I was just told of a problem that has arrisen at the LA Sheriff's Dept with the XTS3000 UHF radio's.
It seems that they were have a tremendouse amount of crackling in the transmit audio and when they investigated it they found corrosion on the antenna connector in the radio's. It is where the connector is swaged into the frame, it seems that they used dissimilar metals that is causing the corrosion, the rolled pin is also corroding.
They brought it to the attention of the Motorola people and the answer was "we will have to look into that".
These radios are about 1 yr old max and they have 3000 of them and were looking at a purchase of 8000 more, but this may change because of the problem. These radios are now starting to not work at all in the field and the deputies are complaining about not being heard.
They bought these to have interoperability with the other agencies in LA County that are using Digital and other Freq. ranges.
I sure hope that all of our XTS radios don't start doing this, Has anyone else heard of this problem or noticed it or maybe this will answer someones question.
My personal XTS3500 has had similar problems and Motorola says there is nothing wrong with the radio. So what are we supposed to do??
Thank
Stan
XTS3000 & XTS3500 Antenna Problem from LA Sheriff
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MT2000 man
- Posts: 1307
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: XTS5000R, Astro Saber III, I
In regards to dispatch not being able to hear the deputies, a similar problem is starting to occur to our police radios as well. In some places in town for example, an officer will transmit a message, and sometimes either just dispatch would hear the message, or sometimes just the surrounding units will hear the message. This is a big concern because the officers lives remain in the hands of two way radio communication. Any thoughts??
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Elroy Jetson
- Posts: 1158
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Why am I not surprised that they're having problems with this? The XTS uses a microminiature snap-in RF connector on a cable and a matching jack on the PC board.
This connector first saw widespread use by Textronix in test equipment in the late 70's and early 80's, and it wasn't designed for rugged service. Still, it should ordinarily be fully gold plated, and it is on my two XTS's.
Blame the cheap snap-together construction. Screws are NOT a bad idea in a rugged product!
Oh well, the antenna connector setup (contact to RF deck) on Jedi radios is much cheaper still.
Elroy
This connector first saw widespread use by Textronix in test equipment in the late 70's and early 80's, and it wasn't designed for rugged service. Still, it should ordinarily be fully gold plated, and it is on my two XTS's.
Blame the cheap snap-together construction. Screws are NOT a bad idea in a rugged product!
Oh well, the antenna connector setup (contact to RF deck) on Jedi radios is much cheaper still.
Elroy
Then answer this question, would you trade the my XTS3500 UHF 450-512 for a Astro Saber III UHF 450-512 same flashcodes?
Would I be getting a better radio?? I do use this radio in Police Work as a reserve in a gang unit so I would prefer the durability. Is the Saber as loud and have the audio the XTS does? Which works better, more durable, last longer??
Thanks
Stan
Would I be getting a better radio?? I do use this radio in Police Work as a reserve in a gang unit so I would prefer the durability. Is the Saber as loud and have the audio the XTS does? Which works better, more durable, last longer??
Thanks
Stan
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MT2000 man
- Posts: 1307
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: XTS5000R, Astro Saber III, I
Elroy would probably agree with me on this one, in answer to your question, I think that the astro saber would provide you more durability than an XTS3500. Because on the XTS, the battery "snaps on," and on the astro saber, it just "slides on", (or slips on if you will), and therefore, creating a much better, and stable radio than the XTS. On top of this, the astro saber can be dropped, slammed, crashed, and banged into much more than the XTS, and overall a much more solid design than the XTS.
Elroy, back me up on this!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MT2000 man on 2002-01-23 15:43 ]</font>
Elroy, back me up on this!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MT2000 man on 2002-01-23 15:43 ]</font>
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Elroy Jetson
- Posts: 1158
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Oh, indubitably. (How often do you actually see THAT word used??) The Saber packaging (Astro included) is about as tough as a radio can get. You should also appreciate the substantially slimmer profile that doesn't interfere with your arm swing as you walk. Audio quality is better than the XTS package as well, being more clear and with less rattle at high volume. I model XTS radios suffer terribly from housing rattle when cranked up loud, I've noticed. To much unsupported plastic around the speaker.
The Astro Saber's display is still better than the XTS display, in my opinion, and the ergonomics of them are better in my mind as well.
The XTS is almost entirely a 'snap together' radio. There are very few screws in the radio, and the snap-on housing often breaks near the snaps at the bottom of the radio, and the large surface area of the waterproofing seal makes it unreliable. It's prone to leakage along the sides of the radio where there's not much clamping force over that long side.
I have both XTS radios and Astro Sabers, and they're both capable of doing what I want and need. The XTS radios sit on the shelf while the Astro Sabers get used practically every day. I'm considering selling off the XTS radios just to get them out of the way.
(Yes, interested people may contact me via private messages)
Elroy
The Astro Saber's display is still better than the XTS display, in my opinion, and the ergonomics of them are better in my mind as well.
The XTS is almost entirely a 'snap together' radio. There are very few screws in the radio, and the snap-on housing often breaks near the snaps at the bottom of the radio, and the large surface area of the waterproofing seal makes it unreliable. It's prone to leakage along the sides of the radio where there's not much clamping force over that long side.
I have both XTS radios and Astro Sabers, and they're both capable of doing what I want and need. The XTS radios sit on the shelf while the Astro Sabers get used practically every day. I'm considering selling off the XTS radios just to get them out of the way.
(Yes, interested people may contact me via private messages)
Elroy
We have seen some similar problems with our VHF XTS3000s. Are you using Lithium Ion batteries? Apparently their is a intermittent problem where the RF energy is getting into the batteries and causing some strange problems to occur like no transmit or receive...as well as resetting the radio. If you look at the battery and it has a "LM" marking on it on the label then maybe that’s the culprit. Apparently some of these batteries have too much solder on the internal connections of the battery (this is Motorola's unofficial word). I know the agency that had these problems had all of their batteries replaced by Motorola.
Radio Ray
Radio Ray
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Twisted_Pear
- Batboard $upporter
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- Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2001 4:00 pm
The earlier versions of the NiCads for the XTS were basically crap (8294A version). The ones I have that I received brand new, and hardly used them over time, now cannot hold a charge for very long much less last when used. I've bought NiMHs (8299AR) and they work so much better. I even went ahead and tried a newer NiCad (The B revision) and it lasts much longer but cannot meet the NiMHs.
Overall I like the XTS myself. I have two 800s and one UHF, all full keypad, and they suit me fine. I have no problems with the battery connections or with the case. The ASTRO audio does seem low but the ASTRO Saber I once had never had digital use so I can't truly compare. I like the ergonomics better and the fact the radio isn't a foot long, plus most of my accessories are for Jedi radios and the XTS accessories are easier for me to get. I'll agree the ASTRO Saber is much more rugged but I'm not the type to beat on my radios or try and sit down with it in my back pocket. So to each his own...
Overall I like the XTS myself. I have two 800s and one UHF, all full keypad, and they suit me fine. I have no problems with the battery connections or with the case. The ASTRO audio does seem low but the ASTRO Saber I once had never had digital use so I can't truly compare. I like the ergonomics better and the fact the radio isn't a foot long, plus most of my accessories are for Jedi radios and the XTS accessories are easier for me to get. I'll agree the ASTRO Saber is much more rugged but I'm not the type to beat on my radios or try and sit down with it in my back pocket. So to each his own...
(For all the Astro Saber 3 lovers out there)
Just had to say that there's NOTHING like that "foot-long" radio....Would take the astro saber even if it were an inch longer than it is now. Maybe, as Elroy said in another thread---that if Motorola or Elroy ever designed an "updated" astro saber line, the extra inch would contain enough crap to enable a dual band version, VHF & UHF. I know scrotum-old would NEVER do that since it defeats the purpose of selling two seperate radios...It is however WISHFUL thinking though........
Just had to say that there's NOTHING like that "foot-long" radio....Would take the astro saber even if it were an inch longer than it is now. Maybe, as Elroy said in another thread---that if Motorola or Elroy ever designed an "updated" astro saber line, the extra inch would contain enough crap to enable a dual band version, VHF & UHF. I know scrotum-old would NEVER do that since it defeats the purpose of selling two seperate radios...It is however WISHFUL thinking though........
Thats what I posted (somewhere) a while back. The Ni-cads never made it past 8-10 months here! So the county just returns them, & gets new ones, (that are not lasting any longer) but no charge.On 2002-01-24 06:44, Twisted_Pear wrote:
The earlier versions of the NiCads for the XTS were basically crap (8294A version). The ones I have that I received brand new, and hardly used them over time, now cannot hold a charge for very long much less last when used.
For the VHF XTS3000, seems that Motorola has set the low battery voltage beep way too high (someone stated 7.0V on a 7.2V pack!). Customer can't change this and Motorola refuses. So the customer hears the beep half way thru their beat, and returns the battery to the charger. After a month all the NiCds are operating at half capacity due to this repetition.
Meanwhile, if they ignore the low battery beep, the radio will work the entire shift and half way into the next!
So we tried third party NiMH... seems to have solved the problem from the customers perspective (no low bat beep thru a shift). Nobody wants the Motorola batteries. And it seems that Motorola doesn't care.
Anyone else have this experience?
RFDude
Meanwhile, if they ignore the low battery beep, the radio will work the entire shift and half way into the next!
So we tried third party NiMH... seems to have solved the problem from the customers perspective (no low bat beep thru a shift). Nobody wants the Motorola batteries. And it seems that Motorola doesn't care.
Anyone else have this experience?
RFDude