Are you familiar with any problems with the Motorola Spectra x9000 UHF 450-520, I have one in my chief's vehicle...When I start the car it powers up just fine with NO error codes on the screen, however it will not tx or rx for about 3-5 minutes almost like it is warming up..? When I programed it I cloned it from another radio, same model number but I did get a message about them being different...? I continued with the progaming and everything seemed fine. Also could the head be causing the problem?
Thanks Brian
Motorola Spectra Problem?
Moderator: Queue Moderator
Its kind of hard to say without knowing the recent history of the radio (i.e. was it working before, was it just installed or reinstalled, what the actual symptoms are when it will not Rx or Tx, etc.).
The Spectras are getting old and are known for having leaking electrolytic capacitors on the radio drawer and control head circuit boards. If any are leaking, then they are eating away at the copper PC board traces and will cause progressively worse problems/damage over time.
The cable connections on the radio drawer and control head should be checked to make sure they are securely fastened.
The power connections at the vehicle battery should be checked. Corrosion from battery fumes can make a perfectly good looking connection actually be flaky and totally unreliable or put out a low voltage.
I am not aware of anything you can do with the programming that would ever cause a "warm-up" delay effect like you described. It would either work or not work if the programming was at fault.
If the control head display is blanked or stuck in "self check" for the 3 to 5 minutes delay, then I would suspect a watchdog timer problem (i.e. leaking electrolytic capacitor) in the control head.
There are other things that can go wrong, I just listed the most common ones I am aware of.
The Spectras are getting old and are known for having leaking electrolytic capacitors on the radio drawer and control head circuit boards. If any are leaking, then they are eating away at the copper PC board traces and will cause progressively worse problems/damage over time.
The cable connections on the radio drawer and control head should be checked to make sure they are securely fastened.
The power connections at the vehicle battery should be checked. Corrosion from battery fumes can make a perfectly good looking connection actually be flaky and totally unreliable or put out a low voltage.
I am not aware of anything you can do with the programming that would ever cause a "warm-up" delay effect like you described. It would either work or not work if the programming was at fault.
If the control head display is blanked or stuck in "self check" for the 3 to 5 minutes delay, then I would suspect a watchdog timer problem (i.e. leaking electrolytic capacitor) in the control head.
There are other things that can go wrong, I just listed the most common ones I am aware of.