The question I have been bombarded with is the SPECTRA in my avatar real or was it Photoshoped. The answer to that question is – YES, It is real!
The radio is my current project. It consists of a UHF Spectra A9 head with five DEKS. Three of the DEKS are out of production Motorola and two are current production Motorola after market DEKS mad by 911EP.
The Motorola DEK’s consist of Status, Message, and Mode. The two 911EP DEK’s are for controlling emergency lighting. The very top is for light bars including a progressive slide switch as found on many modern day siren control boxes. The other is for controlling an ArrowStick® or directional arrow board that usually is mounted in the back window .
Both of the 911EP DEK’s are cosmetically identical to the standard Motorola DEK’s with the exception of the color of the back lighting (Red vs. Green) and the color of the box (Black vs. Brown) and that there assembled upside down. Additionally the buttons are printed with 911EP specific logos. Now, all I did was turn each DEK upside down and reverse the buttons and now there cool custom DEK’s that match the original Motorola DEK’s. The other cool thing is the buttons form the original Motorola DEK’s will fit the current after market DEK’s and visa-versa.
Now, I most likely will not use the Status, Message and Mode DEK’s with amateur radio. The two 911EP DEK’s most likely will be used to control my emergency lighting as I am a paid on call firefighter. But will see when that time comes if I want to give up my current Unitrol controller.
If you’re interested in the 911EP DEK’s you can view the manufactures web site at: http://www.911ep.com/products/orion.asp. MSRP on these DEK’s are just over $100 each. I got mine new from an authorized dealer on eBay for just around $150 for both.
There are two versions of each DEK. One is designed specifically to operate the 911EP LED light bars. The others (Model # ORISD4 and Model # ORITD4) are universal controllers. They are low voltage controllers just like the Motorola Wildcard DEK’s. All you have to do is provide external relays for your switching. That’s it…
Now on a side note, I’ve also been asked about my call sign “WA8IQO” as some of you have looked it up at FCC to verify its validity. Way you would do this, I don’t know but, ok.
The WA8IQO was my fathers call in the seventies and eighties. He died in 1984 when I was fourteen. My current active call is KD8IRJ. I recently applied for the vanity sign of WA8IQO as it very sentimental to me as it was my fathers and I would spend lots time with him hearing he call it out. The application is currently pending with the FCC that is way its not showing active.
I signed up to the BatBoard with the vanity sign as its only a matter of time before I begin using it. Sorry it some of you got offended by me prematurely using it here, but I didn’t want to go through the troubles of re-registering as it’s a big pain in the butt…