XTS-5K Won't Scan in XTVA

[PeterGV]

I sure hope somebody's seen this before...

I have an XTS-5K (M2, DSP 11.0.0, host 11.0.0) that has recently decided that it will not scan when it's in the XTVA.

It initially scanned fine in the XTVA. Then, for a while, it would scan in the XTVA most days. Now... it won't scan at all when its placed in the XTVA.

Other data points:

a) The radio scans fine when it's NOT in the XTVA.

b) Two other radios (one 5K one 3K, which work on different bands than the faulty radio, in case that matters) scan fine when in the XTVA.

c) The radio receives and transmits just fine in the XTVA when sitting on a specific channel.

d) The little "scan Z" thingy is shown on the HHCH as well as on the radio itself when in the XTVA, when the radio is supposed to be scanning.

e) The problem occurs regardless of whether scanning is turned on before or after inserting the radio into the XTVA, and regardless of whether scanning is initiated in the XTVA by an HHCH button or by the button on the radio. Pressing the "scan" button on the radio or HHCH repeatedly (scan off, scan on, scan off, scan on) does not change the radio's behavior.

f) If I have the radio scanning before inserting it into the XTVA, and I insert the radio in the XTVA while it's landed on a channel, the radio stays on the landed channel (that is, it doesn't move back to its manually set channel after carrier drops).

g) While in the XTVA, the radio seems to be aware that the frequency on which its sitting (and, which serves as the channel that initiates the scan list) is idle. Ive got the red light programmed to blink when receiving on a channel... and while sitting (and supposedly scanning) the light does not blink.

h) The power and ground connections to/from the XTVA appear to be good.

i) The yellow and red connections from the XTVA are both hooked to a "switched" power source in the truck.

j) The connectors (on the XTVA and on the radio) appear to be clean and in place both on the radio and on the XTVA.

I'm at a loss. Any and all ideas/comments welcome.

Peter
K1PGV

[mike m]

11.00.00 had some big problems that some users have observed while others have not. It seems that with some changes in programming the radio would display error codes on turn on and there is a FSB recommending a flash upgrade to 12.00.00.

Who knows, even though yours doesn't display the error code this could be another 11.00.00 bug.

Contact Moto and get it flashed to 12.00.00.

Check this thread in the Astro section, it has more info on 11.00.00 problems.
http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=79090

[n7maq]

11.00.00 had some big problems that some users have observed while others have not. It seems that with some changes in programming the radio would display error codes on turn on and there is a FSB recommending a flash upgrade to 12.00.00.

Who knows, even though yours doesn't display the error code this could be another 11.00.00 bug.

Contact Moto and get it flashed to 12.00.00.

Check this thread in the Astro section, it has more info on 11.00.00 problems.
http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=79090

I just sent in the FSB last week, and they sent me 11.00.03 I know that 12.00.00 has been out for a few months now, so I don't know why they sent the older F/W.


Jim

[immelmen28]

Hi, just curious how you have your radio set up to select scan on/off. I use to use the 3 position toggle before I had an XTVA. That setup no longer worked once I was using the XTVA as the radio and HHCH did not play well with each other. I had to take scan off of all switches on the radio and buttons on the HHCH and now only have scan on/off as a Soft key menu option.

My radios are all 3000's with late 7x.xx host

[PeterGV]

Hi, just curious how you have your radio set up to select scan on/off.

I use the top side button (the purple one) to enable/disable scan. On the HHCH, I use both the left-most top and top-most right buttons to enable scan.

The idea of using scan as a soft-key menu option is one I didn't consider... Think I'll give that a try. Heck, I'm ready to try almost anything at this point short of hiring a voodoo priest or sending the radio on a costly vacation to Mexico.

(Added a bit after typing the above): I don't see a "scan" menu option... am I just missing it or something??

Peter
K1PGV

[immelmen28]

(Added a bit after typing the above): I don't see a "scan" menu option... am I just missing it or something??

Well, I see the radio in question is a 5k, I do not own a 5K rather all 3K's. But here is the problem I ran into with CPS. For "Scan" to show up as an available menu option in the soft key display page you must first remove scan from any other switch or button on the AND the HHCH.

That was part of the problem I was having. Astro CPS (non-Astro25) would show invalid fields when scan was assigned to both the HHCH and radio hardware(switches or side buttons) and if either the radio or HHCH has scan assigned to a button/swich then "SCAN" disappears from the display menu list of options. The only way I could make it so scanning was selectable by the HHCH AND the radio alone when out of the cradle was to use the scan menu option after removing scan from all hardware switches.

hope that helps

[PeterGV]

For the archives: After chasing the problem on-and-off for 3 months (taking the radio apart, re-seating the connectors, checking the XTVA ground and power, sacrificing a chicken, blah blah all the usual stuff), I had basically given up on solving this problem. I figured I'd see how things went when I got around to getting my radios bumped from 11.0 to 12.0. After all, F/W V11.0 is basically responsible for all the problems that plague humankind, right?

Today, I was going through the radio's programming in CPS, after noticing the I had done a (ahem) rather (cough cough) "hasty" (some might even say sloppy) job of moving the programming from my previous XTS-3000 to this new XTS-5000 (blush).

And Lo, and behold, what do I find under "Scan Configuration" -- oh, just this little check box labeled "HUB suspends scan." Yeah, it was checked. Yeah... I had the HHCH sitting on my console, and NOT hung up on the little metal hanger thingy.

Yeah... UNchecking the box made the radio scan again when it was in the XTVA and everything is now right with the world.

Soooo... the moral of the story seems to be: Know your CPS. Check your programming. And the XTVA is smarter than you might think (it knows when the HHCH is hanging on that little metal clip).

[From a troubleshooting/engineering perspective, what's REALLY funny is the problem (not scanning when in the XTVA) got progressively worse as the weather got warmer... to the point where the radio wouldn't scan EVER when it was in the XTVA. Total failure coincided exactly with the onset of our warmest weather. Which lead me to suspect thermal run-away on a component, or a connector expanding/contracting and unseating. Very sophisticated stuff, you know?

Of course, I had mounted the little metal hanger thingy for the HHCH to my dashboard with 3M VHB double sided tape... which peeled off in hot weather. Finally, when it got really hot, I gave up on using the hanger thingy, threw the it in a drawer, and just left the HHCH on my console...]

Peter
K1PGV