NEED HELP. I have a Motorola Clean Cab Spectrum Astro radio, throwing code "fail 01/90" upon bootup. Three year ago worked fine, now this. Possibly a bad battery on a board or ??? Any ideas? Thanks. Also posted in railroad forum.
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Clean Cab Digital Astro Spectrum Railroad Radio
- Thread starter etihparg
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spdfile1
/\/\ Junkie
radioman2001
Member
More than likely bad caps
Seems odd a cap would go bad just sitting on a shelf for three years, but IDK. I will look for a popped can.
I have bypassed the the 72V to 12V power supply and 12v direct into the radio. Same code either way. No antenna is connected, is it possible an error could be generated if not seeing an antenna (load). This particular code is very ambiguous.
I have bypassed the the 72V to 12V power supply and 12v direct into the radio. Same code either way. No antenna is connected, is it possible an error could be generated if not seeing an antenna (load). This particular code is very ambiguous.
Bad caps on the Spectra series radios is a fairly well known problem. Apparently a bad run of capacitors from the manufacturer, they get leaky whether they're in use or sitting on a shelf, or even never used still in the box.
There's a detailed page on the problem at the Repeater Builder site:
Recapping the Spectra
And another:
Refurbishing the Motorola Spectra
Thanks wa8pyr. Started digging in. One thing for sure, this thing is built like
a tank..
a tank..
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
Very common with the SMD capacitors of the 1990s. Lots of electronics wind up in a landfill because of it, even NOS, it doesn't matter. I have three NOS Philips DCC decks full of bad caps. Once they are replaced, they will sing for the first time.
It's apparently not even a bad run. If you look at the specs for a lot of SMT electrolytic caps, you see things like short life expectancy, and relatively low temperature ratings.
I think there is something peculiar about the Spectra design that pushes the physical or environmental characteristics of these types of capacitors. Even different brand replacement caps are prone to leakage in those radios.
According to the Sheet spdfile1 Posted (link)--it Says This
FAIL 01/90----General hardware failure----Turn the radio off, then on
FAIL 01/90----General hardware failure----Turn the radio off, then on
So on this particular radio, there is no on/off (as far as I can see). I think it was designed to always be on. Also cannot see any kind of reset.
ok got That take the power lead off power supply and spike it a couple of times see if that works--i had a ge years back that locked up and i took power hot lead a spiked it a few times and the radio worked
just a suggestion
just a suggestion
Actually 01/90 refers to a serial bus failure. Used to be common problems were either power on the ignition sense lead but zero volts on the main power lead or a cabling problem. Now that bad caps are cropping up, this is one of many weird symptoms that can be attributed to this.
Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
As the sign says "There's nothing ignorance and brute force can't fix".
Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
radioman2001
Member
I can assure you there are bad caps in any Spectra out there. There are at a minimum 20 years old and some even close to 35. Our agency had over 150 RR Spectra's and they have all been replaced for various reasons but mainly due to the narrow band requirement. I have the last 4 working ones in my shop I use as monitors.
As has been said Fail 01/90 is a serial buss error, so any part on the radio could fail and not be able to report to the command board giving you the error. Usually it's the RF board or audio section of the command board that goes. Look for a gooey substance anywhere on the boards and you found it. $5.00 worth of Tantulan caps and you are good to go for another 20 years,
As has been said Fail 01/90 is a serial buss error, so any part on the radio could fail and not be able to report to the command board giving you the error. Usually it's the RF board or audio section of the command board that goes. Look for a gooey substance anywhere on the boards and you found it. $5.00 worth of Tantulan caps and you are good to go for another 20 years,
radioman2001, you wouldn't happen to have a replacement smoked plastic display panel as the one on the radio I have has had the plastic scrapped away above the letter A. Evidently someone didn't like that illuminated.
radioman2001
Member
All radios were unfortunately destroyed and then left outside for 2 years before they had a junk man come get them. Included were over 200 GE Orions,100 Mastr III base stations, and several hundred portables. All service parts were thrown out many years ago. All I managed to save was the best 4 radios out of the pile.
radioman2001
Member
Could be, the chip is a LM which should be a voltage regulator of some type, and which board is this? I would still look at all the electrolitic caps for any goo or oozing from them on to the board which will show up as a discoloration.
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