Batboard

This has never happened to me, but I'm wondering if it's possible.

When reading or writing a codeplug, if the power goes out, can the station get corrupted in such a manner that it can NOT be recovered or reprogrammed?

Will MSF5000s just come up in some state that still allows the codeplug to be rewritten and have that straighten it out completely, as if nothing bad had happened? I'm unaware of any way to blank a station, but since default codeplugs are supplied with the software, I get the feeling that you can just start fresh and send a new one to the station under any circumstance.

I know this is a big problem with Spectra mobiles and many other radios, while MaxTracs can just be blanked and reinitialized no matter what happens to them.

Thanks.

Bob M.

kcbooboo wrote:This has never happened to me, but I'm wondering if it's possible.

When reading or writing a codeplug, if the power goes out, can the station get corrupted in such a manner that it can NOT be recovered or reprogrammed?

Will MSF5000s just come up in some state that still allows the codeplug to be rewritten and have that straighten it out completely, as if nothing bad had happened? I'm unaware of any way to blank a station, but since default codeplugs are supplied with the software, I get the feeling that you can just start fresh and send a new one to the station under any circumstance.

I know this is a big problem with Spectra mobiles and many other radios, while MaxTracs can just be blanked and reinitialized no matter what happens to them.

Thanks.

Bob M.

Hi Bob.....

Yep, this has happened to me with a 800 MHz station. It would not reprogram with either my archive of that station or reading then reprogramming. I had to use the factory default for a conventional station then rebuild the rest of the data. I really don't know why the archive wouldn't work unless it was corrupt when I read for the first time. The station glitched due to a power surge, when it reset, it just quit.

I did the same with the C85GSB 900 station I had that was trunking to change it to conventional.

Good luck!

Dave

Thanks for the reply.

I know that I can always choose the correct factory-supplied codeplug for conventional or trunking, and build the station up from that.

I was more worried about recovering from the situation where I'm writing the codeplug to the station, or it's writing that data into its own EEPROM, when the power fails. Will I still be able to access the station to write the codeplug to it again, or will it get locked up and refuse to talk to anything?

My main concern was just being able to get back into the station after it gets corrupted somehow. Radios like Spectras are well known for their ability to change from Motorola Black to Brick Red if something goes wrong during programming, necessitating a trip back to the depot or a new MLM. I just wanted some reassurance that this can not happen to an MSF5000.

Bob M.

Hi Bob,

The MSFs should be recoverable. In the RSS, F2 section where Read/Write are, there should be a selection for "Read Station with Fatal Error" (F5). It may or may not be relevant to what you describe. Forcing a good codeplug in is another option. I believe even with a codeplug error, the interrupt for programming a codeplug in will still work.

It depends on how Motorola structured their software. Some radios are easy to recover and others not. I once cycled power accidentally on a Saber III in program (original, not Systems or ASTRO) and got an error code but recovered by programming again. Other radios take stronger methods of persuasion. YMMV, Good luck!

-The Gronk

Thanks. I don't really care if I lose power while reading the codeplug because I can just start all over again later. But if it fails while writing, that's another matter.

As long as I can still get it to accept a good codeplug, that will suffice.

Bob M.