Railfan Technology > Motorola Railroad Radio Setup Help

Good evening all. Since the speaker in my scanner went out, I am looking at purchasing an actual radio (greater range being the primary benefit over simply buying a new scanner). The radio in question is a Motorola MCS2000 II VHF 25 watt radio, set up for railroad band. I am a complete newbie when it comes to radios of any kind, so how would I set it up? It comes with the radio itself, external speaker, and microphone. Is disabling the ability to transmit as simple as unplugging the mic? What kind of antenna should I buy? How would I mount said antenna to my car (4 dr sedan)? Any additional cables/wires I need to purchase? Anything else I might be missing?
Thanks,

Justin S.

Don't do it.  Motorola programming software and cables can be expensive.  The Motorolas won't do NXDN digital, which is coming eventually to the railroads.  When it does, the Motorola becomes a useless brick for railfanning.  Once the AAR adopted NXDN as the digital platform for the future, the Class 1's essentially quit buying Motorola radios in favor the Kenwood and Icom models that will do NXDN.  If you don't want to bite the bullet and buy an NXDN-capable commercial radio for railfanning, you can buy a number of less expensive analog radio models that will perform close to the Motorola at a fraction of the cost until the day comes that the railroads go digital.   A good example is the amateur Kenwood TK-281A mobile radio.  It is a great performing analog radio and can usually be bought for less than $150. 

As for mobile antennas, I had excellent luck on a 4 door sedan with a trunk mounted Larsen NMO-150 antenna cut to the proper length for the railroad band.  I strongly recommend that a mobile antenna be permanently mounted and that the installation be done by a reputable radio shop.  They know how to properly install and mount the antenna to get peak performance. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/16 19:04 by WW.

Ok, thanks. This is why I asked so I could find out things like this. When the RRs do go digital, how will railfans monitor frequencies outside of digital compatible radios?

NS2501 Wrote:
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> Ok, thanks. This is why I asked so I could find
> out things like this. When the RRs do go digital,
> how will railfans monitor frequencies outside of
> digital compatible radios?

They won't.

If you're getting the radio used at a bargain price, go ahead and get it but I wouldn't spend more much than $50 for it today.  NXDN is coming but it may be years down the road, or it could happen in less than a year.  Some railroads are using it for a few functions now but it's not widespread at this time.  If you really want a mobile radio to mount in your car or truck there are several Amateur Radio options available that would do a decent job for you.  Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu all have offerings that would work.  Yaesu FT-2900R can be had for $150, Icom IC-2900H for $170, Kenwood TM-281A for $140, and there are some Chinese radios that are in the $100 range.  I won't advise on the Chinese radiow but the others mentioned are quality radios.  None of them will copy NXDN.  NXDN radios at thie time are several hundred bucks more.  Universal Radio, Ham Radio Outlet (HRO), R&L Electronics, and Gigaparts are a few of the larger dealers. 

You have basically two types of antennas.  You can chose a mag-mount or or a permanet mount.  Each of those are available in 1/4 wave or 5/8 wave options.  The 1/4 wave is about 17 inches tall, the 5/8 wave will be about 40-45 inches tall and has a loading coil at the base, usually enclosed in a plastic tube, about 1" X 4" tall.  The 5/8 wave will perform somewhat better if you need maximum range.  If you are using it in the city, in a signal rich environment, the 1/4 wave would be sufficient.  I prefer the 5/8 wave but I often use the 1/4 wave on my truck so that I can get it in the garage with minimum rubbing.  Diamond, Comet, Larsen, Hustler, and MFJ all make decent equipment.  The ham antennas will be listed for "2 meters" or 144-148MHz."  Railroads operate around 161MHz.  Most of the antennas will have charts or instructions for cutting the antenna to the proper length.  If not, someone on here can probably get you close enough.  

Removing the microphone is a 99% positive way to prevent transmission.  You could take a paperclip or something and defeat it but you would have to really go out of your way to do that.

John

One note about the amateur rigs that John mentions.  All are good radios, but ONLY the Kenwood TM-281A will tune the "splinter" channels that narrowbanding created.  Those are not in any widespread use on the RR's right now that I know of, but they will be eventually.  I have the FT-2900 and, while it is a very good radio, the 281A is a better radio for about the same money.

 NS2501 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ok, thanks. This is why I asked so I could find
> out things like this. When the RRs do go digital,
> how will railfans monitor frequencies outside of
> digital compatible radios?

>They won't.

​I own two NXDN radios--Kenwood NX 210 hand-held and Kenwood NX 700 mobile.  Both radios will operate on analog and NXDN digital, so yes they will monitor non-digital transmissions.

K4YS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>  NS2501 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Ok, thanks. This is why I asked so I could find
> > out things like this. When the RRs do go
> digital,
> > how will railfans monitor frequencies outside
> of
> > digital compatible radios?
>
> >They won't.
>
> ​I own two NXDN radios--Kenwood NX 210 hand-held
> and Kenwood NX 700 mobile.  Both radios will
> operate on analog and NXDN digital, so yes they
> will monitor non-digital transmissions.

I interpreted the question to mean "If the railroads go digital, will railfans be able to monitor the digital channels with an analog radio?"  My answer was "no."  You are absolutely correct that the NXDN radios will do both analog and NXDN.  I use both Kenwood and Icom NXDN digital radios (Icom calls NXDN "IDAS," by the way) daily on both analog and digital.  Side by side, I see little difference in performance between the Icom IC-F5061 and Kenwood NX-700 NXDN mobiles.  I've been told that the Kenwood NXDN NX-210 portable performs slightly better than the Icom IC-F3161/3261 NXDN portables, but I have not run them side by side to compare for myself.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/16 08:03 by WW.

I am curious about the ham rigs not being able to do the "split" channels.  I don't have an FM dedicated rig any more but my multi mode IC7000 can dial in down to the Hz.  I guess on the FM only rigs tuning steps are 5 or 10 Khz because why would you need anything else, right?  Kind of surprises me, though.

Tom
CBRL
 

When I was the Texas Dept of Transportation Radio Operations we tested, purchaed and approved the Motorola MCS 2000.
Excellent radio that is narrowband capable. 
However, the software to program the radio can be quite expensive as well as the programming adapters.  In some cases, the software will not work with newer/faster computers.   This was a known Motorola software issue that we continued to fight.
I would follow the other recommendations as looking at other possible radio equipment.
At some point in time the railroad will go digital to NXDN and it would not be cost effective to spend a bunch of money for a radio that you might not be able to use at some point in time.
Good luck on your decision.
Being a ham radio operator, I am not even interested in the MCS2000 these days.

Pat
WA5VRO
Austin, TX

CBRL Wrote:
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> .  I guess on the FM
> only rigs tuning steps are 5 or 10 Khz because why
> would you need anything else, right?  Kind of
> surprises me, though.
>
> Tom
> CBRL
>  
Basically, your right.  Our bandplans on the UHF and FHV ham bands has been on the 5 and 10KHz slots. 146.94, 146.52,  147.045, etc...  Some of the newer radios are couning out with options to set other splits.  I have a Yaesu FTM-400, System Fusion that supports 5, 6.25, 10, 12.5, and other splits.  I suspect others will be doing the same on newer products.  BTW, the FTM-400 is a digital radio but it will not copy NXDN.  The System Fusion and NXDN both use C4FM but they encode the signals differently and have different built in features.  In adition to the frequency splits, the bandpass becomes another problem to consider.  Even if a radio will tune the 6.25KHz splits, how big is the bandpass going to be?  Not really a problem until someone starts to use an adjacent channel   Technologies are racing ahead.  By the time the railroad actually cuts over to NXDN, there is going to be something even greater.  Right now, I'm not investing in anything until the technology is in use on a widespand basis.

John

Excellent thread, just so happens I have the same exact radio, mounted in a 2002 Ford Ranger. Radio is mounted right under the dash, just above the floor mounted console, where the passenger airbag switch/ashtray was located. Speaker is mounted just to the right, in the same location. Antenna is a permanent roof mount NMO located just fore of the 3rd brake light. Power cord I ran thru the firewall to the battery. Use a 1/4 wave Tram antenna. Would like to try a 5/8 wave but really cannot due to height issues (truck is a 4wd). So far have had no complaints about my setup. Great thing about having a radio I can dodge the (asinine) scanner laws in Kentucky and Indiana.

As for the microphone, I have it disconnected, as it is strictly a receive-only radio.

Posted from Android



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/16 14:57 by bodkin6071.

<Great thing about having a radio I can dodge the (asinine) scanner laws in Kentucky and Indiana.>
**If you have your Ham ticket!

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/16 15:39 by ChessieSystem.

ChessieSystem Wrote:
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> > If you have your Ham ticket!

That, I don't...




 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/16 15:40 by bodkin6071.

I am looking for some help as a rookie trying to listen in while on a trip. I have a Bearcat BC125AT...

inam goung tomridevthe Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver in mid October. How do I know the frequencies to listen to?

thank you

Since this thread is old, you might want to start a new one with your question.  Also, your question is drifting off topic.

However, let me get you started.  Go to http://www.whrc-wi.org/railfreqs.htm   It's a good starting point listing frequencies by railroads, and by frequencies in North America.  You ca also search "AAR Frequencies" for more information.  If those suggstions don't answer your questions, start a new thread in either Railfan Technology, Eastern, Western, or the Canadian group, depending on the exact area of interest.  If you are traveling by passenger train, use the Passenger Forum.  If the railroads of interest are small short lines, you might mention the road name and the location.

Hope this is of some help.

John

Thank you ..,,

What no one has mentioned - Motorola can only scan upto 16 channels at a time. Again, excellent radio and programming is not straight forward.

The software can no longer be purchased by mere mortals and last I saw was in the $295 range, although $395 sounds about right.

The line has been discon for many years at the point.

I will not get too deep into the discussion but don't let the NXDN crowd scare you too much.

On a whole, NXDN has basically been given a backseat for any wide area implementation aka road channels of any consequence.

It is true that it's being used in a couple of yards, but mostly for Carmen, mechical and the like.

There are many obsticals to overcome before it can be used as a mainline format - i.e. "Tone up a dispatcher", radio controlled switches, radio recall of TDD's and so forth.

Your best bet is a high quality scanner by Uniden or Whistler. Whistler has announced NXDN support and Uniden now as DMR and is exploring NXDN.

They will cost you $500, but many are internet programmable and GPS enabled.

For for about the same cost of buying everything you need for a 15+ year old radio, you can get a scanner for the same price and have it receive all sorts of fun stuff.

In either case, a quality antenna and mount is key.