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Saber vs Astro Saber RIB Cable

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K9RPL

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Ok, Set your wayback machines to 1995(ish). I have both a Saber IE and an Astro Saber III. The RIB Cable I have is for the Astro Saber. Works great with the Astro CPS.

Now when I try that same cable on my Saber IE and my old DOS PC (the one I use to flash old radios) and RSS, The RSS fails to read and throws a Com Bus Fail.

In looking at Bat-Labs, I noticd there are two different cable diagrams. One for the Saber and one for the Astro. The only difference is the Busy line. The Astro sees Busy on Pin 6 and the Saber IE on Pin 8 of the DB25 to the RIB. One is High, the other is low.

Is this accurate? I can easily swap the pins via my trusty IDS Blue box but thought I'd ask the wise old owls here. ;)
 

N4DES

Retired 0598 Czar ÆS Ø
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It's been a while, but I have a modified cable and all it took was a single pole double throw switch between the two.
I flip it back and forth depending on which radio I'm using.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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A caveat on Saber vs Astro Saber cables.

The RF test cable for Saber is radically different than Astro Saber. Don't expect RF connectivity if you swap cables because the Saber uses a control voltage pin to switch the antenna port in the radio while the Astro Saber has a mechanical pin in the control top that depresses a switch in the radio connector. The Astro Saber cable may not mate properly to early model Saber radios as that pin has nowhere to go. Later Saber radios have a cutout in the control top to clear that pin.
 

fwradio

Texas DB Admin
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Looks like my groundbreaking idea of a 6/8 switch back in the 90's was not just my idea. I thought I was the only one with the cool programming cable that went both ways. :)
 

wa8pyr

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The info is accurate. On my cables, I mounted a tiny slide switch that connects the wire to the proper pin for the radio I need to program. I built it into the hood of the connector. 1 less cable to carry around :)

I did something similar except I used a DB25 gender changer with the appropriate wiring changes in it; allows me to use the Saber cable for my Astro Saber as well.
 

wa8pyr

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I was going to go that route until the idea of the switch was mentioned.

I'm actually tempted now to perform the necessary surgery on my Saber cable to add a tiny switch so I can put the gender changer back to normal; as they say, one less thing to carry around.
 
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