Using x9000 control head on spectra low power.

[sudsman1]

I've tried looking through past topics and was unable to find anything on trying to use an x9000 control head on a low power Spectra. I picked up a ton of Syntors and Spectras at an auction and have more x9000 heads for trunk mount than Spectra heads. Has anybody had experience in using the 9000 head on a low power Spectra. I've tried programming them while connected together and the display shows question marks afterwards. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

[Jim202]

I've tried looking through past topics and was unable to find anything on trying to use an x9000 control head on a low power Spectra. I picked up a ton of Syntors and Spectras at an auction and have more x9000 heads for trunk mount than Spectra heads. Has anybody had experience in using the 9000 head on a low power Spectra. I've tried programming them while connected together and the display shows question marks afterwards. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

You need to make sure you have the correct header to mate between the radio and the control head. It also takes a different back plastic on the control head to mate with the front mount radio.

Once you have the head mated electrically to the radio correctly, your going to have to go read the radio and go into the radio software and change the control head bits to indicate the model head your trying to put on the radio. Then load the codeplug back into the radio with your program.

This is not for the rookie programmer. You would be best to collect all the information you can on the Spectra and the different features and the like. There is a wealth of information on the repeater builder site and some of the links it will give you.

As a side note, what model control heads did you manage to pick up?

Are the radios you picked up Syntor, Syntor X, or Syntor X9000? Each have their own little ins and out and different features. I myself like the Syntor X9000, as they are the most versatile of the lot.

Jim

[n7maq]

http://onfreq.com/syntorx/syntorx9k/controlx9.html

That page should give you the info you need.


Jim

[Will]

The answer for "can I use a A9 control head on a low power Spectra" is YES...

Same interface as the A4, A5 and A9 control heads in the remote trunk mount configuration.

You will have to set the radio for the X9000 control head in RSS.

[sudsman1]

Thanks guys. I was unsure of some of the info in the RSS...this should straighten it ou. The heads are X9000 and some of the radios (about 200 lbs of them) are Syntor X9000 UHF. I got a batch of trunk mount Spectras that didn't come with A5 or A7 heads. This looks like it's going to be fun playing with these LOL.

[Pj]

Mike's page is the way to go. The preferred heads to use between a Spectra A9 and X9000 are the 1063A (x9000) and the 1073A (Spectra A9). These seem to work the best without headaches in my experience. You can switch them back and forth using the RSS tricks.

This is due to the fact that both RSS packages program the heads after it programs the radio (the mode names, etc) are stored in the head, not the radio. The A4/5/7 model spectra's store that information in the radio and push them to the head when you change channels.

In addition, you need to use LAB RSS for the spectra to bitbang the MLM so it knows that its an A9 radio.

If you haven't seen it yet:

http://www.batlabs.com/moflag.html
http://www.batlabs.com/spectra.html
http://www.repeater-builder.com/motorol ... nging.html
http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.p ... ags+hacked

Natedog had an awesome spreadsheet that laid everything out very nicely. Not sure who has a copy of it floating around.

[Jim202]

Thanks guys. I was unsure of some of the info in the RSS...this should straighten it ou. The heads are X9000 and some of the radios (about 200 lbs of them) are Syntor X9000 UHF. I got a batch of trunk mount Spectras that didn't come with A5 or A7 heads. This looks like it's going to be fun playing with these LOL.

For what it is worth, some of the control heads can be used on both radios. I have found that the HCN1036 and HCN1073 heads work well with the Syntor X9000.

The HCN1036, HCN1045 and HCN1073 heads work well with the Spectra radios.

There are other heads available that I have not tried that should work well with the different radios. In trying to use the HCN1045 head on a Syntor X9000, they always come up with a verify error while trying to write to the head. So I have given up and use those on the Spectra radios.

The older, lower number heads are going to be limited in the number of channels they can have. Generally this will be 32 channels. If they have a socketed EPROM in them, then you can replace the EPROM with a larger one and extend the channel count to 128 channels on the Spectra and even more with the right software on the Syntor X9000 radios. N7maq provided the link to the web page with the needed info on the head mods.

Jim

[RADIOMAN2002]

A HCN 1033 cannot be used, it only has a 2k eeprom, but you can upgrade it with a new 8k rom. Other than that I believe most any head except the dreaded 1032 will work with both radios.

[Mike B]

In trying to use the HCN1045 head on a Syntor X9000, they always come up with a verify error while trying to write to the head. So I have given up and use those on the Spectra radios.

Older heads like the HCN1045 require the Mic Hi line to be shorted to ground, in order to program the control head (in negative ground installations). Without this short the head only pretends to program, then fails on verify because it never really programmed in the first place. Check your programming cable to see if you have this pin shorted. If you do, always remember to remove the programming cable before trying to use the microphone to Tx audio. If you forget, your radio mic audio will appear to be broken. If the Mic High pin is not shorted then modify your programming cable to add the short for these older heads.

[Jim202]

In trying to use the HCN1045 head on a Syntor X9000, they always come up with a verify error while trying to write to the head. So I have given up and use those on the Spectra radios.

Older heads like the HCN1045 require the Mic Hi line to be shorted to ground, in order to program the control head (in negative ground installations). Without this short the head only pretends to program, then fails on verify because it never really programmed in the first place. Check your programming cable to see if you have this pin shorted. If you do, always remember to remove the programming cable before trying to use the microphone to Tx audio. If you forget, your radio mic audio will appear to be broken. If the Mic High pin is not shorted then modify your programming cable to add the short for these older heads.

Mike, thanks for the heads up on the grounding of the mic high line. I will have to look further into this. Have a bunch of the 1045 heads that I couldn't get programed on the Syntor X9000, but would program just fine on the Spectra. I do know that I can't leave the programming cable plugged into the RIB as it kills the mic audio. However, the ground at the rib,might not be good enough to make the programming work.

Jim

[jmr061]

Once a head is programmed on a Spectra its won't program on a X9000. To get it back to X9000 you have to take a Spectra A9 radio and place a programmed X9000 control head on it. Read the radio with Spectra RSS. Don't go change anything in the control head programming (if you look at the info it will be gibberish for the most part). Now put the Spectra A9 head on that you want to convert back for use on X9000. Program the Spectra now with the info that was just read. The head will now work on an X9000.

Jason

In trying to use the HCN1045 head on a Syntor X9000, they always come up with a verify error while trying to write to the head. So I have given up and use those on the Spectra radios.

Older heads like the HCN1045 require the Mic Hi line to be shorted to ground, in order to program the control head (in negative ground installations). Without this short the head only pretends to program, then fails on verify because it never really programmed in the first place. Check your programming cable to see if you have this pin shorted. If you do, always remember to remove the programming cable before trying to use the microphone to Tx audio. If you forget, your radio mic audio will appear to be broken. If the Mic High pin is not shorted then modify your programming cable to add the short for these older heads.

Mike, thanks for the heads up on the grounding of the mic high line. I will have to look further into this. Have a bunch of the 1045 heads that I couldn't get programed on the Syntor X9000, but would program just fine on the Spectra. I do know that I can't leave the programming cable plugged into the RIB as it kills the mic audio. However, the ground at the rib,might not be good enough to make the programming work.

Jim

[Jim202]

[quote="KB9KST"]Once a head is programmed on a Spectra its won't program on a X9000. To get it back to X9000 you have to take a Spectra A9 radio and place a programmed X9000 control head on it. Read the radio with Spectra RSS. Don't go change anything in the control head programming (if you look at the info it will be gibberish for the most part). Now put the Spectra A9 head on that you want to convert back for use on X9000. Program the Spectra now with the info that was just read. The head will now work on an X9000.

Jason

I thank you for the info on programming the heads. Tried it today and it worked well. One point to update you on though is that the HCN1073 heads don't seem to care which radio they are programmed on. I have gone back and forth between the Spectra and the Syntor X9000 with no problems. It always helps to have a head already programmed to kick the process off with.

Played with some HCN1045 heads, HCN1047 heads and some HCN1063 heads today. Had to jump start the 1045 and 1047 heads on the Spectra first like you suggested. Now I have some more flexibility on what I can do with the different radios and different heads.

I did learn that the 1045 heads don't like taking the original program from a 1073 head. They kind of barf if you try it. But it did allow me to basically start fresh with the 1045 heads that would come up with the verify error before.

Jim