It’s possible that simply removing the feature is not the only limitation. Remember that in the case of phase 2, it’s ambe, not imbe, and that vocoder is licensed per unit. Why would Harris pay to add ambe when they know they won’t get paid for it? It’s entirely possible that products that are feature limited physically lack the proper vocoder. It’s also possible that there are other shortcomings in the design that NECESSITATE a limited feature set. Remember too that the radio is certified by the FCC for particular bands and emissions designators.
Remove the feature and it may work flawlessly, or it may do nothing. Normally, feature mismatches are ignored… like all the XG100Ps that have 50 OMAP wideband disable… that does nothing, it’s 58 Unity wideband disable that matters. Just food for thought.
-B