XTS 1500 VHF Tuning Transmit Power Alignment Settings

[MasterMarine]

Hello out there,

We just received a bunch of VHF XTS1500 radios. I am going thru and tuning them prior to programming them and sending them out into the field. When doing the Transmit Power Alignment, I am supposed to adjust the High, Mid, and Low settings at several frequencies. I found 2 different versions of the Basic XTS Service Manual and one has no specs for VHF (only UHF and 700/800) while the other only has specs for VHF. These are the latest manuals downloaded from MOL. Unfortunately, the one that has specs for VHF only lists the Low and High Settings in Table 12. I need to find out what the setting should be for the Mid.

I thought it would probably be mid-way between the Low and High specs so I calculated what that would be. Then I did the same calculation with the 700/800 specs and found the Mid spec is not mid-way between the Low and the High.

Does anyone have the Low, Mid and High specs available for the VHF XTS1500?

I have found the Low and High settings to be about .5 watt off from the spec so I would like to get them set right.

Thanks!

[Will]

LOW would be 2 watts, and HIGH 5 watts for most M portables.

Some use 1 watt LOW, 2 watts MID, and 5 watts high.

I personally do not use the MID, and LOW is 2 watts.

[MasterMarine]

I should have written down the values listed in the manual for the VHF XTS radio.

They are 2.2-2.4 W for Low and 5.2-5.4 W for High.

[MasterMarine]

Will,

Thank you for your reply. I am not sure I want to just ignore the mid setting. Having found the Low and High to be about .5 W off from spec, it sure would be nice to set the Mid setting properly too. .5W is about 10% of the 5W High setting so seems like a pretty big error.

Does anyone else have any input?

[tvsjr]

That's not a huge error - make sure your service monitor is properly calibrated. If you're doing this from a wattmeter, 10% error is common.

Personally, I align VHFs to 5, 2.5, and 1... that's not what the book says but it's what I like.

[motorola_otaku]

In most of the Astro radios I've seen, both portable and mobile, the factory tuning just duplicated the low and mid-power values.

[com501]

If your radio doesn't have a means to set mid power in the CPS, why would it matter what the mid power setting is, unless its an alignment check point?

[Will]

If your radio doesn't have a means to set mid power in the CPS, why would it matter what the mid power setting is, unless its an alignment check point?

That is correct, HIGH and LOW, the MODE(s)or Key setting does not have a MID power setting.

[MasterMarine]

If your radio doesn't have a means to set mid power in the CPS, why would it matter what the mid power setting is, unless its an alignment check point?

Since I did not design the radio, I do not know the answer to that question. That is why I am asking for the proper specs. The last thing I want to do is make assumptions when tuning radios. It does seem like most everything you set in the tuner software on an XTL or XTS is "an alignment check point".

It also seems crazy that Motorola does not even bother to provide you with the numbers. It is similar to a car manufacturer providing alignment procedures for the front end alignment of a car but then neglecting to tell you what the toe in should be set to.