Spectra VHF FAIL-001

[NE7X]

I know this topic has been discussed 1000+ times, however I am having a FAIL-001 error on my Spectra VHF radio, model D43KMA7JA5BK. I have been searching the internet for help and just running into dead end after dead end.

Here is my story

1) Purchased the radio off ebay.
2) When first powered up, it came up, however the receiver was dead. RF power output was good into dummy load.
3) Connected to my DOS computer, I was successful in reading the codeplug. Its was programmed for 16 commercial modes.
4) I powered it down and replaced the 11 electrically capacitors as recommended. Using a stereo microscope I cleaned and validate the PCB traces and soldering connections were clean and good,
5) Powered up and radio worked, receiver and RF output were both good.
6) I then re=programmed the 16 conventional modes with amateur radio simplex frequencies, 146 & 147 MHz, including the local Weather 162 MHz frequency. The radio was working perfect
7) I then added more conventional modes and configured them for amateur radio repeaters and PLs.
Radio rebooted and now has FAIL-001 error.

I tried everything, backing out all the added modes and pushing the original commercial codeplug to the radio. I am still getting FAIL-001 error. I checked and checking again all internal plug-in cables to all PCBs and all solder connections I made. At this point I am thinking there something screwed up in the alignment configuration of the MLM. CPU or VCO boards. The radio was working perfect before I pushed the codeplug update with the additional expanded number of modes.

Thanks for any help you can give me
Thomas NE7X...

[Jim202]

I know this topic has been discussed 1000+ times, however I am having a FAIL-001 error on my Spectra VHF radio, model D43KMA7JA5BK. I have been searching the internet for help and just running into dead end after dead end.

Here is my story

1) Purchased the radio off ebay.
2) When first powered up, it came up, however the receiver was dead. RF power output was good into dummy load.
3) Connected to my DOS computer, I was successful in reading the codeplug. Its was programmed for 16 commercial modes.
4) I powered it down and replaced the 11 electrically capacitors as recommended. Using a stereo microscope I cleaned and validate the PCB traces and soldering connections were clean and good,
5) Powered up and radio worked, receiver and RF output were both good.
6) I then re=programmed the 16 conventional modes with amateur radio simplex frequencies, 146 & 147 MHz, including the local Weather 162 MHz frequency. The radio was working perfect
7) I then added more conventional modes and configured them for amateur radio repeaters and PLs.
Radio rebooted and now has FAIL-001 error.

I tried everything, backing out all the added modes and pushing the original commercial codeplug to the radio. I am still getting FAIL-001 error. I checked and checking again all internal plug-in cables to all PCBs and all solder connections I made. At this point I am thinking there something screwed up in the alignment configuration of the MLM. CPU or VCO boards. The radio was working perfect before I pushed the codeplug update with the additional expanded number of modes.

Thanks for any help you can give me
Thomas NE7X...

Fail 001 generally indicates the VCO is out of lock.

If you made a copy of the working codeplug, clone it back into the radio. If you didn't, you may have a corrupted codeplug and need to dump a good one into it.

Spectra radios are hard to kill and generally easy to recover from any error you made to the programming of the radio. Generally they will cover most of the 2 meter ham band with no or very little effort on your part.

The VCO error is probably because your near or beyond the normal lock range of the VCO. I would try to put in some commercial frequencies that did work before and see if they don't work again. Make sure the radio is not in scan while your doing all this. The scan can throw you for a loop trying to trouble shoot the radio.

If you haven't already gone to the batlabs.com site, go there and look up the Spectra radio. There is all sorts of information there and some links to other sites.

Jim

[Bill_G]

On the rf board you'll find a tiny white ceramic pot next to a cage. That's the vco area. Revisit your work there. The leaking caps loved to eat the feedthrough hole for that pot.

[NE7X]

Jim

Thanks for replying to my query. However I have tried everything you have mentioned in your comments and suggestions. All frequencies I have listed in the codeplug are within the radio's frequency boundaries. When I enter commercial frequencies into the codeplug, I get the same FAIL001 error. SCAN is disabled.

I have been to the batlabs.com website over 100 times, there is only very limited information on troubleshooting FAIL001 VCO lock issues.The only info listed is replacing the 11 electrolytic capacitors (which I did) and modifying the VCO when entering frequencies outside the radio frequency design band. Neither have resolved my issue. However changing the electrolytic caps did bring the receiver back to life when it was dead.

Like I stated in my original post, the radio was fully working without the FAIL001 before I added 20 additional modes. That is when the FAIL001 error started. I backed out to the codeplug which was working and the radio still has FAIL001 error.

What I need to know now, what troubleshooting procedure can I follow to identity what is causing the FAIL001 error? You are correct on one point, something did get corrupted in the MLM, CPU or VCO after I pushed the modified codeplug with the 20 additional modes. So how can I troubleshoot and recover ?

Thomas NE7X...

[Will]

On the rf board you'll find a tiny white ceramic pot next to a cage. That's the vco area. Revisit your work there. The leaking caps loved to eat the feedthrough hole for that pot.

And two resistors that go bad. That pot and the two resistors are for the second LO in the receiver. And has nothing to do with the VCO or FAIL001.

If putting the original 'codeplug' back in does not correct the FAIL001, you need a oscilloscope to trouble shoot FAIL001 further.

Or send it in and I will "fix" it....

[NE7X]

I checked under a 4X stereo lab microscope and found two questionable feed-threw holes where the electrolytic caps were. I soldered a wire throw the holes on both ends. Still FAIL-001 error

I loaded original codeplug with commercial frequencies, it worked before, same issue, FAIL-001.

The radio was working before I expanded the number of modes from 16 to 30. After I loaded that codeplug the FAIL-001 error appeared. Loading the original codeplug, still FAIL-001 error.

I tried playing with the 2nd LO pot, making small CW/CCW increments. No go, FAIL-001 error. I put the pot back to original position.

Yes I have a Tek 100 MHz dual trace scope. What can I check?

Thomas NE7X...

[NE7X]

The VCO appears to be right on the edge. I left the radio on and walked away and came back after an hour. When I returned, the radio was working. I power cycled the radio on/off and now I have the FAIL001 again.

Any suggestions what I can check?

Thomas NE7X...

[Bill_G]

On the rf board you'll find a tiny white ceramic pot next to a cage. That's the vco area. Revisit your work there. The leaking caps loved to eat the feedthrough hole for that pot.

And two resistors that go bad. That pot and the two resistors are for the second LO in the receiver. And has nothing to do with the VCO or FAIL001.

If putting the original 'codeplug' back in does not correct the FAIL001, you need a oscilloscope to trouble shoot FAIL001 further.

Or send it in and I will "fix" it....

Thanks Will. He said he had no rx when he started. I pointed him towards the area most people miss. FAIL001 was the mark of death for me. I fixed it one or two times. After that I swapped in a new rf board, and realigned the radio. Thankfully, Spectras are a thing of the past now.

[NE7X]

Here is what I am finding

Power on the radio, FAIL-001 error
VCO connector P602 pin 3 has 9V.
When I take a heat gun and blow hot air over the RF BOARD for about 10 seconds, the radio immediately comes alive, error goes away and P602 pin 3 goes to 5V.
I then immediately power cycle off/on the radio and FAIL-001 reappears.

Not sure this is a heat issue, I used freeze spray on all the components and connectors and the radio does not go back to FAIL-001 when cold. However after I power cycle and the FAIL-001 error is present, heat somehow kick starts the VCO after 10 seconds.

Yes all the electrolytic caps have been replaced.
Any troubleshooting suggestion on how I can track down the issue?

Thanks, Thomas NE7X...

[Jim202]

On the rf board you'll find a tiny white ceramic pot next to a cage. That's the vco area. Revisit your work there. The leaking caps loved to eat the feedthrough hole for that pot.

And two resistors that go bad. That pot and the two resistors are for the second LO in the receiver. And has nothing to do with the VCO or FAIL001.

If putting the original 'codeplug' back in does not correct the FAIL001, you need a oscilloscope to trouble shoot FAIL001 further.

Or send it in and I will "fix" it....

As Will pointed out there can be damage on the circuit board that you can't see. There is a plated through hole that caries the VCO control voltage from one side of the board to the other. This one hole seems to be the weak spot for the VCO. I have heard of my friend very carefully adding a jumper wire to replace the corroded connection and getting the VCO to work again. This one area is high impedance and can not stand any leakage at all to work.

You might want to take Will up on his offer to repair your radio.

Jim

[jmr061]

I have a bunch of complete internals from Spectra VHF radios if you need any parts.

Jason

[NE7X]

This is not my primary VHF radio, its a backup to my backup to my backup.Its just something that I picked up at a hamfest for $5. The radio is very clean cosmetically, and it came with the microphone and mobile mounting bracket.

I would prefer to repair it myself and learn something new. After all, this is a hobby. I have a full workbench with test equipment and surface mount soldering equipment, plus I have plenty of time. Right now I am just out fishing others who have Motorola knowledge and experience in troubleshooting Spectra radios. I am only looking for clues and suggestions on how I can proceed in troubleshooting so I can identify the issue and get the radio working.

Currently when the radio is powered on, after self test, the radio displays FAIL-001. If I take my shrink tubing heat gun and blow hot air onto the RF BOARD, after 5-10 seconds, the radio comes alive. It will play perfect until I power it off. When I turn it on again, I get FAIL-001 again, then 5-10 seconds of heat the radio comes back on. After the radio is on and I use freeze spray, it will not fail, it just keeps working. Only time I get the FAIL-001 error is when I do a power on/off cycle.

Yes, all the electrolytic caps have been replaced, and the PCBs cleaned of all leakage and cold solder connections.

Using a 10x stereo microscope, I can look into each platter throw hole an see the side walls inside the holes. The holes which looks like they could be questionable, I soldered a small wire into the hole on both sides of the PCB. So far, no bingo.

My guess right now, there must be some threshold value that is just above the edge and when I apply hot air, a component tolerance changes and the required threshold value is reached the the VCO is enabled. I am just not sure how to identify the required triggers or which points on the RF BOARD to look. On P602 connector pin 3 when the radio displays FAIL 001 the voltage is 9V. This is too high. However when the radio is working, pin #3 is at 5V. 9V tells me the VCO is in failed state.

Again, any suggesting on where I should check for certain voltages or wave forms, please let me know.
Thanks
Thomas NE7X...

[Will]

Bad PLL.....