Convert non-zoned Spectra to zoned

K2XM · Post by **K2XM** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 1:22 pm

I have a non-zoned UHF Spectra. What is needed to change it to a zoned version? Flipping thru 50 or more channels is a pain!

Thanks,

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 2:01 pm

If you radio has firmware above 6.00, then it is matter of selecting zone operation in the RSS and assigning modes to zones. Radios that do not have version 6.00, require a firmware upgrade to support zones.

Chris

Post by **xmo** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 2:08 pm

A friend of mine and I did exactly that a week ago. First, the firmware in your MLM has to be new enough. The radio we wanted to upgrade had 2.xx and was too old. My friend had some 6.02 MLM's so we used one of those. Second, you have to have an archive (codeplug) of a radio with the same basic model as your radio, but with the Zone capability.

Basically, what we did was replace the MLM with the newer one, changed the serial number of the new MLM to match the radio, then cloned the Zone capable codeplug into the radio and did high fives when it actually worked!

You get a little nervous experimenting on a radio you paid hundreds of dollars for! We actually started our learning experience by doing some upgrades on cheap 900 Spectras. You don't worry so much when all you have at risk is 50 bucks if you kill it and not even that since some of the parts of a dead radio will always be useful.

The worst part is re-entering all your display names, frequencies & PL's (unless you have a Zone capable codeplug that already has the channels you want).

You can put a lot of modes in a zone in the Spectra so one cool idea is to put all your existing modes into zone one. That way when you set the radio to zone one, it works the same way it always used to! Then put subsets of the modes into other zones so you group them the way you want: a law zone, a fire zone, a ham zone, whatever.

Your other option is to order a new blank MLM from Motorola.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 2:49 pm

Pete, if you need a Spectra codeplug with zone enabled for a UHF radio let me know..I should be able to help.

Chris

John · Post by **John** » Sat Dec 29, 2001 4:14 pm

Does anyone know what bytes in the radio are changed between a zoned and non-zoned radio? I know I can clone a zone enabled codeplug into a non-zoned radio, but everytime I read the radio again from the RSS it comes back saying zone disabled. I can only keep it working by reading the codeplug file from disk and cloning. A normal read/write to the radio disables zones.

I know the old lab program had a utility called MOFLAG and it had a a series of MOFLAGs and bits. One of these, MOFLAG 7 bit 4, refers to zone enabled or not. I just don't know how to relate this to actual locations in the codeplug or radio memory. Does anyone know of a map of these MOFLAGS to actual addresses?

K2XM · Post by **K2XM** » Sun Dec 30, 2001 9:59 am

On 2001-12-29 17:01, Chris wrote:
If you radio has firmware above 6.00, then it is matter of selecting zone operation in the RSS and assigning modes to zones. Radios that do not have version 6.00, require a firmware upgrade to support zones.

Chris

Chris,

How do I determine what the rev. of firmware is? I thought there was something on the SPECTRA page but I can't find it.

Post by **alex** » Sun Dec 30, 2001 10:20 am

turn the spectra off, then back on. Pres "HOME" 5 times. I forget what the first thing you see is - maybe test mode, and then it will flash the serial number, model number, and MLM version (mines 5.04 i believe.) It will look like "V5.04" with nothing else on the screen.

Once in the menu, you can use the model specific info on the batlabs page to browse around and change menu items.

-Alex

K2XM · Post by **K2XM** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 9:47 am

On 2001-12-30 13:20, alex wrote:
turn the spectra off, then back on. Pres "HOME" 5 times. I forget what the first thing you see is - maybe test mode, and then it will flash the serial number, model number, and MLM version (mines 5.04 i believe.) It will look like "V5.04" with nothing else on the screen.

Once in the menu, you can use the model specific info on the batlabs page to browse around and change menu items.

-Alex

Alex,

Thanks for the info on how to determine the firmware rev. I just checked the radio and it is only a Rev. 2.15 Guess I'll have to look around for a Rev. 6 MLM.

See you're from Rochester. I used to work at "The Big Yellow Box" up until 2 years ago when George Fisher did his "COST SAVING CHANGES". Did you get any of that snow that hit Buffalo??

Happy New Year

K2XM · Post by **K2XM** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 9:49 am

On 2001-12-29 17:49, Chris wrote:
Pete, if you need a Spectra codeplug with zone enabled for a UHF radio let me know..I should be able to help.

Chris

Chris,

Yes, if you could send me a zone enabled codeplug that would be great! In the mean time I am now searching for a Rev 6 MLM.

Email address is [email protected]

Thanks and Happy New Year,

Post by **xmo** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 12:10 pm

Pete,

In your quest for an MLM board, there is one for sale now on ebay, item # 1314619788. The seller, [email protected] has had them on ebay before but I never paid any attention to what the final selling price was. You could email him & ask about version, etc.

Jay G. · Post by **Jay G.** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 12:18 pm

Dont know if fact or fiction, but I had heard that you could feed the radio an archive of a different radio which had zones, and it would then have the same codeplug. You have to then always program it from the archive..

This is only what I have heard. Cant test it since I dont have software. Good luck.

Post by **xmo** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 12:31 pm

Jay G.

That is the general idea of all the Spectra upgrades - take a better codeplug and force it into the radio - BUT - the target radio firmware still has to be new enough to support the extra features.

Also, you are right that in some cases you must do all your future edits to the archive file - if you read the radio into the RSS, the added features don't show up.

Post by **alex** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 1:22 pm

Alex,

Thanks for the info on how to determine the firmware rev. I just checked the radio and it is only a Rev. 2.15 Guess I'll have to look around for a Rev. 6 MLM.

See you're from Rochester. I used to work at "The Big Yellow Box" up until 2 years ago when George Fisher did his "COST SAVING CHANGES". Did you get any of that snow that hit Buffalo??

Happy New Year

No Problem, glad I could be of help. I don't have a Revision 6 MLM that I could help you out with, i might be able to sell you a V5.04 one that was in an 800mhz spectra, but I don't think that would be of any more help. It came out of a spectra i baught at Dayton Hamvention, labled borken, parts only. This appears to have been fried at one point in time (considering the size of the chared hole in one of the rear boards). I would't be able to guarentee it would do you any good at all.

If for some reason you ever can't get into the menu because the spectra won't power up, you can take the top panel off the spectra, and under the piece of shilding that doesn't require a screw driver to remove, you'll see the MLM Board. It should have a sticker with the serial number of the radio, and the version of the MLM.

I remember asking a while ago if you can interchange MLM's from different bands, and do other things, but someone was pretty strongly against doing that....

Anyway, regarding the rochester stuff, I have no idea what you mean by the above... I'm from Boston origionally, only in Rochester going to school here. We didn't get any of the snow that dropped on buffalo. It would have been neat to see.

Anyway, always glad to help.

-Alex

K2XM · Post by **K2XM** » Mon Dec 31, 2001 1:34 pm

On 2001-12-31 15:10, xmo wrote:
Pete,

In your quest for an MLM board, there is one for sale now on ebay, item # 1314619788. The seller, [email protected] has had them on ebay before but I never paid any attention to what the final selling price was. You could email him & ask about version, etc.

I saw that one on e-Bay earlier today and have sent the gentleman an e-mail asking what version firmware it is....just waiting for a reply now.

OX · Post by OX » Wed Jan 02, 2002 7:45 pm

Just for a reference, I've bought V6.04 unitialized MLM's at a hamfest for about $40 each. This guy had a handful of them too. I imagine you might find him in Dayton.