SM120 with 'FF' on Display

[IRS_BDN_MB]

I am a service tech and I was given a SM120 and told to remove two repeater channels from it. I have the correct CPS, I have programmed many of these in the past and I had no problems reading the radio. I deleted the needed channels in CPS and programmed the radio. No errors occurred while programming but when the CPS forced a reboot after programming the radio displayed 'FF' on the screen. I tried searching Google for SM120 'FF' and found nothing. The radio still reads and writes fine and nothing in CPS is indicating an error. The radio has three channels still programmed into it but will not allow you to select a channel. The radio won't transmit and gives a denial tone if attempted.

I have never seen an SM120 with 'FF' on the display before and was wondering if anyone knew what it indicates and what may have caused it.

Thanks
~Andy~

[IRS_BDN_MB]

I tried reading a good radio and then cloning the 'FF' radio but the error remains. I found a Spanish forum that mentioned blanking / erasing the radio then cloning. The translation is poor so I might be missing something altogether.

http://electronica.yoreparo.com/radioco ... 05441.html

Does anyone know how to erase all the memory in a SM120?

Thanks,
~Andy~

[Satelite]

Hello:
You mention CPS which normally refers to a windows program.
The SM120 uses a rss program that's intended to be run in dos mode.
I have heard some say they were using windows 98 but booted into dos and have programmed these radios but ocasionaly it would corrupt the radio due to the computer clock speed being too fast and corrupted the code plug.
The SM120 was intended to be run at I think 16 MHz clock speed and many pcs were much faster.
So if you corrupted by this situation you usualy could reload the saved code plug or clone back in the same type code plug from another radio to recover by rewriting over the bad code plug.
Then enter the correct freqs as needed if code plug was from another radio.
Are you actually trying to program the sm120 in windows or are you actually using dos and just mentioned cps?
Ive always said to others years back to read and back up the radios code plug so in the event of an oops you could reload the code plug and recover.
What is the model number of the SM120 you are having issues with ?
Now the sm120 was made in 12.5 narrow band and also the 25 kHz wide band.
So Id need to know for certain what the model number was to get you the correct one.
There was and I think still is a code plug site woolum or code plug super site something like that =you might be able to down load the correct code plug and clone your radio.
Someone here will know what that site is if you need it or google it and id bet you'll find it.
Don't know what happened in your case but the symptoms you provided remind me of a similar situation but on a Maxtrac and it took a left turn on programming and wouldn't tx or change channels ect.
Don't recall the FF but 2 digit display went wacky and I think what happened was it changed the front panel number from multi ch to a 2ch that didn't use digits but rather leds which left the radio inoperable.
This could also happen in your case since the sm50 and sm120 both are similar in 2ch versus 16ch.
You'll probably never know why but id bet if you clone in the code plug itll correct itself assuming you used a slow computer ect.
And you may be using the correct speed setup and if you are then id check to see if the flex to display is properly seated and if it is try swapping the display from a working radio and see if the component on the back of the display went bad.
I have seen this on the M1225.
Good Luck
Satelite

[IRS_BDN_MB]

I have a dedicated DOS PC that has been in use 15 years and programmed hundreds of SM50 & SM120's before. I have never seen this error so it is unlikely that my programming computer is at fault. I programmed 15 SM120’s today and this was the only one that went 'FF' after programming. I am using RSS SM50/SM120 R05.00.00 software. I had the codeplug still open after getting the 'FF' and I did try programming again but the damage appears to be already done. It seems more like a firmware issue then a programming issue because regardless if I wrote the original codeplug back into the radio or if I got a different codeplug and cloned it the radios still displays 'FF'.

The label on the radio has worn off but if I read it RSS tells me the model number is: M33DGC20C2__

I have a 15 of the same model SM120 in front of me and I can read them and clone the file into my faulty radio all day but again this does not help anything. The corruption seems to be outside the realm of what the RSS is programming. This radio had 5 channels in it originally and I removed two of the channels so it cannot be an SM50 in SM120 clothing.

The radio does not transmit (denial tones) and all three channels are programmed to allow transmitting so it is unlikely the display could cause the radio to not transmit.

~Andy~

[Satelite]

Hello
Hmm makes one wonder if radio had the issue before reprogramming and it wasn't noticed till after programming.
Do you know if it txd before reprogramming ?
When you turn radio off then back on does it give you good alert beep ?
Or is it a long or short beep error tone ?
I have the repair manual here and if it was a bad error tone then book says :
With power connected to radio and radio turned on check the following.
1. 5v at pin 55 of u401. If none check u404 and u406.
2. With high impedance probe check for 7.9488 MHz at pins 31 and 33 of u401.
If no signal check/replace U401/L401/Q401/Y401.
3. Check dc at pin 43 of U401.
If less than 4.5vdc check U402 pin 35 for 2.1 MHz signal.
4. Check for typical voltages of U401 and U402 voltages.
Unfortunately if im looking at my book right it looks like u401 and u402 are on the bottom side of the bd with L401 / Q401 / Y401 being on the top side of bd right of the on off vol sw but below the 2nd shield to the right of sw but above J8 connector on bd that's used for the flex to display..
With bd out of radio and j5 option port on bd facing you on left front corner of bd.
U402 is towards front of bd and pretty close to being half way across to left below u251 shield and U401 is below u201 shield.
Youd need book to see it clearly.
U401 pins are numbered from its one notched corner with number 1 pin starting at bottom right hand corner and counts up to 16 pins then counts 17 to 32 across top to the left with 33 counting to 48 down left of chip and finally 49 to the right to 64. ( so pin 43 would be left side going up 6 pins and that 6th pin is 43 on U401.
On U402 pin 35 is upper most right hand side top corner on right side of chip not a top pin on chip its on the side and top right.
Book also says - Was good pwr on beep heard and if not then reprogram radio with rss and reaply power and still if no good on beep then microprocessor U401 must be replaced.
Hopefully im helping you rather than hindering but good luck.
Satelite

[IRS_BDN_MB]

I hear the "good" power up beep when the radio turns on.

~Andy~

[CircleBat]

i think the sm120 has a limited bandwith that came out in 2 versions... I know this with VHF came in 2 versions.. 146- 162 and 160 -174 Mhz.. try programming a different frequency in there to see if it accepts it..

CircleBat

[IRS_BDN_MB]

Valid range is 150-170

~Andy~

[IRS_BDN_MB]

Apparently the "FF" indicates the radio did not exit programming mode properly. If you hold the '+' and '-' keys at the same time for three seconds the radio will exit programming mode.

~Andy~

[Satelite]

Hello:
Well shoot im a bit confused.
I know you cloned ect so I wouldnt think the following would apply but :
With the error tx tone thing.
If its a continuous beep as long as you press the key up button and goes away after unkeying then its sounds like a busy ch tx lock out per programming or tx disabled .
But I don't recall that being in the rss program so shouldn't be the case.
Still doesn't explain the FF on display either.
Satelite

[IRS_BDN_MB]

Well I tried it and I assure you it worked. I had a second radio for the same customer go 'FF' after programming. I put all my effort into finding a solution and sure enough one came to me. Hopfully this will help someone else down the road because I Googled the hell out of this and came up with nothing.

~Andy~

[Bigred]

I have experienced almost the same thing with SM-50s (although not a FF display as they have none). Using my trusty original 486 laptop that is close to 20 years old. Cloning a SM-50 will brick it (can't remember exact symptoms), but it won't work right and I can't read or write to it anymore. I've resigned to the fact that to use that RSS now, I only read the radio, make changes and write back to it. If I need to do another I close the program, reopen and repeat. This seems safe for now.

The RSS also does weird things now like hanging up occasionally or reversing the text/background color for no reason. I believe the program is just starting to rot. Maybe from bad sectors on the hard drive. And lately my MTSX is starting to go wonky too. Since I don't have original disks anymore, when this computer dies I'll be without a lot of my old RSS.