"If something seems too good..." Problem with my XTS3000 VHF

[PhillyPhoto]

OK, so I guess I'll start at the beginning. Last week I was surfing around eBay and came across a VHF 3000 model III for $210. The person said it had a broken display, which I could see from the photos, and it did turn on. So I figured for $200 bucks a new display and case would be worth the money for a model 3. I bought it, and got it today and it's not performing to the low expectations I had for it.

It does power on and I'm able to read from / write to it without a problem. The buttons are what they should be as far as I can tell. But this isn't my problem. The problem is whatever frequency is programmed in, it is receiving a constant static signal. Most of the channels have PL's, but when I hit monitor it goes right to static. On some it's not even static, it's as if it's receiving a constant open carrier. When I press the button for what should be scan, it has an open carrier every second or two.

From the looks of the radio, it seems like it got run over, but does any one know if this would cause the radio to function in such a manner? Also, would it be a problem with the RF board, the controller or a multitude of items? Lastly, would a trip to motoMEXI fix my woes? If so, what's the flat rate running nowadays. If I do send it down, I would need the display replaced / firmware lifted, so is this something that would be in the "flat rate", or more money?

Thanks for the help guys.

[n7maq]

OK, so I guess I'll start at the beginning. Last week I was surfing around eBay and came across a VHF 3000 model III for $210. The person said it had a broken display, which I could see from the photos, and it did turn on. So I figured for $200 bucks a new display and case would be worth the money for a model 3. I bought it, and got it today and it's not performing to the low expectations I had for it.

It does power on and I'm able to read from / write to it without a problem. The buttons are what they should be as far as I can tell. But this isn't my problem. The problem is whatever frequency is programmed in, it is receiving a constant static signal. Most of the channels have PL's, but when I hit monitor it goes right to static. On some it's not even static, it's as if it's receiving a constant open carrier. When I press the button for what should be scan, it has an open carrier every second or two.

From the looks of the radio, it seems like it got run over, but does any one know if this would cause the radio to function in such a manner? Also, would it be a problem with the RF board, the controller or a multitude of items? Lastly, would a trip to motoMEXI fix my woes? If so, what's the flat rate running nowadays. If I do send it down, I would need the display replaced / firmware lifted, so is this something that would be in the "flat rate", or more money?

Thanks for the help guys.

Most of the time physical damage is T&M, not flate rate.

Have you checked your sql setting?

Good luck,

Jim.

[PhillyPhoto]

The squelch for all the frequencies is set to 6. I wouldn't think this would be too tight.

The boards themselves didn't look damaged, so hopefully it won't be too steep.

[n7maq]

The squelch for all the frequencies is set to 6. I wouldn't think this would be too tight.

The boards themselves didn't look damaged, so hopefully it won't be too steep.

If the boards are not warped, and no dented cans you should be good to go. IIRC the list price of a FR repair is $375.00. That will cover the LCD, housing, firmware update, and any other problems.

Check your global (radio wide) sql setting in the service menu?


Jim

[PhillyPhoto]

If the boards are not warped, and no dented cans you should be good to go. IIRC the list price of a FR repair is $375.00. That will cover the LCD, housing, firmware update, and any other problems.

Check your global (radio wide) sql setting in the service menu?

The thing about it is that it's just an open carrier sound. When I should be receiving a transmission, nothing comes through. I'm at work right now, so I can't check any settings in the tuner, but when I got the radio it was doing this before I wrote anything back to the radio.

[PhillyPhoto]

Maybe I'm missing something... Where's the "global (radio wide) squelch setting in the service menu"? and how do I change the squelch from there?


This is the info I pulled from the encryption board that came with the radio:

EMC R03.44
KG1 DES-OFB
KG2 DES-XL

[RocketNJ]

If it did indeed get run over then it is possible there is damage to the RF board.