Astro Motorcycle

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 9:18 pm

See if anyone can try to figure this one out.

I have an Astro motorcycle on a Harley Davidson. When the engine is off it works fine on conventional UHF. When you start the engine it loses the pl so you can't use any channels that have a PL. Put a analog spectra motorcycle on the same bike it works.
Just the Astro that loses the pl when the engine is running.

Have tried filters, capacitors and a 12vdc to 12vdc converter that should have cleared up the problem. The thing is the alternator on the harley put out severe spike instead of a normal dc wave.
The 12-12 converter was supposed to put out a good wave but just tried it today and it didn't work.

Any suggestions?

The Pager Geek · Post by **The Pager Geek** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:07 am

Simple thing to try.... Does it work in a car or even better a test bench set-up. Narrow it down to radio vs. motorcycle...

tpg

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:36 am

Sorry, forgot to add, yes we did test it on a bench power supply. It worked great. Put on either of 2 harleys it quit transmitting PL on while the engine is running. This is 2 seperate astros 2 seperate harleys. If you put either one of the astros on a honda that is at the same PD it works fine.

Just on the harley and just while the engine is running.

The Pager Geek · Post by **The Pager Geek** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 11:15 am

Not that this is any help...

I wonder what Motorola defines as "Motorcycle"? Harley's appear to be exempt from this definition.

Sounds like a voltage issue....

Check whatever "converter" you have with a scope to make sure the voltage is somewhat normal looking. No spikes, etc....
I don't know of any good voltage converters for that pupose, sorry.

tpg

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 11:31 am

Well it was something Motorola sent to our shop and said "This will fix it."

Yeah right.

I think what they are going to do is get on ebay and find another spectra motorcycle (since everyone of their bikes but one, now have the spectras instead of the astros) and have our shop check them out and rebuild it if needed.

That would be the only way to fix the problem because they are still out 3500/ea for the astros they bought and Motorola won't take them back. They said it is Harleys problem not theirs.

You know how that goes.

spectragod · Post by **spectragod** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 5:50 am

Sounds as though it is a AC ripple problem. Harley Davidson is really good about taking care of it's Gov't customers. Call the local dealer and talk to someone in service. I am sure that they will work with you on this.

SG

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 8:55 am

We have talk to 3 of Harleys local shops. Everyone says its Motorola's problem, Motorola says its Harley's problem. We talking to another PD near them who has about a 75 motorcycle fleet. They support their own radio system and with the Harley's they have also gone back to a regular spectra instead of the astros.

Post by **wavetar** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 7:00 pm

I have seen where certain vehicles have put out enough 'dirty' voltage that the PL was screwed, although it was always in a 'screwed-up' vehicle. The fact it's happening on 77 different Harleys would make me believe the stock motorcycle is the actual problem.
I know many H-D owners have modified their ignition/electrical systems to make them work better. H-D calls it 'customizing', others call it 'improving'.
Also, the fact the Astro radio works in other vehicles, as well as on the bench, points to the H-D's.
This does not mean the motorcycle manufacturer will help you. But, it does mean you can concentrate on one side of the equation, as opposed to the other (radio). I don't know what the answer is, I would have thought the 12-12 & filter would have solved it. Otherwise, a 12Vdc to 120Vac, then a 120Vac to 12Vdc might solve your problem, in a round-about way...

Todd

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 7:17 pm

I was pretty sure we boiled it down to the harleys. It's just I didn't know if anyone else had run into the problem also. Like I said to solve the problem, they are going to hunt down regular spectras and use them.

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:16 pm

You must select HD in the RSS as it defaults to Honda. This flips the PL and thus it won't work on an Harley with the default settings in the RSS.

radiodrew · Post by **radiodrew** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 3:49 am

Don't rule out RF leaking back in to the radio. Did you check it into a service monitor while still on the bike? Maybe a bad filter cap or ground.

tbendick · Post by **tbendick** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:40 am

If you still have no luck. Try calling Yonkers, NY Police Radio repair. They use Astro's on the harley.

Tommy

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 3:32 pm

We were looking at it today on a service monitor. Personally, I don't exactly know what I'm looking at but the tech was showing me. With the engine off, there was a flat line on the scope. With the engine running, it went to a very spiked line, kinda like "VWWWWWWW" Just straight diagonal lines up and down if you can kinda figure out what I'm trying to say.

It also drops off the PL as soon as you key it. It's still transmitting the freq but without the PL. We have a freq counter on a bench near it and could see the right freq being transmitted but without the PL according to the service monitor. We also tried a large capacitor like you would use in high end stereos and it would work for approximately 1-2 seconds just enough to open the repeater. Then the PL would drop off and lose the repeater.

I think I will tell the tech working on it to call the PD in New York and see if they had to make any modifications to make it work and what modifications.

Great ideas! Gives me a baseline to get it working.

If I get a chance, I'll try to get a copy of the digital photos we took of the service monitor while the bike was off and on and see what you guys think.

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:20 pm

Regarding the flatline on the service monitor, try injecting some ephinephrine directly into the ASTRO's main microprocessor. This should get it jump started on the Harley.