Motorola Professional Hands Free Car Kits Information

This site is not affiliated with Motorola

Last Update: 1 April 2006 (no foolin')

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The information in this site is correct to the best of my knowledge. Please confirm the information prior to making any purchases.

Table of Contents

Introduction

This site is intended to help in the selection of a Motorola Hands Free Car Kit. Motorola does not have a central repository of Hands Free Car Kit information. There is a dizzying array of part numbers and model numbers. Often the model numbers change over time even when the actual component doesn't change (at least it doesn't appear to change), that are sometimes difficult to figure out. Motorola has removed all information regarding these products from their web site.

Errors and Omissions on Motorola's Web Site
There are a lot of errors and omissions on the Motorola web site regarding the Professional Hands Free Car Kits. Hopefully this site will clear things up. I may have some errors too, so if you see anything wrong then let me know. I don't pretend to be an expert on this subject, but I think that a place where all information on the subject can be collected will be useful. Actually, now Motorola has helpfully ended the confusion by removing all mention of these car kits from their web site, though they continue to introduce new hang-up cups for new phone models.

Calling or e-mailing Motorola to get any answers is usually unproductive. They will often give you incorrect information. I.e., when I asked about the hang-up cup for the V60s, they told me the wrong part number. I pointed out their error to them via an e-mail and got a response that confirmed that what they told me on the phone was wrong, but no acknowledgement that they would fix their web site. Often, retailers will copy the incorrect information on the Motorola web site, promulgating  it across the web. Often, Motorola will have multiple part numbers for the same item, with no indication if there is any difference between the items. Half an hour with the product marketing manager or technical marketing engineer for the Professional Hands Free Car Kits would clear up everything, but alas, as an end user, there is no way to get to this person.

Motorola Car Kits for Older Phones
Many items for older phones are available from on-line retailers. Froogle is your friend

iDEN (Nextel and Southern LINC)
There is a whole series of car kits for Motorola's iDEN phones. These are not covered by this web site. Search for "nntn4802".

Why You Might Want a Professional Hands Free Car Kit

• No charger wires dangling from the cigarette lighter down to your phone on the floor or seat

• Excellent quality speakerphone (even if you are using a phone with an integrated speakerphone)

• Can be set up to automatically mute the sound system

• A good place to store the phone while driving, safer than leaving it on the seat or the floor, or in your purse or briefcase.

• Preferable to using a headset, at least when driving alone

• In-car conference calls

• Better reception when used with an external antenna; sometimes making the difference between coverage and no-coverage

• Safer than holding the phone while driving (works great with voice dialing), without the constriction of a headset, (or the wires running everywhere)

• You are a gadget freak and it looks cool

• Enables you to talk on your phone while simultaneously performing other tasks while driving, i.e. shaving, putting on make-up, combing hair, eating cereal, drinking a latte, reading, having sex, smoking, doing e-mail, browsing the web, changing CDs, watching television, changing clothes, cooking, brewing coffee, etc.

One of the attractions of Motorola wireless phones is that Motorola has very good hands-free car kits. With some other brands of phones, you don't have the option of good hands free kits. The prices for these kits has fallen substantially. You can get one for well under $100.

Can You Install it Yourself?
Installation of these kits is straight-forward, but non-trivial. If you can install a car stereo or car alarm, then you can certainly install one of these kits. You'll have to connect to the +12V switched and +12V unswitched voltage rails in your vehicle (fuse taps make this pretty easy). You'll have to run a wire up to the microphone and one down to the speaker box, and physically attach the microphone and speaker to your vehicle. You'll have to run an antenna cable and attach an external antenna. You may choose to hook up a wire to mute the radio automatically. You'll have to install the hang-up cup (brackets customized to most vehicles are available), and run a wire to the control box. You'll have to find a good location to hide the control box (it's pretty small). You'd probably have to pay an alarm/stereo installer $150-200 to install this kit.

See the Installation section below.

Carrier Independent

The Motorola Professional Hands Free Car Kits are carrier independent. However most users of these kits appear to be on Verizon, since Verizon is the only national carrier that still has an AMPS network and phones that will work on it. Cingular's AMPS network will be around until 2008, but there are no Motorola GSM+AMPS phones available (there was one Nokia, and one Sony-Ericsson, but these are no longer sold). People that buy these car kits seem to care about coverage, and Verizon has the best coverage in the United States, not only digitally, but on AMPS as well. Every independent study on cellular coverage and quality has confirmed this.

Note that even when the FCC permits AMPS to be turned off in 2008, smaller, rural carriers will undoubtedly keep their AMPS networks in place, as it's often the only coverage available due to the long range of an AMPS cell. When these carriers to convert to digital, it will most likely be CDMA, because CDMA has a longer range than GSM.

Currently Available Verizon Phones that work with the Professional Hands Free Car Kits

The only currently available tri-band phone from Verizon, that can be used with a Motorola Professional Hands Free Car Kit, appears to be the Motorola V276. You can purchase a V276 on Verizon's InPulse Prepaid Plan to avoid Signing up for a New Two Year Contract, and then Activate the Phone on your Regular Plan. I purchased one at Target for $79 on 16 March 2006, and had no trouble activating it (turns out that the price was a mistake, but I have seen them on sale for $100). I got another V276 for my spousal unit, at Costco for $-25 (when I asked them to not activate it because I wanted to first get the phonebook transferred at a Verizon store, they got all apologetic and said that they couldn't do that, and took another $25 off the price).

The V710 is supposedly still available from Verizon, but is not listed on their web site. This the only Bluetooth enabled tri-mode phone that will work in the car kit (though Verizon decontented the Bluetooth, so it's only useful for a headset or Bluetooth car kit).

Unfortunately, the excellent tri-mode V325 uses a USB connector rather than the 17 pin regular connector, and has the antenna connector behind the battery cover, so it doesn't have a hang-up cup available. I considered adapting this to the car kit, but it would have required three manual connections (power, audio, and antenna) and the antenna jack behind the battery cover clinched the decision to forget about it, since I wasn't going to remove the battery cover to connect an antenna.

Radio Mute Problem with newer Hands-Free Pro-Install Box -SYN9760A
Some handsets don't mute the radio with the newer SYN9760 Hands-Free Pro-Install Box.

One person stated the the S9950 kit with the SYN9760 box, didn't mute the radio when used with the T720 (Verizon version), but did work correctly with the T720 (AT&T version),  but the S9610 kit with the SYN9271 box did mute the radio correctly with both phones. Of course this all assumes that you've hooked up the radio mute wire!

It's all related to firmware versions in the phone (and perhaps firmware versions in the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box). If you run into this problem, you could try sending your phone in to Motorola for a firmware upgrade (check with them first to see if there is a newer version). It typically will take three weeks to get your phone back. Sometimes you can get a firmware upgrade at your carrier's stores (only some stores have this capability).

This person had sent his SYN9271 to Motorola for repair, and they had sent him back a SYN9760 which no longer muted the radio.

Basic Kits versus Complete Kits
The basic kits consist of everything except the phone-specific hang-up cup. You buy the basic kit, and you buy the hang-up cup you need. The complete kits consist of the basic kit plus the hang-up cup. Sometimes you can't buy a complete kit for a specific phone, you must buy the pieces separately (especially true for older phone models which might have had complete kits available in the past).

Don't assume that the complete kit, if available for your specific phone model, is necessarily cheaper than buying the basic kit and the hang-up cup separately; it may or may not be less expensive when it's bundled versus sold separately.

Basic Kits (without the Phone Specific Hang Up Cup)
There are two models, the newer S9950, and the older S9610. However they appear to come with the same components in each (but with different part numbers for the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box), so it is unclear what the difference is, or whether the older kit will always work with newer hang-up cups (at least in some cases they do work).

At one place I saw the text "MOTOROLA Hang up cup for V70. For use with S9610 only (not S9950 ...," but when I clicked through, it stated "Compatible with S9610 or S9950 kit." So there are differences between the base units, though these differences are not completely clear.

The hang-up cup base mount kit is part of the hang-up cup kit, and is not included.

The older S9950 (non-A) models came with the SYN9271 Hands-Free-Pro-Install Box, but apparently the hang-up cups work with either model of Hands-Free-Pro-Install Box (in most cases)

There are different revisions of many of the items in each basic kit, but Motorola does not provide information about what was corrected or changed in each revision.

Complete Kits (base kit plus Phone Specific Hang Up Cup)

Newer Complete Kits (with the S9950 base kit)  
Note that for older phones there may no longer be a complete kit with a unique model number; you buy the S9950 plus a separate hang-up cup. It appears that Motorola is no longer introducing new "Complete Kits," and is instead simply requiring the separate purchase of the base kit and the hang up cup.

As far as I know, all the hang-up cups have a female Mini-UHF connector for the antenna, so you need an antenna with a male Mini-UHF connector.

Older Complete Kits (with the S9610 base kit)

As far as I know, all the hang-up cups have a female Mini-UHF connector for the antenna, so you need an antenna with a male Mini-UHF connector.

Hang Up Cups for the S9950 (These also work with the older S9610, for the most part)
Not all phones have a complete kit for sale, so you buy the S9950 and add a hang-up cup. Or if you need a replacement hang-up cup you can buy these as well. These should also work with the S9610.

The design of hang-up cups varies. I.e., the 270C cup had two permanently attached cables, one for the antenna, one for power and signals. The V60s cup has only  a permanently attached antenna cable, the other cable plugs into a connector at the bottom of the cup. IMVAIO, the old design is superior; the less connectors the better, but the newer design makes is much easier to swap hang-up cups since you don't have to get to the controller box. Some of the newer hang-up cups have the connector behind the cup, rather than at the bottom, which is a good idea. All of the phones use the same type of connector on the bottom of the phone, only the physical design of the hang-up cup, and the location of the antenna plug, differs. In fact, you can plug the cable from the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box directly into the phone, rather than into the hang up cup, if you wish (there will be no antenna connection in this case).

As far as I know, all the hang-up cups have a female Mini-UHF connector for the antenna, so you need an antenna with a male Mini-UHF connector.

Handset	Hang-Up Cup
P270C	SYN0403 or SYN9268 (unclear what the difference is, if any)
P280C	SYN9270
120C/V120T/V120E/V120X	SYN9269
V300 and V400	SYN0689
V60, V60c, V60g, V60i, V60t, V60x, V60, V60c, V60g, V60i, V60t, V60x	SYN0301 or SYN9267 (unclear what the difference is, if any)
V60p,V60s	SYN0705  (includes SYN0407A Swivel Mounting Bracket and SKN6365A Cable) [Verizon part number 66491, go to V60P accessories, not listed under V60s] The photo on the right is misleading as it shows only the antenna cable. There is a separate plug in cable for the voice and control signals (see the photo of the SYN0301 for a more accurate representation).
T730, T720, T721, T722i	SYN0371 [Verizon part number 66482]
V300, V302, V330, V400, V500, V505,  V551, V547, V555, V557, V600 Not for the V323 or V325	SYN6089
A840, V710	SYN9996
A840, E815, V710	SYN9995 (unclear what the difference is, if any, with SYN9996)
V70	SYN9306B or SYN9306C
V260 V262 V265 V276 Pull the little rubber cover ALL THE WAY OFF. First you see just a screw, then when you yank it the rest of the way off you see the antenna connector.	SYN1088A This cup is especially nice as the 17 pin connector is up behind the cup, rather than at the bottom. Some others appear to also be like this, but the cups for the V60 line, and the 270C have the connector at the bottom where it is subject to abuse by the person in the passenger seat.

Can you Buy Only a New Hang-Up Cup and Continue Using your Old S9610 base unit?
Yes, at least in most cases.

One person on alt.cellular.verizon posted  that he used a V60s/V60p hang-up cup on the S9610 that he previously had used with a T720. He wrote: "The S9610 series box works with the SYN0705 series Hang-Up Cup for the V60s. I have an S9610D that I originally used with a T720. I simply replaced the Hang-Up Cup with the SYN0705A, and I was good to go." (click here for post).

I have changed the hang-up cup in my vehicle from the SYN9268 (P270C) to the SYN0705 (V60s). I have the older Hands-Free Pro-Install Box, the SYN9271. It works fine.

This is good news, since people would be reluctant to change phones if they had to buy a whole new car kit every time.

Descriptions of each Complete Kit (base unit with included hang-up cup)

V70

V60 (except V60s & V60p)

270C

Newer, S9950 based Kit is not available

V120 (C, T, E, X)

Newer, S9950 based Kit is not available

V60s & V60p

Older, S9610 based Kit is not available

T720

V300, V400, V600

Newer, S9950 based Kit, is not available (not sure of this)

Motorola Pro-Install Car Kit Firmware Compatibility
Older phones may require firmware updates in order to work with the hands free car kits.
See: http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/proinstall_compat.html for details. In most cases you must send your phone back to Motorola for a firmware upgrade. In some cases, your carrier's local store may be able to flash in a firmware upgrade.

Replacement Motorola SYN9548 (SYN0407) Swivel for S9610/S9950

http://www.awswireless.com/store/motorola_syn9548.html

Same as SYN0407, but it's not really a good deal, since a whole hang-up cup isn't much more. These are not all that sturdy.  If someone hits the hang-up cup with their knee (or anything), it tends to break the swivel mount.  It would also be easy to just bypass the whole swivel mount and put a bolt directly through the center of the Pro-Fit mounting bracket. I think that I'd use a nylon machine screw and nut, and notch the screw so the screw would break if the hang-up cup were struck.

Can You use the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box SYN9271 or SYN9760 with Phones that Don't Have a Hang-Up Cup?

Maybe. The connections to the the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box from the Hang-Up Cup consist only of power and analog audio, though there may be one signal that turns the Hands-Free-Pro-Install Box on. The Hands-Free Pro-Install Box has a power amplifier for the external speaker, and an amplifier for the microphone, as well as a voltage regulator that provides 6 volts to the Hang-Up Cup. You would basically have to fabricate a three wire cable that goes from the headset jack of the phone to the appropriate connectors on the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box. Depending on the phone, you could also make a cable that uses the power from the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box to charge the phone. Note that none of this will be as nice as a real hang-up cup, which eliminates plugging in cables, but most of the newer phones from Motorola have no hang-up cup available, and are apparently not designed to work with the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box. It's too bad no one has made a generic hands free system that uses the headset jack.

I don't have the pin-out for the connector on the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box, but I did some continuity testing and this is what I came up with (it is incomplete, but I do have the transmit and receive audio, as well as power and ground).

Motorola 17 Pin Connector on V276, V60, 270C, V120, etc.

Pin 1 is on the three pin section of the connector, and pin 17 is the right most pin of the 14 pin section of the connector.

1 Power GND (Digital Ground, not Audio Ground)
2 25K to GND (Battery Feedback) I think this is how the phone knows that it's in the hang-up cup rather than on a regular charger, but I'm not sure.
3 +6V from Hands-Free Pro-Install Box to phone
4 Tx Data (USB)
5 Rx Data (USB)
6 Vbus (USB Power) I presume that this is USB power from the computer, not from the phone.
7 Not Used
8 Not Used
9 Not Used
10 Not Used
11 Not Used
12 ? Some sort of Test Pin
13 Short to Pin 1 to flash phone firmware (do not use)
14 Ground (Digital Ground, connected to pin 1)
15 RX Audio
16 TX Audio
17 Audio Ground

I don't know if RX Audio and TX Audio refer to from the phone or from the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box. The non-USB part of this information is from a Mercedes Benz manual on hands-free equipment that is built into some of their vehicles.

Ten Pin Cable Going into Hands-Free Pro-Install Box

The ten pin connector on the cable (that plugs into the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box), is a Molex 43025-1000/Digikey Part Number WM1787-ND. The pins are Molex 43030-0007/Digikey Part Number WM1837-ND

Pin 1 and Pin 10 are marked on the cable. Looking in to the connector on the cable, the pin numbers are as follows:
6   7   8   9  10
1   2   3   4   5

1-25K to GND (pin 2 on 17 pin end)
2-? (pin 9 on 17 pin end)
3-RX Audio (pin 15 on 17 pin end)
7-Power Ground (pin 1 on 17 pin end)
5-+6V (pin 3 on 17 pin end)
6-Ground (pins 8, 14, 17 on 17 pin end)
4-VBus (USB power) (pin 6 on 17 pin end)
8-TX Audio (pin 16 on 17 pin end)
9-Ground (pins 8, 14, 17 on 17 pin end)
10-? Some sort of test pin (pin 12 on 17 pin end)

I don't know if RX Audio and TX Audio refer to from the phone or from the Hands-Free Pro-Install Box.

So if you want to try to use the existing Hands-Free Pro-Install Box with another phone, by use of the power connection and audio connections, it might be possible. Be careful with the power connection, as not all phones use the same voltage, but if it's a 3.7 volt battery, the charger is most likely 5 volts or 6 volts. It's possible that pin 2 or 10 might need to be grounded or pulled-up in order to turn on the box, I don't know.

Where to Buy This Stuff
First of all avoid Think Wireless, Exotic Wireless, San Francisco Mobile, 007PCS, iTrade, iphones, iphonespcs.com, store.007pcs.net, and www.ewirelessdepot.com. These are all the same company, and very disreputable. They will invariably come up in a search for these kits on Froogle or Yahoo Shopping.

Reputable dealers include Canyon River Cellular, and http://CellularAccessory.com. On the latter, enter "gift4u" as a promotion code to get an extra 7% off your order.

Antennas
These kits require an external antenna for best reception.. The most popular antennas are the through the glass antennas where you glue a plate on each side of the glass. Make sure you get an antenna with the proper connector, the hang-up cup has a female Mini-UHF connector, so you need a male Mini-UHF connector on the antenna cable. Canyon River Cellular has a good selection of external antennas.

Installation
If you can install a car stereo or alarm, then you can install these kits. A lot of splicing, drilling, running wires, disassembly of the interior panels, etc.

In my case, I installed the speaker by the passenger side kick panel (as low and as forward as possible). I installed the microphone on the little plastic cover plate that covers the screw on the grab handle on the drivers side door frame. This was for a Toyota 4Runner, 2001. The control box was hidden behind the dashboard. The antenna wire ran under the left door sill plates to the left rear of the vehicle.

Follow good installation practices:

• Heat shrink tubing to cover splices, not electrical tape
• Use solder, not wire nuts or crimp butt connectors
• Use cable ties to fasten wires out of the way of vehicle controls
• Fuse taps are an easy way to tap into vehicle power at the fuse box, where it is easy to use a multi-meter to find +12V always and +12V switched
• Use grommets if passing wires through metal panels
• Cover wires with wire loom to protect them
• Don't put the antenna connector onto the coax until after you run the coax since you'd need larger holes (if any holes are necessary)
• Use a section of wire loom to bundle the antenna cable and the power/signal cable from the hang-up cup to where they go under dash or console panels.

Keep the contacts on the hang-up cup and the phone clean. Use an aerosol spray contact cleaner, and a fiber brush to clean contacts. Operation will be flaky if the contacts are dirty.

Mounting Brackets for Hang-Up Cup
You will need a place to mount the hang-up cup, and there are custom steel brackets available for many vehicles. See: http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/

Be Gentle
Some Motorola wireless phones. i.e. V276, 270C and V60, have a not-so-great connection between the connector at the bottom of the phone and the printed circuit board inside. The contacts can become unsoldered from constant removal and insertion into the cradle (and constant charger connector insertion and removal). Place the phone into the cradle gently, firmly, and straightly (is that a word?).

Keep Your Contacts Clean
The 17 pin connector on the Motorola phones is sometimes troublesome, and you'll get at "Unable to Charge" message on the phone, or the car kit won't work properly. Keep the contacts on the hang-up cup and the phone clean. Use an aerosol spray contact cleaner, and a fiber brush to clean contacts. Operation will be flaky if the contacts are dirty.

If your contacts are clean and you're having trouble with charging and/or the hands-free car kit working, it's a relatively easy repair (disassemble the phone, re-solder the connections, re-assemble the phone) though not a procedure to be undertaken by the mechanically challenged.

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