New Harris P7100 don't com with old P7100

[thisistigers]

We just got a bunch of new P7100 Scan Radios. Key loads onto them fine and personalities load too. Standard stuff. When I try to transmit over any group, the rx radios will receive the hand shake but will not receive any of the audio. The light at the top left just keeps lighting up every 5 secs or so, as long as the tx radio stays keyed. Has anyone else run across this issue? Any ideas would be welcomed. Could it be an issue with the DSP or a firmware issue?

 

[Radioman96p71]

Trunked or conventional? AES or DES? ProVoice or P25? Same DSP/Radio Code versions?

 

[ElroyJetson]

That sounds like an alignment issue. They need to visit a radio shop that is fully equipped to do a complete alignment.

They should also update the firmware and DSP code in each radio as well. Having mismatched versions CAN create some communications problems in some cases.

 

[thisistigers]

Trunked or conventional? AES or DES? ProVoice or P25? Same DSP/Radio Code versions?

Trunked, AES Encryption, ProVoice.

Old Radio code and DSP:J2R15E05 and F7R06F03
New Radio code and DSP:J2R18H09 and F9R06N05

 

[thisistigers]

That sounds like an alignment issue. They need to visit a radio shop that is fully equipped to do a complete alignment.

They should also update the firmware and DSP code in each radio as well. Having mismatched versions CAN create some communications problems in some cases.

Could I downgrade my firmware and DSP code on the new radios? The "Help" menu on RPM says that I should be able to flash over the radio/DSP code from a radio, but the options stated in the steps of the Help menu don't pop up. I wish there was a tech manual for this!!

 

[Radioman96p71]

mis-matched Code/DSP like that is a HUGE red flag. Especially since they are several revisions apart, not to mention two different feature-sets. F9 replaced the F7/F8 code somewhere around that F7R06 version. Harris decided it would be easier to just develop bug fixes and features for one DSP line instead of trying to maintain all of them.

I don't have the release notes in front of me but i know EDACS PV w/AES was a pretty significant development late in the game, so the DSP code probably went thru many iterations fixing issues.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Don't try to downgrade your firmware and DSP on the new radios, UPGRADE the firmware and DSP in the old radios to match.

It would be fair to say that it's important that your DSP revisions should be as close to matching as possible.

 

[thisistigers]

Don't try to downgrade your firmware and DSP on the new radios, UPGRADE the firmware and DSP in the old radios to match.

It would be fair to say that it's important that your DSP revisions should be as close to matching as possible.

Ughhh. That's over a hundred units for me. How can I take the new firmware and DSP to save to my laptop?

 

[ElroyJetson]

Try using ProGrammer 18, use the "save radio code to file" and "save DSP to file" option to read out the firmware in the newer radio and save it to disk. This feature doesn't exist in ProGrammer 19 or 20, they removed it. (Jerks!) But 18 will work.

I can't remember if RPM has a similar feature or not.

If it's not in the main program, it's in the radio maintenance tools.

I can't remember if this trick (programmer 18) works on radios programmed with RPM only compatible code versions.

If all else fails, you can get your local Harris dealer, or, as a last resort, the Harris TAC to send you the original versions of the radio code and DSP that are in your new radios, so you can use it to upgrade your fleet.

Or, as the final option, maybe someone here might help you out? Guessing.


It is HIGHLY recommended that you run all your radios at the latest available firmware and DSP releases, although it does take a bit of time to do the upgrades.

Your upgrades, from R15 to R18, and F7 to F9, are a BIG jump in level so you really need to do the upgrades on each radio.

It would be a very good idea to take that opportunity to back up each radio's feature encryption and tracking data to disk as well. just in case you have any issues with any of those radios. Once every so often, you'll have to recover a radio after a glitch in the upgrade process turns it into a brick.