[== Syntor X 9000 Help Needed - Radio Won't Transmit ==]

[n6fnp]

I have two Syntor X 9000 VHF high band radios:

Syntor X 9000 radio
Model: T99KX_037W
ID: T73KXJ7J04BK


I have an HCN1033D control head which lights up
with channel information when connected to one
of the radios.

The first issue is that neither of the radios
will transmit at all on any of the channels.
I have looked at the programming with the RSS
and all of the modes have "PTT ALLOWED" set to
"YES". When the mike PTT button is pressed,
nothing happens on the radio. The receive audio
is not interrupted and the red TX led does not
go on.

Both radios have the same problem. I know the
mike, control head and cable are good as I have
a low band Syntor radio that works fine with
these.

The second issue is that I have a couple of
HCN1033D and other A9 control heads and none
of them light up when connected to either of
these radios. Is there anything that needs to
be done to make a control head work with these
radios?

I looked over Mike Blenderman's web page, but
didn't see anything related to my problems.

Any help is very much appreciated!


-Thor (N6FNP)

[kc7gr]

Have you checked to see that the orange lead at the control head end of the cable is connected to +12V?

[HLA]

it sounds like you don't have the ignition sense correct so it's working recieve only, the radio thinks the engine isn't running so it won't allow transmit. connect the orange and green wires togather and connect them to a 12v source and make shure the fuses in the orange and green lines are good. if that don't fix it, what bandsplit is it and how many channels? maybe somebody can email you a codeplug that's known to work.

[Mike B]

First check your ignition sense programming in the VHF radio code plugs.

Next, use your working low band for testing the control heads. Simply, turn the working control head power off, remove the cable from the working head and plug in one of the heads that does not light up an turn the power back on. If they still do not light up:
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx9k ... ml#ch_trbl

Put the working head back on the low band, check it for proper operation and turn it off. Remove the fuse from the large red wire, unplug the main radio connector and plug in one of the VHF radio drawers. Restore the red wire fuse and turn on the control head power switch. The mode display will be wrong, since it is for the low band radio, however it should come up on its programmed home mode which hopefully allows Tx. Now test your Tx. If you have Rx audio then the personality board R419 .08 ohm fuse is still good (it also supplies the audio amplifier).

If the ignition sense programming was not causing any problem, then try this:

Be aware when you push the PTT it tells the control head to send a Systems 9000 serial data command to the radio to Tx. This is why it is important to use a known working control head for this test. It is also possible the control head microphone PTT wiring may have been modified inside the other control heads. Since your receive audio is not interrupted and if you have a working control head/microphone, then it is the radio drawer microprocessor that is refusing your PTT Systems 9000 serial data command. Even if the synthesizer was not locking, the X9000 will still enter Tx, but not send any RF out (which will still interrupt the Rx audio). In this case save your old code plug and start a new code plug from scratch. Only program in one home mode and set it up for PTT allowed and try it. If this fixes you problem, then your code plug programming has problems (look for options you do not have installed in the radio, etc.). Next check your U501 EEPROM sticker (in case a dual radio version SP04, Spectra Rx combination SP06, or a hacked one is in the U501 socket). If needed you can carefully swap out the U501 from your low band for testing in your VHF radio. If all this does not fix your problem, then you need to trouble shoot the radio drawer.
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/images/hln5299b_t.gif
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx9k ... l#bot_view
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx9k ... tml#x9krad

Sorry, I do not have a complete list of all the U501 firmware. Unless it is easy to identify, you may have to swap it out anyway just to eliminate it as a problem source.

Be careful when pulling a chip from its socket. PC board traces can be accidentally damaged if you are not very careful about where you place any tools used to pry a chip out. A real chip removal tool should be the safest thing to use. Also make sure to get all the pins into the socket and not let then fold under etc. Also anti-static precautions are recommended when handling these chips.

[n6fnp]

YEAH!!!! I got it to work!

I feel kind of stupid about this. It turns out that the
control head cable has the green and orange wires totally
cut off so I didn't think about this, especially with it
working with the low-band radio.

I programmed the VHF high-band radios "IGNITION SENSE FOR
TRANSMITTER" setting to be "UNINHIBITED" and was able to
transmit. I didn't get any transmit audio at first, but
did a search on the board and saw that the RIB cable must
be disconnected. Both radios work great!

I haven't had a chance to try the other control heads, but
hope to get that figured out as well by following Mike's
suggestions.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my posting!


-Thor (N6FNP)

[Mike B]

Some low band radios were field modified to power the control head from the radio drawer, through one of the spare cable wires. A friend got one like this from the TVA. Its not a really good thing to do, unless the radio drawer internal power wire jumered to the spare line is fused to protect the personality board PC traces, cable wire and control head PC traces.

The control head also has the spare line jumpered to pin 30 inside the head with a bit of wire soldered to the back of the connector pins. The modification usually supplied power on the spare 2 line since it is on pin 29 right next to pin 30 in the control head.

http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx9k ... #x9kchpins

An unmodified control head will not get power from a spare radio cable line.

An unmodified radio drawer will not provide power on a spare radio cable line for a modified control head.

If you fix the cable and start using the correct orange and green wires, at least remove the modification from the control head (so that you do not have a parallel power path to the head that bypasses the green wire fuse).

[n6fnp]

Mike,


Thanks so much for your expert info. This appears to be
exactly the case here and it has cleared up my confusion.
I connected one of the other A9 heads via a cable that has
the orange and green wires and it works great!

I'm glad there are so many experts like you here on the
batboard!


-Thor