Help with Saber

[Muxlow]

Ello

Iv had this saber for a long *** time.. All i know is its VHF. No tags on it of course and not sure if its astro or not. Astro CPS dont read the radio either does about 5 versions of the Saber RSS. Tried borg Astro and Saber cables.. Nada

Only info on the radio is this on the front

I5E05I06U0 then a 9 inside a circle and a K in a circle beside that

Its a model 1, 12 channels and says securenet on the top

Iv never messed with a saber so im not sure if i had to push some buttons during power up to get it into "program mode' or not.. but just connecting the cable and reading dont seem to work

 

[robertpearsall]

Could it be a systems saber different RSS

 

[rescue161]

Systems Sabers have a 16 channel selector on top. He mentioned 12. An old DOS computer will be your best bet. Good luck.

 

[Muxlow]

Thats what i was using, Have a old comp i gotta drag out that has windows 98 on er.

Tried a few different RSS and nothing worked. Couple RSS did say system on them
Come port is working, rib is fine and not socket science to make a 5 pin DB25 and connect 3 pins to the radio.

I get a communication error when i try and read the radio with each CPS. They are all set as come port 1, even tried com 2 just for fun. This is no way a important issue at all. Just been curious as to whats inside the radio and what not

 

[rescue161]

Don't use Windows 98 at all. Use a startup disc and boot to DOS. Or, better yet, just install DOS and leave it at that. Then navigate to the RSS. Short of that, are you sure you are using a Saber cable and not an Astro Saber cable? There is a difference.

I have never been able to get the older RSS packages to run on anything faster than my 25 MHz desktop that I keep around just for this sort of thing.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Simplest possible way to tell about Sabers vs. Systems Sabers vs Astro Sabers:

For non-display radios:
12 position channel selector = Saber
16 position channel selector = Systems Saber
Presence of an A/B concentric switch located with the channel selector = Astro Saber

That alone will determine the radio family.

For display models:
Orange buttons = Saber or Systems Saber. If it's a Saber, the orange buttons will be labelled MENU, SELECT, ENTER.

Blue/green buttons = Astro Saber

Housing size: All Astro Sabers are a little over 5 inches tall. (Without battery or antenna)

No Saber can be that tall. Sabers are available in two lengths, secure and non-secure versions.

The non-secure version makes a radio that's around 4 inches tall.
The secure version is about another 5/8 inch taller.

Sabers are conventional only.
Systems Sabers support analog trunking. (Usually Smartnet) NO DIGITAL.

Astro Sabers are fully digital platforms capable of handling up to P25 Phase 1 trunking.
Depending on options, of course.

The oddball of the bunch is the rare Saber SI, which looks like an Astro Saber but is the same height as
a regular Saber in the secure version. It is actually an MTSX series radio repackage into a Saber form factor,
and was only made in 800 MHz.

Here's a nice visual reference.

 

[jaspence]

Saber programming

I have a very similar radio, only UHF. The software must be run in DOS, not a DOS window. You should be able to boot from a dos floppy and get the RSS to run from another floppy disk. Use either a cable with a RIB box or a serial cable with a chip that replaces the rib box. The RIB box is the most reliable. Even a processor that is too fast can cause problems with these older radios.