EEPROM HW ERROR

[motofreak008]

Hi all. My mom is an EMT for the county I live in. She carries a VHF HT1250 as her pager and I couldn't help but notice an error on her radio the other day. She was going to go on call, but I saw the error, luckily, before she went on call. It was a EEPROM HW ERROR. I took the battery off and put a different battery on, and it worked just fine. So, what was the error about, and should I keep watch to see if it happens again?

[dirtrat]

I found this OLD SRN but it has since expired. You may have to send this radio to Motorola if it continues to happen but I assume they will charge you for a flat rate repair. You could always try to update to the latest firmware but it may not fix the problem.


SRN - 1395
APC - 672, 749
January 2003
Memo To: SRN Mailing List Deadline: Dec 31, 2003
From: Radio Product Division Plantation Florida
Subject: Professional Series Low Band Portable –

ISSUE #1: Noisy Receiver Audio When Using Remote Speaker Microphone
ISSUE #2: “HW EEPRM ERROR” and Self-Turn-Off Conditions


Symptoms:
ISSUE #1: When using the radio with the remote speaker microphone attached, users may report an increase in receiver noise
when the volume control is increased, especially when operating in frequency range 46 MHz to 47 MHz. This noise causes a
severe degradation of receiver SINAD, which is often interpreted as poor range. This problem becomes much worse at cold
temperatures.

ISSUE #2: When a brief power interruption occurs, it can sometimes cause the radio to go into a “hang” condition, and the
radio will not respond to any key button presses and will appear to be non-functional. Turning the radio volume pot off and on
will NOT restore the radio to normal operation, and sometimes the green LED will remain on. With HT1250 display radios,
the display will read “EEPRM HW ERROR”. The radio will come back to normal operation if the battery is removed and
replaced.

Potential Problem Radios:
Model Number: AAH25BEC9AA3_N AAH25CEC9AA3_N, AAH25BEF9AA5_N AAH25CEF9AA5_N
Serial number range: 672TAExxxx thru 672TCZxxxx
749TAExxxx thru 749TCZxxxx

Cause:
Internal capacitance deficiencies.
Corrective Actions:
Radios exhibiting these issues should be sent to the Radio Support Center for a hardware upgrade, to the address below.
Please reference this SRN number when returning the portable.
Motorola Inc.
Radio Support Center
3761 South Central Avenue
Rockford, IL 61102
$25.00 labor reimbursement is authorized for each portable returned. No other charges will be allowed.
Only warranty work performed by an Authorized Motorola Service Center will be eligible for reimbursement.

[Vercomm]

A couple things for you:

1. Updating to the latest firmware is a plus, but will not help with the EEPROM error you are seeing.

2. Check the back of the radio and see if the gasket around the battery contacts is orange, blue, or black.

3. Check the front of the radio and where it says motorola above the screen, is the Motorola label a sticker or is a printed right on the case?

Jamie

[motofreak008]

The gasket is blue and it is a sticker on the front. I am not for sure of the firmware. Is the error something to keep an eye on? How bad is it really? What causes that? Lastly, why did putting on a different battery fix the problem?

[HLA]

i've never seen a radio recover from a hw error before, a cs error is usually simple to recover but hw is a hardware problem. i think you got lucky on it this time but it's possibel it will happen again and totally lock up. maybe check the internal battery, does the clock keep time with the radio off?

[Vercomm]

Ok, blue gasket is good!! A new battery fixed the problem because you removed complete power from the radio. By pulling off the old battery and re-seating would have worked to. To fix the problem will cost you a dollar in parts. Motorola released a FSB on this problem. Radios that have the sticker on the front have a brass screw that is open on this inside of the radio. Motorola states that you need to only cover this brass screw with a piece of kapton tape and that will fix the problem. I don't have the part number handy but will get it. The FSB describes the exact problem you are having.

[motofreak008]

About the clock. It does not seem to keep time very well. I have set it many times, and yet it still gets off. I have wondered what the deal is. The only thing I could think of was, was changing batteries. But for quite awhile, I was not switching the batteries on it.

[Vercomm]

There is a small internal battery that sometimes goes dead and thats what keeps time when you remove the battery. I think the battery is worth about 5 bucks or something. For a minimal amount you could have that radio upgraded to meet all of the FSB's and even get your clock working properly. I can't remember if there was also a firmware issue related to the clock or not.

[HumHead]

Indeed there was. I am not in a position to search for the SRN right now, but it had to do with the clock gaining time when the radio was put into the charger with the radio powered on. The corrective action was to turn the radio off when charging.

I believe that the problem was actually rectified in a later firmware release.

[Vercomm]

I found the SRN on the clock, SRN1498A. Any radios with firmware R05.09.06 or older will exhibit the clock problem. Users must upgrade to firmware R05.09.11 or newer.

To find out what firmware your radio has take the battery off and on the sticker above the battery contacts there is Ver No, it is above the serial number.

If you can tell us your firmware we can probably help out more.

[35echo]

Ok, blue gasket is good!! A new battery fixed the problem because you removed complete power from the radio. By pulling off the old battery and re-seating would have worked to. To fix the problem will cost you a dollar in parts. Motorola released a FSB on this problem. Radios that have the sticker on the front have a brass screw that is open on this inside of the radio. Motorola states that you need to only cover this brass screw with a piece of kapton tape and that will fix the problem. I don't have the part number handy but will get it. The FSB describes the exact problem you are having.

The part number for the insulator is
1471531L01 INSULATOR $.14

[motofreak008]

It is version R05.09.06 So I guess that might explain a few things.