Motorola International 1000 Not Working Properly

[Land Rover Fan]

Hello all,
I have just acquired a Motorola International 1000, which does power on and find reception! Unfortunately when I try and dial a number, the phone beeps 3 times and doesn’t put the call through. Nor can I call the phone from another phone or receive SMS messages.

Any help in getting this phone working much appreciated.

[Radio Wrangler]

Moved!

David

[Graham G3ZVT]

What SIM card are you using and who's network? I believe it's going to be very fussy about which one will work, beyond the card's physical size, and GSM (2G) requirement.
What does it say on the display when the calls fail?

[Land Rover Fan]

Originally Posted by Graham G3ZVT

What SIM card are you using and who's network? I believe it's going to be very fussy about which one will work, beyond the card's physical size, and GSM (2G) requirement.
What does it say on the display when the calls fail?

Hello Graham,
I am using a Tesco mobile sim in a credit card sized adapter, this works fine on my international 7500.
It doesn’t show anything, the call LED lights up for a brief moment and then gives the gsm 3 beeps for unable to connect the call.

It doesn’t seem to even try and connect.

I checked the signal strength and it shows anywhere from 2 bars to 4 bars out of 8.

It is a bit of a mystery to me.

[Nickthedentist]

Someone on this site says it needs a "5v SIM", though whether that's true or relevant, I don't know:

https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagemobilephones/comments/q45duq...ng_motorola_international_1000_how/

[Land Rover Fan]

I have just checked the internal antenna connectors in the phone (from the transceiver to the antenna) with a multi-meter and they don't connect, is this normal?

[Nickthedentist]

There might be a capacitor or two to provide isolation. These will not register on a (DC) multimeter test.

Have you got a cap tester (or capacitance test function on your multimeter)?

[Land Rover Fan]

No, unfortunately not.

[Land Rover Fan]

It seems really strange that the phone finds good service but will not place or receive a call?
Perhaps something is wrong with the antenna?
If anyone wants any photos/videos of the phone to help diagnose it, feel free to ask.

[Land Rover Fan]

Ok update, now the phone doesn’t power on. It did the same thing this morning but it fixed itself, but now seems dead. Looks like I may have to do a bit more work than I thought!

Edit: it is back on again!

[Land Rover Fan]

Originally Posted by Land Rover Fan

Ok update, now the phone doesn’t power on. It did the same thing this morning but it fixed itself, but now seems dead. Looks like I may have to do a bit more work than I thought!

Edit: it is back on again!

Trying *#06# (I really don’t know if this actually works on this phone, it should usually displays IMEI) it says “Network Error”

It is a shame it doesn’t work right, I was going to use it as a backup phone (I am in a area with poor network coverage and modern phones don’t find very good signal) to my international 7500, my main phone! I prefer these to smartphones.

Edit: something weird just happened, i was having another go at getting it to work, and suddenly it did! It rang the house phone!!?? I can’t seem get it to do it again.

[Graham G3ZVT]

That's proof-of-concept at the very least!

If it's PAYG, you might want to call a freephone recorded information number for tests
0800 556677 is air quality.

Regarding *#06# if it's valid for that phone the IMEI should display immediately after the last #. It sounds like you are pressing the green call button.

[Land Rover Fan]

I am on pay monthly so I can’t test that.

Yes I was pressing the call button after *#06#.

I have managed to get the phone to dial out 2 more times, once again to the house, and once to my voicemail.

I have done a quick video of what it does: https://youtube.com/shorts/9f7_uvPDpZA

And the signal strength seems to be all over the place, sometimes it is at full bars and other time it is on 2 bars

[julie_m]

It's a 2G phone. And although the UK is supposed to be hanging onto 2G for machine-to-machine SMS and data because it was originally specified for smart meters, the 2G voice functionality in some modern mobile masts seems to have been added just so they can say it's there.

[Land Rover Fan]

Interesting, I have more that one 2G phones and all the others work fine, and this one works, some of the time!

[Land Rover Fan]

Hello,
Today I have visited some relatives in a more built-up place, and took the phone with me. The call success rate is quite a bit higher, but it still does much the same thing the rest of the time. I have noticed that, when the call goes through, the transceiver buzzes. I assume this is normal, while it is transmitting, but when it fails to place a call it doesn’t buzz at all. This makes me think something is off with the transceiver. I have tried to get it open, by removing all the screws, but it doesn’t seem to want to open. Are there screws under the stickers? When the phone is in a call, the audio sometimes cuts out for half a second and in general quite crackly.

[Land Rover Fan]

Hello all,
I am back again with my International 1000.
I have had the transceiver apart, and nothing looks broken. All the caps look fine and aren’t leaking and it looks very clean inside. I am still led to believe it is some form of antenna problem.

Any help gratefully appreciated, as I really would like this phone going!

Edit: for testing I have been using a power supply for a Motorola 4800x, could this be the problem?

Edit2: one weird thing, the power led on the case doesn’t light up.

[Land Rover Fan]

Ok, I have had a more detailed look, and have found a loose component leg loose in the transceiver…

[Land Rover Fan]

Ok, the phone now doesn’t find reception at all .
I have no idea what is going on. I can only assume the transceiver is bad.
Does anyone have a transceiver board for a Motorola International 1000 CCUF2170B?