ewv@craycos.com (Eric Varsanyi) (11/27/90)
This weekend I bought a second cellular phone and actually managed to install and program it myself. The phone only has a single NAM and I would like to be able to use it on two different systems. Motorola has an policy (enforced in software) of only allowing the NAM in a phone to be programmed three times. After the third time it locks out and attempts to get into programming mode. On my first phone (Motorola 750 handheld) I found out how to clear the counter from Motorola (it was like pulling teeth). It involves shorting Pin 6 on the back of the phone to ground to get into maintenance mode and then typing #32# to clear the phone out. Motorola would not tell me what anything except #32# would do. On the new phone (A Motorola MC200) they put the same silly restriction on NAM programming. For some large sum of money they will sell you an "adaptor" that goes between the DB25 on the tranceiver and control head. A local cellular installer told me that this adaptor simply shorts two pins on the DB25 to get into the maintenance mode (just like on the 750). So, the question is: Does anyone out there (perhaps someone with a NAMFAX) have any info on which pins get into maintenance mode on an MC200? Also, is there a generic list of commands that most Motorola phones recognize once in maintenance mode (aside from #32#)? Is there a good technical reason to not allow rampant reprogramming of your NAM or is Motorola just doing this to ensure revenue for their 'factory authorized' service centers? Eric Varsanyi (ewv@craycos.com) Cray Computer Corporation [Moderator's Note: They may have also gotten a little heat from the cellular companies or the feds regarding fraudulent use of the phone. It wouldn't be the first time for Motorola. Years ago they manufactured a chip known as 021-A for forty channel CB radios. It was (ahem!) programmable by the most simple-minded CB radio user. Anyone with a solder gun and an Exacto-blade would get in there and cut the trace which kept pin 16 from going low. Presto, 40 channel CB suddenly can tune all the way to 27.805 megs provided the pirate technician could broadband it and get it to oscillate up there. The FCC finally got tired of it and leaned hard on Motorola to quit using that chip. PAT]