Spectra C5 to C7 Conversion

hoser · Post by **hoser** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:30 am

Correct me if I'm missing anything.........

Step involved are:

1. Replace head
2. Bit-bang new Model # and Control Head

Am I missing anyhthing else?

PS Is there any way I can get a C5 Spectra to do 250 modes? More than the 8 sys / 8 sub-fleets / 128 conv channels? Mine is 192 mode max.

Was this the standard for this model?

Post by **akardam** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:49 pm

C5/C7 heads are identical, except for the front plastic. That's all you have to replace, and add the additional full keypad buttons.

hoser · Post by **hoser** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:21 pm

So just changing the CTRL HEAD from STD to Enhanced will do it?
I'll have access to all the DTMF functions on the pad?

Post by **akardam** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 7:06 pm

No, you still need to bitbang the model.

However, all you need to do to the head is to pull the front faceplate and put on a new one (and extra buttons). All the electronics are present for a C7 head.

hoser · Post by **hoser** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:17 am

So I bit-banged the radio just fine.

Its now a C7 but why do I still have the 192 mode limit?
I cannot seem to access/modify the MAX SYSTEMS/MAX SUBFLEETS section to modify it to 250 mode.

ZONES are disabled too.

kcbooboo · Post by **kcbooboo** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:25 pm

I'm not an expert, but perhaps the firmware in the radio isn't new enough to give you that many modes, regardless of the model number you change it to.

The 11th character of the ID/model number usually is an indication of the capabilities. See if it matches the info on the Spectra page in the Motorola section of http://www.repeater-builder.com. You may always be stuck with 192 conventional modes.

Bob M.

motorola_otaku · Post by **motorola_otaku** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:05 pm

kcbooboo wrote:I'm not an expert, but perhaps the firmware in the radio isn't new enough to give you that many modes, regardless of the model number you change it to.

It's weird. I've seen B-series radios with 5.22 MLMs that would do 10 of 10, but the C5s have some odd thing where they won't go past 8 of 8 even with 6.16 firmware. My best guess is that you need a recent MLM and an original C7 codeplug to get the full 250 modes (160 with zones enabled).

BTW, the ONLY radio that will do a full 250 modes with zones enabled is an E-series Smartzone radio.

edit: Oh, and you can obtain the MLM firmware revision by pressing the HOME button 5 times after powerup and self-test, then pressing the Mode ^ button once.

hoser · Post by **hoser** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:21 pm

Was/is the interface board betwen the C5 head and the command board (HLN6285A) different from the one used with a C7 head?

My manuals say no? If yes....any part #?

kcbooboo · Post by **kcbooboo** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:38 pm

I don't know how many interconnect boards there are, but there are different versions of control heads, so it seems natural to assume that Motorola would also have early and late versions of the I/C board.

I don't have anything about them in my manual either. Best to keep the I/C board with the head it came with and consider it to be part of the head itself, even though it unplugs.

Bob M.

motorola_otaku · Post by **motorola_otaku** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:08 pm

hoser wrote:Was/is the interface board betwen the C5 head and the command board (HLN6285A) different from the one used with a C7 head?

The control head board itself isn't different between a C5 and a C7. All non-rotary Spectra control head boards have all the buttons present for a full 12-button keypad. All you need to do is swap out faceplates.

Mike B · Post by **Mike B** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:16 pm

hoser wrote:So just changing the CTRL HEAD from STD to Enhanced will do it?

The STD / Enhanced setting is only for programing enhanced VIP inputs / outputs, control head options like the DIM levels and for using DEKs. It has nothing at all to do with the C5 vs C7 selection. Set it to standard and go look at the control head RSS screen. Then set it to enhanced and go look at the control head RSS screen. You will see some control head programming options will appear when enhanced is set. The control head must also be an enhanced enabled head for these options to actually work. If you want to figure out if you have an enhanced head, try programming the enhanced control head Default DIM to always be low and if the control head starts acting that way then you have an enhanced enabled head. If the head DIM behavior does not change then you do not have an enhanced enabled head and you just set the RSS back to standard.

It is only the codeplug alone that decides to treat the control head as a C5 or C7. Which as you know now can be bitbanged to change the control head type.

The HLN6285 is the standard dash mount interconnect board for your Spectra:
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/spectra/p ... tml#sprdib

In any case bitbanging a C5 to a C7 would never have any effect at all on the interconnect board type.