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Visar problems
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:39 am
by K0XM
I picked up at Visar at Dayton, and have a problem. I thought I would run it by the gurus on here.
When it is powered up with a fresh battery, or via bench supply, I get a low battery chirp, and it acts as if it is truly a dead battery. I haven't had a chance to go thru the circuit yet, but was wondering. Is it possible that there is a regulator dying, and can it be replaced? Or does the whole board need to be swapped out?
TIA
Chuck
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:19 pm
by AEC
The Visar is a Jedi radio in a different coat for the most part, the RSS is the same.
You will have to reset the low battery point with a volt meter and RSS running, I don't have access to my laptop here, but the RSS uses the metered settings to set the low battery and full battery option(LED).
You should have an adjustable D.C supply of course to do this the right way.
It's a pain in the butt but it beats listening to that dang chirp.
I don't even have a Visar or HT1000 to perform the test with.
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:27 am
by Rayjk110
Not to be rude, but, if you're getting problems like that on a Visar, or any Visar problem that could mean board replacement, sell the radio or throw it away. As you may have read, it ain't Moto's best radio. Basically just an HT1000 in a smaller case. (Which is a good proven radio)
Anyways, if it is the fact that it's just a small resistor, go for it. I have a few HT1000's, and a Visar, but none have exhibited this problem. Are the batteries aftermarket or Moto?
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:57 pm
by K0XM
Well I have an HT1K, and picked this up for 2 reasons:
1) the price was right
2) the small size was attractive.
I will play with the RSS sometime this week and see if thats it
Thanks
Chuck
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:28 pm
by SPEAKER MIC
at least you got that...
im ready to "smash upgrade" mine...
[AEC you know what im referring to and all will know soon enough!!!!]
mine transmits and receives and has a great display, clean audio, the works...
but....
WONT TRANSMIT PL!!!!!!!
sorry about that...
if i get the time, i may read my visar and ht and compare radio settings..[not channels etc] in test mode...
if i have any luck, ill tell ya...
john
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:25 am
by wa2zdy
This is the first time I've read this stated this way and it makes me wonder.
If the Visar is just an HT1000 in a smaller case and the HT1000 is a good radio, why does the Visar have such a bad "throw it away" reputation?
I've read bad stuff about Visars here for years and now that I have one the thing is just fine. What am I missing?
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:45 am
by Al
Visars are OK in a normal environment.....they're just not rugged enough for use in a PS/heavy industrial environment..People junk them when they fail because:
1. It's usually the controller board mounted just behind the front of the front housing(that's too thin) that fails.
2. Controller boards are expensive to replace, even using M's exchange program.
3. Everything on the multilayer controller board is tiny and close-spaced making them difficult to work on.
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:47 am
by Tony Soprano
SPEAKER MIC wrote:at least you got that...
im ready to "smash upgrade" mine...
[AEC you know what im referring to and all will know soon enough!!!!]
mine transmits and receives and has a great display, clean audio, the works...
but....
WONT TRANSMIT PL!!!!!!!
sorry about that...
if i get the time, i may read my visar and ht and compare radio settings..[not channels etc] in test mode...
if i have any luck, ill tell ya...
john
Your Visar is not transmitting PL because of a solder failure on the underside of the ASFIC. It's one of the three chips on the controller. A repairable problem, under the right conditions.
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:51 am
by SPEAKER MIC
ive been over it..
it appears to be something in the flex...
every time i "tweak" it, it works fine...
ill go over it again when i get around to it..
my ht100s and rest of my jedi series take a beating and im doing everything i can to keep em till i upgrade...
thanx for the tip...
as to the ht1000..
i think its a super radio...
also i believe the visar is a ht1000 folded in half...
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 5:28 am
by K0XM
ok, I got into the codeplug.....BUT I can't find the low batt setting. Nowhere can I see it. I am using the latest RSS. Any ideas??
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 11:20 pm
by AEC
If memory serves me, you have to do two settings with the battery, the fully charged state, then save, then depleted state and again, save.
Use of an adjustable power supply is pretty much a given in that you must 'set' both levels to get proper operation, and I have not had an HT1000 in over a year, so I can't run this test myself and report the findings.
I can access the screens, but without a radio connected and read, my values would be meaningless.
I wish I had more to provide, but I don't.....Sorry!
NO PLTONES
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:20 pm
by proff
ASFIC chip fault
100% sure
SPEAKER MIC wrote:at least you got that...
im ready to "smash upgrade" mine...
[AEC you know what im referring to and all will know soon enough!!!!]
mine transmits and receives and has a great display, clean audio, the works...
but....
WONT TRANSMIT PL!!!!!!!
sorry about that...
if i get the time, i may read my visar and ht and compare radio settings..[not channels etc] in test mode...
if i have any luck, ill tell ya...
john
Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:43 pm
by SPEAKER MIC
how do i fix that???
i got 2 new cased great radios and id hate to toss em
Visar problems
Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:14 pm
by proff
i am not allowed to give the companys name over the net but i can tell you to get the yellow pages for penrith area and look up 2 way radio hire/sales/repairs and talk to the tech