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← Tait Voice
Handheld scrambler radio
The T-3000/II was a series of handheld VHF and UHF radios, developed by
Tait Communications
in Christchurch (New-Zealand) in 1996.
The radio was based on the earlier T-3000 model (1993), and was a typical
competitor of the
Motorola Saber series.
They were popular
with the autorities in New-Zealand but also with many law enforcement
agencies worldwide. In the Netherlands the T-3000 was used by the
police for observations and by the Mobiele Eenheid (Dutch Riot Police).
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Like with the Motorola Saber series, there were several versions of
the T-3000. The image on the right shows a typical VHF-version of the
T-3000/II handheld radio, with a limited keyboard (much like the
Saber-II).
It is powered by a NiCd battery pack that is inserted into a bay at the rear
and is controlled by 6 push-buttons at the front and three at the side
(two plus the PTT).
The radio offers limited security by providing a simple
voice scrambling
technique known as frequency domain scrambling
(inversion) which was often mistakenly identified as 'crypto'.
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The radio can be used in both Trunking and Conventional mode. When used
in Trunking mode, it requires a suitable trunking network to be present.
In such cases, the T-3000/II can be used for communication with other
trunking-enabled radios, PABX systems and public telephone networks (PSTN).
In conventional (analogue) mode, up to 10 channels can be programmed
into the device, numbered 101 to 110. They can be selected by entering
the required channel number on the keypad, followed by briefly pressing
the PTT button.
Then display then shows CHANNEL XXX.
There were many different versions
and variants of the T-3000/II, e.g.
with a simple six-button keyboard, with a full keyboard, for VHF or UHF,
with different channel spacing, with built-in voice scrambler, etc.
The one shown here is suitable for the range 146-174 MHz
(with 20 kHz channel spacing).
The radio was commonly used in combination with the
Tait T-2000/II mobile radio. The 2000 and 3000 series
were succeeded in 2003 by the Tait 8000 range of conventional radios.
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The front panel of the T-3000 consists (from top to bottom) of a speaker,
a microphone, a display and six (or more) push-buttons. The red push-button
is used to switch the device ON. Keeping the same button depressed for a few
seconds turns the device OFF again. The two buttons to its left (- and +)
are used to adjust the audio level at the speaker (volume).
Three more push-buttons are present at the left. The largest one is used
as the Push-To-Talk switch (PTT). Above the PTT are two function buttons (F1
and F2) that can be programmed for a variety of functions. When the voice
scrambler is present, F1 is usually used to turn it ON or OFF.
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The T-3000/II could optionally be equipped with with an internal voice
scrambler. At the time it was thought that this would provide sufficient
protection against eavesdroppers. However, the scrambler supplied with the
T-3000/II was based on a fixed frequency inversion in order to be able
to use existing voice channels and base stations. This type of scrambling
is easily broken.
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Depending on other features programmed into the radio, one of the function
buttons at the side (usually the upper one, F1) is used to
enable or disable the scrambler. When the scrambler is ON,
AUX will be visible on the display.
Pressing the same button once more, turns is OFF again.
The image on the right shows the expansion board that is fitted inside
the T-3000/II featured on this page. In the top right it shows the texts
CTC, VOX and SCR. It is unclear whether this is a dedicated scrambler
or a 3-in-1 board with all three functions (CTCSS, VOX and SCRAMBLER).
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The board contains three large ICs. At the left is a
ZILOG Z8937116FSC
16-bit signal processor (DSP) [8]
that is used for processing the audio signal.
The two ICs to its right are MC145480
PCM codec filters [9]. The options board
connects to the main PCB by means of a low-profile connector at the rear
and is held in place by a rubber strip in the rear case shell.
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Because of its secure voice capability, the T-3000/II was often used
by the police for surveillance and inconspicuous observations.
In such cases, the radio was carries under the poice officer's
clothing in a so-called body harness or radio vest,
such as the ones manufactured by Sonic.
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The image on the right shows typical Sonic radio vest with the
T-3000/II fitted inside a special pocket. The vest is
connected to
the expansion socket
at the top of the radio and takes over the
microphone, speaker, antenna and PTT switch.
A skin-coloured wire with a push button
at the end (sometime referred
to as a bullet switch) is used as the Push-To-Talk switch (PTT),
which is usually carried in the hand. The vest, which is carried
as a sholder holster, also contains a wire antenna, a pre-amplified
microphone and an inductor.
The latter replaces the speaker.
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The inductor is located on the shoulder of the operator and sends
it magnetic waves to a wireless earpiece in the ear of the operator.
The earpriece resembles a small hearing aid and can be worn
inconspicuously, without the typical curly transparent tube often seen on
security personnel.
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A typical Sonic earpiece
is so small, that it can hardly be seen
when it is worn in the ear. It is powered by a small 1.5V battery
and amplifies the magnatic waves from the inductor, much like a hearing
aid which is set to inductive (i.e. the telephone setting).
Note that the earpiece has to be within the magnetic range of the inductor.
The image on the right shows an
alternative earpiece
from the manufacturer
Danavox. It is slightly larger than the Sonic one, but has a tiny volume
control knob to the left of the battery compartment. It has a better
audio quality.
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The radio can be programmed with a variety of Trunking settings,
Conventional (analogue) channels and optional functions, by means of the
special programming software. This was normally done by the supplier of
the radios, at the factory, or by your fleet manager.
As the radios are several years old now, the programming software
is no longer available from the manufactuer (Tait), but appears to be
present on the internet. We can not supply you with this software.
We can only advise you to do a Google search for
pgm3000.zip,
or join the Tait Radio user group on Yahoo and search for information there.
When programming the T-3000/II, the accessory connector at the top
of the radio should be connected to the serial port of a DOS-based PC.
As it is rather difficult to create an appropriate connector for that,
you should either find an
original programming cable
[3]
or use the plug from a dismantled accessory to create a suitable cable
using the wiring diagam above.
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The following optional expansion boards my be fitted inside the T-3000/II.
Please note that only one such board may be installed at any time. Also note
that some board combine two or even all three of the listed features.
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VOX Voice Operated Transmission SCR Scrambler (for secure voice calls) CTC CTCSS (Continuous Tone Controlled Squelch System)
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The custom made display that is used inside the T-3000/II has the
following pre-defined fields:
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SVC
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Service
The the availability of a trunking service. When it blinks, the radio
is out of range of a suitable trunk network. When ON, the trunking network
is available and calls can be placed. When OFF, the radio is in conventional
mode.
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H.SET
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Handset mode
In this mode, the alternative microphone (at the bottom) is selected and
the radio can be used as the handset of a normal telephone. Use the PTT
when speaking.
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AUX
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Auxiliary device enabled
When ON, the auxiliary device (e.g. the VOX or the voice scrambler) is
enabled. When OFF, the optional expansion unit is disabled.
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LO
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Low Power TX
The radio is operating with limited transmission power.
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VOL
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Volume setting
Shows the current setting of the audio volume between 1 and 10 bars.
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III
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RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication)
In Trunking Mode, this indicator shows the strength of the base station
between one and five bars.
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- Continuous RED - TX
- Flashing RED - Low Battery
- Continuous GREEN - Channel busy
- Flashing GREEN - Monitor active
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The radio as two function keys (F1 and F2) that are located just above the
PTT. The upper one is called F1 and the lower one (marked with a horizontal
dash) is F2. They can be programmed with the programming software
to perform any of the following functions:
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- Operate as CLEAR key (normally the ON/OF button is used for this)
- Enter or leave handset mode
- Turn on the backlight briefly
- Enter or leave Low Power TX mode
- Switch Auxiliary device ON or OFF (e.g. a voice scrambler)
- Switch monitor facility ON or OFF (opens the squelch in Conventional mode)
- Initiate a preset call (e.g. emergency call)
- Enable or disable key-press confirmation tone
- Set the radio to Quiet Mode (incoming calls are rejected)
- Enable or disable automatic backlight on key-presses
- Activate external speaker, microphone or speaker/mic combination
- Enable or disable the keypad
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On the T-3035 featured on this page, F1 is used to enable/disable the
voice scrambler, whilst F2 is used to enable/disable the keypad. The latter
was particularly useful when carrying the radio in the body harness, as it
prevents an unexpected channel change.
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- T-3000
- T-3010
- T-3020
- T-3030
- T-3035 ← (featured on this page)
- T-3040
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- Remove speaker/microphone
- Trickle charger
- Single fast charger
- Dual rapid charger
- Multi-way rapid charger
- Vehicle adapter
- High capacity battery pack
- CTCSS Module
- VOX module
- Srambler module
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The interior of the T-3000/II can be access by removing the four screws
from the battery compartment and removing the rear shell of the case.
The rear and the front are connected by means of flex wiring. The front
case shell contains the main logic board with the LF circuitry.
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The image on the right shows the main board that contains a large number
of digital and analogue ICs. The lower part
of the board contains the
main processor, the RAM chips and the firmware. Just above the processor
is a TAIT custom chip and a
CML FX469 modem chip
[5].
At the center of the board are the Hitachi HD66100
and HD44780 display controllers.
They are used for driving the LCD screen at the front of the
unit. The display consists of fixed characters and a dot-matrix section.
The top part contains the optional expansion card.
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The rear case shell contains the HF parts. It can be opened by removing
the four screws from the aluminium shell shown above, after which the
HF module can be removed from the rear. The HF module is connected to
the main board by means of a
20-wire orange flex PCB strip.
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The image on the right shows a top view of the HF module. The antenna
socket is at the bottom. The
large blue block
at the right is a Motorola
MHW607-2
HF power amplifier module [4],
which can produce up to 7W output power in the
range 146-174 MHz. The output of the PA is fed into the antenna via
a 4-stage bandpass filter.
The HF module is nicely compartimented, so that the individual parts
are properly shielded and are easily identified.
The section at the left (the top of the radio) is the IF section of
the receiver. The small blue block is the 455 kHz IF filter.
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The T-3000/II is very service friendly. The interior is easily accessible
and the HF module can be removed (and replaced) by simply disconnecting
the flex cable. This allows the HF module to be swapped in minutes.
Furthermore, the optional expansion board
can be fitted without any tools.
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- Wikipedia, Tait Communications
Retrieved March 2014.
- Tait, T3035 Operator's Manual
Date unknown, but probably 1996. Retrieved March 2014.
- Fguys.com, Tait T3000 series Portable Radio Programming Cable
Retrieved March 2014.
- Motorola Inc., MHW607-2 Datasheet
1994. Retrieved March 2014.
- CML Semiconductor, FX469 1200/2400/4800 baud FFSK Modem, Datasheet
April 1998. Retrieved March 2014.
- Hitachi, HD66100F Datasheet
Date unknown. Retrieved March 2014.
- Hitachi, HD44780 Datasheet
Date unknown. Retrieved March 2014.
- ZILOG, Z8937116FSC Digital Signal Processor, Datasheet
1997. Retrieved March 2014.
- Motorola Inc. MC145480 Datasheet
1995. Retrieved March 2014.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Friday 28 March 2014. Last changed: Wednesday, 08 May 2024 - 13:08 CET.
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