Spectra A4 Head Problems

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KI4M
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Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 8:08 pm

Spectra A4 Head Problems

Post by KI4M »

I have a very weird problem with my Motorola Spectra A4 Rotary head. After programming none of the buttons except the home and dim buttons work. Of course the mode and volume knobs work but any of the user assignable buttons work. The head is an A4 style rotary head and the radio is a 110W trunk mount. On the head everything but the user programmable buttons works just fine. Display works fine etc. Without the user buttons working I can't enable scan, mpl, direct, etc so this is a big problem for me. This is a regular conventional Spectra VHF hi split NON Astro radio. Does anyone have any ideas as to what i can do to get these to work? I have tried the head on two different drawers with the same results.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated... I have tried reprogramming many different combinations etc without any luck.....

Any ideas?
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txshooter
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spectra problem

Post by txshooter »

Are you sure that those options were enabled on those drawers. What version mlm is in. The radio?

Read the spectra page at http://www.Batlabs.com it may help answer some of your questions. Also Mike Blenderman's spectra page. Google is your friend.
Last edited by txshooter on Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jim202
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Re: spectra problem

Post by Jim202 »

All of those buttons are programmed in the control head
section of the RSS. You need to go back and see just
what the buttons are set for in the RSS.

From what your telling us, they are all disabled. Try setting
them to the function you want. Don't forget to press the
F8 key before you leave that section. Otherwise you
will not save any changes you made.

Jim
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KI4M
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Re: spectra problem

Post by KI4M »

txshooter wrote:Are you sure that those options were enabled on those drawers. Just because of the availability of the buttons does not mean your radio has that feature without hacking the moflags. What version mlm is in. The radio?

Read the spectra page at http://www.Batlabs.com it may help answer some of your questions. Also Mike Blenderman's spectra page. Google is your friend.
The MLM is version 6.10. I have went into the head key assignment portion of the rss and enabled the features using the key assignment. I have saved these before exiting that screen and always save before leaving any screen... I have programmed many many syntor X9000's and Spectra's before with various button assignments for user selection but have never had a problem like this before...

I will investigate a little further but this one definitely has me stumped...

Thanks for the replys thus far...
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jackhackett
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Post by jackhackett »

Do you know if the buttons worked before you programmed it? If they were then it's probably a software issue, otherwise the first thing I would suspect is that a circuit trace was damaged by leaking caps.
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KI4M
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Post by KI4M »

jackhackett wrote:Do you know if the buttons worked before you programmed it? If they were then it's probably a software issue, otherwise the first thing I would suspect is that a circuit trace was damaged by leaking caps.
I bought the radio as working from a two way radio shop and that is another matter. The radio VCO board went bad and they blamed it on me. Said i had done things to it blah blah blah etc. Needless to say I will never buy from them again.

That being said the keys never did work. I have tried the head on two different radios with the same results.

I am thinking the head is toast to be honest and might just have to buy a new one... Man that shop has really cost me a lot of extra money...
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Rick Rock
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Post by Rick Rock »

I'm going to stick my neck out and ask the stupid question- which control head is it set for in radio-wide options?
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KI4M
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Post by KI4M »

Rick Rock wrote:I'm going to stick my neck out and ask the stupid question- which control head is it set for in radio-wide options?
Rotary...
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Rick Rock
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Post by Rick Rock »

and what's the model#?ID#? That MLM is capable of all the options you are wanting. Do you have an A5 or A7 head to try on it?
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KI4M
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Post by KI4M »

Rick Rock wrote:and what's the model#?ID#? That MLM is capable of all the options you are wanting. Do you have an A5 or A7 head to try on it?
I am at work at the moment and will get the model # when i get home this evening.. All that I have to try are A9 heads. Do not have any others to try. I had a spare A4 but sold it a while back. Man do i regret that now... If all else fails i have a spare 110W radio with a MLM board etc for a A9 head. I may just swap this radio over to an A9 head (Systems 9000) and be done with it...
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KI4M
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Post by KI4M »

Just wanted to let everyone know that I finally got this thing working. I had a spare A5 head and I installed it onto the radio. I changed the control head type in the radio wide configurations for the A5 head. That head worked just fine. I then changed heads and put the A4 back on the radio. I then re read the code plug, again changed the system wide configurations back to rotary, and repogrammed the radio. Everything on the A4 head works just fine now. So it must have been something in the original codeplug the MLM or something didn't like. Everything is good now and I have some spare parts after this... Can never have enough of those.

Thanks to all who responded with ideas and help...
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