XTS2500 "SALVAGED"??

[mtomany]

I bought an XTS2500 (900 MHz; Model 3) and when it powers up, I see SALVAGED on the display. It does NOT show SELF TEST while powering on. If I change to any other channel, the radio will then display UNPROGRAMMED. When SALVAGED displays, I get an intermittent "BOOP" tone from the radio. When UNPROGRAMMED displays, I get the usual steady "BOOP" tone for an uprogrammed channel. The only other thing that displays once the radio first powers up is the clock in the upper left corner, and ZONE in the lower left, above the left Menu (one dot) button... If I press ZONE, it goes away from the display, but the radio still displays SALVAGED. I have to change channel in order to get away from the SALVAGED display.

I cannot read from or write to the radio. When I try to read, I get the error message that the radio has failed to acknowledge. I am using Astro25 Portable CPS R20.02.00.

Any thoughts on how to get this thing to read/write?

Thanks in advance.
Mark - N9WYS

 

[MTS2000des]

Sounds like some depogrammed the radio and just put the word "SALVAGED" on the zone/menu for channel/zone name to easily "lock out/tag out" the unit. ASSuming you can read other Astro 25 portables with your setup, than maybe that's why it was "salvaged" (though someone had to obviously depogram it somehow, OTAP?)

 

[ElroyJetson]

The failure to read and write may be simply due to the flex connector not being seated in its receptacle on the radio circuit board, or it may be a bad housing flex assembly. Given the age of these radios, that's very likely.

"Salvaged" is just the name programmed into the channels in question. There's no internal option for marking a radio as salvaged or any other status, for that matter.

 

[com501]

Flex failures on XTS2500s are very common. That's why we stock so many. Stupid embedded parts on the flex that get smooshed.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Oh, I LEARNED about flex circuit failures the hard way! I spent way too many hours back in the day troubleshooting my first US government surplus (from a local auction) VHF MX radios. Everything on the board worked....but I couldn't make the radio work. And then I learned how "reliable" MX flex circuits are. So then I went to my local MSS and bought a new flex circuit and frame, and suddenly I had a working radio after a couple hours of labor! That opened the door for me and I couldn't stand NOT upgrading MX radios. I bought lots of them and hand picked the best parts that had the highest performance specs and built super radios. I upgraded the synthesized versions to their full 48 channel ultimate form. I have to say that I've never had as much fun messing with any type of radio, before or since, as the MX series. And they sure taught me a lot about the MYTH that flexible circuits are reliable if you actually flex them!

 

[Echo4Thirty]

Flex failures on XTS2500s are very common. That's why we stock so many. Stupid embedded parts on the flex that get smooshed.

Not to mention those stupid brown flex clips on the board that love to break off, or the wonderful antenna connector that breaks off its solder connections. Or the ever so amazing volume pot that pulls its shaft out when the user grabs the knob too hard.

 

[ElroyJetson]

That's where the lower tier level of the XTS2500 becomes apparent. Stuff breaks on them that never breaks on an XTS5000.

Those various breakage issues are all to familiar to those of us who've worked on the lesser brands., (Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, Vertex, the "fine china" brands like HYT/HYTERA.... (Fine china because if you drop them on the floor they WILL break like your mom's favorite dinner plates!)

I stocked Kenwood antenna connectors by the dozens. Schools used those radios a lot and of course the antenna is not just an antenna, it's a handle. Not a good idea when the antenna connector is held in place with two small screws. On some models I could even resolder the new connector's antenna pin without having to fully disassemble the radio. Just use a long skinny tip on the soldering iron.

There were some radios that had GUARANTEED knob shaft failures because it was a thick 6mm shaft under the knob, but was necked down to about 2mm where it entered the pot body. Drop the radio on the knobs and SNAP!

The 5K is by far the superior radio as far as I'm concerned. Among the XTS series I'll have no other.

 

[N4KVE]

My problem is they never made a 5K that did 900 MHz. That’s why I own 2500’s. But since it’s my radio that I paid for, & treat it well, it works fine.

 

[mbnv992]

What’s interesting is my xts3000 has fantastic sensitivity and just sounds better ( at least in analog ) than my xts5000. The speaker has a much better “bass” to it and just sounds crisper / cleaner.

 

[ElroyJetson]

I know the 800 MHz XTS5000 is actually 700/800 MHz but I still have yet to find a way to actually use the 700 MHz range for anything. I'm not even positive that it can be used for voice in the 700 band outside of a P25 scheme. Being able to use 700 for simplex voice would be nice, if allowable.

 

[prcguy]

I have a 700/800 XTS2500 and I just brought up a code plug and added a 770MHz simplex channel in analog mode and the software accepted it, so the radio should program and work fine there.

Well there goes the cheap prices on 700/800 2500s. They will all be offered to preppers now for covert simplex use at an inflated price!

I know the 800 MHz XTS5000 is actually 700/800 MHz but I still have yet to find a way to actually use the 700 MHz range for anything. I'm not even positive that it can be used for voice in the 700 band outside of a P25 scheme. Being able to use 700 for simplex voice would be nice, if allowable.

 

[ElroyJetson]

The last time I even messed with it was maybe eight to ten years ago. Really, it's been that long.

 

[GTR8000]

I know the 800 MHz XTS5000 is actually 700/800 MHz but I still have yet to find a way to actually use the 700 MHz range for anything. I'm not even positive that it can be used for voice in the 700 band outside of a P25 scheme. Being able to use 700 for simplex voice would be nice, if allowable.

For what purpose would you need 700 MHz analog simplex capability? Certainly not for personal use, so what agency in your area is operating in that mode?

 

[prcguy]

My local fire dept has lots of simplex NFM channels in the 700MHz range.

QUOTE="GTR8000, post: 3722852, member: 737341"]
For what purpose would you need 700 MHz analog simplex capability? Certainly not for personal use, so what agency in your area is operating in that mode?
[/QUOTE]

 

[marcotor]

My local fire dept has lots of simplex NFM channels in the 700MHz range.

As does my county, which has multiple simplex NFM in the 700 range

 

[chrismol1]

What’s interesting is my xts3000 has fantastic sensitivity and just sounds better ( at least in analog ) than my xts5000. The speaker has a much better “bass” to it and just sounds crisper / cleaner.

I've never brought this up before but yes, when I had a 3000 and as well my Astro Saber are the some of the best sounding analog radios. Something in the speaker, something in the firmware/some audio settings pre-narrowband, I don't know but they are rich sounding audio even after narrowbanding

So did the OP ever figure out why it wasn't reading? Obviously someone programmed salvage into it before it was pushed out into the world. Is the contacts dirty? I've had radios not read and giving it a wipe down, cleaing contacts, and reconnecting fixed the issue. Maybe even a dirty pin spring/contact on the program cable, a couple more reconnects and it finally read