System Saber III & Saber II Conversion

[jared_wolff]

Ok.

I bought a systems saber (secure) III recently to see if it was on the correct bandsplit at my saber II (little was known about it, it's in good condition so I went for it... dumb). Of course, I plug the thing into the RIB and check it with the RSS (the correct one) and to my suprise I find sadly that it's a government bandsplit. I have the radios apart right now and im wondering, is there anyway to swap the modules on the mainboard to make that saber III the bandsplit I want. (440-470) If I can't, I have to resell this thing and get another.

Help!

[Grog]

I do believe you can swap the "guts" if they are the same length (secure or non secure).

[jared_wolff]

Hhaha! I got it to work after 2 hours. We'll when I thought it was appropriate to post I found a very helpful thread from not to long ago. For all those interested, this was helpful!

http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.p ... stem+saber

[va3wxm]

Make sure to align the radio too so it'll work to spec.

[jared_wolff]

it seems to be working pretty well right now. tips or suggestions on what to do?

[jared_wolff]

Alight, just a little tutorial for the people who need some help on this subject. And now for my little disclaimer…

WARNING: I take no responsibility for the mistakes you might make through this process. This is tutorial educational purposes. (Ya.... right)

<img src="http://mikeschulte.net/IMG_0617.jpg" alt="Tools" width="512" height="384" />
Here are some tools I used to take apart the radio. I also used a Philips screw driver for the back panel.
<img src="http://mikeschulte.net/IMG_0615.jpg" alt="Bottom of Radio" width="512" height="384" />
Most of you are aware of how to take the radios apart, for the rest of you no problem. Just take those pliers and stick them in the two wholes until you can spin it freely. Turn them until you can get the flathead to unscrew the rest (easier). With pliers pull out the little retainer.
<img src="http://mikeschulte.net/IMG_0616.jpg" alt="Radio Apart" width="512" height="384" />
Pull on the antenna and the whole insides slide out.
<img src="http://mikeschulte.net/IMG_0619.jpg" alt="Radio Apart" width="512" height="384" />
Look at the bottom of the radio. See that notch in my picture? You'll have to use a screw driver to put in it and pry the shield off so you can get inside.
<img src="http://mikeschulte.net/IMG_0620.jpg" alt="Radio Apart" width="1024" height="768" />
This picture was purposely big because I wanted everyone to see this. Those three pieces marked 1, 2, and 3 are the modules to take out. You will now have to go around and unscrew pretty much ALL the Philips screws (except for the two on the bottom holding in the contacts for the bottom plate (battery power)) on the back and the right side. (By the gold colored module). Then carefully pull each one out and replace them with the right one. You might want to remove the front shield by carefully pulling out the ribbons from the main board. They can be easily inserted as long as you have a steady hand.

(This info is thanks to Rescue161 on the forum.)
403-430============>438-470

(#2 in the picture) NLE9431A Receiver=====>NLE9432A Receiver
(#1 in the picture) NLE9461A Synthesizer===>NLE9462A Synthesizer
(#3 in the picture) NLE9471A Power Amp===>NLE9472A Power Amp

(In the case of the picture, this is a picture of the radio I took the modules from and replaced them with the low band uhf modules. so the one's pictured are the low band modules. there aren’t many visual differences between the mid and low band modules)

Be very careful about pulling the modules and also reinserting them. They are fragile and too much messing with them will cause the prongs to snap.

Update (March 25 5:22 pm EST)

For those who are wondering, the three modules that you swap out make no difference on what type of radio you have. (saber/systems saber/secure/non-secure) All you're doing is making it so the radio can transmit on a different frequencies.

Ex. So if your "upgrading" a systems saber use the systems saber rss etc..

Update (March 30 10:42 pm EST)

A good reminder here, is to keep in mind that you need all the modules out of the right band radio to put in the other radio for this swap to work.