Astro Saber I Info needed

motorolamaniac · Post by **motorolamaniac** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:20 pm

I am new to the board and new to Astro Sabers but have been involved with M equipment for many years and have an extensive collection of VHF portables including many MX radios (even a rare MX310 UHF). My question is a simple one. I am looking to buy a Astro Saber I VHF. I was wondering what it's capabilites are. Number of channels, etc. I have read various posts on MODAT and saw the varying opinions. Will this radio do MODAT? The seller had a good rep on eBay and I purchased equip from him before. He does not list the FLASHcode or if its VSELP or IMBE. It does supposedly have DES-XL. I have a model I VHF Saber Securenet, will this work with the Astro in conventional mode if the encyption is the same? Does anyone know what a decent price would be, No battery or charger, which I already have anyway.

Thanks for your help,

Jeff Motorolamaniac

Post by **akardam** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 4:46 pm

Astro Saber 1's can be configured with up to 16 modes in 2 zones for 32 total modes, using the A/B concentric switch to switch between zones. I would highly suggest that you get the flashcode, Host and DSP firmware revisions, and the encryption module firmware revision before you buy. Yes, the Astro Saber and regular Saber will talk to each other in analog mode, provided the encryption is setup the same and uses the same key.

For the radio and an antenna, depending on flashcode etc above, I probably would not pay more than $200, $250 tops. Considering that AS3's with loaded flashes and current firmware go for about a grand, usually including a battery, that should give you some idea.

motorola_otaku · Post by **motorola_otaku** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:00 pm

I've got a pretty good idea of who you're buying from (won't mention names, lest I upset someone), and if you don't have a clear picture of the Flashport sticker on the back of the radio, assume it's analog only. The vast majority of the stuff he's selling is; I got one, and another guy on the board here did too. They're good radios, they just won't do IMBE.

motorolamaniac · Post by **motorolamaniac** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 11:50 pm

I have been doing a lot more reading on Astro Sabers here on the board. I was interested in the Astro mainly cuz it did a lot of cool stuff and is a really great radio. I have a conventional Saber I Securenet VHF and its probably the best radio I own. But after a lot of research, I am beginning to think it is more than I need. Price-wise the initial cost is high and most of the features I will never use like Digital unless I had another Astro to communicate with. I am basically beginning to understand FLASHcodes and thier associated options.

Further I had no idea what a trip it is to try and get the radio FLASHed with new opions. I mean really, is the big M crazy? Actually I guess not. Thay can charge whatever they want to do the work you need because they are the only ones who can do it. I am not gonna spend $600+++ on a VHF Astro Saber and spend another $1000 to get it updated, FLASHed, etc., if they will even do it.

Now, I am guessing any work you need done on an ASTRO cannot be done by a local M dealer, or if it can it costs what the Depot charges.

I have use only for VHF and its mainly for private use now since the EMA dept I belong to is rather small there is little call of duty as the County level handles most of the incidents anyway. I use my portables to monitor Countywide Coms just because they are better than your average scanner. Many High featured M portables are quite affordable nowadays on eBay.

I wanted to get a M radio with at least 128 modes and figured since the ASTRO has 255 it would be even better. But that's a lot of $$$ for a scanner. There is a good deal on a CON-5 Systems Saber model III VHF DES-XL on eBay right now that I am considering. I get 256 channels and a lot less headaches and a better price. The radios are supposed to be new.

Honestly I wish I had the use for an ASTRO. The MODAT option would be cool (I think so anyway) but I read the thread on that issue here on the board. If yours doesnt have it already its doubtful you'll ever get it through M. I suppose some of M's precautions are well intentioned POST 9-11. But I mean we are not asking for US Military, Government or Secret Service radio secrets here.

Maybe for now I'll stick with the "new" Systems Saber.

Jeff

RESCUE161 · Post by **RESCUE161** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 11:55 pm

You can "frankenflash" an Astro Saber yourself and put in a whored-out flash code with just about every feature. The only problem is that if the firmware doesn't support the features, then it won't work. There are folks on this board who can uplift the firmware too.

If you don't need/want digital, I'd stick with the Systems Saber. Those are very good radios.

As far as MODAT goes, you'd get very tired of it fairly quick.

motorola_otaku · Post by **motorola_otaku** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:06 am

Astro gear has the added benefit of expanded scan capability. Honestly I haven't messed with scan in conventional Sabers much, but can you edit the scanlist from the keypad? Or scan 15 conventional modes? You can in any Astro radio. And since you don't need digital, you can grab one of the older VSELP radios or an analog-only radio for a fraction of the cost of a newer IMBE-capable radio ($200-300 range).

motorolamaniac · Post by **motorolamaniac** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:49 am

I am pretty sure that Conv. Sabers do have that capability. At the very least I think you can have 16 scan lists, whether you can edit or not I don not know.

Here is a question: Are Astro Sabers all capable of MDC1200 on the basic FLAShcode, or does that also need to be added in for a ridiculous cost? Since I do not have RSS/CPS I usually use a dealer to do my programming, Can the ASTRO radio be programed at a dealer? I am not talking FLASHing the radio, just programming the modes.

Jeff