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Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 4:07 am
by YouHF
Does anyone have the pinout or part number for the Y cable required for multi radio system aka Hot Red (2 radios, 1 head) on an Astro Spectra? I'm talking about the "Hot Red" feature used with a single W5/7/9 head, not the dual radio using a W3 with SIU.
I've searched and searched, but only found the part # for the equivalent XTL dual radio setup, but I suspect it is a different animal entirely.
I also checked the basic and advanced service manuals, but didn't find it there either - but I thought I saw mention of a pinout in some manual somewhere...
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 7:44 pm
by d119
This may have been an SP for the County of Orange, California. Last I heard they were having a heck of a time getting Motorola to continue supporting this configuration, so you may be out of luck.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 8:34 pm
by motorola_otaku
YKN4265A. Should still be orderable.
AFAIK it only works on W7 and W9 radios.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 1:08 am
by YouHF
d119 wrote:This may have been an SP for the County of Orange, California. Last I heard they were having a heck of a time getting Motorola to continue supporting this configuration, so you may be out of luck.
I believe you are right from a historical standpoint - but it is a listed feature in the standard CPS for Astro Spectra. I believe the heck of a time was migrating this feature to the XTL series, which allegedly was a contractual SP for Orange County as part of their original system.
Here's a screenshot of standard Astro Spectra CPS 5.03: Radio Configuration --> Radio Wide --> Advanced II

Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 1:28 am
by YouHF
motorola_otaku wrote:YKN4265A. Should still be orderable.
AFAIK it only works on W7 and W9 radios.
Thank you! I'm convinced that is the right cable after a quick Google of the part number came up with...wait for it...the
bid list for Astro Spectras for Orange County, CA!
And for the next guy looking for this: the bid list shows YKN4264A for motorcycles, which presumably covers W4/W5.
Has anyone ever seen one of these? Does it connect directly to W7/W9 or still require a standard Spectra W7/9 cable? It seems like this would be an easy one to make with a couple DB25 connectors rather than pay $282.45? Unless I'm wrong this should be able to be constructed from 2 DB25 connectors, 2 speaker connectors, and then interconnect to a standard Spectra W9 cable minus the speaker pins. This of course assuming that the standard cable is not missing any pins that the YKN4265A has.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 7:01 am
by jmr061
You do realize the 2nd radio is a receive only radio correct?
Jason
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 9:13 am
by YouHF
Yes, a strange design decision,but works in my situation.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 12:44 pm
by motorola_otaku
Yeah, you could build your own from a normal HKN4356 cable but it would look ghetto as hell because you'd have to tap into it underneath the control head connector to pull two spare lines for the second radio's speaker. Just save up your pennies and buy a factory one. ;p
In the original Orange County configuration, the motorcycle kit used a W7 head and the vehicle kit had W7 and W9 available. Both kits used double radio brackets, dual-plug power cables, a speaker combiner, and an antenna relay built into the primary radio's PA.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 4:59 pm
by YouHF
motorola_otaku wrote:Yeah, you could build your own from a normal HKN4356 cable but it would look ghetto as hell because you'd have to tap into it underneath the control head connector to pull two spare lines for the second radio's speaker. Just save up your pennies and buy a factory one. ;p
In the original Orange County configuration, the motorcycle kit used a W7 head and the vehicle kit had W7 and W9 available. Both kits used double radio brackets, dual-plug power cables, a speaker combiner, and an antenna relay built into the primary radio's PA.
This was going to be a desk install, so the ghetto-ness would not be a problem to conceal - but point taken

That being said, my thought was to split the audio off at the Y end for one or both so I wouldn't have had to frankenstuff the 4356 cable with two spare lines. If this was a vehicle install (which is the obvious assumption), then I totally see your point.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 5:24 pm
by d119
Right. The cable is essentially a W series control head plug to two DB25's. In Orange County's case, one DB25 has a green band on it, the other a red band. The green band goes to the T/R radio, the red band goes to the RX only radio. I don't recall if it has two speaker leads or not. I *believe* it does.
As Otaku mentioned, more interesting is that the T/R radio has a small SMA connector on it in addition to the standard Mini-UHF. An RG400-type cable about 6" in length goes from the SMA on the T/R radio to the receive-only radio's Mini-UHF, thus allowing the system to utilize a single antenna. The RX only radio is switched out of the line when the T/R radio transmits.
The control head for the entire thing then has an unlabeled button (red in color) that is pressed to switch to the RX only radio to change the volume. Instead of a normal red or white EMER button, the control heads have an unlabeled orange button the same color as the XTS portable top buttons that is the emergency button.
So I've now seen red, orange, and yellow Spectra-type buttons. Any other colors out there?
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:21 am
by Code3
Here is the pinout you require. You can build one out of a normal spectra remote cable. If you are patient, it might even look acceptable.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:34 am
by motorola_otaku
I KNEW I had a copy somewhere.. here is the complete HRR manual supplement.
http://www.2shared.com/document/-lkFuW0 ... Suppl.html
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 1:23 pm
by Will
Thank you, Sir.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:39 am
by YouHF
Code3 wrote:
Here is the pinout you require. You can build one out of a normal spectra remote cable. If you are patient, it might even look acceptable.
Thank you! Looks pretty straightforward to split out.
Re: Astro Spectra Y Cable for Dual Radio Single W5/7/9
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 10:41 am
by Pj
There is also a "Y" power cable available so you only need to make one run. If you do a search you will pull up my post that has all the part numbers and information about it.
And it is correct, W7/W9 only. Cables were available a few months back when I last checked.