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Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 6:55 am
by Jim202
Have looked around and have not found any info on if it is possible to move an Astro Spectra 800 radio to the 700 re banded range.

The radio is a model number T04UJH9PW9AN. Model number says it covers the 806 to 870 range now.

Would like to use it for RX only on a P25 system. Have several of these to play with.

Re: Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 7:23 am
by Victor Xray
Impossible.

Re: Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:47 am
by jry
for the current price of an 700/800 XTL why bother ?

Re: Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 7:59 am
by Karl NVW
The synthesizer in the old 800-only drawer is not programmable to 700 MHz channel freqs and spacings, including the mandatory inter-ops. You really do need to acquire an XTL or newer.

Re: Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:11 am
by AD0JA
Same for the ASTRO Saber and XTS3000, you can hex edit the CPS for OOB into 700mhz, but the synthesizer won't lock.

It's better to get an ASTRO25 series radio. They are coming down in price

Re: Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 12:10 pm
by Jim202
OK, thanks for the feedback. I was sort of expecting this answer, but deep down just had that slim ray of hope.

I guess I will strip the radios down and scrap the castings to get a few bucks out of the pile of aluminum.

Jim

Re: Astro Spectra 800 radio mod to 700 operation

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2018 6:55 am
by flyinace09
As everyone else said, the pricing is at the part where for an 800 Astro Spectra or XTS3000 I usually gut the controllers/UCMs out of them and toss the chassis/RF boards since they're not worth saving anymore. On the bright side - An XTL5000 with W-series head I've seen as low as $150 and with an O5 head as low as $200... and an XTS5000 or 2500 for around $150-200 as well.