Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

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kc7gr
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Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by kc7gr »

OK, gang... I updated the topic from the top so as not to create false hope.

I've got good news and bad news.

GOOD: The channel limit byte, at MLM location 6128, can indeed be tweaked to increase the number of modes you can put into a conventional Spectra.

BAD: Batwings21 was right. Trunking data is smaller, which is why you can fit more of it in there. The stock radio does not, by itself, have sufficient memory to handle more than 134 (0x86) conventional modes. Attempting to 'Add Mode' beyond 134 results in the RSS complaining "There is insufficient memory for this operation," and hard-crashing to the point of requiring the computer be rebooted.

POSSIBILITY: I still have a couple of theories, based on my experiments. I have to wonder if Motorola may have had an expanded memory module for the conventional Spectras, most likely one with a bigger EEPROM (probably a 28C256). With that said, I've never run into such in all the years I've been dealing with Spectras. Perhaps it's an option that was designed in, but never implemented.

I believe it may be possible to replace the existing EEPROM on the MLM with a bigger one. The stumbling block is the 28C256 part has two more address lines (A13 & A14) than the 28C64. I have my doubts the standard Spectra conventional firmware would know how to deal with these in terms of addressing mode memory.

Then again, I'm not enough of a microprocessor whiz (as yet) to know that for certain. I have considered dumping the sum total of the ROM code in a Spectra, and running it through a 68HC11 emulator to gain a deeper understanding of what's going on with mode selection.

Perhaps a better path along those lines would be to use a 68HC11 ICE (in-circuit emulator) box, and trace exactly what goes on with mode selection. Regrettably, such boxes are not cheap. The least expensive ones I've come across appear to be in the $2000+ class.

So -- Thus endeth my mode experiments for now. HOWEVER -- For those who were curious about a "Radio Inhibit" byte, I did find that. More specifically, at MLM location 60C6. The byte at that location should be 80 for normal operation. Any other value appears to cause radio inhibition.

I would encourage those who have access to better equipment and skill than mine to continue researching the analog Spectra mode limit, and the idea of memory expansion. I will continue to do so as time allows.

Happy tweaking, and thanks to all for your feedback.
Last edited by kc7gr on Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:53 am, edited 3 times in total.
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linkinpark9812
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by linkinpark9812 »

Three words. THIS IS AWESOME!

I have a Motorola Spectra VHF 110 Watts, and Have filled up all 128 channels sumhow lol. Would be great to even just get 10-20 more modes. I have a 6.15, so I was curious on what board you will be testing it on.

This is great news, I hope it works. (sorry as of now I am not gonna do it until someone confirms it due to me only having the radio for a couple months and don't want to break it).

Good Luck and please post updates!!!

Hopefully if you try to overfill the MLM memory, the RSS will catch it and give you an error before programming. I wonder if you can make it up to that many modes with ALL the mode features (and other options in the radio).

If this works, that would be pretty awesome.

You may have just made history! :o
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by linkinpark9812 »

I also went into the LAB software and looked at the byte at that location and mine is "80" as well. I have a T83GXA7HA9AK (I removed the securenet board (DVP-XL)). I hope this works out. Btw, how did you know to change that specific location, let alone what value to put in?

Best of Luck to you! This would be good news to Spectra Owners. i could now put more 2 Meter repeaters in, as well as more 2 meter simplex frequencies! :P
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by Zack08 »

I wonder how many more modes can be added to the radio before the codeplug gets too big.....

And will the RSS allow editing of modes above 128 (or whatever the stock limit is) without modification?
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by kc7gr »

See top message. Topic updated. Results not very good.
Last edited by kc7gr on Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by Ranger522 »

If only this could work on the Astro Spectra!
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by linkinpark9812 »

kc7gr wrote:All excellent questions, and ones that I hope to have answers for by this weekend.

As to how I knew where to look, and what to put in there, well...

I got to thinking about the mode limit issue today. More specifically, brainstorming about it pretty heavily. You see, I knew the trunked Spectras allowed up to 250 modes, and I also knew the EEPROM on the MLM was the same size (8k by 8, or 64k) on both trunked and conventional radios.

This led me to deduce that the existing EEPROM was large enough to handle all those modes. With that in mind, I knew the mode limit could not be part of the RSS, but was likely being read from the codeplug.

Next step: Translate 128 decimal to Hex. Come up with 80. Next after that, set up a conventional Spectra on the bench as a crash-test dummy, delete everything except a single mode from it (to shrink the codeplug to manageable size), and start poking through it looking for locations which had 0x80 in them, and were not part of any currently-known addresses used in bit-banging.

The results were a bit inconclusive, and even with a shrunken-down codeplug I quickly realized there was a LOT to go through. So, I opened a copy of a Spectra EEPROM I'd once made (by physically removing it from the MLM, and reading it in a device programmer) in Hex Workshop, and did a search for all occurrences of hex byte 80 in the file.

I quickly determined there were only four locations in the entire codeplug file containing that particular byte. From there, it was a matter of changing each one, in sequence, to 0xFA (decimal 250), re-reading the radio and checking the 'Maximum number of modes' entry in the Radio-Wide section (and, of course, changing the byte back to 80 if it had either no result or a negative one -- the first one caused the RSS to claim the radio was inhibited!)

The third one was the charm, though I find it amusingly ironic that the same byte which limits the conventional radio to 128 modes is located at offset 128. :lol:

Stay tuned. More to come.

Happy tweaking.
Hmm, that seems like a pretty easy way of doing it. You just had to initially read the entire MLM using an external programmer. When RSS reads the Codeplug from the MLM, that is not a .bin image of the chip it is reading right? Would be nice if you could dump the whole MLM in the RSS or LAB or something without removing the chip.

How in the world do u remove that chip from the board? Aren't they Surface mount chips? Must need special equipment.

IMPORTANT: Someone was asking about here on the forum a while ago about his conventional spectra being inhibited and that he could not find the byte to bit bang. You may have just found it!

Also, could you not have it a maximum of 250 modes? Did you try different ones?

Also, is this just a matter of trial and error? Add this many modes and see if it takes it,etc.

I am wondering about the labels. In the A9 spectras, the mode names are stored in the Control head EEPROM. Will that be able to handle 250 mode NAMES? I guess since it could handle 250 on the trunked models, could it be able to handle that many on the conventional? I've heard about expanding the Syntor X 9000 available modes, but then having the mode names not show up (Only MODE xxx).

I know you probably don't want to answer these questions now, but this is a pretty awesome thing you discovered

Hope it works like you (we) want it too! :P Thank you for finding this byte (I am sure others are happy too!)
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by kc7gr »

Ranger522 wrote:If only this could work on the Astro Spectra!
Heh? The Astro's already got 250 modes or so. In fact, that's what inspired me to start digging in the analog radio. Is there some other feature I'm missing to put that in context?
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by kc7gr »

See top message. Topic updated. Results not good.
Last edited by kc7gr on Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by motorola_otaku »

Someone here (a "prominent" member of the board, actually) claimed to me to have a conventional Spectra that up and decided that it could scan all 128 channels in the radio one day. Anyone who figures out that hack will have my unending appreciation.

Bruce, if you're up for it, you could try changing every instance of "0F" in your test codeplug to "80" and see what happens. :lol:
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by Batwings21 »

While changing the limit in the codeplug from 128 to 250 is a step. I'm afraid you are going to find that you come up shy of 250. My reasoning is thus, trunking mode information is smaller. Once you have the system and personality set up, adding talkgroups is just a name, talkgroup id, pers # and failsoft freq, With a conventional personality you will have much more data. I think it will go above 128, but you may find a limitataion lower than 250.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by linkinpark9812 »

Ok, so i know this deals with the codeplug IC, which is a 28C64 EEPROM. It can hold 64KB (which was broke down into 8KB sections). You were saying about manually dumping the codeplug using bitbanger i assume, but why would you only have to do the 8KB? Is that the current usage of the 128 modes in the codeplug now?

So are you saying that both the Spectra and trunking spectra have the same size codeplug EEPROM, but that the spectra conventional limits you to 128 modes? When you dumped the EEPROM, did it have quite a bit of empty (00) spaces?

So really if there is extra space, and both use the same size EEPROM and one could do up to 250 modes, then editing this byte and adding more modes should be possible right? What I am wondering is if the Firmware will recognize them. the EEPROM doesn't have a file system, so I assume that everything has to be located in an exact spot to be read correctly? Like when you change a frequency for a mode and reprogram, that mode is always stored in the same location on the EEPROM right? I have seen some radios that have expanded the amount of channels that it normally could not do. Making a 2CH HT-1000 into a 16CH HT-1000 wasn't really like this, since there were two versions and the only limitation was some settings in the codeplug. I wonder if this will work since the Trunking spectra was able to "see" the 250 talkgroups. btw, does the trunking and conventional spectras use the same firmware and firmware version numbers, like 6.15?

TO motorola_otaku : Maybe there is only a few instances, like how 80 was found only a few times. That would be pretty sweet too to scan more channels! :P
Wouldn't you be searching for 10 instead of 0F though? Or does the scan list include a 0? I assume not because he was searching for 80 (128) and that obviously didn't include mode 0. or is Mode 0 the home mode? lol

Batwings21: that is what I thought about the talk groups. Still, even getting to 150 modes would be pretty damn good!

Anyways, I got to tell myself "Enough with the questions!".

Do you know how tempting it is to try this myself???? :lol:

I have to go on a little trip today and I am coming back late Thursday (I can still check the board, hotel has wifi YAY!). This Friday I should be installing the PA for the Spectra. Then Saturday, hopefully you will post "IT WORKS".

Thanks again and good luck this weekend!!!! :D
Radios I own: Spectra VHF 110W with A7 head, HT1000 VHF, ICOM IC-F30 VHF, and a Puxing PX-888 VHF.
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by escomm »

motorola_otaku wrote:Someone here (a "prominent" member of the board, actually) claimed to me to have a conventional Spectra that up and decided that it could scan all 128 channels in the radio one day. Anyone who figures out that hack will have my unending appreciation.

Bruce, if you're up for it, you could try changing every instance of "0F" in your test codeplug to "80" and see what happens. :lol:
Well, since the SyntrX X9000 could scan all 128, I wonder if some comparison of the codeplug structures might provide any insight. Especially since they share so many common aspects between them....
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by Batwings21 »

From what I know of motorola codeplugs, some values are at fixed locations, however most of the user definable data is dynamic, the location changes based on customer data. So while max # of channels may be fixed, channel 10 may be in different spots in the cp.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by Ranger522 »

kc7gr wrote:
Ranger522 wrote:If only this could work on the Astro Spectra!
Heh? The Astro's already got 250 modes or so. In fact, that's what inspired me to start digging in the analog radio. Is there some other feature I'm missing to put that in context?
I should have been more specific, the W4 model Astro Spectra (what I have, full) is limited to 128. Thanks and great find, I'll be following the thread to see how it all works out.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by kc7gr »

@Zack: Sorry, I mis-typed. I meant dumping all 65,536 bytes could be quite a chore.

@Batwings21: I think you may be right, but I'm still curious to see where, exactly, the limit is. What I may need to do is desolder the EEPROM, once I've got everything programmed, and read it to see how much free space is left.

Patience, patience... Experiments to happen this weekend, as promised.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by kc7gr »

Ranger522 wrote:
kc7gr wrote:
Ranger522 wrote:If only this could work on the Astro Spectra!
Heh? The Astro's already got 250 modes or so. In fact, that's what inspired me to start digging in the analog radio. Is there some other feature I'm missing to put that in context?
I should have been more specific, the W4 model Astro Spectra (what I have, full) is limited to 128. Thanks and great find, I'll be following the thread to see how it all works out.
Oh! OK, my error... I'd assumed that Astros were capable of higher channel counts from the get-go.

Keep the peace(es).
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by smokeybehr »

I wonder about bit banging a trunking codeplug to allow more conventional channels than just the 10 that they have.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit Cracked!

Post by linkinpark9812 »

smokeybehr wrote:I wonder about bit banging a trunking codeplug to allow more conventional channels than just the 10 that they have.
Wouldn't doubt it! If this works, then maybe it will lead to discovering other things. Like some were mentioning, if we can expand the modes, then maybe we can add more than 16 modes to a scan list, and then increasing conventional channels for the trunking codeplug.

I'm being optimistic and hoping "one thing leads to another"! Can't wait to hear about the results this weekend. I want to try it so bad, but I don't want to regret messing it up or something...
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by kc7gr »

Bump, due to update. Read the top post. Sorry, gang... I tried!
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by linkinpark9812 »

kc7gr wrote:Bump, due to update. Read the top post. Sorry, gang... I tried!
You didn't just try! Give yourself more credit! 8)

You did succeed. By what you say, it seems safe to expand the modes to 134 modes. I think this should be added to the list of bits to bang. Change it from 80 to 86, and get 6 more modes. So you did expand the amount of modes the Spectra can hold, without any kind of hardware modification. It is a modification that anybody could just about do!

I am curious about increasing the chip size. While it is something I would probably not do (unless there is a safe and somewhat inexpensive way to remove surface mount EEPROM's, and reattach them), it could very well work if the Firmware could figure out what to do.

And you did find the inhibit bit, so that is a success too!

I wouldn't say you should list it under bad news, just not as hopeful as some might have wanted it to be.

If you would like to know, it will help me! 6 more modes (channels) is 6 more modes. I can add a few more repeaters and simplex frequencies for the 2 meter (since my radio is overloaded with PD and FD channels!).

So basically anybody can bit bang this bit and add 6 more modes safely right? Did it upload to the radio and actually work and scroll through the 134 modes? Did the RSS also read all 134 modes from the codeplug on the radio? Just wanted to be clear on that.

Thanks for all your work and experimenting. Even though it wasn't the 250 modes or whatever, it still is definitely something. Hopefully, the bits for the inhibit function and expanding modes gets added to the "bit list".

Again, Thanks! :P :P :P
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by tvsjr »

I was the one with the 128-channel scanning Spectra. Yes, it worked just fine. I don't think any codeplug changes would be required. Here's what happened:

One day, I read the radio up (a mid-power 450-482 W7) and went to change a scan list on a zone (MLM 6.15, IIRC). Apparently a bit got slipped somewhere, because the scan list showed "17 of 16". In that one zone, I was able to scan however many channels I wanted (all 128, if necessary... though, like the X9K, the scan rate gets pretty slow above 30-40 channels). If I took channels out and dropped below 16, I couldn't get back above 16 again.

Seems to me that simply making a few minor program modifications to get around the "ZOMG 16 channels fail!!!!!" would get the job done.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by linkinpark9812 »

tvsjr wrote:I was the one with the 128-channel scanning Spectra. Yes, it worked just fine. I don't think any codeplug changes would be required. Here's what happened:

One day, I read the radio up (a mid-power 450-482 W7) and went to change a scan list on a zone (MLM 6.15, IIRC). Apparently a bit got slipped somewhere, because the scan list showed "17 of 16". In that one zone, I was able to scan however many channels I wanted (all 128, if necessary... though, like the X9K, the scan rate gets pretty slow above 30-40 channels). If I took channels out and dropped below 16, I couldn't get back above 16 again.

Seems to me that simply making a few minor program modifications to get around the "ZOMG 16 channels fail!!!!!" would get the job done.
Hmm odd. Too bad you didn't discover it rather than stumble upon it, as now we don't know how to do it lol. That is pretty cool though. I am assuming it was just a codeplug "error", because it didn't do it again. It seems that you could do this without bit banging. All you would have to do is hex edit the codeplug (it seems).

Pretty sweet though that it worked! :P
Radios I own: Spectra VHF 110W with A7 head, HT1000 VHF, ICOM IC-F30 VHF, and a Puxing PX-888 VHF.
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Problem

Post by linkinpark9812 »

Ok, here is my experience.

I bit banged the value to 84 to get 134 modes. Radio resets, get a FAIL 01/82, just a check sum error which is fixed by reuploading a codeplug. I never uploaded the extra modes just yet.

What I did was bit bang, got the error, read the codeplug, saved it to hard disk, and bit banged the radio back so it would work with its 128 modes.

So I went to mess with the "134 mode" codeplug. I added all the way up to 133 modes, which the RSS would let me edit, etc. When I went to add the 134th modes, I got a "There is Insufficient Memory To Use This Function." You have to press F2 to continue and the RSS still works except every time you try to go to the MODE section (F5), you get the same error.

When I exit the RSS, I get an MS-DOS error:

"Memory Allocation error"
"Cannot load COMMAND, system halted"

And then I must CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart the computer. I don't know if this is an MS-DOS problem with memory or the RSS doing it. I have been looking how to increase conventional memory in DOS, but it seems you really can't, except stop loading drivers, which I have none loading anyways.

But it gets worse. I tried adding just one extra mode, bringing the total to 129. Didn't get an error or anything. I saved the codeplug to disk, and exited the RSS. I went to load the codeplug, and tried to go into modes, and got that same error as if I had 134 modes.

Now I don't know if the original OP tried to program his spectra or do what I did with the codeplug, but this is my experience. I can't be 100% sure that the RSS is 100% to blame. Maybe I need to increase the conventional memory in DOS (can't really seem to do though)? I also tried it in a DOS-Window in Windows XP, but it did the same thing with the same errors.

I also tried the same procedures with the LAB software, but still got the same results.

I am NOT going to be uploading this to the radio as of now. Since the RSS can't even handle it, I don't want to risk the radio.

Anybody else try it yet? What did you experience? Just wondering as mine didn't work like I was hoping it would. :x
Radios I own: Spectra VHF 110W with A7 head, HT1000 VHF, ICOM IC-F30 VHF, and a Puxing PX-888 VHF.
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If you want to get around the 16 mode scan limit on the Motorola Spectra, then read this guide and go to the original thread Here! 8)
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by motorola_otaku »

Here is a thing someone can try: harvest the command board from an E-series Smartzone Spectra and try dumping a mode-expanded conventional codeplug in it. E-series command boards don't even have MLMs; they're one-piece jobs using an Intel Flash chip for memory.

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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by kc7gr »

I would be happy to -- If I could FIND an E-series SmartZone Spectra! Where the heck are they? You'd think they'd be turning up on That Auction Place by now.

And to answer an earlier question: No, I didn't actually try programming a radio with the mod to 134 modes. Based on other's experiments, I'm inclined to agree there may be something in the RSS which is limiting things.

Blue Feather's into its annual temp shutdown at the end of this week. Perhaps I'll find an answer (or a SmartZone Spectra) while I"m on the road.

On that note: Could someone give me an idea of what to look for on a Spectra's model label which will tell me if I'm looking at a SmartZone E-series?

Thanks.
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Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by RadioSouth »

A model # is D44ZXA5JE7-K

Variations follow same format as regular analog Spectra.

Specifications list mode capacity as "Maximum 250 modes, up to 10 conv. channels 800/900"
"Up to 160 trunked modes (VHF/UHF), up to 32 conv. chs.
motorola_otaku
Posts: 1854
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 7:03 am

Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by motorola_otaku »

kc7gr wrote:On that note: Could someone give me an idea of what to look for on a Spectra's model label which will tell me if I'm looking at a SmartZone E-series?
The one pictured above is a D45ZXA5JE7AK. If you find some idiot on Greedbay giving the wrong model number, it's DE7-ZXAxxxx or something like that.

Some utility company in the southeast US dumped a bunch of 900 radios on the market a while back and the 800 versions pop up from time to time at increasingly lower prices since they're not rebanding-capable. You've just gotta be patient.
kd5ual
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Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:28 am

Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by kd5ual »

Bruce
while you were looking into this did you look for a corresponding
location ahead of b681 on the command board?
as we know all of the moflag entries on the mlm must have a matching
entry on the command board in order for those features to program correctly
wendell
Leadenwah
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Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2002 4:00 pm

E-Series Spectra 250 Modes

Post by Leadenwah »

I have one which came with 250 capacity. It wasn't MoFlagged or hacked.

I believe that a great many of these in 800MHz band came from the State of Louisiana.
They were not in wide circulation as far as I know.
They don't have an MLM board as the standard Spectra did.
Batwings21
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Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:21 am

Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by Batwings21 »

ComEd in Illinois has a ton of these in 900mhz. They are still using them though.
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
New User
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Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:47 pm

Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by jjjjjjjjjjjjjjj »

I have to wonder having played with eproms a little for other projects can you use a larger eprom and load it with a few banks of 128 channels and switch memory addresses and connect it via something like the high low switch.
George
Posts: 265
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2003 11:14 am
What radios do you own?: X9000, HT1550XLS, MTS2000, etc

Re: Analog Spectra Channel Limit - Update

Post by George »

The difference between the scanning in an X9000 and a Spectra is the scan map for an X9000 is done on the per channel basis and the spectra uses a common scan table with individual entries in it. The per channel mapping does allow up to 16 modes on mode slaved basis, but that's it, as far as I know.

You need the -T52 firmware in the drawer to make it scan all 128. That's the latest version. The T14 may do it also, but that's the SP version for the PSP silly extender repeater thingie.

That's why you can scan all 128 modes on an X9000 BUT you can't unless you expand the scan table.
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