Saber alignment

[wes11b10]

I have a pile of Sabers, some of which I hosed up quite badly and, as a consequence, now need to be aligned. I have unlimited access to an R2600C HS service monitor. I do not have the RTK-4203 cable. My question is, do I absolutely need the official programming cable, or can I set things up with my DOS laptop and programming cable/RIB, RF out from the antenna into the service monitor input, etc etc? I know I will need an audio input source to adjust this and that (deviation, etc). If anyone has a spare RTK-4203 they might want to sell, that would be great too. Also, I am not averse to making my own cable - I think I have all the parts I need (an old Hirose adapter for the radio side, a 25-pin connector - the only thing I don't have is the RTX-4005 connector/test set but the service monitor should be able to do all the stuff the RTX-4005 can do, right?)

-is it worth asking the local Motorola shop if they have a programming cable they'd sell?

Thanks as always, fellas.

[mike m]

Remember when writing to the radio always select the RPF values in the radio not those from the RSS session.

[wes11b10]

Wise words, Mike! That is, indeed, what got me into most of the mess I'm in (I haphazardly struck keys first and asked questions later)! Aside from fixing those mistakes, I want to ensure that my radios are working as well as they can be, that everything is set up correctly, that I am not transmitting or receiving off-frequency, over-deviating or under-deviating (or just being a deviant in general). I posted a WTB for the proper programming cable - hopefully that will bear fruit.

[mike m]

I did the same error my first time' its unfortunate that the RSS doesn't default to the radio RPF values.

Did you have any luck making the radio take your out of band frequencies?

If so then what method did you use, the hex edit method or the low power model change?

[wes11b10]

I had to ask the venerable Scott/KB0NLY for some clarification on the settings of the Hex Editor. I think I might forgo some sleep and dig into it tonight. I will advise my successes/failures... Stay tuned, kids!

[wes11b10]

I attempted and achieved (what I thought was) success using the hex-edit method of expanding the frequency range of my Saber. I followed the directions to the letter. I am a bit stuck now, not being all that DOS-capable. I am unsure as to how I get the edited SABER.EXE file back in with the other files on my DOS machine I use for programming. Can I just do a <copy c: saber.exe>? Will it overwrite the old, uneditied file? And the rest of the 07.01.00 Saber RSS should stay the same, just the expanded freq range of 144-174 changed? Sorry for these FNG questions. I am trying to shake out the rust as well as trying to learn some new tricks (which ain't always easy for an old dog to do! )

[wes11b10]

Success!!! I got the hex-edited SABER.EXE file to take and can now program the lower repeater frequencies into my Sabers! Now, on a more practical note: do I program some frequencies in now at this late hour, or do I go to bed and try this again tomorrow?!? Bed sounds good, especially after taking that 0400 callout yesterday morning.