v at 8a and +5.1v at 3a |
| CPN1049 | TLN3261 | AC | Motorola | ? | No | 265 | Output: +14.2v at 12.5a and +5.1v at 9a |
| CPN1050 | TLN3262 | AC | Motorola | Yes | Yes | 265 | Output: +14.2v at 12.5a and +5.1v at 9a |
| ? | TPN6185 | AC | Motorola | Yes | Yes | 625 | |
| TRN7801 | TLN3363 | 24v DC | Onan | N/A | N/A | 600 | Output: +28.6v at 16a, +14.2v at 9a and +5.1v at 9a |
| TRN7802 | TLN3264 | 12/24v DC | Onan | N/A | N/A | 210 | Output: +14.2v at 12.5a and +5.1v at 9a |
| TRN7803 | TLN3378 | 48/60v DC | Onan | N/A | N/A | 210 | Output: +14.2v at 12.5a and +5.1v at 9a |
The Onan-built power supply modules have a temperature activated fan, the early Motorola modules were the same, the later Motorola supplies run the fan continuously. There is also an internal fan, if it fails the power supply will shut down when (not if) it gets hot. The fan is an ADDA AD0912HB-A73GL-LF, a 92mm square fan that is 20mm thick, 12VDC, 0.18A, 37.5dBA, 2900RPM, ball bearings, 3-wire fan (with a tachometer lead). They are stocked by Mouser as part number 664-D0912HBA73GLLF, and are less than US$15.
If your Quantar has a Battery Revert power supply and you want to use that feature then you need a Battery Revert
cable kit (TRN5155A) to connect the Quantar to the battery. As of mid-2025 the TRN5155A cable was still available
from Motorola Parts for about $120 (or you can easily build it!) if that cable is not present on the back of the chassis in
connector location 25 (opens in a new browser tab).
The Battery Revert cable has an 8-pin (2 sided, 4 pins per side, the 2 sides are paralleled) card edge connector that bolts into
location 25. The cable has a large ferrite bead next to the card edge connector (anyone
have an idea of where to find them?). The 8-gauge (AWG) cable is about 9 feet long and the cable kit comes with
a fuse holder to be placed in line with the positive lead. The high power Quantar uses a 60 amp 300 volt
fuse (low power is 15 amps or 20 amps). The fuse holder is not shown in the photos here:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5. (all open in new
browser tabs)
You may find that connector location 25 is open or may be capped with a metal
plate (a good idea to keep the mice out). If the plate is there you will want to save the screws, they are 3.5mm metric and
not every hardware store has them. And that leads me into the next paragraph...
The Battery Revert feature includes a built-in under-voltage battery protection circuitry (low voltage disconnect) which
triggers when the battery voltage drops to 10.75 volts (one manual says 10.5 volts) or 21 volts on the
high power stations. This disconnect protects the battery from fatal over-discharge. The Battery Revert power supplies
have a charger option and if present that should not be considered as the primary battery charger, they are essentially
a trickle charger. For sites with frequent AC Mains power interuptions Motorola recommends an external
battery charging system based on a switched mode charger made by Argus Technologies in Britsh Columbia, Canada
(we are looking for which Argus model was recommended)
The MTR page at this web site has some Argus information that might be useful.
(all of the links in this paragraph are off-site pointers, all open in new browser tabs)
The DC input connector that mounts in location 25 is an AMP/TE 530521-3 four position (8 contact) connector body. The contacts are
AMP/TE 5-530519-2.
Both Digikey and Mouser stock the pieces: Digikey's page for the connector body and the pins. Mouser pointers: body and pins. I could not find the plastic key (or tab) at either Digikey or Mouser but you could easily make one, perhaps by cutting a piece out of an old credit card or some other piece of sheet plastic.
The screws that fasten the connector into the back of the Quantar chassis are 3.5mm diameter and 12mm long. Well, 3.5mm is NOT
stocked at any hardware store near me (they had 3mm and 4mm) or at Home Depot or Lowes. But they had them on Amazon....
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KY8H26C.
Yes, it's 10 pieces and they are Torx but it's the correct length and size... and at $8 it was cheaper than ordering a smaller quantity
at a higher price from an internet hardware supplier and I already had the correct Torx driver in the set from when I first got started in Maxtracs.
The TKN8786A Battery Temperature Sensor Cable plugs into the 3-pin conector at connector
location 24 (adjacent to the Battery Revert connector). Unfortunately as of late 2025 that
Sensor Cable is no longer available from Motorola Parts. That cable is a small diameter grey cable
that terminates in a length of black heat-shrink. Inside / under that heat shrink is a
thermistor. The idea is that you would place the thermistor in direct contact with the battery so that
it measures the battery temperature, and that information would let the battery charger board inside
the power supply module adjust the charging current and voltage. An acquantance said that he's seen
the thermistor duct-taped to the negative post of a battery instead of to the plastic case of the battery...
the idea is that due to thermal conduction the metal post would be closer to the internal termperature
of the battery than the outside of the plastic case would be.
Any additional details that would help someone replicate the TRN5155A or TKN8786A cables would
be welcome....
Motorola says this about the X30 option "Battery Charger and Emergency Reverting":
Provides an adjustable, regulated power supply to trickle charge a battery, and automatically reverts to battery operation upon loss of primary power. This option is not recommended in situations of frequent AC power interruptions, due to the limited recharge capability of the Quantar / Quantro power supply. This option is not available on 350 watt models.
External storage batteries attach to the station through the battery connector at location 25 on the backplane. Includes a low voltage disconnect feature, which disconnects at 10.5 Volts for 12 Volt batteries, and 21 Volts for 24 Volt batteries. Requires only 12 Volt batteries for 20 and 25 watt models and only 24V batteries for 100, 110 and 125 watt models.
Note: Output power may be reduced up to 3dB in the battery revert mode to conserve battery life. Full rated RF power is only available for terminal voltages of 13.5 to 15 volts (12 VDC: X30 option) and 27 to 30 volts (24 VDC: X30 option) at the station DC input connector.
Test Microphone and Speaker:
The test microphone jack on the front of the Quantar is NOT an 8-pin RJ-45
style - it is a 6-pin(!) RJ-11 / RJ-12 / RJ-14 style socket.
The Quantar documentation calls for a TMN6164A (or B) handset or an
HMN1001A (or B) microphone – that is a regular mobile microphone except
with a 6-pin plug on the radio end of the curly-cord.
The HMN1001A microphone was originally used on both the Mostar and Traxar (a trunking
Mostar) mobiles, and later on both the HT-90 and HT-440 Converta-Coms (mobile handheld
chargers), and both the MSF and Quantar stations. These days the TMN6124 handset or
HMN1001 microphone is not very common, however it is worth acquiring one as a test
unit for your Quantar toolkit. You can modify a super-common and cheap HMN1056
series microphone that was used with the
Maxtrac / Radius / GM300 mobiles (it has an 8-pin RJ45-style
cord) and swap the cord to a 6-pin cord. The part number for
the 6-pin cord is 30-80146D02
(thanks to Andy NC4AB for that number) and was about $55 in the 2005 price list.
If you can't locate a 3080146D02
microphone cord there are 6-pin microphone curly cords made for Kenwood mobiles
(like the TK-705/780/805/880) that should be adaptable.
We would still like to find the HMN1001A (or B) info sheet that Motorola packed with the
microphone and scan it to PDF so we can make the full info available here.
The Quantar has an small internal speaker driven by a low power audio amplifier. Honestly, an external speaker sounds much better. The Volume Up and Volume Down buttons on the front of the control module provide 16 levels of volume on both the internal and external speakers. The 4-pin modular test SPKR jack on the front of the the Quantar control module is NOT a common RJ-11 / RJ-12 / RJ-14 style connector. Instead it is an RJ-9 / RJ-10 / RJ-22 (they are all the same 4-pin connector body) and is most commonly found as the narrow modular connector used for wired telephone handsets (and you can find them and the crimping tool on Amazon).
The audio that is fed to the SPKR jack is more like a line level output, and will drive a small earpiece but generally you will need an amplified speaker. Motorola specified an HSN1000A (or B) external amplified speaker and a 0185180U01 speaker cable. (opens in a new browser tab) The set of speaker and cable is also used on the MTR2000 / MTR3000 product lines. As I write this the "Motorola 0185180U01" cable can still be found new for under US$30 dollars. The HSN1000 amplified speaker specified by Moto is nothing special, it was used on several mobile handheld chargers and has a 6-pin Molex connector on it and runs on 12 volts DC.
Rather than buying a RJ-9 / RJ-10 / RJ-22 connector and a crimper the easiest way to find a mating cable is to recycle a wired telephone handset cable (it has the correct connector (on both ends), 4 conductors, and the color code varied with the manufacturer). A common personal computer amplified speaker will work just fine, look for one that uses +12 to +14 volts (some do and you can tap the power pins on the SPKR jack for those speakers, others are powered by a 5 volt wall wart, some are powered from a USB jack - also 5 volts... You can find +5v on pin 8 of J17, ground is adjacent on pin 7). You can determine the pinout of the SPKR connector with an ohmmeter, connect one lead to chassis ground, use the other to probe the pins on the SPKR jack (with the Quantar unplugged!)... The end pin that is grounded is pin 1, pin 2 is 14 volts DC to power the amplified speaker, pin 3 is audio ground, pin 4 is the line audio output (max about 1.4-1.5vpp).
Articles and Brochures:
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Ordering a Quantar Station Compiled
by Robert W. Meister WA1MIK A list of the major categories one would need to specify if ordering a new station. Now you can understand why model numbers are so hard to come by and could be nearly meaningless. |
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General Quantar
Info from Motorolas Electronic Catalog 175 kB PDF file Equipment, options, descriptions, and prices. From September 2003. |
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VHF Quantar Station Specifications brochure 266 kB PDF file dated 2004 |
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UHF Quantar Station Specifications brochure 98 kB PDF file dated 2002 |
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VHF-UHF-800 MHz Quantar Station Specifications brochure 2 MB PDF file dated 2004 |
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800 / 900 MHz Quantar Data Base Station Specifications brochure 84 kB PDF file dated 2004 |
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Quantar and Astro-TAC Receivers Specifications brochure 110 kB PDF file |
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Quantar Field Replaceable Units Compiled by
Robert W. Meister WA1MIK Lists of the various FRU part numbers which should tell you what your station is equipped with. |
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An Overview and Beginner's Guide
to Interfacing the Quantar station Reworked by Robert W. Meister WA1MIK Images show the major assemblies and all rear panel connectors. Describes the most common interfacing signals. |
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Identifying a Quantar Station
Submitted by Martin A Flynn W2RWJ Useful information and selection suggestions, plus lists of module numbers. |
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Quantar Enhanced Wildcard Features Without Leaving In
The Enhanced Board Submitted by Josh Heide K6ZRX This programming feature was discovered purely by accident, but it opens up possibilities. |
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Quantar
VHF Range 2 to Range 1 Amateur Band Modification Submitted by Rob Lee K7TGU Rob refered to this as "One quick approach, a Rough Draft" but it's complete. |
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Mike's Miscellaneous Motorola Minutia page
Compiled by Mike Morris WA6ILQ Additional Quantar tidbits and helpful parts information. |
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If you want to bring out all 50 pins of the J17 backplane connector (the 50-pin Amphenol 101 series connector) you might want to look at the Winford RJ-21 module. It has a female Amphenol connector and two 25 screw terminal strips. A standard 25-pair telephone cable with a male connector on each end connects it to the J17 connector. |
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One person reported "I was able to convert/tune an R2 range receiver down to 144 MHz. Looks like the receiver has two VCOs, one for each of the ranges, high and low. When I tried to program it below 145.6 MHz the Rx1 indicator flashed red. I figured the VCO was out of lock. There are two coils in one shielded section of the receiver PC Board which I found to be the VCO coils. I'm not sure yet which one is which, but I tuned each one turn clockwise then the Rx1 indicator went green. I was able to tune the R2 preselector with no problem down to 144 MHz. There was no issue with the high range exciter and PA using it for the low range down to 144." |
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The Transmitter audio input impedance is unusually low, about 500 ohms. Some external audio sources (like some amateur radio repeater controllers) do not have sufficient audio level. This can be cured with an external amplifier, or modifying the external device for a higher level. |
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The Motorola 9175300H02 (opens in a new browser tab) VHF 144-160 MHz 100 watt Duplexer option for the Quantar or GTR Repeater WILL NOT work in a 600 KHz receiver‑to‑transmitter situation. This is a $1400‑$1500 dollar option that is effectively a chinese knockoff (made by Fingu) of a Celwave / RFS PD5042 family duplexer and has a minimum channel spacing of 1.5 MHz. Go read this page for the full story on Fingu. (off-site pointer, opens in a new browser tab) |
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Likewise the Motorola 0185417U02 (opens in a new browser tab) VHF 144-160 MHz 100 watt VHF band-pass duplexer option X182AB for the Quantar, MTR2000 and MTR3000 repeaters also WILL NOT work in a 600 KHz receiver‑to‑transmitter situation. That unit is a relabeled chinese clone ("FINGU 29650003" (opens in a new browser tab) of a 6-cavity RFS/Celwave PD5042-1-50 unit that has a 1.5 MHz minimum transmitter to receiver separation. Any Telewave, Phelps Dodge, RFS or Cellwave duplexer is preferred over any Fingu. |
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If you have a high power Quantar there is a fan in the power supply and two fans in your high power PA. Don't let the fans die. It gets expensive if you do. The PA fans are not the same as the power supply fan. When the PA fans die use two of the Qualtek 562-FAD106025CBHW12A as replacements (60x60x25mm, 12 volt, ball bearing, 70,000 hours), available from Mouser as 562-FAD106025CBHW12A and under US15. |
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Repeater-builder received an email...
To: (repeater-builder staff) Subject: Quantar P.A. reflectometer issue... (something for the Quantar page) I've been a Land Mobile electronic technician for over 40 years, and have used your site for info many times. I'm presently employed as a county radio tech, and we are waiting on Motorola to switch us to a new system. So in the meantime they hired me to help maintain their present 800 MHz SmartZone trunking system that is still using 800 MHz Quantars. They have had a huge issue with the Quantar power amps going bad. What I've discovered is the reflectometer circuit on the low pass filter/coupler hybrid board in the 800 MHz P.A has printed resistors on the ceramic substrate that start changing value with increasing resistance, that causes the station to compensate until it burns up the P.A. or pops a transistor. The printed resistors dont look burnt, they just change value by aging I guess. My solution is to cut the circuit trace behind the RF choke on both forward and reflected sides, and solder in a 300 ohm chip resistor to fix the reflectometer. I could not find schematics on that board, so I assume Motorola kept them as proprietary..... I've seen this and fixed it in three different 800 MHz PA modules: CTF1091B, CLF1849A and TLF1930C. The Quantars that a ham will see are almost always VHF or UHF. I don't know if the design of the VHF and UHF P.A. modules has the same problem. Thanks for the website my friend!... |
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W9CR's Quantar Wiki page contains even more Quantar tidbits and helpful parts information. |
Manuals:
As this section is being written (2011) the Quantar and Quantro are current Motorola products and most of the later manuals are still available for purchase. The prices listed below should be taken only as a rough guideline. Motorola adjusts prices quarterly, and offers one set of prices to their dealers / service shops, another on their order desk, and a third to self-maintaining fleet customers (i.e. police departments, fire departments, etc).
As of the time of this writing (April 2011) the available Quantar manuals are: (if others appear please send the page maintainer a PDF, he will post the information here)
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6881088E90-G Quantar / Quantro Service Manual - This is the service manual for Quantar, Quantro, DSS-III, ASTRO-TAC Comparator, ASTRO-TAC receiver. It includes schematics, part location details, and parts lists, for every module EXCEPT the power supplies. The -G version of this manual (current as of this writing) is over five inches thick. |
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6881095E10 Quantar User Guide |
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6871012P36 Quantar Instruction Manual on CD-ROM |
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6881127E40 Quantar Repeater / SAM Manual |
PDF versions of any currently available manual won't be posted here at Repeater-Builder.
The older manuals that are Cancelled or No Longer Available (NLA) are a different story.
If anyone discovers that a manual has been Cancelled / switched to NLA status
and has a PDF please forward the PDF to us for posting.
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Quantar Satellite Receiver Instruction Manual 68P81087E25-O | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quantar RSS Instruction Manual 6881085E35-AG (for unknown version of RVN5002 Programming Software) 20 MB PDF file. Dated 12-30-2006. |
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Quantar RSS Instruction Manual 6881085E35-AN Rev 14.10.00 of RVN5002 Programming Software 18.9 MB PDF file. Dated 06-30-2011. |
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Quantar RSS Instruction Manual 6881085E35-AT Rev 14.13.00 of RVN5002 Programming Software 18.9 MB PDF file. This is the manual for the last version and is dated 03-31-2015. |
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Quantar Digital-Capable Station Instruction manual, p/n 68P81095E05-B, scan courtesy
of Eric Lemmon WB6FLY (SK). This manual includes station installation, module configuration and removal, and all interfacing information for the Conventional, SECURENET, ASTRO, 6809 Trunking, and IntelliRepeater systems on VHF (25 and 125 watt), UHF (25, 100, and 110 watt), 800 MHz (20 and 100 watt) and 900 MHz (100 watt). When it was available in paper form it was over two inches thick. The last entry is the complete manual.
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Quantar PDR 3500 Portable Repeater Basic Service Manual 6881093C75-O 780 kB PDF file. |
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Contact Information:
The author and page maintainer, Mike Morris WA6ILQ, can be contacted here.
Hand-coded HTML © Copyright 2009 and date of last update by the Repeater-Builder staff.
Motorola, Quantar, Quantro, and a whole bunch of other terms are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Motorola, Inc.
This page created 02-Sep-2009.
This web page, this web site, the information presented in and on its pages and in these modifications and conversions is © Copyrighted 1995 and (date of last update) by Kevin Custer W3KKC and multiple originating authors. All Rights Reserved, including that of paper and web publication elsewhere.