VX-8R mods.
Hello.
As some are aware, the VX-8R is indeed a firmware (software) based radio.
The only way to get firmware out of the radio is from the contact points provided, serial data.
If done incorrectly it will "brick" the radio, just one glitch will do it as the software must be running for a transfer to take place.
With that said, one can look at the service manual and see the serial port connection to the CPU from the service manual.
There is a test fixture that has been cloned that allows a solid connection to the Vertex RIB, FIF-10a.
Again, it is VERY easy to brick this radio, even in a read function.
A radio was bricked, and revived, has the housing modded and now only accepts external power, this is the "donor" radio.
From the donor radio it is possible to clone another like it, a simple serial connection.
As far as getting the actual source code, fat chance, all we have been able to do is decompile what we have, identify what everything does and move the frequency limit markers.
As was eluded to in the prior posts, there is indeed a "new and improved" VX-8R out, the VX-8DR and VX-8GR.
Every attempt to do much more than reassign frequency coverage and channel assignments leads to a bricked radio, and why the donor radio, we can recover from any fault as there is direct access to the CPU.
Again, creating a donor radio is a major mod to the case that will render the radio unusable as a talkie.
Access to both the CPU and EEPROM is done in the usual manner as the ports are brought to the outside of the case, and why there is no easy way to do this.
Again, this involves major work on one talkie that can not easily be undone.
In the case of the VX-7R, one can pull the radio out of its case and lay the 3 boards out, access is much easier, VX-8R is not so easy.
There are no plans to do anything but the donor radios and clone.
AFAIK, there is no other way to do this.
And if you do brick your radio I can not help you, how do you think we get the source for donor radios?
