Astro Spectra Motorcycle to Mid Power Conversion

[VolFireJunkie]

Hi everyone, I have reviewed the boards and maybe not picked the correct search terms. So if I have missed this somewhere, my apologies just please redirect me...

Here is what I am trying to do.

I have a bunch of parts radios. I would like to take the motorcycle radios and convert them to mid power and W7 heads. Initially I took one and swapped the PA from a Range 1 and added W7 head, it seemed to be ok at first, then after a few minutes of testing, I noticed that when I would key up on a simplex channel the radio would appear to act normal but the receiver I had was still getting a dead carrier and only the power button would respond.

what I see on the radio:
Transmit and Receive lights act normally.
Audio passes normally on initial key up and subsequently when I key up.

Once I key up the first time and release the PTT is when I start getting the dead carrier on the freq, if I hit the PTT again, it acts OK, but none of the face buttons work.

I returned to the W5 head to see if it corrected the issue to no avail.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated, I have spoken to a radio tech who has tinkered with these radios in the past and could not come up with any thoughts, so now I am coming to the experts!!

thanks a bunch!

Adam Karsin

[Jim202]

Hi everyone, I have reviewed the boards and maybe not picked the correct search terms. So if I have missed this somewhere, my apologies just please redirect me...

Here is what I am trying to do.

I have a bunch of parts radios. I would like to take the motorcycle radios and convert them to mid power and W7 heads. Initially I took one and swapped the PA from a Range 1 and added W7 head, it seemed to be ok at first, then after a few minutes of testing, I noticed that when I would key up on a simplex channel the radio would appear to act normal but the receiver I had was still getting a dead carrier and only the power button would respond.

what I see on the radio:
Transmit and Receive lights act normally.
Audio passes normally on initial key up and subsequently when I key up.

Once I key up the first time and release the PTT is when I start getting the dead carrier on the freq, if I hit the PTT again, it acts OK, but none of the face buttons work.

I returned to the W5 head to see if it corrected the issue to no avail.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated, I have spoken to a radio tech who has tinkered with these radios in the past and could not come up with any thoughts, so now I am coming to the experts!!

thanks a bunch!

Adam Karsin

First of all, does your version of the software have a service selection? If so, see if when you read the radio and go into the service section if there is a "BIT BANG" selection. If so, it wouldn't hurt to change the control head memory location to the correct one when you make the swap. I would also check the radio frequency range while your there. The range selection will effect what frequencies you can use in the radio. It will also effect the VCO operation.

You need to step cautiously when taking radio parts and trying to make a complete radio out of them. If your careful and use the correct board versions, I mean models, you can end up with a working fine working radio.

Jim

[motorola_otaku]

OP is talking about Astro Spectras so bitbanging doesn't apply.

W5 and W7 control heads are electronically identical. You won't be able to use the extra buttons without LABbing in a W7 s-record but for basic power-up and control it'll work fine. I'm curious why you used a Range 1 (403-433 MHz) PA deck instead of a Range 3 (450-482) though. Range 1 PAs have pretty severe power roll-off above 440 MHz without modification, but a Range 3 PA will work down to 440 at full power as-is.