Batboard

is it possible to interconnect a vhf and uhf spectra and be able to run both radios from a single control head? I am on a volunteer fire dept and we run uhf but 2 county's that we provide mutual aid to run vhf equipment would like to be able to have one control head for both radios and be able to run a uhf vehicular repeater on the system as well, thanks

iceman39_2004 wrote:is it possible to interconnect a vhf and uhf spectra and be able to run both radios from a single control head? I am on a volunteer fire dept and we run uhf but 2 county's that we provide mutual aid to run vhf equipment would like to be able to have one control head for both radios and be able to run a uhf vehicular repeater on the system as well, thanks

There were a good number of Spectra radios used by the federal agencies that did just what your asking about.
However, they are not the normal run of the mill configurations. They had a SIU box, (serial interface Unit) that
went between the HHCH, (hand held control head) and the radio. Both radios would connect to the SIU and be
controlled by the single HHCH.

The down side of this was that just about all of these packages had the security box also included between the
radio and the SIU. You can break these away, but need to do some software changes before you break them
apart. You also needed to make a new cable to go between the radio and the SIU. I have done this to a good
number of the Spectra packages over the years.

But, and this is where you will need to make a hard decision, all the radios in use now will have to be replaced by
January 01 of 2013 if they can not do narrow band operation. This means that all the Spectra radios in use
today will have to be replaced by that date anyway. So I wouldn't expend the effort of going the Spectra
route for about only 18 months of use.

A better solution would be to consider going after a different family of radios. Kenwood makes some radios that
will do just what you want. They will take a single control head and be able to inter connect two radios to it.
The radios need to be of the same firmware version and be of the series that can do the combining of the
radios. Not all the radios Kenwood makes will do this. Only a select few.

Maybe not the answer you were looking for, but you should be aware of the long range outcome of your decision.

Jim

I don't know that I've seen any dual radio / single head setups outside the fed govt Spectra like Jim described. I've seen single radio / dual heads on quite a few models, but not two radio / one head besides what I McGuivered years ago out of Mocom 70's, Mitreks, and a System 90 head. It looked like a single head in the apparatus, but was in fact two basic vol/sq/freq boards in one housing with two speakers, a common mic, and a way to switch the mic between radios. Very tidy install. But, once the days of spi were upon us, I haven't tried again.

I don't know about Spectra's but at a Motorola customer show some years back I saw a VHF-UHF stack pack on a single head, and another package with 2 heads and 2 draws.

iceman39_2004 wrote:is it possible to interconnect a vhf and uhf spectra and be able to run both radios from a single control head?

Yes, it's possible, but not something that's readily available. Aside from the HHCH configuration once sold by Motorola, I have successfully operated multiple Spectras on a single control head. I used standard radios, and a standard A7 head. It requires a few minor mods to the radios, and some external logic.

My configuration was on the bench in a bread board setup to prove to myself it could be done. I'm in the process of laying out a logic board suitable for mobile use. In the configuration I tested, there was no limit on the number of radios that could be stacked, but I'll likely end up with 3 or 4 on a single head when it's all said and done.

The only other two configurations that are somewhat viaible, but neither are ideal...

Two ASTRO Spectras (W7 or W9) models...which is the HRR setup. Two radios, one head...however the 2nd radio is receive only so there really isn't a value there.

Two Syntor X9000's in the HHCH or Systems 9000 (x9 style head) but requries a special cable, firmware and software which is becoming very hard to find.

Again with the Syntor x9000's they are wideband only so in anything other than ham radio down the road, would not be legal for use.

Unless you want to stick with Motorola, the Kenwood 90 series radios have dual radio options and would be the best bet (other than shelling out thousands for an APX series radio).