Spectra programming questions

MP 6.7 · Post by **MP 6.7** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:49 pm

I'm going to throw a few Spectra programming questions out here, since I just programmed mine up with a friends 486 laptop, RSS and RIB.

1. Is there a way to have one of the buttons toggle between a low power value and a high power value? In the RSS I found a couple values for high and low power, does this relate to it if indeed it's a function?

2. I read of a way to get DTMF off of an A7 head (in the Spectra user's manual actually), but I can't for the life of me get it to work. Does there have to be a phone number stored in the list for the function to work (sort of like talkaround being disabled when there's no TX frequency)?

3. Sort of related to #2...was there ever a DTMF mic available for the Spectra? Or was that only a Maxtrac thing?

4. One time when I plugged in the accessory plug on the back of the radio to the RIB I got a FAIL 01/90 loop. I turned the radio off, disconnected the RIB from the RJ45 connector on the accessory plug programming pigtail, powered it up, and then plugged the RJ45 connector to the RIB back in and it worked. Just wondering what caused this, or if it was just a random glitch.

5. Not a programming question, but what kind of screws do the mounting holes for the bracket use? I have a bracket and radio but no screws

I'll probably think of more, but they aren't surfacing in my brain now

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:48 pm

1. Analog Spectra, no... Astro Spectra, yes. You can select the power on a per-mode basis, but not from the keypad. The low power option aligns the low-power selection.

2. No, the phone list can be blank. You should press the Phon button and get a rapid-flashing carat along with "SCRTCHPD" in the display. Enter the digits you want, then press SEL to send. If you've got a newer radio, you can use the mode to select "KEYPAD" which gives you a hot keypad...

3. Absolutely.

4. Sometimes that happens... I think it may have something to do with ground loop issues. Also, the RJ45 isn't a standard build... I wonder if you have a properly-constructed programming cable.

5. They're a fine thread metric if memory serves... maybe 8mm?

Rick Rock · Post by **Rick Rock** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:59 am

tvsjr wrote:1. Analog Spectra, no... Astro Spectra, yes. You can select the power on a per-mode basis, but not from the keypad. The low power option aligns the low-power selection.

5. They're a fine thread metric if memory serves... maybe 8mm?

1. If your TX & RX freq. are the same, you can set the radio to operate normally under either high or low, and have direct set to the opposite power setting.

5. tvsjr, your close, but not quite- they are fine pitch metric, but they are M6.

kcbooboo · Post by **kcbooboo** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:11 am

"4. One time when I plugged in the accessory plug on the back of the radio to the RIB I got a FAIL 01/90 loop. I turned the radio off, disconnected the RIB from the RJ45 connector on the accessory plug programming pigtail, powered it up, and then plugged the RJ45 connector to the RIB back in and it worked. Just wondering what caused this, or if it was just a random glitch."

If the RIB is plugged in but not powered up, it will drag the interface lines to ground and totally confuse the radio. Some RIBs and some radios may cause it to display random characters, or even turn itself off and on. FL 01/90 really indicates a communications problem, and in this case it's right on the money (for a change).

Some RIBs can accept and use the SWB+ signal on the accessory plug to power them up when the radio is turned on. This eliminates the problem. Not all RIBs can do this, so the way you should turn things on is:
1. power up the RIB
2. plug the programming cable into the Spectra
3. power up the Spectra

Bob M.

MP 6.7 · Post by **MP 6.7** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:30 pm

My radio is a little bit non-standard, I had Bruce (kc7gr) change it over from Securenet to conventional (without the securenet box) and force-feed it a codeplug I believe. Maybe he'll chime in here and give me some insight on exactly what he did

Anyways, I can't get the phone thing to work. I assigned "Phon" to a button, but whenever I hit it on any mode it just gives me the invalid key low beep. Same thing if I hold it down. Also, when editing modes in RSS, it won't let me enable whatever it is that is related to Phone (can't remember what it is as RSS is not in front of me right now). Some of the modes in the force-fed codeplug had it enabled, but if I disable it and try to re-enable it, it won't let me do it. All of the new modes I had to add (there were something like 30 modes in it and I filled it up to 128 with all 96 railroad channels and the rest ham and WX).

The RIB cable was custom made. He used a DB15 connector with a wire for ignition sense, a pair of wires for the speaker, and a short pigtail to an RJ45 jack, which gets plugged into the DB25-RJ45 programming cable. The reason he did this is because he has mostly Maxtracs, so he didn't want to build a whole new cable for the Spectra, just an adapter that lets the Maxtrac plug go into the DB15 of the Spectra. It works fine and hasn't bricked any radios.

I think the RIB does take power from the radio. When I plug it into the radio the red LED on it gets just a tad bit brighter, so maybe it was the ground loop possibility.

Bob, that's pretty much the order I turned things on in. Except sometimes I plugged in the RIB before I turned it on. Turning on the radio before connecting the RJ45 connector to the RIB seemed to eliminate the problem.

kcbooboo · Post by **kcbooboo** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:55 pm

Some RIBs will accept power from the radio; mine will not. There is a source of SWB+ (12V) on the DB15 connector at the rear of the radio, and the official RIB cable uses this to power the RIB. But if your RIB has a battery and can power itself, turn it on before connecting it to the radio and you should be OK.

I think that I had to enable DTMF or PHONE support on each mode in my 900 MHz Spectra before it would do anything with the PHON button on the control head.

Bob M.

MP 6.7 · Post by **MP 6.7** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:31 pm

Thanks...any idea how I can enable Phone in RSS when it's not letting me? I figured out on the way home today that the DTMF works on the modes that had Phone enabled on the old codeplug. It will let me disable them but not enable them again. Says it's not supported. Any easy hacks or anything to get this to work?

kcbooboo · Post by **kcbooboo** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:28 pm

Sounds like the codeplug / radio was hacked a bit too much and will need a few options re-enabled. I've never done it, but I bet the MoFlags information would be helpful.

Bob M.