HT1250 Convertacom Will not transmit

[Quazz209]

I had a customer approach me about the install of a convertacom which I am not familiar with and ran into a few problems. It is an HT1250 portable installed in a vehicle with MTVA or Convertacom. The portable charges fine and when the mic is keyed it will hit the repeater and can be heard on other portables. The LED turns Red. However No voice will be transmitted. I have tested the portable with a lapel mic and it works. I have put a different HT1250 in the convertacom and it will not work. I have swapped the convertacom mic with known good mic with similar results. If I push the PTT on the portable it will transmit voice while installed in the convertacom. I have pretty much narrowed it down to either the programming in the convertacom (mic gain). Or a hardware failure in the convertacom itself, which I have heard they are prone to.

Currenlty only the external antenna, and +12v and ground are connected. I have no instructions for this but based on the condition this was provided in that is all that was previously connected and it supposedly worked fine. Does anything else need to be wired?

Any other recommendations for troubleshooting this thing or has anyone else run into a similar issue?

[N4KVE]

I'm not aware that there is such a thing as a convertacom for the Waris series. Has anyone ever seen one? GARY N4KVE

[Al]

Mother M has discontinued them, but if the OP has one with model number AAEN1006(VHF) or AAEN1007(UHF) I have a new one that was never installed, along with the service manual that covers both models. If the model is as I've described above, there is a selectable gain audio amp in the transmit mic path which is programmable in steps of 6 dB from -18 dB to +24 dB. If this is not a new installation and the VA previously worked the programming is probably OK. External antenna, +12V, gnd should be all that's required to allow it to work.
More than likely the OP has a poor connection at the HT accessory interface connector pins OPT SEL 1 or OPT SEL 2. IIRC, OPT SEL 1 is external PTT for the HT, and OPT SEL 2 tells the HT that an external accessory is installed and to look for tx audio on the HT accessory connector rather than use the builtin electret mic in the HT.

[Quazz209]

I have tested with multiple portables because the connection points did look worn on the original but neither portable worked. I also installed lapel mics on them to ensure the connectors were functioning. They did. The pins that protrude from the VA appear to be clean and in good shape, no physical damage and I have cleaned them with alcohol to ensure no contaminates are present. Any other troubleshooting recommendations?

[Al]

According to my schematics, the option select 1 and 2 pins are pulled low by two transistors on the VA microprocessor card, and these transistors are driven by pins 2 & 3 on the uP IC6 on the main board.

[35echo]

Hello,

Does anybody have the part number or a pdf of the service manual for the AAEN1006(VHF) and AAEN1007(UHF) convertacom ?

Regards,
Allen

[Al]

The service manual that covers the AAEN1006 and AAEN1007 is still available per MOL, p/n 6881093C79, $26.25. Since it was designed in the EU the prints in the manual are a combination of English and German - mostly English even though it says Ft. Lauderdale on the back cover of my manual.

[HLA]

is this a new istall or was it a working rig that suddenly quit workking? And does it recieve?