Changing UHF Saber III bandsplit - ??HOW TO??

[FTCOP]

Thanks for loking at my post. I have a question about my UHF Saber III and changing its bandsplit.

I bought a Secure-UHF Saber III on Ebay (I know, it was a bad idea in retrospect) and it ended up being in the military UHF split. Another Batlab'er advised me to buy a working Saber in the right UHF split and swap some parts around to make my radio work in the band I needed.

I have purchased a functioning Saber I in the split I need, now what do I do?????

I would appreciate any guidance I can summon from the board.

Thanks in advance for the help in salvaging my investment.

[Tom in D.C.]

I suggest that you take the front shield and case from the military split radio and install them in place of the existing shield and case on the "good" radio. Then make up a codeplug for the Saber 3 and program it into the "new" radio; more about how to do this can be found on the other site, http://www.batlabs.com.

What you will find when handling the front shield from the Saber 3 is that it has flex cables and plugs that go to the main board, and the main board connections already exist on the Saber 1; they're just not used on a Saber 1.

One other thing is that both radios must be the same length, that is, either standard or Securenet. The shields don't mix for the two types of radio.

[FTCOP]

Sounds easy enough, but.... The "Good" UHF radio is a secure radio with the module installed. The "Parts" radio is a Non-Secure unit.

Maybe I should sell everything and start over to save any further headaches.

Anyone interested in a "Saber Package Deal" that includes a Secure UHF Saber III, a Non Secure VHF Saber III, Non Secure UHF Saber I, rapid charger and speaker mic?

Thanks, Tom in DC for the help......

[Tom in D.C.]

You might be able to find the correct Saber 3 shield and case for less than the cost of a Saber 3 complete radio. A Saber 3 is not quite the hot commodity it once was so you may be right as far as starting over and just getting the correct radio to begin with. Unfortunately there are any number of sharp characters around these days who peddle the mil split radios to people.

Remember:

"Can't test" means "Doesn't work"
"I don't know the bandsplit" means "It's a mil split radio"

[williamh]

just swap it out , module for module .. build a code plug using the origional radio tuning values , you can check it with frequency counter for transmit , if the receiver is numb , see if someone here can aling it for you.

waaaay better than starting over .

you may be getting someone elses problem ..

[larryepage]

If you open the radio (using correct tools, and static protection, there are several modules that plug in to the main circuit board. These can be exchanged, then the codeplug reloaded. It is a little bit tricky to do this from the military band to range 2, because of the gap between the frequency ranges.

If you have not done this before, I'd suggest that you might want to find a trustworthy, experienced person to do it for you, because it can be tricky the first time or two.

I would be glad to help you with this project, or you may be able to find someone closer to you.

Let us know...

Regards,

[AEC]

There are major differences between modules in a secure saber over a non secure one, the biggest beign the RX module, IE: NLE9432A, 440-470.
The physical design of this module is NOT the same as a "regular" saber III from my experience, the Saber III's RX modules are square in shape and the Systems Saber & Saber II modules havea "tang" on the upper right side and the mounting scrrew locations are also completely different and will NOT fit a Saber III board.

You also can NOT swap a systems saber front shield with ANY version of the non-trunking capable saber models, it will not work and you will not be able to read the radio if you swap the Systems Saber shield witha Saber II, or Saber III secure/clear model.

Do NOT try to program the radio with swapped shield, it will fail and you'll get an error message flag in RSS, or it will plain not work.

I have several Saber III's, II's and Systems models and I have tried all variations using the Systems Saber front shield to "upgrade" a II's storage, and nothing worked, although they are pin for pin compatible, that's as far as it goes.

Just my .02 cents woth...

73!

Ernest A. Erickson
Applied Electronic Communications, AEC
3960 Moen Lake Road
Rhinelander, WI. 54501
715.617.9823(cell)
ka9uce@netscape.net

[10-95]

There are major differences between modules in a secure saber over a non secure one, the biggest beign the RX module, IE: NLE9432A, 440-470.
The physical design of this module is NOT the same as a "regular" saber III from my experience, the Saber III's RX modules are square in shape and the Systems Saber & Saber II modules havea "tang" on the upper right side and the mounting scrrew locations are also completely different and will NOT fit a Saber III board.

You also can NOT swap a systems saber front shield with ANY version of the non-trunking capable saber models, it will not work and you will not be able to read the radio if you swap the Systems Saber shield witha Saber II, or Saber III secure/clear model.

Do NOT try to program the radio with swapped shield, it will fail and you'll get an error message flag in RSS, or it will plain not work.

I have several Saber III's, II's and Systems models and I have tried all variations using the Systems Saber front shield to "upgrade" a II's storage, and nothing worked, although they are pin for pin compatible, that's as far as it goes.

Just my .02 cents woth...

73!

Ernest A. Erickson
Applied Electronic Communications, AEC
3960 Moen Lake Road
Rhinelander, WI. 54501
715.617.9823(cell)
ka9uce@netscape.net

Close, the UHF module and VHF module are different, that's about it on the modules. The Systems Saber and Saber actually use the same exact modules, the UHF VCO module will not fit on a VHF board, that might be what you meant to say. As for a using UHF 440-470 modules in a 403-433 Mhz Systems Saber , it will work just fine. All the differnet bandsplit UHF modules are the same size as are the various VHF split modules. Vhf can't be put in a UHF mother board and UHF can't be put in a VHF mother board.
FYI, the VHF band modules are the square shape and the UHF band modules have what you refer to as the "TANG". As for front sheild, the systems saber sheilds can be swapped among systems saber radios without a problem, same for the sabers, the sheilds can be swapped among vhf/uhf sabers with no problem they just need a new codeplug blown into them.


Frank

[AEC]

Boy did I screw up...I type ahead of myself at times and this was the result, Frank is absolutely correct on the difference between the VHF & UHF modules.

I was thinking the same way, but it was typed improperly(think feeling stupid here).

Thanks for the correction regardless!

73!
Ernest A. Erickson, KA9UCE
Applied Electronic Communications, AEC
3960 Moen Lake Road
Rhinelander, WI. 54501
715.617.9823(cell)