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ZR-310 help with PM400's

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Elfnetdesigns

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ALright I have a Zetron ZR-310 controller and a pair of Motorola PM400's UHF.

The issue I have is getting the PL/DPL to pass through the TX radio, the RX radio receives fine, the controller decodes and auths that tone but the TX radio does not pass the tome through.

I can replace the PM400 with and SM50 and it works fine but I cannot legally use an SM50 since its wideband..

I cannot work out what I am missing here with the PM400 TX radio..

Also the default accessory setting for the 310 in the PM400 software does not configure properly either. Meaning by default is does not allow PL/DPL to pass through the radio.
 

Elfnetdesigns

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Alright that's what I was thinking after messing about with all this. So how about this. Will an M1225 pass the PL/DPL?

If that will work then I can get the site back up and in business until the new repeater and PA finals arrive sometime next week..

Long story short, one of my tower sites tool a lightning hit a few days ago. The antenna and line are toast but I have spares up there so I switched over but the radio apparently took some of that hit too.

The only other radio in the building that could work is the OLD original GE Mastr2 with its community repeater card slot shelf but that's a wideband radio, I can't legally use that though it performs and sounds 100x better.
It is tempting as a temporary hold over until the new stuff arrives but I want to be legal here.
 

Elfnetdesigns

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Why do you need PL to pass through?

It's a community repeater, the ZR-310 decodes incoming PD/DPL and then regenerates it if the PL/DPL is validated for that customer.

What are you connecting transmit audio to, the external mic input or flat tx audio?

I have tried both I have a set of 16 pin cables, in the PM400 you can program the pins for flat or mic audio. neither gave results.
 

ramal121

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You can program the receive audio type but not the transmit, you must use flat on pin 5. You then program the ptt type and from which input it will pull audio from.

Since it works with a SM50 I'll guess the zetron is programmed correctly. So when you access the repeater it keys up and passes voice just no PL/DPL? What I would do is look at transmit on a scope to see if there is any sign of life for the signalling. PL is usually a no brainer and if you can get 100Hz or better deviation a receiver usually opens up. The tone would have to be wayyyyy distorted before a decoder rejects it.

DPL is a little more of a struggle. You could be inverting the waveform (fix that in Zetron programming) or the data is so soft and mushy it can't be decoded. Again you'll have to see it to make a determination. DPL is also a little more critical to have the correct deviation compared to PL.
 

Elfnetdesigns

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Pin 5... I didn't think of that one... DERP!
I'll check that before I go digging up other radios
 
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Elfnetdesigns

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Yep, You know I thought TOO HARD on this and completely overlooked that...
BTW don't you mean Pin 2 is the mic audio input? Pin 3 is PTT

UPDATE! - Still not working. the 310 is producing tone but the PM400 is not passing it on pin 5 either.
 
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ramal121

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UPDATE! - Still not working. the 310 is producing tone but the PM400 is not passing it on pin 5 either.

Bummer. Your programming should look like the sample below. You're sure tone is going into the radio transmit input?
 

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Elfnetdesigns

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Yep it looks like that

What i got from the ZR310 is:

Pin2 - Mic Hi
Pin3 - PTT
Pin5 - Flat Audio In
Pin7 - Ground

The cable is matched pin for pin also
 

cmdrwill

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External PTT Audio Source: You only have Flat Audio set. Should be both to get the audio AND Tone to get to the transmitter separately. Alltho that may not be a option in the CPS.

You may have to combine the PL tone and receive audio and feed that into the flat audio pin. But that requires filtering of the RX audio to get the proper transmit pre emphasis, and over deviation, modulation will be a problem.. And you need test equipment. Not for the garage mechanic...

On some tone panel installations I had to bring the 'tone' into the transmitter completely separate to the actual place in the radio that the internal tone is put on the transmit audio.
 

ramal121

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External PTT Audio Source: You only have Flat Audio set. Should be both to get the audio AND Tone to get to the transmitter separately. Alltho that may not be a option in the CPS.

You may have to combine the PL tone and receive audio and feed that into the flat audio pin. But that requires filtering of the RX audio to get the proper transmit pre emphasis, and over deviation, modulation will be a problem.. And you need test equipment. Not for the garage mechanic...

On some tone panel installations I had to bring the 'tone' into the transmitter completely separate to the actual place in the radio that the internal tone is put on the transmit audio.
Think cmdrwill is right. Been so long since I have had my hands on one. If voice and tone are on separate lines then you would use external PTT as both ext mic AND flat tx audio. Think the CPS gives you that choice.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk
 

Elfnetdesigns

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Yeah, I was thinking that too. I have test equipment also.
Anyways Monday is here and the people need their radios working so I just used the SM 50 until Thursday when the replacement repeater arrives.
I hate doing that but I have no choice at this time but I will still like to work out the PM400 thing though so I will keep messing with it and see if I can make it do what I need it to.
 

Elfnetdesigns

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UPDATE: Thanks for helping me with this issue. I did get the PM400 to work and the setup is going to be installed tomorrow (08-22-2017) so I can take the backup GE mastr 2 offline ASAP since it is wideband..
I had no choice on that one until I got something narrowband put together until a new more permanent radio arrives.
 
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