Motorola Syntor X

FireFighter48 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-09-2010, 11:30 AM

I have a Motorola Syntor X Model Number:174VBJ7DO4AK. I hooked it up in my office to use it as a base station. Before it belonged to my father, He said it worked when he took it out of his pickup. But now when I turn the power suppily on and push any mode button the lights dont light up. when i hit A or B those lights come on but the Mode Lights dont. It wont transmit and when i put the volume all the way up and put the squelch down, nothing happens. I checked the speaker, it is hooked up right. Any Ideas?

jim202 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-09-2010, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireFighter48

I have a Motorola Syntor X Model Number:174VBJ7DO4AK. I hooked it up in my office to use it as a base station. Before it belonged to my father, He said it worked when he took it out of his pickup. But now when I turn the power suppily on and push any mode button the lights dont light up. when i hit A or B those lights come on but the Mode Lights dont. It wont transmit and when i put the volume all the way up and put the squelch down, nothing happens. I checked the speaker, it is hooked up right. Any Ideas?

Have to ask some questions to make sure you have the radio connected correctly.

There is a heavy red and black wire at the radio end of the control cable. The red needs to go
to +12 volts and the black to the negative side of your power supply.

At the control head you should have both a green wire and an orange wire coming from the
control head. Both of these need to go to the +12 volts. I can't remember if that control
head has a ground wire or not. Of so, then tie it to the negative side of the power supply.

Make sure all the fuses are good in all 3 of the wires going to the +12 volts.

There should only be one place to connect the speaker. It should have the 2 pin white
Molex connector in line at the control head.

Let us know how you make out.

davidgcet · #3 (**permalink**) 10-09-2010, 12:21 PM

also, how much current can the power supply handle? if it can supply a steady 12-14v the radio won't turn on either. for RX only it needs at most a couple amps(mainly just for a split second during the power up) but for TX you are looking at a 20A draw so you need at least a 30A power supply. that radio is a 100 watt UHF, and they sucked some power when keyed! most likely the green wire is not getting voltage though, the head won't power up with it. the orange wire is the TX enable, without it connected the radio cannot transmit but will still RX.

FireFighter48 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-09-2010, 5:37 PM

Before i had trouble with it, i didn't know about the orange and green wires and when I only hooked up the heavy Red and Black leads the unit did nothing. My power suppily is a Kenwood KPS-10A Output: DC13.8 = 7A

MOTOROLANUT · #5 (**permalink**) 10-09-2010, 6:01 PM

With that power supply you can receive but not transmit, unless you turn the TX power down to the minimum setting.

FD5722 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-09-2010, 8:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireFighter48

Before i had trouble with it, i didn't know about the orange and green wires and when I only hooked up the heavy Red and Black leads the unit did nothing. My power suppily is a Kenwood KPS-10A Output: DC13.8 = 7A

I would reccomend a power supply capable of at least 50amps. Those Syntors are solid radios but they love the power !

datainmotion · #7 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FD5722

I would reccomend a power supply capable of at least 50amps. Those Syntors are solid radios but they love the power !

This power supply would work quite nicely for that Syntor X

Tripplite PR-60 Power Supply - RadioReference Classifieds

FireFighter48 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 11:20 AM

On that sticker in the pic it says: CAUTION- See Manuial For Positive Ground Connnections. and i have no idea what the medal thing is. Could that be a ground?

ScanBoston · #9 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireFighter48

On that sticker in the pic it says: CAUTION- See Manuial For Positive Ground Connnections. and i have no idea what the medal thing is. Could that be a ground?

No thats just to put the little hooks on the mic cord and other cords to act as a strain relief when you pull on them. The control head has no ground wire. Just tie your orange and green leads to red on the positive 12 volts. Black lead to the negative and you should be good to go.
As folks have told you that with that power supply you do not have enough current to transmit but recieve should work.

FireFighter48 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 1:42 PM

What is a Positive Ground? Well when i put the volume all the way up and the squelch down to where it should squeal it wont....................................is that a power problem?

davidgcet · #11 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 1:58 PM

positive ground is when the + side is the "ground" and the - side is the "hot". don't worry about it, you need it connected like you have it. if your radio was set in teh positive ground mode the power supply would blow a fuse. speaking of, have you checked the fuses and verified proper voltage?

FireFighter48 · #12 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 9:18 PM

Yes, last i checked it ran my GE Phoniex-SX perfect "Before it decided to be a pain in the a$$"

Luis_R · #13 (**permalink**) 10-10-2010, 9:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireFighter48

Yes, last i checked it ran my GE Phoniex-SX perfect "Before it decided to be a pain in the a$$"

That's because the GE is a 40 watt radio. Syntor is 100+ watts.

FireFighter48 · #14 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 8:05 AM

I'll put a meter on it and see what i get. What should i be getting out of it? 13.8?

mass-man · #15 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 8:30 AM

It's not so much about the VOLTS out, as it is AMPERAGE available, and your meter won't tell you that easily. It ran your PHOENIX because while both are 12v nominal radios, the PHOENIX needed way fewer AMPS to operate properly. Unless white smoke has drifted out of the top of the power supply, then you probably have the necessary voltage, but the power supply just doesn't provide enough AMPS to allow the SYNTOR to transmit. Re-read the above posts for wire connections...the radio itself needs power, as does the control head. If in doubt, try a local ham radio op or cruise by a radio shop and ask for their help. A few min. or a few bucks will save you a ton of hassle and mental anguish later on....

FireFighter48 · #16 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 10:46 AM

Will this power suppily work? Amazon.com: Pyramid PS9KX 5A/7A Power Supply with Cigarette Lighter Plug: Electronics If not how big of one will i need?

impalass427 · #17 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 11:32 AM

No, that power supply is not even close, look at the output: 5 amps constant. You need AT LEAST 30 amps constant to transmit. Or, do what I do. Get a car battery and hook it up in parrallel with a smaller power supply,, that way the amps for transmit will come out the battery, and the radio will still work in the event of a power failure. Don S

Luis_R · #18 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 12:25 PM

You need a power supply that will do at least 30 amps continuous not surge.

davidgcet · #19 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 12:34 PM

Astron RS-35M Product Reviews would be the MINIMUM, but Astron RS-50M Product Reviews would be the recommended. if you use the 35a/m you will eventually burn up the power supply if you TX a lot.

radioman2001 · #20 (**permalink**) 10-11-2010, 12:37 PM

Before you start worrying about transmit power supply requirements you need to get the radio to receive and give you squelch noise.
I will give you my trouble shooting technique with a radio presenting these problems. First verify you have a minimum of 12.5 volts at your power supply. Next make sure of your connections to all the power leads. The main big red lead, the orange and green leads all go to positive 12.5 volts, and of course the big black lead which is ground. If you have fuses in any of the lines verify they are good or make sure you have 12.5 volts on the equipment side of the fuse. BTW all Motorola radios come with positive ground warnings, so I would not be too concerned about that yet.
Next verify the connection to the radio trunk pack itself, the radio heads will light up, and even give you a transmit light with no radio connected. Next verify the cable connections on the back of the head boxes, make sure they are in their correct spots, its possible, but not very likely that one may be swapped or loose. The A B zone lights are lit up from behind, so the may come on or not if the bulb is bad, the frequency selector do not have back light bulbs, there should be just one bulb in the center of the board.
While it is a bad sign in a Spectra a popping sound when you turn on the Syntor radio is a good thing, that tells you you have 12.5 volts to the main red lead, which powers the transmitter and the receiver audio amplifier. If you get the pop, adjust the squelch control to one extreme then the other for squelch noise, if no noise make sure the radio microphone is not in the hang up box, because if the radio is set up for PL it will not unmute.
If after you run through these checks, and the radio still won't power up you are going to need a service manual, since you will have to start checking the voltage regulators in the radio.
If you do get the squelch noise your half way there. Now you can worry about current capability of you 12 volt supply. For 110 watts out, the radio will draw about 32 amps. You can lower the power out by adjusting the current limit and power out pots for the capability of you supply.