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APX 7500 Turning off

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pvfd328

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I have 2 APX 7500 trunking radios that while on the trunking channels will turn off most of the time while trying to connect up with the system. Usually takes less than 45 seconds for them to turn off. When it is on conventional channels it will transmit just fine with no problems. I have tried power connections and no change. Has anyone else had any problems with this? If so what is the fix?
 

mmckenna

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With the little bit of info you provided, it sounds like your radio isn't supposed to be on those trunked systems.

Can you give us some background on the radios, where you got them, and were they properly set up by the system administrator for the trunked radio system?
 

pvfd328

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We got the radios from the people that set up the trunking system and it was set up by them also. Only thing I did was hook up the power and the antennas on the radio. Both the power wires and the ground wires have good connection. When the radio powers it self off and back on I change the zone to a conventional channel and can transmit just fine, change the zone back to trucking and most of the time will shut off before logging onto the system. Some of the times it will connect up to the system and operate, not changing were it is located and it has a good signal after it connects up.
 

KevinC

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What exactly do you mean by "turn off"? They physically power off or you just can't transmit?

Also, what system is this?
 

pvfd328

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They physically power off then turn back on. They will do that several times in a row part of the time.
 

firemedic2150

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I have seen the same behavior many times in XTL2500 and Astro Spectra Plus radios, 95% of the time it was due to a problem with the antenna connector. I would find ones on very loose, bad crimps, bad coax, and occasionally high SWR due to bad or wrong band of antenna. It seems the high RF created at the antenna port causes the radio to shut down and reboot.

Hope this helps.
Mark Mc.
 

KevinC

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If conventional truley transmits fine and trunking causes a reset I would guess it a power source issue. The conventional channels are probably set to low power and the trunking set to a higher power level.

But with the limited info you are providing that's just a guess.
 

pvfd328

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.4; en-us; DROID3 Build/5.5.1_84_D3G-66_M2-10) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

I am using a power supply, it is a 30 amp. Power setting on the conventional channels is set on high. I am waithing for a new part to put the SWR meter on it but is is the correct length and all connectors have zero ohms between the ground and antenna.
 

NickH

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I'm pretty sure this was a known issue late last year and fixed with a firmware upgrade.
 

PJH

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There is a firmware fix for the ASTRO25 series for cold weather radios, but it only affected a limited number of late models. I don't recall seeing this behavior for the APX radios.

What power is the radio? Going to assume 800MHz which means amp draw should only be around ~12 at full power. If a VHF/UHF 100watt radio, amp draw can be up towards 25amps without looking. Also could be a defective power supply that just can't handle the radio (wouldn't be the first time).
 

PJH

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Also, post the firmware revision and flashcode if possible, and any secure modules that you might be using.

If bought new (or even used) it wouldn't hurt to call Motorola and open a case.

I looked back a few revision and didn't see anything that would cause this issues. Some more details of the system type and radio feautres may help. I can look at the codeplug as well, but I'll suspect that its just a power supply issue.
 

pvfd328

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Firmware version R08.00.00, Flashcode 102158-000480-3
This is a 50 watt radio, the conventional channels power setting is on high. That is the original Firmware version and the radio shows it was born 6-25-12. It is a dual band VHF and 7/800 MHZ radio.
 

PJH

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FW10.0 is out now. I'd recommend upgrading the radio to 10 and give it a try. If you have a MOL account with the proper access you can download the file and program it in with normal CPS..or your radio shop can do that. Only takes a few minutes to do and should be free or 1/2hr of shop time.

If that doesn't work, open up a case with Motorola and see what they say.

Was this radio bought new/legit or bought on ebay, etc?
 

pvfd328

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It was given to us with a grant from the state so it is legit and it was new. I will try loading the new firmware and see how that works.
 

com501

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Where **exactly** is the antenna in relation to the power supply/ radio??

This sounds all the world like a radio reset/power issue. If RF is getting into your PS, you are going to have nothing but trouble. PLEASE tell me you aren't using a mag mount on top of the power supply.
 

crazyboy

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Where **exactly** is the antenna in relation to the power supply/ radio??

This sounds all the world like a radio reset/power issue. If RF is getting into your PS, you are going to have nothing but trouble. PLEASE tell me you aren't using a mag mount on top of the power supply.


In theory it would be doing it on the conventional channels too, unless they are in a different band.
 

PJH

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Com, I was thinking the same as well.

Crazy, not nessearly. Data packets can actually do some crazy things at time with the modulation just not agreeing with certain componets if the RF is getting back in.

A semi-example would be the old Nextel packets that would cause all sorts of RF issues with many unshielded (and shielded) devices.

In theory it would be doing it on the conventional channels too, unless they are in a different band.
 

pvfd328

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It will be until the weekend before I can test the unit again. One of the antennas is close to the radio and power supply but not on either one of them. I will try it with the second antenna it is farther away to see if that is part of the problem also. Thank you all for your help with this. Digital transmissions are new to me and I need to learn more about them.
 

PJH

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Nothing new to learn. I am going to assume that you have never really done an install before?

Are these going to be used as base stations or in a vehicle?

If in a vehicle, mount it properly and see what happens...

If as a base station, see above. You really can't "test" stuff in an enviroment that doesn't represent its actual operating enviroment.
 
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