Batboard

I am having trouble with hex editing is there anyone that can help me?

Not that I know how to do it, but you have to state which Astro package you're trying to edit. One of the DOS RSS packages or the newer CPS packages?

AS3 and XTS3k (and A. Spectra) can go OOB, (ver 4.01.04)

havent messed with XTS5k yet

Alright Grem467, fess up. What's the locations in the 4.01.04 Astro Saber to get it out OOB? Man buddy tried and never could get it. Pretty pllleeeaaasseee?

lemme see if i can dig it out, i take zero credit for it, in fact it was posted somewhere around here.

keep in mind that the usual drivel of "not all radios go as far as others" apply, but i did get my 403-470 up to 477

Yeah I know he tried following the one that was posted somewhere around here but it didn't work right. Couldn't find the correct addresses/placements in the file to edit. It'd be a big help. Thanks.

CPS R04.01.04

Unmodified does 403-477.0000 no problem on an Astro Saber.

All of my other Astro radios are VHF.

Astro Saber III (136-174) - 136-179.0000
Astro Spectra (136-162) - 133-171.0000
XTS3000 UHF (450-520) - 445-521.0000 (codeplug I have for some reason?)

All of the above values are using unmodified CPS.

let me claify, i had bumped my upper limit to like 500 something.. the radio took 493.75 but wouldnt lock there obviously

i also had it down to 400.0000 just to see, didnt push the lower limit though

I see now. It just looked like you only got 477 out of after hex-editing. Sorry.

np... my notes are at home.. ill take a look when i get home

If I remember right we kept getting the error window
"Invalid Fields" when trying to save or exit the CPS with any OOB freqs. Tried to hex edit it, but as I said he never had any luck.

I am trying to do the VHF side I want below 146.000 the rss I am using is 9.05.00. I have tried Hex editor but have not gotten anywhere.

David

That's why I waited to get a range 1 VHF Astro Spectra. There is nothing above 171.0000 that I need to listen too.

I assume the XTS5000 goes out of band.

An organisation I'm involved with is getting sexy yellow XTS5000R IIIs low split UHF radios with UHF CB (477MHz) programmed into them, as well as other stuff right down to 404MHz.

They may have issues with operation on 477 MHz as the VCO tends to roll off very quickly out of band. The range is 380 - 470 for the UHF low split.

Unless Mother M has SP'ed them.

George

Well, I know my buddy was trying to get his 450-512 A/S down to the 440 range but the CPS wasn't allowing the file to be saved. If you put the Ham freqs in using the DOS RSS, then read the radio with CPS it'll let you keep the OOB freqs but won't allow any new entries, even for the Talkaround freq. As we all know, once you do anything to the radio with CPS you can't go back to the DOS RSS. Tried hex editing but couldn't find the right places in the file(s) to edit. If someone could post the specific addresses in the AstroPort.exe file to edit, that'd be helping alotta people.

Anyone know the hex addresses in the Astro Saber CPS to modify for OOB ops? My buddy just asked me if I ever heard anything back about this so figured I'd post for him. Thanks.

Okay, since the other thread got locked, I'll post here.

I recently came into a Q-split consolette W7 Astro Spectra and my goal is to get it to play as far up as I can with as few hardware modifications as possible and without labbing a different codeplug into it. I have a D44 midsplit UHF analog Spectra to pull parts from, so that's not a problem. It plays all the way from 440 to 490.

It's already been established that the RF board is common to all three UHF Astro splits.. good. The prefilter is a definite swap, also good. That leaves the VCO and PA. I'm thinking the opposite of the 900MHZ VCO mod can be done; that is, remove portions of the etched trace with an X-acto knife or whathaveyou to push the operating range up instead of down. The PA is the kicker, though. I don't have service manuals for either the analog or Astro radios, so I have no idea what the component value differences are here. If anyone has an idea what they are, I can get the parts and replace as necessary to make it a midsplit PA.

As for the codeplug, CPS 04.01.04 is pretty out-of-band friendly as it is, but I'm guessing it won't let a Q-split radio go all the way up to 470. Assuming I can make the Batlabs hack work and get it to accept frequencies that high, what other alignment values do I need to look out for? I'm guessing the VCO crossover freq is probably going to need to be changed, but to what? Again, I don't have any service manuals, but I do have a sexy R2590 service monitor to play with.

without hex editing ,what version of the cps do i need to make an r split xts go above 470 to say like 479?

Ive taken an R split XTS3k to 483Mhz

Instructions have been posted n here a million times. Can be done with any version of CPS/RSS

UPDATE

The etched trace on the VCO WILL NOT CUT. Turns out it's a little more stout than your average phenolic board with copper overlay. I tried slicing it with an Xacto knofe and the tip of the blade just ground off. So I was forced to use the VCO from my midsplit analog Spectra.

Luckily for me, this particular radio read with RSS, so I didn't have to dick with out-of-banding it with CPS. However, it doesn't look like modifying the existing Q-split codeplug is going to work. With the prefilter and unmodified VCO from the midsplit Spectra, I get no receive below 450 MHz and no transmit below 460 MHz. Lengthening the etched trace was no help. I got it down to 445 MHz receive and 450 MHz transmit, but the top receive limit plummeted all the way down to about 470 MHz. The receive is slightly desensitized as well; .32 - .35 mV squelch threshold from 450 to about 485 MHz versus the normal .17 - .23. The PA was a pleasant surprise, however; it transmits 35 watts all the way up to about 470 MHz. And the deviation took quite a bit of tweaking to get it back in spec.

I'm not ready to give up quite yet, though. Suggestions?