Apcor and Biophone Telemetry Radios

Motorola Model # SP5834321 This was Motorola’s “first” official EMS telemetry radio. It operated on the 10 UHF med channels, which would date this back to the late 1960s when the FCC established the designated med channels for the transmission of EKGs by paramedic units.    Motorola Telemetry radio and Telephone Coupler for sending EKGs via a landline telephone. Photo by Fred Swihart

Motorola 12 Watt Apcor UHF telemetry radio. Photo by Fred Swihart The Motorola 12 Watt Apcor UHF telemetry radio entered service in approximately 1978. The radio was capable of direct multiplex voice/EKG transmission, as well as through a vehicle repeater system. You could also plug the patient cable directly into the radio in the event of an EKG monitor failure. Motorola also manufactured a 1 watt version with smaller case and battery, designed to be used only with an ambulance mounted repeater system which boosted its output power and range.It was also supplied with a plug-in telephone coupler.

Biophone Orange Box The Biophone Orange Box is a UHF voice/EKG telemetry radio with pre-programmed med channels 1-12, and a variable tone which was made in the 1980s. This is a descendant of the old BioCom phone seen on the television show “Emergency!”.

In November, 1975, I began working for Pioneer Medical Systems, then located in Worcester, MA (formerly of Connecticut and in 1978 sold to Kel Corporation in Melrose, Ma) I began as the lead assembler for the Hospital consoles that received EMS medical telemetry and voice. The consoles had to be connected to a transceiver but otherwise had two-way voice to the paramedics, paper EKG print-out, and a O-scope with dual wave capability for the EKG, one of which could be “frozen”. Later, I graduated to assembling the paramedics portable units, the CA-104 and CA-105. The Ca-104 was a bare bones two-way phone. The CA-105 had multiplex and duplex capabilities as well as having a paper read out of the EKG for the paramedics. These units operated in the 450-460 MHz range and had a 25 watt transmitter. We tore down Motorola radios and rebuilt them into our systems. Although we sold product east of the Mississippi, our biggest clients were the state of Ohio (through the “Smiling Bob” fund) and the city of Baltimore. We were the competitor to the company that built the equipment seen on ‘Emergency’. I worked there from November 1975 to September 1979. I have pictures of some of the equipment and sub-assemblies. John Snyder Auburn, ME 207-713-0674 – John (2013)

Submitted to NEMSM May 2007 by Fred Swihart, additional content by John