is this radio ancient ?

[Fast4socal]

REGENCY MX3000

i bought it at a yard sale a while ago and when i plug it in it says this:
P.LOSS here is some pics of it: no antenna tho i wanna use it so bad
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edited by shaft

[Circuit Breaker]

Looks like an old MX3000. From what I can tell, it covers 30-50, 144-174 and 440-512 MHz. CHP used to use them a lot in the 80s.

[Night Crawler]

no antenna tho i wanna use it so bad

Stick a 20 inch length of wire to where the connector plugs in or twist it around the top part that's broken off. Tie it to a piece of string and hang it from the wall or ceiling.

[Fast4socal]

well the display says P. LOSS when i turn it on wtf does that mean? and yes its a Regecy MX3000

[Night Crawler]

Program Loss
A frequency has to be programed into the microprocessor for it to receive anything.

[Fast4socal]

Program Loss
A frequency has to be programed into the microprocessor for it to receive anything.

okay what do i press to put in a frequency ..because i tried to press program nothing happens...

['Doc]

You might say it's a little old.
Try here for a manual. It takes a while to down load.

[Please login or register to view this link]

- 'Doc

[Fast4socal]

You might say it's a little old.
Try here for a manual. It takes a while to down load.

[Please login or register to view this link]

- 'Doc

thanks. but it still says p.loss i also switched the memory lock in the back the only buttons that word or atleast BEEP are the top 3 digits and the bottem three digits. i read the manual too took about 30 seconds to load up. im a software engineer. not a radio person. anyways i guess that is the reasion why this radio was at a Yard sale..? i just opend it up and the ciruits all look great no corrosion or anodized white crap like i see on some mobile hand helds. no fried resistors or poped ones.

[Circuit Breaker]

Maybe it needs a new battery to retain the memory.

[Foxhunter]

I have the Regency Polaris MT5500XL marine/boating radio, and yours pictured there above looks identical---same face/controls/and keypad---almost everything except my radio's case is white. The only other apparent external difference is the Polaris model has a micro switch on the face that is a 1W-25W power selector, instead of your "priority" switch. It does seem to receive well enough but never did try it out on transmit.

Looking at yours, I now see Regency used the same radio cabinet and layout scheme for more than one radio type then. Like mentioned above, have you checked inside the radio or written in the manual about an internal battery for channel memory ? Might be a good clue and something to look for.


Foxhunter 351 NJ

[Fast4socal]

there is only a switch in the back that locks the memory lets say to keep someone from reprogramming it. i took it apart as best i could...there is some funky start lookin screws i dont have tools for so i can only get the case off and when i shake it there is something bouncing around inside u guys think sparkys or some shop could take a look at it ...and is it worth it? i really would like to use a base station rather than a mobile...i wantd a bearcat bc but there hard to find. anyone got some ideas on a decent cheap base scanner?

['Doc]

From what little I read in that manual there is an internal battery to keep memories active when not powered. Don't remember what the door for that compartment looked like, but it was on the back side of the radio.
- 'Doc

[Fast4socal]

From what little I read in that manual there is an internal battery to keep memories active when not powered. Don't remember what the door for that compartment looked like, but it was on the back side of the radio.
- 'Doc

i know that is the 9 volt battery. i lost the back cover to the 9 volt in my room somewhere .....(Tornado hit my room) iv checked every little crevice i could...i dont see any small flat cell batterys? like they use in motherboards on desktops. did they even make those when this tank was made??? see u take off the bottem cover and then there is these hex screws that take off a second metal cover to look at the back side of the circut board. i need access to the top and cant really figure it out or have the tools i tried to use a allenwrench set and someof the screws stripped:( i guess ill get out the dremel. and make slot heads and skrew them out.

[Fast4socal]

ok i got it apart here is the top board. no internal battery?

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[jessejamesdallas]

It's a Boat Anchor!...Or, you may try and paint it Red and Green and call it a Christmas Ornament, and hang it on the tree!

Be sure to put the date you bought it somewhere on it, that way you can tell your kids what you were into in 2009!
Think it needs to go on the shelf right next to the 8 track tape player, Typewriter, Turn Table, and VCR...

[Foxhunter]

Ha it does look to be old, true. It looks like it's from right about the time period when Uniden acquired Regency. Some of the older scanners still pick up some communications, just I think not the newer trunked systems etc like some of the modern ones might. But it still should pick up some stuff, I have a number of older scanners. The oldest crystal ones pick up hardly anything at all, the ones from the 80's or early 90's pick up enough to leave them on sometimes. You really can't beat the newest ones for up-to-date capabilities I guess though.

Foxhunter 351 NJ

[Fast4socal]

It's a Boat Anchor!...Or, you may try and paint it Red and Green and call it a Christmas Ornament, and hang it on the tree!

Be sure to put the date you bought it somewhere on it, that way you can tell your kids what you were into in 2009!
Think it needs to go on the shelf right next to the 8 track tape player, Typewriter, Turn Table, and VCR...

bhahahaha!

['Doc]

Try page 13 of the manual for the battery. Also, the first set of pictures show a 9 volt battery connector on the rear panel. Connecting one there might work too. From the looks of it, the cover for that battery is missing.
- 'Doc

[Fast4socal]

yea i tried the battery in the rear no luck still says p.loss and yea the cover is somehwere in my room.

['Doc]

Then it's a fairly safe assumption that something is broken. You have the option of fixing/getting it fixed, or not. Up to you.
- 'Doc

[Fast4socal]

Then it's a fairly safe assumption that something is broken. You have the option of fixing/getting it fixed, or not. Up to you.
- 'Doc

who can fix it and is it worth it?

[Bulldog777]

I see you are determined to get this working! It may have lost some programing or cannot read off the motherboard. Any wire harness that plugs into it, unplug it and check for any crap. Give that a try. If that does not work hang on to it. Somebody out there must have the actual answer.

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[marquee]* BULLDOG RADIO COMMUNICATIONS...Bulldog...Unit 777...Skowhegan...Maine...AM-SSB-NFM-WFM-CW *[/marquee]

[Street Judge]

I had one of those in my truck in the early 90's for VHF comms. I was a deputy back then I found it received great but transmissions sucked it seemed to have no range. I still have it somewhere in the garage, I think.

[Fast4socal]

i ended up salvaging parts out of it for another ancient scanner that works.

[rickk]

I know this ins an old thread, but I stumbled across it and thought I would add to it.

I have both a VHF and also a UHF version of it. They are awkward to program but not really hard... no special programming cable or software required.


There are tons of them floating around now. Since the "narrow banding" initiative went into fill effect a year+ ago, they are not legal for their original intended purpose so they are not worth a heck of a lot. They will not do narrow band at all. I used to use the VHF version as a base station on a commercial frequency that I have a license for, but when the narrow band initiative went into effect I switched over to more modern ICOM's.

On the flip side, things that still use wide band are 2M + 440 Ham, so they can be 100% legally used there.

Also, there are 2 of the 5 MURS channels that are still allocated to wide band use. It will put out a heck of a lot more power than is legal on MURS in the high power mode. It does have a low power mode as well. I am not saying it is at all legal on MURS (not type accepted), just saying what it can do. YMMV, etc, etc. I believe it would be legal on the VHF Marine band as well (not a lawyer though)... it will work there anyway.

I believe I have programming instructions for both the VHF and UHF versions if anyone needs them.

Rick