MTR-2000 Beep on Console and on MC1000 Remote

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 1:33 pm

http://www.joshcato.com/beep.wav

Help... Something is making this sound over the DC remote. It is not transmitted over the air only on the console and the remote in the station.. It just comes and goes nothing normal about it....... Thanks, Josh

Post by **wavetar** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:24 pm

The MTR2000 can be programmed to send warning beeps over the air, over wireline to a console, or both. It appears yours is programmed to send the tone over wireline only. A single beep such as you're getting indicates the repeater has lost A/C power & is running on battery back-up. It should send it every 10 seconds by default, I believe.

Todd

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:45 am

the MTR-2000 don't have a battery backup it is wired to a generator so when power fails the generator will kick on...... when this beep happens there is no indication of power loss at the fire station or anywhere else any other ideas???
Thanks, Josh

The Pager Geek · Post by **The Pager Geek** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:35 am

Does it follow a transmit? It could be a high SWR warning, or failed PA. Look at the front lights when you transmit, or better yet, use the CPS and go into the diagnostics / metering screen to see the problems.

I have seen SWR issues before...

tpg

RKG · Post by **RKG** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:31 am

First thing to do is to look at the codeplug and see if it is programmed to send alarms down the wireline; could be coming from somewhere else.

Lake Effect · Post by **Lake Effect** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:28 am

Don't know if this is the same problem but I have had two MTR2000 stations indicate AC failure and, like your's, had no battery backup. It came down to a bad sensor or whatever is used in the power supply to generate a fail indication out to the station control module. I ended up pulling the wire from the plug and grounding it to keep the station happy. With no battery backup, I don't believe it was going to send an alarm anyway if the AC really failed.

L.E.

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:31 pm

Well I had the CPS but it will not work now it said it is the wrong version..... The local radio shop came and worked on the PD repeater and I think they might have upgraded the firmware so I can't read it..... As far as the sound goes it is happing all the time not just when they key up on the radio. In the power supply what wire did you ground do you have any pictures or more info.... THat noise is driving us crazy!!!
thanks, josh

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:01 am

ffcato wrote:.... The local radio shop came and worked on the PD repeater and I think they might have upgraded the firmware so I can't read it.....

SO did this 'Beep' start after the "local shop....." worked on the repeater.

Sounds like the "local shop.." is resposible..

k2hz · Post by **k2hz** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:24 am

The beep indicates an alarm condition so you really need to do proper diagnostics to find out if there is a real problem or if it is an anomaly in the alarm circuit.

Just grounding some wire to disable the alarm without understanding the cause is not a wise move.

Lake Effect · Post by **Lake Effect** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:20 am

k2hz is correct about doing some diagnostics. In my case, I had a flashing red station status led on the front and RSS diag said I had an ac power failure and operating on battery backup. AC was fine and no battery attached to station. To me this said the sensing circuit was not telling the truth. If further investigation on your part gets you to the same conclusion, you can try what I did. My intent is not for you to ground a wire in hopes that the beep goes away.

That said, here is what I did. Look at the inner side of the power supply. There are two plugs there. A 6 pin going the the PA and an 8 pin going to the backplane connector labeled P8. We are working with the 8 pin at the power supply. The upper right pin (mine had a red wire with white stripe) is the sensor output from the supply. This is an open-collector output and should be held low when AC is present. If your's is not low, I would suspect that is your problem. I disconnected this wire but left enough to reconnect if needed and grounded the lead going to the backplane. Flashing LED went to solid green (normal) and RSS said AC power had returned and no more beeps.

As I said, I don't advocate just cutting and grounding. Do some checking first. Good luck.

L.E.

I just unpacked a new mtr2000 and noticed the plugs are different now. The plug on my modified stations have 4 pins vertical by 2 pins horizontal but this new one is turned so 4 pins horizontal by 2 pins vertical. The sensor output appears to be a brown wire at bottom right on this one.

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 2:59 pm

All the trouble started after that radio company came and worked on the PD repeater and I found out my software would not work anymore!!!

I can connect to it and show some settings but will not let me into the unit to check anything...

thanks for all the help....
josh

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:24 am

I checked the Repeater today and it is showing:

Not tested Station controller RAM
Not tested Station controller ROM
Passed Station controller AD Converter
Passed Station controller 8 V
Passed Station controller 14 V
Passed Station controller flash programming voltage
Not tested Wireline board
Passed Exciter AD converter
Passed Exciter 8 V
Passed Exciter 10 V
Passed Exciter synthesizer
Passed Exciter reference level
Passed Exciter steering line
Passed Receiver AD converter
Passed Receiver 8 V
Passed Receiver 10 V
Passed Receiver synthesizer
Passed Receiver injection level
Passed Receiver pre-amplifier bias
Passed Receiver reference level
Passed Receiver steering line 1
Passed Receiver steering line 2
Passed Power amplifier AD converter
Passed Power amplifier external peripheral device temperature
Passed Power amplifier power supply
Not tested Power amplifier reduced RF
Passed Power amplifier temperature
Not tested Power amplifier voltage standing wave ratio
Passed Power amplifier RF off
Passed Power amplifier fan
> Failed Power supply

Reading data from the connected station:
Incompatible station firmware: MTR2000 4
Data not read.

Power amplifier supply voltage 28.11V

Receiver REF. Level 3.88 V

Any help how to fix the Voltage problem would be great
Also on the firmware: MTR2000 4 does that mean it is ver 4 not ver 3 anymore???

ALSO the red light is blinking on the front of the mtr is that due to the voltage problem or the ac loss???
thanks,

josh

The Pager Geek · Post by **The Pager Geek** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 1:04 pm

You have a potential firmware issue.

IF the station was working ok before the MSS "touched" it, and all they did was a firmware update, then it's most likely just the firmware.
The firmware could be reading the wrong data, IE looking for a voltage value that wouldn't apply to this type of station.

IF the station was screwed up before they "touched" it, and it's still doing the same thing, 1 beep [edited to correct from 2 beeps] every 10sec with a blinking red status light it's a failed AC Power Supply. [2 beeps is failed PA]

Step 1, correct the firmware
Step 2, correct power supply issue (whether it's the supply or sensor is to be determined.) if the problem still exists after step 1.

While you're waiting for the firmware update, take LakeEff and HZ's advice and measure the sensor wire from the supply. See if it's where it should be. You may have 2 problems, and you can at least fix the one (if it's broke) without waiting for a firmware update.

tpg

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 2:48 pm

the mtr only beeps 1 time every 10 seconds.... some times it will not beep at all, then all of a sudden it will beep all day.......

"This is an open-collector output and should be held low when AC is present. If your's is not low, I would suspect that is your problem."

how would i test this with a voltmeter???

what would be the specs I am looking for.

Thanks, josh

thebigphish · Post by **thebigphish** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:27 pm

ffcato wrote:the MTR-2000 don't have a battery backup it is wired to a generator so when power fails the generator will kick on...... when this beep happens there is no indication of power loss at the fire station or anywhere else any other ideas???
Thanks, Josh

i would address this problem also, just because you have a generator does not mean you shouldn't be running a battery system also. You are going to need something to support the radio when the power drops out, and the generator is not up to speed yet...radios (and most specialized equipment also) don't tolerate the "carpet being pulled out from under them" when the power drops out as well as your commonplace vaccuum or anything. The battery will maintain normal operations of your system while the generator spools up, i would seriously look into this if i were you.

The Pager Geek · Post by **The Pager Geek** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:30 pm

Yes, single beep for failed AC Power Supply. Double beep for failed PA. (from the manual.) My post was from memory.

tpg

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:38 pm

so in that case I am good to find the wire and ground it out to fix it right??? or does anyone know the part number for the sensor I will just get a new one..???
thanks, josh

ard099 · Post by **ard099** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:02 pm

Whats the voltage and frequency at the ac plug? Also check the station metering screen in the software.

ffcato · Post by **ffcato** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 2:57 pm

110ac is all i know.... sorry

where is the metering screen located at in the software???

I know I can get to a screen that shows like pa volts and other stuff is that the same screen??

I don't have the ability to read it any more there is just some settings I can get into now
Thanks, Josh