Night Patrolman
Member
Hey, I don't know if portable radios count, but I just got a vintage General Electric MPR portable radio and it's missing the antenna and belt clip. Anyone know where I can find those?
Need antenna and belt clip for GE MPR radio
- Thread starter Night Patrolman
- Start date
Do you know what type of antenna connection is on the Radio, If not post a pic with the frequency range of the transmitter and I'll try and point you in the right direction
Hi,
The MPR uses a stud sticking out the top of the housing. It isn't the same as what GE used prior to or after. I haven't seen any new ones for decades.
It does have the mount riveted on the back which takes the same belt clip or swivel stud as many of the later GE/Ericsson radios such as MPA, MRK, LPE, etc. Those are available from many of the 2 way battery suppliers.
I checked my Shelves of Obsolete Electronics and I have a few old GE radios but no MPR or MPX with an antenna still on one. And, none in the boxes of just portable antennas.
Stan
Ericsson R&D 1994-2008, predominately Digital Land Mobile Radio but also some analog such as EDACS.
The MPR uses a stud sticking out the top of the housing. It isn't the same as what GE used prior to or after. I haven't seen any new ones for decades.
It does have the mount riveted on the back which takes the same belt clip or swivel stud as many of the later GE/Ericsson radios such as MPA, MRK, LPE, etc. Those are available from many of the 2 way battery suppliers.
I checked my Shelves of Obsolete Electronics and I have a few old GE radios but no MPR or MPX with an antenna still on one. And, none in the boxes of just portable antennas.
Stan
Ericsson R&D 1994-2008, predominately Digital Land Mobile Radio but also some analog such as EDACS.
I don't see a center conductor???
They must use the metal chassis for the other half of the antenna.
Anyway its way before my time..lol
Last edited:
Night Patrolman
Member
Excellent! That solves the belt clip problem!
As for the antenna, that's not as important, but still important. I'm not necessarily trying to get the radio working; I just need it to look complete as a prop.
Hi,
Yup. That's the one. And, I don't have one. I have an MPX on the SOE, a companion model. I have older models, even one where it is double-sided. VHF Hi on once side (suburban) and UHF on the other (urban). a Dual Bander as it were, maybe even the very first one. I'm not sure. They are from the days when GE and Moto were leapfrogging each other to have innovation in radio.
As already mentioned, Before My Time. I was grabbing these sorts of things at hamfests, usually Dayton (in a couple weeks from now), and making up ham rigs from surplus. I even have a (useless) Voice Commander on the SOE. I wound up really into it with synthesized radios as they were always easier to convert. Even reworked some of the control software. Such as on the TMX 900 MHz mobile, Delta and Rangr 110w mobiles, and MPA portable.
There are ham bands on either side of VHF Lo band and on the low side of VHF Hi band and the low side of UHF. And there is a ham band in the middle of the 900 MHz trunking band. Also, some VHF Hi Band, Hi Split can move up into the 220 MHz ham band with a little more work.
I was into GE over Moto because I used GE for my radio modules at IBM when my main job was adding radios to laptops to produce mobile terminals. Later, when IBM downsized, I went to work for GE directly, at at the time when Ericsson was in a joint venture with GE (later just plain bought GE out).
So, anyway, lots of old GE stuff on the SOE left over from all that.
But, sadly, none of the odd antennas you need.
Oh, and they use radio itself for the other side of the antenna current. If you look at the later rubber duck connector, which is still in use and easily obtained, there is just a center pin. In this case, the stud is 'hot' (if you can call a few watts hot). Might possibly give you a tingle if you keyed up minus the antenna and were touching the stud.
It's good that the OP doesn't want the radio to work. I don't know of any source for that style battery pack these days. There are only a few suppliers left carrying the MPA pack, as I just bought two new ones. And, they are really difficult to re-cell.
Stan
SOE = Shelves of Obsolete Electronics
Yup. That's the one. And, I don't have one. I have an MPX on the SOE, a companion model. I have older models, even one where it is double-sided. VHF Hi on once side (suburban) and UHF on the other (urban). a Dual Bander as it were, maybe even the very first one. I'm not sure. They are from the days when GE and Moto were leapfrogging each other to have innovation in radio.
As already mentioned, Before My Time. I was grabbing these sorts of things at hamfests, usually Dayton (in a couple weeks from now), and making up ham rigs from surplus. I even have a (useless) Voice Commander on the SOE. I wound up really into it with synthesized radios as they were always easier to convert. Even reworked some of the control software. Such as on the TMX 900 MHz mobile, Delta and Rangr 110w mobiles, and MPA portable.
There are ham bands on either side of VHF Lo band and on the low side of VHF Hi band and the low side of UHF. And there is a ham band in the middle of the 900 MHz trunking band. Also, some VHF Hi Band, Hi Split can move up into the 220 MHz ham band with a little more work.
I was into GE over Moto because I used GE for my radio modules at IBM when my main job was adding radios to laptops to produce mobile terminals. Later, when IBM downsized, I went to work for GE directly, at at the time when Ericsson was in a joint venture with GE (later just plain bought GE out).
So, anyway, lots of old GE stuff on the SOE left over from all that.
But, sadly, none of the odd antennas you need.
Oh, and they use radio itself for the other side of the antenna current. If you look at the later rubber duck connector, which is still in use and easily obtained, there is just a center pin. In this case, the stud is 'hot' (if you can call a few watts hot). Might possibly give you a tingle if you keyed up minus the antenna and were touching the stud.
It's good that the OP doesn't want the radio to work. I don't know of any source for that style battery pack these days. There are only a few suppliers left carrying the MPA pack, as I just bought two new ones. And, they are really difficult to re-cell.
Stan
SOE = Shelves of Obsolete Electronics
Stan,
Thanks for sharing your Industry Knowledge!
I usually got "Voluntold" to handle COMM stuff just because nobody else around had a Technical Background or could read basic VDC or VAC Circuits and/or couldn't understand antenna resonance etc.
Luckily I had a good friend and mentor that worked in COMMS since the 40's. He had the ability to "Dumb Down" highly complex theories for me..lol Look him up, his former call is W6ODF. He was a self- taught, electrical engineer, (and never went to college). I was in awe when later in life he shared some of his extensive background and personal history, as he worked as a Tech Advisor in a 1950's Dragnet Episode (as Dennis Weaver portrayed him in the Episode).
One common issue I ran into is Big M and other Manufactures that loved to use Propriety Stuff, (that couldn't or wouldn't interchange). When you're out in BFE and had very little Logistical Support you had to rely on scrounging and/or horsetrading with other entities if/when a component when TI and you need a fix.
Thanks for sharing your Industry Knowledge!
I usually got "Voluntold" to handle COMM stuff just because nobody else around had a Technical Background or could read basic VDC or VAC Circuits and/or couldn't understand antenna resonance etc.
Luckily I had a good friend and mentor that worked in COMMS since the 40's. He had the ability to "Dumb Down" highly complex theories for me..lol Look him up, his former call is W6ODF. He was a self- taught, electrical engineer, (and never went to college). I was in awe when later in life he shared some of his extensive background and personal history, as he worked as a Tech Advisor in a 1950's Dragnet Episode (as Dennis Weaver portrayed him in the Episode).
One common issue I ran into is Big M and other Manufactures that loved to use Propriety Stuff, (that couldn't or wouldn't interchange). When you're out in BFE and had very little Logistical Support you had to rely on scrounging and/or horsetrading with other entities if/when a component when TI and you need a fix.
Hi,
My pleasure, whenever I can. One thing about being in R&D v service and repair is that one does not see everything all the time. One sees only what one is working on. R&D split products up into teams and a few engineers just look at one aspect (such as receiver or transmitter designers).
For other things, it was a matter of wrenching on certain products for conversion to the ham world. Often times meaning both hardware and firmware changes. I can say that this was easier with GE than it was with Moto. Same when it comes to the components used. Moto loves using Moto parts. I can't blame them, actually. It can be difficult to find an off the shelf part that does what you want.
On top of all that, there is always the Before My Time stuff. Such as the radio the OP has. I rather jumped from crystal controlled radios to the MPA and that before I worked for GE/Ericsson. The early synthesized stuff was rather clunky in the way they worked. Meaning, they didn't like to play in some of the ham bands.
The main reason for trying is that one cannot use a ham radio in the commercial bands, but the reverse is just fine. And I had a sizable number of ham friends who were also volunteer fire and rescue. We wanted radios we could use for both.
I looked up the callsign. I see where it is held by someone with the same name as your friend. I presume a son or grandson. I dug into the old Callbooks (like telephone books for hams, came out every year) and found listings back around 1960 and then a gap between the late 60s until the mid 90s when the same name is in the previous FCC database (they updated circa 2000 and the old DB goes back to 1986).
The old callbooks are online which range yearly from 1912 to 1997 when they ceased publishing given the FCC database was far easier to use and computers were common by 1997.
73s - Stan
My pleasure, whenever I can. One thing about being in R&D v service and repair is that one does not see everything all the time. One sees only what one is working on. R&D split products up into teams and a few engineers just look at one aspect (such as receiver or transmitter designers).
For other things, it was a matter of wrenching on certain products for conversion to the ham world. Often times meaning both hardware and firmware changes. I can say that this was easier with GE than it was with Moto. Same when it comes to the components used. Moto loves using Moto parts. I can't blame them, actually. It can be difficult to find an off the shelf part that does what you want.
On top of all that, there is always the Before My Time stuff. Such as the radio the OP has. I rather jumped from crystal controlled radios to the MPA and that before I worked for GE/Ericsson. The early synthesized stuff was rather clunky in the way they worked. Meaning, they didn't like to play in some of the ham bands.
The main reason for trying is that one cannot use a ham radio in the commercial bands, but the reverse is just fine. And I had a sizable number of ham friends who were also volunteer fire and rescue. We wanted radios we could use for both.
I looked up the callsign. I see where it is held by someone with the same name as your friend. I presume a son or grandson. I dug into the old Callbooks (like telephone books for hams, came out every year) and found listings back around 1960 and then a gap between the late 60s until the mid 90s when the same name is in the previous FCC database (they updated circa 2000 and the old DB goes back to 1986).
The old callbooks are online which range yearly from 1912 to 1997 when they ceased publishing given the FCC database was far easier to use and computers were common by 1997.
73s - Stan