Astro Saber help

[stewco422]

I'm looking to get an Astro Saber for use on my fire dept. Like many other people who have almost no knowledge of radios, I bought a regular Saber from ebay a couple months ago. I quickly learned that it would be a good paperweight as of 01-01-13. I am now looking at the Astro's. What I would like it to do, is have scanning capabilities and have unit # ID for dispatch and for me to see who is calling. My guess is that the Astro II might be able to do this because it has the screen on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Skypilot007]

Need a little more information please. I'm gona take a stab at it and guess you are using conventional type radio system with MDC 1200 signaling. Or conventional P25 system. Either way I'd reconsider the astro sabre and look for an XTS3000. Even thought its practly an astro sabre in disguise its more modern and can be had for very reasonable prices lately on ebay. Let us know what type of radio system you are dealing with and we can go from there.

 

[N4KVE]

While a XTS3000 is a newer radio, quite possibly the OP wants an Astro Saber because he already has the accessories from his Saber which would work on the Astro Saber. If he gets a XTS3000, he'd have to start all over with batteries etc. But either way, they are both great radios, & I have both. The Astro Saber is a slimmer radio,& easily fits in a back pocket. But the XTS would be shorter if that is a concern. GARY

 

[KE4ZNR]

I'm looking to get an Astro Saber for use on my fire dept. Like many other people who have almost no knowledge of radios, I bought a regular Saber from ebay a couple months ago. I quickly learned that it would be a good paperweight as of 01-01-13. I am now looking at the Astro's. What I would like it to do, is have scanning capabilities and have unit # ID for dispatch and for me to see who is calling. My guess is that the Astro II might be able to do this because it has the screen on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Considering the original poster is in Greenville SC then he is probably
talking about the Palmetto 800. There is effort underway to migrate
the 3600 Baud Palmetto 800 system to full P25 9600 which means
he needs to consider a radio that can handle P25 9600 which means
neither a Saber nor an XTS3000 will fit the bill.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[stewco422]

Hey guys. Thanks for the responses. Moonboots is right that I have all the chargers/holder/mic for the Saber. I have no idea about the Palmetto 800 system. I know we currently use UHF and are switching to narrowband UHF. My dept currently uses HT1250's for the paid staff, but being a vol FF, I have to buy my own stuff.

 

[evfd1625]

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Make sure the Astro Saber has a 1 Meg board in it. Otherwise it will sound like junk and can't do the splinter frequencies.

 

[Skypilot007]

Hey guys. Thanks for the responses. Moonboots is right that I have all the chargers/holder/mic for the Saber. I have no idea about the Palmetto 800 system. I know we currently use UHF and are switching to narrowband UHF. My dept currently uses HT1250's for the paid staff, but being a vol FF, I have to buy my own stuff.

Then yes I would be looking for the astro sabre then...just make sure you follow jlamanske's suggestion above. Happy shopping!

 

[radioman2001]

Not true about the XTS-3000 and 9600bd trunking. There is a limited firmware and DSP version that works on all 9600 bd systems, you lose some of it's capability compared to a newer radio, but they do exist.

 

[mancow]

As long as the P25 system doesn't use 700 MHz frequencies a 6.XX firmware Astro Saber or XTS3000 will work fine.

 

[KG4INW]

Remember though, that the old Sabers use MX connector antennas while the Astros use SMA connectors (same as the Jedi and XTS). This means that the speaker mic nut will need to be swapped to work. The AS is also taller so the belt clip won't work either. The battery will work though!

 

[FFPM571]

Older square speaker mics will work with both just have to change the nut.

 

[stewco422]

I ended up buying an Astro 2 with model number with the following info:

FCC ID: AZ489FT4783
Model Number: H04SDF9PW7AN
Factory ID: Astro
Flashcode: 100004-000000-4
System Package: H37

I sent it to the local Motorola service center to get programmed. I'm guessing that it only has 16 channels since the channel selector only went to 16. There is also an A/B switch under the channel selector. Doe this make it a 32 channel? I've tried finding a users manual online in PDF format, but all I can seem to find is a quick guide. Anyone have access to one?

 

[N4KVE]

The "F" in SDF means the radio is a limited keypad radio. Using the menu, you can have multiple banks with 16 ch per bank. The max would be 256 ch. I use the switch below the ch knob for scan, although the official use is for encryption. On a radio with no display, you would use that switch to have 32 ch. GARY N4KVE