Spectra MLM upgrade procedure

[ldanna]

Can anyone detail a procedure for upgrading a Spectra MLM to later version?

Thanks
Larry

[jmr061]

You have to remove the chips and so forth or get a new one.

Jason

[ldanna]

I was thinking of removing the Proms from another later radio reading and burning a set but am not sure what problems I might run into. Does the EEprom figure into the change? or are there quirks I may get hammered with?

[Leadenwah]

I have a good MLM newer version for the same model radio, but since it is used, the RSS says that it CANNOT be re-initialized.

I know this is not the case.

What are the steps to RE-INITIALIZE a good working, but used MLM board ?

[kc7gr]

What you describe is simple in description, but it requires considerable skill (in surface-mount device rework), the correct tools (SMD hot-air or infrared rework station, and a device programmer), and a lot of patience.

The biggest problem is the initial EEPROM program load. You see, fresh memory modules from Motorola are not completely blank. The EEPROM contains a tiny (minimal) codeplug that allows the radio to boot, and communicate on the serial bus. The only way I know of to capture such a fresh image is to buy a replacement memory module from Motorola, for the specific radio involved, then use the SMD station to remove the EEPROM from the board and read it in a device programmer.

I have the necessary equipment, but I need to clean out the shop before I can get to it and start experimenting. One thing I want to try is simply replacing the OTP proms (the ones that hold the radio's firmware), and then reprogram the radio's codeplug.

Whatever you decide to do, be careful, and save an archive of the radio's codeplug before you go poking into it.

Happy tweaking.

[ldanna]

I have a hot air rework station I recently purchased and have been trying to hone my skills removing and replacing the chips. I also have ben looking at a few MLM modules from other radios I have. I notice that they all had the same EEPROM but not so with the Proms, some boards have 1 Prom others have 2 and they are 27c256 or 27c512. The boards themselves look similar but have different layouts if you look closely. I want to upgrade the radio from a Ver 2.13 to ver 6.16 and am looking to see if has been done and if so what a good procedure to do it would be. The Ver 2.13 uses the 27c256 and the ver 6.16 has 27c512 memory modules. I would think that some changes to the board to be able to use the higher density proms is in order. Any thoughts? I don't have prints on the various boards so I am flying blind.

[Jim202]

Why don't you just plug in a different MLM board, change the serial number and reload
the radio code plug like the rest of us do. Would be a whole lot easier.

Jim

[ldanna]

Hi Jim,

I wish I had a spare MLM to do that with.It would be far more easy to do.The MLMs I have are in working radios that I don't want to disable. I was hoping to read and write a set of proms and try and install them in the origional board. Finding MLMs with later firmware would be difficult unless there is someone that has a bunch of pull outs wanting to get rid of.
Larry

[ldanna]

I did some digging on the board and found a reference to the version number which is stored in the 28c64 eeprom and the following info
V5.xx MLMs this vers will be 1.14
V6.xx MLMs this vers will be 1.15

Does anyone know the location of this info that I think needs to be changed to match the Ver 6.xx version?

[n9wys]

OK, I bought a slew of v3.xx 900 MHz A5 Spectras (for $20 each!!) that I want to upgrade the MLMs in. I bought 7 MLMs (v6.2, I think) off ePay and now I'd like to upgrade some of these radios so I have Zones, MPL, etc. (I had someone else do this for me before, but now I'm cocky and have decided to try my own hand at this...)

Reading this thread, it appears that all I need to do is put the correct Serial # for the radio I'm converting into the MLM and then program away. Is it really this easy, or am I missing something? What about the Model Number? I am not sure what type of radio (VHF, UHF, 800, 900, ???) these MLMs came out of... or is that an issue?

Mark - N9WYS

Please don't post in yellow. Please don't post in yellow, it's impossible to read for those of us using the theme with the white background. --Escomm

[SlimBob]

Search the board. I know I've posted a few things.

[Jim202]

OK, I bought a slew of v3.xx 900 MHz A5 Spectras (for $20 each!!) that I want to upgrade the MLMs in. I bought 7 MLMs (v6.2, I think) off ePay and now I'd like to upgrade some of these radios so I have Zones, MPL, etc. (I had someone else do this for me before, but now I'm cocky and have decided to try my own hand at this...)

Reading this thread, it appears that all I need to do is put the correct Serial # for the radio I'm converting into the MLM and then program away. Is it really this easy, or am I missing something? What about the Model Number? I am not sure what type of radio (VHF, UHF, 800, 900, ???) these MLMs came out of... or is that an issue?

Mark - N9WYS

Please don't post in yellow. Please don't post in yellow, it's impossible to read for those of us using the theme with the white background. --Escomm

It sort of depends on which version of the software your using.

You will also require a zone codeplug to be able to convert a radio to zone operation. I tried years ago to change a VHF radio from non zone radio to a zone radio. After about a week of screwing around, I managed to download a zone codeplug and cloned it into the radio. Now I have a good working zone radio. You will just have to almost clean out all the channel programming and then add what you want back in.

Jim

[Will]

What was the Model number originally in the MLM, that mite tell us something.

[RADIOMAN2002]

Other than using lab to take an already configured MLM and changing it to the band-split you want. You can trick lab software to work with a blank eeprom by going into bitbang mode (F-4) on a working radio then switch to the new eeprom MLM in another radio and then load the model, serial and feature string in the appropriate locations, and then try the initialization procedure. Also you will need a codeplug with the options you want to work and CLONE it in. Sometimes it will take a few read, program and or clone cycles to get a codeplug to do all the right options, and the right bandsplit. I took no less than a dozen to get my analog conventional Spectra to do type II trunking, and conventional for a total of 255 modes. Just so you know you are stuck with whatever tuning frequencies were in the original MLM. I never did find those locations.
In Maxtracs before lab was available I used a HC11 proto kit to change just the serial number, and that allowed me to load a codeplug into the radio.

[sheriffporter]

Good point about the tuning frequencies. I have swapped over a dozen MLM's around an you will alwasy be stuck with what's in there. It's hard to tune a VHF radio when the tuning frequencies are 450 MHz.
I have switched VHF to UHF and visa versa, and added zones and other features severla times. Sometimes takes a couple tries and you do need a codeplug with the options you want when you are finished. Once I purchased a UHF spectra that was used for a Dataradio system. It has data going out to the accessory connector on the back. I copied that codeplug and I can load it onto any UHF radio and it will have data (or for packet radio) coming out the back connector (the so-called "data option"). The RSS allows options for voice, data, or both in the mode options menu. I've never seen this on another spectra before. But ofcourse if I try to re-load this codeplug it loses the data option. It only works with a clone from that original codeplug.

I do have a few 5.21 MLM's I am willing to swap stuff for.

[Jim202]

It is really best to take a working radio on the band you want to have the radio end up on. Read the good radio. Then put on the radio you want to change, swap the MLM board, then clone to it. This is where you have to set up the correct serial number.

if the options are different, the program might complain. i always just tell it to continue (F2) and let it go. It may or may not complain again, just tell it to continue. I have seen the software come up with a message if the MLM versions are different, but it should keep going.

When your done, you may have to go into the service section and bit bang some of the bits to get the features and so on in line with your specific radio. There are several web sites that have a file you can download that will have the memory locations that you may have to change. This is the place where you can change the memory locations to swap control heads, power types (low, med. or high RF output) and so on. The sheets have the information by memory address and what memory info is for what.

Jim

[kcbooboo]

Regarding tuning frequencies and alignment data:

In the MaxTrac, the alignment data is stored in the CPU's EEPROM, and I suspect the Spectra does the same thing. It's also stored in the disk-copy of the code plug. When cloning radios, the tuning data of the target radio is preserved. The software reads the source radio's code plug, reads the target radio's code plug, copies the data in memory, then writes the new code plug data to the target radio.

In the MaxTrac, frequencies in the code plug are stored as some number of steps above a base frequency. The step size is different for each band, but basically 5 kHz for VHF/UHF or 12.5 kHz for 800/900 MHz. The base frequency is zero kHz for VHF radios but is closer to the actual operating band for the higher freqs. If you program in a frequency of 30.0 MHz (30,000 kHz), this would result in a value of 6,000 stored in the radio's code plug. This allows for about 300 MHz of coverage above the base frequency (5 kHz times 65534).

The tuning frequencies are similarly encoded as a base frequency and an increment. So, for example, a VHF-high radio that goes from 146 to 174 would encode the bottom frequency as 146,000 divided by 5. The increment is the number of 5 kHz steps needed to get to the NEXT tuning frequency. As the radio covers about 28 MHz, this would be divided by 16 to get the number of kHz needed to reach the next tuning frequency, then that value is divided by 5 kHz. So in the radio's EPROM there are tables of base freqs and increments or step sizes. They're scattered throughout the EPROM. These seem to have been cast in real hard concrete. The programming software knows what they should be, so you need to change both to have any effect. The radio figures out which of the 16 tuning values to use each time the frequency is changed, by calculating an index value into the table of deviation and power tuning values. This is why you often run into problems with uncontrolled deviation or power when this calculation comes up with a value that doesn't recover valid tuning data.

I'd say that the Spectra is similarly encoded, although it has fewer tuning/alignment points or ranges. I'd also step out on a limb and say that any Motorola DOS programming software uses the same algorithms and data. Windows versions may do something totally different.

Bob M.