Deeply weird Astro Spectra

[Hartley]

Hi Y'all,

I wonder if anyone has seen this before?

I bought a cheep "Q" split W5 Astro Spectra on eBay, and when I read it (using CPS - RSS said "Codeplug too new") it said the flashcode was 000001-000000-9 --- Conventional, and nuttin' else. (kinda what I was expecting) The powerup service menu shows: AMR0604 I040308 EMCR0100... and so on (it has a DES-XL module in it)

But when I went thru the 30-odd personalities in it, I discovered that one (and ONLY one) of them allowed me to program the TX mode to "ASTRO". There was also an ASTRO tab with all the stuff in it accessible.

I found I could duplicate this personality, and these copies could also have "ASTRO" enabled..

When I tested the channels in ASTRO mode, they indeed produce what sounds like digital audio, though it is not P25 CAI. Based on how the screens act, the radio thinks it is producing VSLEP - since I don't have a VSLEP radio to check with, I really don't know..

So whatddya think?

73 DE Hartley

[KE4NYVJR]

Aftermarket board of some kind, maybe? We have has some experience with these aftermarket "voice inversion" boards here recently.

[jmr061]

It is probably vslep. The "I" in the dsp indicates it is digital. I recall reading somewhere that flashcodes that start with even numbers are vslep if the dsp supports digital.

If I am incorrect someone please correct me.

Jason

[Hartley]

Hi Y'all,

OK, I figured a couple things out - it looks like this is an ordinary VSLEP radio - and VSLEP Digital capability doesn't show up in the flashcode like P25. If the radio is analog only, then it shows up..

You turn on ASTRO (VSLEP) in the RX tab (not the TX tab) by selecting either ASTRO or "Mixed Mode" - then the TX side is allowed to select ASTRO.. I'll figure this out sooner or later..

So, unless I find another VSLEP radio to talk to, I guess it's just academic..

Thanks es 73!

Hartley

[alex]

AMR0604
I040308

This is a vselp radio -

The A before the first part means that its analog / vselp only.

The I would be board revision I believe.

-Alex

[The Pager Geek]

Host Revision is R06.04
DSP Revision is I04.03.08

The AM is insignificant since it resides with the Host (when dealing with digital vs analog only issues)

the I indicates "digital", but since the firmware is so old, it is VSELP.

tpg

[Pj]

Another real easy way to tell the difference..

If the flashcode does not specifically state "IMBE Opertation" and DOES NOT have "Analog only" its VLSEP (HOST/DSP not withstanding if its franklin flashed).

[RESCUE161]

franklin flashed

BWA HA HA HA!!!!

[Hartley]

Hi All,

Well, I think this Astro is not so weird - just different enuff from the ones I had messed with I didn't understand it. A plain ol' VSLEP Q split radio.

One other interesting thing - it came with what looks like an analog Spectra A5 head on it - which worked, but some buttons didn't seem to work (mon, Dir) - so I swapped it for an Astro W5 head. The W5 head works fine, but the buttons turned out to be programmed wrong, so it looks like the A5 head was fully functional - can this be true? (I know a W9 and A9 head are quite different, but I didn't know about the others)

73 DE Hartley