ASTRO VEHICULAR ADAPTER questions

chiefops · Post by **chiefops** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 9:24 pm

i am encountering 2 issues with my AVA.
1. the AVA is wired as follows: black - ground
red - battery
yellow - ignition
green - none
when the vehicle is off and the radio is left in the AVA, the AVA stays lit, the radio will remain on with audio but will not transmit. i assume this is the correct configuration. the radio is only removed when i arrive at work, used at work and reinserted when leaving work. so the the radio stays on and in the AVA while the car is parked overnite. whowever, i have found that about once a week, the radio battery will die after about 2 hrs use while at work.
my question- isn't the AVA charging the battery when the ignition is off? why else would the AVA stay on and the radio receive while the ignition is off? if so, why does the battery die after a whole night of charging, 7 days a week?

2. the mic (HMN1035c) has 1 of those spring activated/contact hangup buttons on the back. when the mic is hung up in a non-grounded hang up clip, and the vehicle is started with the radio in the AVA, the radio will not unmute until the mic is removed from the hang up clip once. is there a way around this? should the hang up clip be grounded instead?

hamptonbeach · Post by **hamptonbeach** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:36 am

According the installation instructions of my Astra Saber AVA:

"In order for the radio battery to be charged, the vehicle's ignition switch must be turned on. This is important for preventing the AVA from discharging the radio's battery."

When the ignition is off and the radio is on, the AVA will operate the radio is receive only mode - this is normal. The AVA is drawing power from the radio's battery.

The green wire gets wired to the head/tail lamps to dim the display when your lights are on.

chiefops · Post by **chiefops** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:04 am

well that explains the battery discharge, so what's the purpose of rx only when the ign is off?
any idea how much draw would occur if i wired the yellow to battery also?
and any soulution to the hung-up mic and muted audio after the car is re-started?

Dale Earnhardt · Post by **Dale Earnhardt** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:13 am

chiefops wrote:well that explains the battery discharge, so what's the purpose of rx only when the ign is off?
any idea how much draw would occur if i wired the yellow to battery also?
and any soulution to the hung-up mic and muted audio after the car is re-started?

You should just wire the yellow to the Ignition, soo it can charge the battery, and the reason why it wont let you TX is because it doesent sense ignition too and wont let you TX because its trying to conserve battery when its not being charged at alll,

AM at a airport soo, bare with me if I don't sound right lol, anyways, I think it takes about 2amps? probably, am not sure, but its around there

Oh and what do you mean muted audio after car is restarted? does it stay mute?

hamptonbeach · Post by **hamptonbeach** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:19 am

My 'guess' as to why the radio is RX only when the ignition is off is to prevent unauthorized use of the radio while the vehicle is unoccupied.. or possible the AVA and the radio in TX is too much current on the radio battery ??

If you wired the yellow to battery and left the radio in, you'd probably end up with a dead car battery in the morning, or at the least shorten your car's battery life by excessive discharge each night.

Why not simply connect an meter and measure the current?
Then you can determine if that's what you want to do.

I don't have a mic with a hangup clip, nor do the instructiones reference one, so I don't have an answer to that question.

123 · Post by **123** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 12:15 pm

Keep in mind if the battery is a Ni CAD your burning up your battery if left in the charger for prolonged periods of time

chiefops · Post by **chiefops** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:27 pm

battery is nmh...
if mic is hung up in clip when car is started, radio will not unmute and vol level lights won't illuminate till mic is removed from hangup clip just once. mic has those contacts on hangup button. hangup clip is not grounded.

Dale Earnhardt · Post by **Dale Earnhardt** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 10:29 am

Dont really have an answer to your Mic problem, maybe bad connection? or just a glitch in the AVA, but I have an answer for the battery,

You Should be ok with leaving your radio in there, when the ava charges the battery, it charges for about 3 hours if the battery is completely dead, if not, probably less then half an hour, how ever the case is, but once charged, the status light will turn green and chargeing will stop.

Post by Pj » Fri Jul 30, 2004 11:37 am

I'll try to look it up...however the manual that i have states that you can program the AVA with two different charge rates for the battery. I'll get back to this post in a bit as soon as I find it

Post by Pj » Fri Jul 30, 2004 11:39 am

From the pdf:

9. SELECTING AVA CHARGER OPERATION
The PLN7736 AVA user is able to select the charger’s operating mode. Depending
on user preference, the AVA can provide either full-featured, three-hour rapid
charging, or low-rate, trickle-only charging of the radio battery. The trickle-charging
mode provides optimum radio battery life for users who start duty with a fully
charged radio battery and take the radio out of the AVA frequently and briefly.
Otherwise, for users who rely on the AVA for recharging dead radio batteries, the
full-featured mode shipped standard with the radio is appropriate.
To change the charging mode, press both AVA volume up and down arrow keys
simultaneously while the radio is in the AVA, and the vehicle and radio are
turned on. (For installations using a handheld control head microphone, disconnect
the microphone during the selection.) The present charger mode status is
displayed by the “battery charging” indicator lights. After making a selection
change, re-insert the radio into the AVA. The charge will start with RED in the
full-featured mode and with GREEN in the trickle-only mode. To revert back to
the other charging mode, repeat the above procedure.

chiefops · Post by **chiefops** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 5:56 pm

that's interwsting. which manual is that from? i should order it.

Post by Pj » Fri Jul 30, 2004 6:24 pm

Its only 8 pages

68P81078C20-A

PM me when you get a chance

Dale Earnhardt · Post by **Dale Earnhardt** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:58 am

lol, I wish those manuals that came with mine told me that....

wish I knew that other trickle charge.

Thanks for posting that up pj

Post by Pj » Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:20 pm

No problem!