Dual radio drawers - instability issues?

[Radioman96p71]

Anyone here run a dual-drawer setup? Either Orion/Orion M7100/M7100 or (hopefully) an Orion/M7100 configuration?

I have my UHF Orion, latest radio code, 512K series; next to it is a M7100 800, J2R11B01 flash.

M7100 is master, audio is summed and display set to Alternate.

Problem is they refuse to play nice together for more than 30-45 minutes! Here are my issues:

1. On power up, the Orion almost always wins the race of booting up first, so it takes control of the BUS and when the M7100 comes online it ends up freaking out and NET FAIL. If i quickly power cycle them a couple times i can get the M7100 and Orion to boot together and all is well... kinda

2. After they are up and running, if the Orion is on a sketchy channel that fades in and out, the display is trying to alternate between the two radios and because the Orion is 'picket fencing' so fast, the display seems to not be able to keep up and eventually they lock, ending in ERR09 followed by gibberish. Only option is to reboot them all.

3. If I dont get the above two scenarios, I sometimes get a situation where i have the Orion as Selected radio, and if i get activity on it the display will stay on the Orion but when the carrier is gone, the M7100 tries to take back the display, even tho the Orion is selected. All the controls still effect the Orion but the display wants to revert back to whatever the M7100 is doing. Again, easy fix is reboot them.

Does anyone have a known good configuration that DOESNT crash every half hour or so??? I've heard the dual-drawer setups were finicky but wasnt expecting such poor performance.

Thanks in advance!

[LMR_Dude]

Can I get some more info?

Im interested to know if both radio are front mount or if one (or both) are remote mounts. Have you consulted the installation manual (MM102342V1, Rev. J, page 72)? It describes all the variations of the setting these radios up in dual radio configurations.

[Radioman96p71]

Both units are remote mount, I will try to find that manual i dont seem to have a copy of that one. What other info would help?

[LMR_Dude]

Do you have access to programming software? The manual has all the recommended settings but if you cant program it no sense in telling you those settings?

[Radioman96p71]

oooh yea i have the software and have programmed much of the M/A Com line of radios, this is my first dual-drawer configuration. It SEEMS more like a hardware issue than configuration but id entertain any ideas.

[LMR_Dude]

PM me an e-mail address and Ill send you a document I created that, hopefully, helps.

[LMR_Dude]

Any luck with this Radioman?

[Radioman96p71]

eh yes and no. Changed my configuration a little to keep display refreshes down so i only get crashes every hour or so now. Which i guess is livable. Talking to Harris, this is a known issue. As well as the M7100 taking too long to boot up and not being able to connect to the Orion. A quick power cycle always does the trick. Im going to deal with it for now and then the UHF Orion is coming out to be replaced with a VHF M7100 in the near future. Thanks for the sheet btw, it had some good points in it but my problem seems to be more hardware related than software. Thanks

[snoopyII]

Adam,

This can be done, here is the answer I found to the same question over in the yahoo groups for GE/Orion/M7100, hope this helps:

Mixing a M7100 with an Orion is a unique combination.

In the case of the Orion, only the 512k version of the radio will
support being interfaced with a J725m or M7100, and then only with
Group 45 or later flashcode revision. (IE: OG45400 or later)

The M7100 will dual-radio with the Orion, but due to some audio
issues I strongly suggest you configure the Orion as the MASTER
radio, and the M7100 as the SLAVE radio.

Regards,
Mark A. Cobbeldick [KB4CVN]
Engineering Specialist / EDACS Master Technician
M/A-Com - Technical Assistance Center
221 Jefferson Ridge Parkway, Lynchburg, Virginia 24501

[Radioman96p71]

Interesting input there snoopyll, I will give that a shot as i have both radios on the bench now... lets see what happens!

[Radioman96p71]

Running a torture-test now. have the m7100 on an active system scanning and the UHF radio is on a weak signal that fades a lot. Have the most changes possible happening on the data bus. Got rid of the bootup problem, mostly anyways. Only fails to find the slave once in 10 or so now instead of ALL the time. Only issue i see in the first 10 mins is there is a hiss from the speaker when the audio is from the slave only. If the master has audio at the same time or is by itself, audio is crystal clear. Could just be in the way it switches audio paths to the audio PA.

Not sure why i hadnt tried this combination before, i could have swore i did. I guess i figured the M7100 should be master as it is newer but from the looks, it doesnt seem to really matter. Only thing that sucks is now i cant use the enhanced features on the M7100. Guess i could modify my custom cable and rearrange who gets what connector.

Thanks a bunch for the help guys, i'll let you know what happens tonight!

[FPPD134]

LMR dude can you send me that document about to do my first dual deck myself!

[WCHija]

I had a very similar issue with two Orion radios that worked fine before. I had "Forced Mute" enabled. I can not get my help file working, so I have no idea what it does, but I turned it off, and changed my audio to "F.C.F.S.", first come first served, and I have no problems now. My Orions rock. If they only had MDC1200 then my life would be complete...

[sragen]

I'm out of my league on this one, but this discussion has peaked my interest. What is dual drawer setup and it's purpose? It searched the internet and the wiki and must be missing the term which can give a little dangerous knowledge to a novice? Or is this one of those topics which "if you have to ask..."?

[FPPD134]

Originally Posted by WCHija

I had a very similar issue with two Orion radios that worked fine before. I had "Forced Mute" enabled. I can not get my help file working, so I have no idea what it does, but I turned it off, and changed my audio to "F.C.F.S.", first come first served, and I have no problems now. My Orions rock. If they only had MDC1200 then my life would be complete...

I am new to this... I am researching like crazy.... LMR dude had a Quick Reference sheet he made was looking for that....


Dual Radios= 2 radios= mine is UHF 100 Watt & VHF 100 Watt, controlled by one remote head...

[Radioman96p71]

The dual drawer setup referred to here is having 2 radio drawers (like 2 Orions, 2 M7100s or a mix) controlled by the same head. Essentially making a dual band or dual-purpose radio.

I've stumbled across another problem with my configuration. I've upgraded to a dual-M7100 setup, one is a 800MHz EDACS model, the other a UHF. I also have a mobile repeater installed (an SVR-200). When the UHF was an Orion, i could hit the repeater button on the control head and the head would switch to the UHF radio, adjust the volume and click the repeater on. It would then pass audio from both radios over the repeater and since the Orion was the master, i can talk back thru it with the portable.

Now that the Orion is a M7100, everything works beautifully. Except the repeater. It brings it online and will pass calls from the UHF radio, but the 800 (slave) radio doesn't. I can see that calls coming across the screen, but its not keying the repeater like it used to.

It's asking a lot but It's a very nifty system when it works properly. I'll be trying various radio codes to see if any of them work.

[FPPD134]

Adam keep me posted I like the concept...

do you have 2 speakers set up or just one??

[Radioman96p71]

It comes out a single speaker. My current setup in the truck is an 800 M7100 for EDACS/P25 as the slave, then a UHF M7100 master. Audio routing is set to summed and alternating display (i might change that to F.C.F.S audio and Selected display). Then the SVR-200 piggyback cable goes on top of that, assign a button on the control head to RPTEN, a wire from Input 2 goes to the portable's EVC. I carry a portable P7100, when i'm in the vehicle it goes into an EVC with a control head and mobile amp. When i take the portable out of the EVC, it tells the mobile to kick the repeater on (unless i override it with the button on the control head). Combine the 800 and UHF mobiles with the VHF portable thru a mobile amp, it gives me all-band coverage and lets me take the conversation with me if I leave the truck.

Like i said, it's a sweet setup... when it works haha. I'm hoping backing the UHF master down to an earlier radiocode will help with the audio issue, otherwise its back to the Orion and I lose my P25/ProVoice option on the ham bands

[FPPD134]

Very nice I am sure I will be tapping your knowledge soon....

[LMR_Dude]

Sorry, due to a hard drive crash I no longer have that document.