Loose wires in Spectra...please help

kd6rfs · Post by **kd6rfs** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:41 pm

Hi..I have a Dash mount VHF Spectra D43KMA..., the radio works flawlessly...but when I took the top cover off to see what version MLM I have (5.23 by the way)....just behind the "Firewall", inside the radio there were a bunch of colored wires (red, green, blue, black) coming out of diffrent parts of the main board and all going to a small white connector that is laying loose, "open" inside the radio....there is nothing I can find that the connector should plug into??? ALSO...there was a white wire also going to a similiar type connector, also loose....with a yellow and brown wire cut off (the yellow and brown wires were completely cut but I could see inside the white connector the remaining yellow and brown wire jacket)....both connectors are small white plug in type, and cannot connect together...and there is no where in the board where they can connect too.......Does anyone know what these wires are for??? and where they go to? and is there a board missing from the inside of the radio that someone took out??? Like I said the radio works perfectly and was tuned up and checked, no problems?? thanks, david kd6rfs

kcbooboo · Post by **kcbooboo** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 1:49 pm

I recall someone else had an after-market signalling board in a radio; that's probably what went into yours. My advice: carefully remove it, throw it away, and close the radio. There should be no loose wires anywhere inside a Spectra; everything plugs together from board to board.

Bob M.

kd6rfs · Post by **kd6rfs** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:02 pm

yes....but there is nothing to remove!! I would have to break off, or unsolder each wire where it connects to the main green board in the radio, they are not exposed, but the small white connector is just not connected to anything? my radio has mdc 1200 working fine.....what do you mean by aftermarket signalling?

BPD109 · Post by **BPD109** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:24 pm

He means like a GE STAR signalling board, or DTMF, or maybe even aftermarket voice inversion scrambling, etc.

if it's not shorting/touching anything, tape it off and leave it there. Nev er know when you might wanna use something like that!

Rick Rock · Post by **Rick Rock** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:29 pm

Can you take a pic?

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:36 pm

There was a batch of Spectra's on eBay a while back that caused a lot of questions, they had added wiring like you describe. Bottom line, as already mentioned, remove them or tape them up and leave them. They were probably for a GE Star board, seems like the most common addition on used radios showing up for sale. Why they pull the boards before sale most of the time i'm not really sure, perhaps to protect the programming used, etc.

phrawg · Post by **phrawg** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:32 am

If it bothers you simply unsolder or nip off at the board with
a very small cutter all of the wires and dispose of the connector
and wiring. As you said it goes nowhere so it can't unhook
anything by removing. A normal spectra has no wiring in it
except the ribbons hidden in the cavity between the pa and the
main radio housing. I is simply a harness, to tap onto the
factory boards, an aftermarket device of some kind such
as encryption or signaling. Phrawg

kd6rfs · Post by **kd6rfs** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:03 pm

okay....thanks,.....the 5 colored wires are soldered to diffrent parts of the main board and all come together to a connector....the one white wire is soldered to one of the pins that stick out where the DTMF Decode factory board plugs in....and that also goes to a connector....if I break off the white wire, I still have to remove the solder around the pin..or else in the future a dtmf decode board would have trouble fitting in there...I taped them up and they are okay, and not causing any trouble...I have no use for a dtmf decode board for now....it seems they had (2) aftermarket boards in there, one for a decode something and the other bunch of wires probably for GE star??? thanks, david KD6RFS I dont have a pic of it or else I would show you guys...