APX 700XE will not transceive on 439mhz?

[wb4sqi]

Using a 7000XE on vhf/uhf amateur bands with CPS R34, no issues until I decided to try my P25 hotspot on 439.900. CPS allowed the frequency and uploaded to the radio with no issues. However, the radio would not receive or transmit on this frequency. The hotspot works with other P25 radios on this same frequency so the problem seems to be with the APX.

I have not tried other 430 frequencies and my freq counter is packed up from a house move. . The radio works well on all Amateur, MURS and GMRS frequencies. Just looking for ideas here.

TIA

Nick

 

[wgbecks]

Using a 7000XE on vhf/uhf amateur bands with CPS R34, no issues until I decided to try my P25 hotspot on 439.900. CPS allowed the frequency and uploaded to the radio with no issues. However, the radio would not receive or transmit on this frequency. The hotspot works with other P25 radios on this same frequency so the problem seems to be with the APX.

A couple of thoughts...

(1) Did you set the Tx & Rx NAC in the APX to match the NAC that's set in the Hotspot and other P25 radio(s) that work with the Hotspot?
(2) Did you program a RID of the APX to match those that appear in the Hotspot's Node Control Access List?
(3) Did you program the same Talkgroup ID as those used by the other P25 radios used with the Hotspot?

Check to see if you can hear the APX on one of the other P25 radios known to work with the Hotspot when transmitting on the APX.
Conversely, check to see if the APX will receive the transmissions from the other P25 radio(s) that are known to work with the Hotspot.

Lastly, Hotspots have a very narrow range of frequency acceptance. There may be a difference in frequency accuracy between that of
the APX and the other P25 radio(s) that work with the Hotspot. The error could be significant if the APX is out of alignment.

 

[n3obl]

Whats the history on the APX. When was it last aligned. P25 requires spot on signal. Any deviation can cause it to not receive.

 

[wb4sqi]

A couple of thoughts...

(1) Did you set the Tx & Rx NAC in the APX to match the NAC that's set in the Hotspot and other P25 radio(s) that work with the Hotspot?

Yes

(2) Did you program a RID of the APX to match those that appear in the Hotspot's Node Control Access List?

My Shark OpenSpot 4 doesn't have a node control access list.

(3) Did you program the same Talkgroup ID as those used by the other P25 radios used with the Hotspot?

Yes

Check to see if you can hear the APX on one of the other P25 radios known to work with the Hotspot when transmitting on the APX.
Conversely, check to see if the APX will receive the transmissions from the other P25 radio(s) that are known to work with the Hotspot.

Still need to do this. I have a Harris P200 to help me test the APX.

Lastly, Hotspots have a very narrow range of frequency acceptance. There may be a difference in frequency accuracy between that of
the APX and the other P25 radio(s) that work with the Hotspot. The error could be significant if the APX is out of alignment.

It last worked with the Harris P200 back in the late summer. After doing all this I remembered that I found very little P25 activity with the hotspot. I had it set up for a U.S. reflector that I assumed would be active like the D-star and DMR nationwide reflectors. I need to look into this a bit more.

Thanks for your suggestions, still have work to do to sort this out.

 

[wb4sqi]

Whats the history on the APX. When was it last aligned. P25 requires spot on signal. Any deviation can cause it to not receive.

Unknown to me. See my other reply above. I would like to find a local ham friendly M shop to test it for me.

 

[wgbecks]

My Shark OpenSpot 4 doesn't have a node control access list.

When programming your APX, did you convert the Open Spot’s "Decimal" NAC value into "Hexadecimal" required by your APX?
Remember to check communications between your APX and any other radio(s) that work with the Open Spot.

 

[wb4sqi]

When programming your APX, did you convert the Open Spot’s "Decimal" NAC value into "Hexadecimal" required by your APX?
Remember to check communications between your APX and any other radio(s) that work with the Open Spot.

R34 appears to take hex and convert it to decimal or vice-versa. I just added 439.900 simplex to my P25 repeater zone, most of the cells auto populated. I set the Shark for TG10200, USA nationwide according to Pi-star web site. While I hear the Shark announce time on the hour on the XL200 I don't hear it on the APX.

 

[dickie757]

Did you place the personality into a zone?

 

[wb4sqi]

Did you place the personality into a zone?

No, there are 5 zones, Ham FM, Ham P25, MURS, GMRS, NOAA WX.

 

[dickie757]

As a trial, to make sure you are using the correct personality, make a P25 Hotspot zone. On the DMR side of hotspots, I created different channels that have different talkgroups, colorcodes, etc, but the same freq for use on my hotspot. I am still working on my P25 codeplug, but plan on doing the same thing. It creates a few more clicks while using the radio, but helps track down problems.

 

[wb4sqi]

As a trial, to make sure you are using the correct personality, make a P25 Hotspot zone. On the DMR side of hotspots, I created different channels that have different talkgroups, colorcodes, etc, but the same freq for use on my hotspot. I am still working on my P25 codeplug, but plan on doing the same thing. It creates a few more clicks while using the radio, but helps track down problems.

OK, I'll give that a try next week. Visiting Columbus, OH this weekend so need to load up some P25 repeaters. Thanks for the input.

 

[wb4sqi]

Success! I added a new zone for P25 repeaters in Columbus so I decided to add a new zone for my hotspot. Works perfect.

Now to find a reflector that has some traffic to test the hotspot.

Thanks to all for your suggestions, much appreciated.

Nick