Analog Spectra Can't Add Zones

[W3AXL]

Hi all,

Picked up a 900 conventional spectra for $15 recently, and I've taken to the task of making it into a useful radio from the useless trunking package it currently has.

So far all I've really done is to update the moflags in the command board and the MLM to the example string in the batboard article on spectra hacking. The radio seems to work fine, all the features appear to have been enabled, but I can't add any zones and there are currently no zones in the radio. All it tells me when I try and add one is that the maximum number of zones has been reached.

I have a feeling to fix this I'd need to shove a codeplug in the radio that has at least one zone added. Unfortunately I doubt that a 900 conventional zone codeplug exits anywhere.

I'd love to know if there's a solution to this problem, as I'd like to have a nice 900 radio up and running.

At the end of the day zone operation isn't critical, but it'd be nice to have the radio at 100%.

Thanks!

[W3AXL]

Well I've got bigger problems it seems. The radio currently doesn't put power out.

So I'll have to put this problem on hold until I figure out why the PA doesn't seem to be working. The radio is modulating fine, but it's got almost zero watts of output power at the moment. Definitely a PA issue but of course the detailed service manual seems to be rather elusive.

[kd5ual]

What firmware does it have?
Early firmware wont do Zones.

[Jim202]

Hi all,

Picked up a 900 conventional spectra for $15 recently, and I've taken to the task of making it into a useful radio from the useless trunking package it currently has.

So far all I've really done is to update the moflags in the command board and the MLM to the example string in the batboard article on spectra hacking. The radio seems to work fine, all the features appear to have been enabled, but I can't add any zones and there are currently no zones in the radio. All it tells me when I try and add one is that the maximum number of zones has been reached.

I have a feeling to fix this I'd need to shove a codeplug in the radio that has at least one zone added. Unfortunately I doubt that a 900 conventional zone codeplug exits anywhere.

I'd love to know if there's a solution to this problem, as I'd like to have a nice 900 radio up and running.

At the end of the day zone operation isn't critical, but it'd be nice to have the radio at 100%.

Thanks!

I think you need an MLM version 6.0 or better for zones to work. It also takes a little playing with the MOFLAGS to get zones to work. Plus you need to select a button on the control head for "zone up and zone down" to be able to make it work. Then you need to add a zone and put channels into that zone. You can only have 15 channels in the zone that can be scanned.

Jim

[W3AXL]

The finals on this unit appear to be dead. Can't get anything more than the exciter output even after recapping. Still not a bad testing platform, but the MLM is IIRC around version 4 or so, which would explain why the zone menus don't want to play nice. If I wanted to I'd try and replace the PA transistors but that might be more work than it's worth.

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm not very well versed in the analog spectra world, and I appreciate the help.