Spectra questions...help...thanks
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Spectra questions...help...thanks
hi...I have a dash mount VHF, Spectra, D43KMA... model, it has a A5 head on it now....if I buy a DTMF Mic, will the tones work just by pushing the buttons? or do some spectra not do it.....(I think mine does, and is enabled for it) also....my radio has the "Emerg" feature....but the button is plugged (blacked out)...if I buy a button and remove the head is it easy to just pop them in? or is it a difficult process? same with the "Phone" button, I want to remove it and get a "MPL" button instead.....what about the "RSSI" feature? the button says "H/L" but I never seen a "RSSI" button before, i checked the spectra section on batlabs and there is no reference to the "RSSI" button....do they make one? also....do ALL spectra "power up" without a tone, mine says "self chk" and thats all...no tone like other motorolas have...I saw another spectra and it powered on the same,silently,ALL my tones are Enabled...i dont know much about spectras, so this seemed a bit weird to me, but it looks ok....thanks, David KD6RFS
"hi...I have a dash mount VHF, Spectra, D43KMA... model, it has a A5 head on it now....if I buy a DTMF Mic, will the tones work just by pushing the buttons? or do some spectra not do it.....(I think mine does, and is enabled for it)"
Yes, the DTMF mike will work just fine by pushing the buttons on it. Remember that if you press the PTT button on the mike, the DTMF buttons don't work; they only function when the PTT button is NOT pressed.
"also....my radio has the "Emerg" feature....but the button is plugged (blacked out)...if I buy a button and remove the head is it easy to just pop them in? or is it a difficult process?"
As far as I know, you'll have to pull the control head and split it apart by removing the screws from the back. But then the buttons should just fit right into the openings in the front. You'll have to pull the dummy button out first.
"same with the "Phone" button, I want to remove it and get a "MPL" button instead....."
Same with PHON.
"what about the "RSSI" feature? the button says "H/L" but I never seen a "RSSI" button before, i checked the spectra section on batlabs and there is no reference to the "RSSI" button....do they make one?"
I've never seen one. Most people with an A5 head use H/L if they don't need the horns/light feature. That's about the best you can do. Also, you'll need a relatively new firmware version for RSSI; the details are either on BatLabs or Mike Blenderman's Spectra site.
"also....do ALL spectra "power up" without a tone, mine says "self chk" and thats all...no tone like other motorolas have...I saw another spectra and it powered on the same,silently,ALL my tones are Enabled...i dont know much about spectras, so this seemed a bit weird to me, but it looks ok....thanks, David KD6RFS"
Nope, they're perfectly silent. You will get SELF CHK and all the LEDs will turn on, and after it passes that, you should end up on your "home" mode, whatever you specified when you programmed it.
Remember that after you program EMERG button, the emergency jumper on the accessory plug will also be active. Normally it goes to ground. If you unplug the accessory jack on a radio with emergency active, and the main power is still plugged in, the radio WILL start transmitting the emergency MDC code.
There's some good Spectra info over on repeater-builder.com in the Motorola/Spectra section.
Bob M.
Yes, the DTMF mike will work just fine by pushing the buttons on it. Remember that if you press the PTT button on the mike, the DTMF buttons don't work; they only function when the PTT button is NOT pressed.
"also....my radio has the "Emerg" feature....but the button is plugged (blacked out)...if I buy a button and remove the head is it easy to just pop them in? or is it a difficult process?"
As far as I know, you'll have to pull the control head and split it apart by removing the screws from the back. But then the buttons should just fit right into the openings in the front. You'll have to pull the dummy button out first.
"same with the "Phone" button, I want to remove it and get a "MPL" button instead....."
Same with PHON.
"what about the "RSSI" feature? the button says "H/L" but I never seen a "RSSI" button before, i checked the spectra section on batlabs and there is no reference to the "RSSI" button....do they make one?"
I've never seen one. Most people with an A5 head use H/L if they don't need the horns/light feature. That's about the best you can do. Also, you'll need a relatively new firmware version for RSSI; the details are either on BatLabs or Mike Blenderman's Spectra site.
"also....do ALL spectra "power up" without a tone, mine says "self chk" and thats all...no tone like other motorolas have...I saw another spectra and it powered on the same,silently,ALL my tones are Enabled...i dont know much about spectras, so this seemed a bit weird to me, but it looks ok....thanks, David KD6RFS"
Nope, they're perfectly silent. You will get SELF CHK and all the LEDs will turn on, and after it passes that, you should end up on your "home" mode, whatever you specified when you programmed it.
Remember that after you program EMERG button, the emergency jumper on the accessory plug will also be active. Normally it goes to ground. If you unplug the accessory jack on a radio with emergency active, and the main power is still plugged in, the radio WILL start transmitting the emergency MDC code.
There's some good Spectra info over on repeater-builder.com in the Motorola/Spectra section.
Bob M.