Greetings from Utah...
I have several EFJ portables, 242-5597, that I use in the ham 900MHz band and I found this mobile that looks a lot like a 5300 ... but no joy programming it.? I have searched all over for any info and have come up dry.? It's labeled as a Viking, powers on, has the same power and accessory connectors as a VHF 5300 mobile.? I have tried every version of pcconfig that I have and no joy at all.? It powers up and transmits and the FCC data shows it as an 18-watt 900 MHz commercial radio.? Based on the reliability and stability of the Ascend portables, I was hoping this one would work.??

Anyone have any thoughts, advice, or pointers I can try?

Thanks in advance.
Jerry, W7SAR

The original Viking series predates the 5300. Externally they look identical, but internally they are completely different. As far as I know they are primarily analog LTR trunking with some conventional channel capability. They are not P25 capable.?

These radios use LTR RSS that is DOS based, and the programming cable is a different pin out. I've never found a schematic for the cable, but the former RFGuys cable makers used to sell a Viking cable for the old model Viking.?

These 900 MHz radios would not be related to the 900 MHz 5100s that flooded the market 10 years ago from Texas that were later modified for P25 use.

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I could never figure out how to move things into the Ham Band. Nothing like what was done in with the
8600 series, plus I couldn't find an expert on the Micro processor like I did for the 8600.

With that said, I did start on a Aux Micro Processor that would convert the PLL data on the fly as others
have done. I lost interest and also realized tapping into the the board to make the required connections,
wouldn't be worth the work. 

The service manual was available on the net and had a schematic of the programming cable. It had 2 parts:
One was the normal TTL RXD & TXD, so I made a simple Dongle to convert my Homebrew KW cable to the 96xx
series Mic. The second part created +12 and maybe some other pins to flash the firmware.

-73, Pete N2MCI