Yaesu: DR-1X Problem

[rittmanfireman]

So I have exhausted my Googling skills for the past 24 hours with no avail. I have a DR-1X and upon power up yesterday it asked for my callsign and then booted up. It is displaying as a FTM-400 mobile radio and all menus are gone as it is looking for input from front panel buttons and knobs. How do you get this thing to realize that it not a mobile and is infact a repeater. (I know that the radios that make it up are mobile FTM-400 radios). I do not have the usb programming cable to try to update the firmware. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[rittmanfireman]

 

[vagrant]

Wow, that is a new one for me. Also, the cable it needs came with the repeater which I believe is the SCU-20.

So, does the touch screen work at all?

Have you turned off the repeater, hold the [SETUP] button and turn the repeater back on?

If none of the above do anything, a call into Yaesu is your next move. Actually, one other thing to try is turn the repeater off and hold a finger on the touch screen while turning it on. See if that does anything.

By the way, are you using an external controller, or is anything plugged into the back serial or din ports on the back of the repeater?

 

[rittmanfireman]

So the idea was to turn it into a DMR repeater but I never got that far. I got the repeater second hand so no cable. The touch screen works but very limited funtion.

 

[prcguy]

Why not get an actual DMR repeater, some are very reasonable priced. Even a lower end Motorola XPR 8300 has much better radios inside than the FTM-400s in the DR-1X.

So the idea was to turn it into a DMR repeater but I never got that far. I got the repeater second hand so no cable. The touch screen works but very limited funtion.

 

[rittmanfireman]

Why not get an actual DMR repeater, some are very reasonable priced. Even a lower end Motorola XPR 8300 has much better radios inside than the FTM-400s in the DR-1X.

I only paid $200 and I don't have much money. This is my hobby. Please stick to the topic of this thread. I would not like it to be closed for getting off of topic. Thank you for understanding.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Why not get an actual DMR repeater, some are very reasonable priced. Even a lower end Motorola XPR 8300 has much better radios inside than the FTM-400s in the DR-1X.

Any DMR repeater will work better than a fusion box. Hell almost any analogue repeater will work better.

 

[rittmanfireman]

Any DMR repeater will work better than a fusion box. Hell almost any analogue repeater will work better.

If I had the money I would have bought an 8300. I just need to fix this one.

 

[vagrant]

From what I was told...
Only the early batches of DR1X repeaters could be turned into DMR repeaters. Yaesu got wind of that and did something to thwart that a few years ago. Since then, all of their new repeaters, as well as the refurbished models they sell will no longer do that conversion. Additionally, in their effort to stop that conversion from happening, Yaesu pulled back in old DR1X repeaters through a trade-in "upgrade" program to DR2X. I could be entirely wrong, but I do not think so. I never converted one as I like them as they are. A guy heard I had a earlier model and offered to purchase it. He then advised me of what Yaesu did. ( I declined his offer )

Well, I presume you tried the steps I noted above to no avail. It appears you may have spare parts you paid $200 for, or you can spend some more and send it to Yaesu for repair. Either way, getting that to become a DMR repeater does not look like it will happen. I have read posts people made explaining that they sent their repeater into Yaesu under warranty, only to get a different "working" one in return. Probably one that Yaesu "fiXed".

As for the advice prcguy provided, that is the point of a forum like this and it is good advice. You steered it that way by posting what you wanted to do with the repeater. Unfortunately, he is getting old and his psychic mind reading is not as good as it used to be, so he was not aware of your budget. It is a hobby for me as well. I also know it is a hobby for prcguy too and many others that use this forum.

If you are able to fix it, please come back and post what you did. Remember, search engines parse these threads and someone else may encounter the same problem as you. I'm sure they would enjoy reading your solution.

 

[rittmanfireman]

I was able to find this screen by holding the setup button. Looks like is shows the firmware version of the unit. Also I was able to update the unit to 1.1 for the main firmware. To update the DSP you need hold the screen and then press the setup button while turning on the unit. This part is not working for me. Small bits of progress.

 

[vagrant]

Nice! - You may need to perform a factory reset. I presume you downloaded the PDF manual. Keep going and keep us updated.

Oh wait, for the DSP, I could be wrong because it has been a while, but for the DSP there should be a switch you need to move in one of the units. Basically, you need to take off the cover and there should be a round hole near the top corner of either the receiver or TX side. I haven't done that for a few years on the Yaesu repeaters I've had my fingers into. Even on my Yaesu FTM400 mobile radios I had to flip that switch and then flip it back during an update.

 

[rittmanfireman]

I am soooo happy rn. I got it fixed and I am currently updating the DSP. I will give more details after I sleep. I am going to have to make a video or tutorial about this.

 

[K4EET]

I am soooo happy rn. I got it fixed and I am currently updating the DSP. I will give more details after I sleep. I am going to have to make a video or tutorial about this.

Please do make a tutorial and a video and post them in this thread or at least post links within this thread. It sounds like you might have some information that other Yaesu repeater owners would like to know about.