Spectra VHF, UHF 110W NEED HELP!

[stwicks]

Greetings all, this is my first post. Lots of good information here! I will be as short as poss...

I came accross a deal for a T83FWA7HA9AK VHF 110W with Systems 9000 HCN1073A head and also and extra T84FWA7HA9AK UHF 110W with no head. When I power the VHF up, it goes through systems check ok, then says STATEWIDE 1 (must have been government usage) only buttons that do anything are VOL up and down, SCAN, and MONITER on off. If I key up, nothing happens, no TX light, beeps, nothing. My guess, the radio has been decomissioned and needs to be re-programmed. So I got an old 386 16MHZ with DOS 6 computer, RSS Spectra ver. 6.00.05. I also bought a RIBLESS cable on ebay from a guy claiming this cable does the job of RIB and not battery..? Motorola Spectra High-Power (25-pin) Programming Cable - eBay (item 350268470876 end time Jan-20-10 08:07:27 PST)

I was weary of this cable, but feedback of others who bought this cable said it worked great. So the cable comes in the mail. This is how I hooked it up. The trunk unit only has a 25 pin connector where the head unit attaches, so I attach the RIBLESS cable here, then I attach the 9 pin to my computers Serial port. Simple. I apply 12V to the trunk unit, then execute the RSS. Try to pull the codeplug...RSS says SERIAL PORT POWER FAILURE, then SERIAL PORT COMMUNICATIONS ERROR, CHECK CABLES. So I went into RSS settings and try COM 1 just for the heck...even though the cable is hooked to my COM 2 port. COM 1 says on RSS SERIAL BUS LINE BLOCKED/BUSY. I guess no suprise since I have COM 1 disabled in CMOS. In short, no matter what I try to do, I cant get anything remotely to work in RSS. I get the same message even with no cable hooked to the COM 2 port. Any suggestions? Is it this crazy cable I bought? It was also thinking I could have a problem with my COM 2 port on my computer...i don't know.

Oh and by the way... when I hook the A9 head that works with the VHF up to the UHF and power that radio up, it says systems check, then MODE 0 and VOL up and DOWN work but thats it. If I press the #4 key, the head unit will reset. All other keys do nothing? Is this because the UHF is probably not programmed to that head?

Thanks a bunch
Steve

 

[RKG]

High power Spectra decks should have two DB-25 connectors. The one near the power connector is for the remoting cable. The one inside the handle is for programming.

 

[stwicks]

High power Spectra decks should have two DB-25 connectors. The one near the power connector is for the remoting cable. The one inside the handle is for programming.

The VHF radio has 2 db-25s but the UHF only has 1. The spot on the UHF one inside the handle has a factory plastic cover where it looks like a db-25 COULD go. Either way, I tried both on the VHF radio and nothing. Still get SERIAL BUS ERROR: POWER FAILURE.

 

[stwicks]

Update, I didnt realize that the UHF DB-25 inside the handle was just a cover installed, I unscrewed the screws and there is a DB-25 in there.

Thanks

 

[RKG]

Correct. And the control head needs to be connected to the deck in order to read or write to the radio.

 

[twowaytekk]

The Spectra needs the proper amperage, even to program. Make sure you have it hooked up to a good power supply before you try to read the radio. Also many of those ribless cables that were designed to replace the ribs are junk. I would get the real thing and try again.