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Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:42 am
by escomm
Motorola Service Confirms Support Cancellation for the
Astro Saber Two-Way Radios
The Motorola Repair Center would like to inform you that, effective immediately, the Astro
Saber two-way radio is no longer supportable by the repair center.
Support for these radios was officially cancelled in December 2007, but the repair center
was able to provide “best effort” repair support for these radio models. Unfortunately,
these “best effort” repairs are no longer possible. Any Astro Saber sent to the depot will
be Returned Unrepaired.
Thank you for your understanding and please contact 1-800-422-4210 if you have any
questions. If your question pertains to these units being on an RSA service agreement,
then please contact your Customer Support Manager (CSM).
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 1:06 pm
by SYNTORX71MAN
That Blows...
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:28 am
by kc7gr
That is not going to do wonders for the collective mental state of the LAPD. If I recall correctly, the entire department are big fans of Astro Sabers.
Still, it doesn't surprise me. I learned, much to my disgust, that some of the newest portable radios (notably, the APX) are not even field-serviceable beyond cosmetic parts. The collective electronic guts are, apparently, sealed in potting compound. If something goes wrong, you essentially throw it out and buy a new one.
What an incredible waste.
Keep the peace(es).
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 9:10 am
by FireCpt809
I remember reading an article about how LAPD was short radios because they kept pirating parts from other radios to keep the somewhat decent ones on the street. I doubt they were sending them to the Depot..
Sound like they are eventually going to have to upgrade.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:20 am
by escomm
LAPD has already begun taking delivery on XTS5000s. From what I've been told they are going out to the divisions in batches of 5. They've also got some XTL5000s installed.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:46 pm
by mancow
That's awesome...now that we just took possession of a dozen used units at work.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:11 am
by d119
I suddenly see the value of used 1MEG AS1's on eBay going up...
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:39 am
by MTS2000des
I've seen the opposite, it seems when support is canceled, tons of units flood the market (Ebay) as agencies drop them like hot rocks and scramble to replace them. Look at how cheap MTS2000's are now, you practically have to give them away- once they went OOP everyone got scared and surplussed them.
Analog Sabers are so cheap you can get one for less than it costs to fill the average gas tank these days.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:47 am
by N9LLO
I see the price dropping like a rock.
Glad i am down to one UHF unit.
Chris
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:51 am
by SYNTORX71MAN
Exactly...They will drop like a rock in value just like regular spectras....
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:50 pm
by MT2000 man
I was just going to say the same thing. Now with (soon to be) MANY astro sabers hitting E-bay, you can get one for dirt cheap. Heck, I remember just a few years ago, where your typical Astro Saber III (with a good flash) with a battery and charger would get close to $800. Now, they are almost half that. Think of what they'll be worth two years from NOW.
Same thing goes for the MTS. Shameful though, because they were two of the best radios that Motorola ever produced
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:37 pm
by MTS2000des
that's what is also known as planned obsolescence.
not just limited to the radios themselves, look at how Ma M has pretty much sentenced Smartnet and Smartzone analog trunking to death- it's an OPTION on high end Astro subscriber radios to get backward compatibility! Rather than supporting their thousands of Smartnet users, they are telling their customers "analog will die in 2010...you'd better replace your perfectly good working system NOW or ELSE..." and thus, many customers are scrapping perfectly good working systems and spending millions they don't have on new P25 stuff they really don't need.
We've seen it here in the ATL. A town where the city of Atlanta has had to CLOSE FIRE STATIONS due to budget issues, the AFD has had to swallow the big one and suck up to ma M, as APD builds out their new radio system. Oops, they've got the sites up in the optimization phase but are RUNNING OUT OF MONEY and officers are still carrying MTS2000's. Our priorities are really out of order.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:07 pm
by 4n6inv
City of Atlanta? Come on! They haven't known the difference between a tin can and a talk-about since Allen Bryant died! Nor; do they really care less. Weren't they the last to go 800 in the Metro ATL area? Yep! They don't have a clue. And, lot a luck getting them on board with Astro, which is what Gwinnett, Forsyth, ad Cobb are doing. Too bad they'll finish last again. Too bad that Officer's lives will pay the forfeit for their smug attitudes. Yeah, Motorola charges an arm and a leg... But, why not get on board the corruption train before you're involved in a shoot-out or a car chase? Yeah; I know there are cross platform radios, but why Waltz, when you can Rock-n-Roll? I'm not fond of it; but I'm less fond of losing an officer's life.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:15 am
by MTS2000des
Cobb and Forsyth went Astro 25, but Hall and Gwinco are encrypted- so much for "interoperability".
Henry county is on EDACS ProVoice, and Newton county got sucked into that OpenSky crap (the same trash the state of NY is about to pull the plug on).
Yes, Atlanta was the last to go 800, not counting MARTA who bought an Astro 16 mixed mode TRS in 2004 and paid an Astro 25 price for it (but what do you expect from a system with WELFARE QUEENS on the Board of Advisors?).
We have the most screwed up governments around here. "Separate but equal"....right!
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:01 pm
by Jason
MTS2000des wrote:that's what is also known as planned obsolescence.
not just limited to the radios themselves, look at how Ma M has pretty much sentenced Smartnet and Smartzone analog trunking to death- it's an OPTION on high end Astro subscriber radios to get backward compatibility! Rather than supporting their thousands of Smartnet users, they are telling their customers "analog will die in 2010...you'd better replace your perfectly good working system NOW or ELSE..." and thus, many customers are scrapping perfectly good working systems and spending millions they don't have on new P25 stuff they really don't need.
We've seen it here in the ATL. A town where the city of Atlanta has had to CLOSE FIRE STATIONS due to budget issues, the AFD has had to swallow the big one and suck up to ma M, as APD builds out their new radio system. Oops, they've got the sites up in the optimization phase but are RUNNING OUT OF MONEY and officers are still carrying MTS2000's. Our priorities are really out of order.
The only radio you have to purchase "3600" interoperability on is the 2500 portable. It is included with 5000 mobile and portable and with 2500 mobile. 1500's are either or and will not support P25 and SN/SZ in the same radio.
It doesn't really make much sense for MARTA, ATL, County, etc to all own seperate systems. Why in the world dont they get together?
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:56 pm
by escomm
Jason wrote:It doesn't really make much sense for MARTA, ATL, County, etc to all own seperate systems. Why in the world dont they get together?
This is MY PIE and you CANNOT HAVE ANY OF IT.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:58 pm
by MotoFAN
Replacement parts for AS still available or ... ?
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:17 pm
by FireCpt809
Looking at MOL it looks like most everything is still avalible as far as parts and accessories. Now its probably limited to stock on hand..
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:37 pm
by Astrogoth
If AS prices do drop like a rock I'll get one for every band. Same accessories and power. Let's see, do they make a low band model?
50?
144 yes
440 Yes
800 yes
900 ?
1.2 ?
Drop baby, drop!
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 1:27 pm
by FireCpt809
Astrogoth wrote:If AS prices do drop like a rock I'll get one for every band. Same accessories and power. Let's see, do they make a low band model?
50?
144 yes
440 Yes
800 yes
900 ?
1.2 ?
Drop baby, drop!
VHF UHF 800 is it.
Re: Depot will RUR all Astro Sabers
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:52 pm
by Tony.RI
When I can buy a P25 model for $100, I'm in!!!
I've got three bays I need to fill on my charger, and my sabers are very lonely.