The PR710 series has been immensely successful. Thousands of these handhelds have reached the PMR surplus trade and can now be picked up cheaply. The PR710 is nicknamed "The Brick" because of its size and (probably) its weight. It comes in a large number of versions, so as with all Philips PMR equipment it is essential to do the preliminaries to determine what you've actually got in in your hands. The AH and U0 band versions will perform reasonably well on 2m and 70cms respectively. The A2 will not be pulled down to 2m. New batteries are hard to find and expensive. The PR710 belongs with battery charger type BC40.

Type code analysis

The label on the back will tell a lot, but not all, about the radio. The codes used largely follow the Philips PMR tradition. Unfortunately, you have to run the ADP software to determine the exact band the radio works in. Reading the radio will provide the exact letter code, e.g. AH instead of just A as printed on the label.

* AH, A2 and U0 bands only.

PR710 Programming Hardware

The DIY version of the PR710 programming hardware is the same for all models and consists of a few components only which effectively connect the radio's I²C lines (SDA and SCL) to two control lines on the PC's Centronics printer port. The battery pack will have to be removed to get access to the 14-way interface connector which is at the underside of the transceiver. The 9V PP3 battery shown in the diagram acts as a temporary power source. The battery is easily drained by the radio if this is left on during a programming session. However, the radio only has to be on during uploading and downloading, so make a habit of switching off the PR710 when working on the PC. The Low Battery symbol may flash with the 9-V battery connected but this is no cause for alarm.

PR710 Programming Software

   Like the programmer interface, the software for the PR710 comes highly commended for simplicity! Effectively you will only need one program, ADP710.exe, which I believe is self-explanatory. I always recommend uploading the original configuration from the radio and immediately saving it on disk using the FILE page.

ADP710 is not fond of fast PCs, Windows or even DOS boxes, and is best run on a plain old DOS machine like a 386 or a 486. Have fun!

PR710 Adjustment

The PR710 is not auto-tuning and has to be adjusted after frequency changes of more than about 1 MHz. The transmitter only requires the VCO to be re-adjusted for the PLL to  stay locked. The receiver has a separate VCO and a couple of front end adjustments which need to be optimized.

PR710 Main Specifications

  Scans of pages 1.1 - 1.8 of the PR710 Service Manual, the Test Interface Unit and the Cloning Adaptor.

Collectables

The Philips Mobile Radio Collection currently has the following PR710 radios, accessories and documentation:

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Last modified: February 14, 2002