Batboard

I purchased a Astro Saber lll on ebay a few weeks ago. The radio seems to be in great shape. It receives the weather channels great.
I am using CPS 05.03.00. The software is running on an older XP computer.
I have the radio hooked up per the instructions with the proper cables and RIB. When I try to read the the radio the data LED comes on momentarily, the radio displays 1 CSQ and then I get a message the says "communication with radio fail".
I've tried different ports, two different computers and two different software revisions.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Paul K7PWJ

Sent from my iPad

Well when you say proper cable and rib lets get into that a little more. OEM cable and sure its the astro saber cable and not the saber cable? OEM rib or aftermarket?

The RIB and cables are after market. Pi out and conductivity seem to be ok

serial port or USB adapter?

Usb

You have three things going against you...aftermarket cable, aftermarket rib and using USB instead of true serial.

I'd try a computer with a true serial port first as that is the first thing to eliminate as a source of problems (ie your usb adapter)

My personal recommendation is to always use OEM and use true serial ports when using serial cables.

Jason

I've used the serial USB adapter with two other radios and it works fine. I'll try to find a computer with a serial port. I have no idea where to find an OEM cable. I talked to the people that made the after market cable and they said they haven't had any problems with the cables.

your best bet is the serial.. dont go ribless cable ..These radios were made to use a RIB and cable. You can get a Kawa Rib and astro saber cable for under $50 and it will work fine.. OEM stuff is gettting harder to find and probably more than you paid for the radio. I have used kawa as a backup for years and never had an issue. Remember these radios are going on 10-15 years old now so they are not going to play well with modern set ups

You can verify the pinout of the aftermarket cable by checking the programming cable diagrams on batlabs.com. If it matches and ohms out correctly it's not the cable.

Thanks for all the help guys. Our pilots lounge at the airport has and old desk top computer with a serial port. I hooked the radio up and it works great. Has anyone had success with a serial USB adapter?
I just got rid of a bunch of old computer stuff, now it looks like I'm on the hunt for an old desk top.
Thanks again for all the help.

The only USB to serial DB9 adapter I have had good success with, connected to a Motorola radio, is the KeySpan brand adapter. These also work on an Apple computer running Windows as well.