spectra programming issue

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 8:51 pm

while checking the comm test i get a Serial Bus Failure protocol error in the RSS if i power off the
RIB i get power Failure if i power off the radio i get Busy Line Locked. any help her would be appreciated

EKS · Post by **EKS** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:27 pm

Factory rib and cables? The cheap ones will give you this type of error.

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:37 pm

factory RIB, homemade cable from RIB to Spectra

EKS · Post by **EKS** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:04 pm

ok, double check the wiring on the homemade cable.

You might want to check the programming port on the radio as well. Look inside the holes and make sure you can see the contacts.

If all of that is good, then it might be a setting on the PC. The spectras can be sorta picky. I have some crazy ritual I do when programming mine so I don't turn it into a wheel chok.

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:35 am

I'm using a P4 2.4 booting to dos 622 from floppy then using flashdrive as HD with mrss on it, works with my ht1000 , mt1000's only difference is cable from rib to radio, radio, and rss ver. homemade cable looks ok but had to add pins to existing acc. plug . i think i'll go get new connectors and build from new.

phrawg · Post by **phrawg** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:38 am

GEEEEZZZZZZZZ !!!!!!! Doesn't anyone read the
programming primer here any more. ?

"A P4 at 2.4 "

Must be opening a brick factory !!!!!!!!!!

OK, now really. take all of your pc's cables, ribs etc and put then in a
very safe and secure place that takes 3 people with different keys to
let you get them back, then go read the programming primer here on this board 100 times and write on the chalkboard
"I will not use higher than dos 6.22 on a 486 25mhz machine" 100 times.

You may then get your rib and cables back so you can get an appropriate
pc for programming and try again.
Phrawg

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:38 am

would you think the pc would make a difference....it presents different issue if the RIB is powered off or the radio is off, it seems as though it can tell that much...

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:40 am

but this setupo works for my ht1000 and mt1000 programming. P.S. this is the first time at a spectra and first time with this ver of rss

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:53 am

It must be hard to deal with know it all newbie's (that being me) . i'm back to looking for a 486 to run this s##t on........not the best design in interface. bums me out that this works for some but not all .....i've done 16 ht1000's and 12 mt1000's over the last 2 months with this setup with no problems what so ever. get to a better radio.... and poof. i thought i had beat the odds......

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:03 pm

moved to old laptop that was used for this purpose for years past that lost display and i get the same result.... however the ht1000 and mt1000 are working on this unit also.....i'm headed for new connectors and making a new cable...

phrawg · Post by **phrawg** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:17 pm

Ok Here's the deal. Sometimes speed of a pc doesn't matter to /\/\ software. It all depends on the arcitecture of the mother board and how
it handles ports. I have seen some old 8088 machines that not only were slow but would not even work. SO...... It has been found and even recommended by /\/\ herself to use a 25mhz or less 486 or less.
Also, different rss's are writen by different teams of people and they
handle comm routines differently. Also most of /\/\'s rss packages do
not work at any standard baud rate. Therefore the rss HAS TO be
able to access a real uart. Preferably a 16550. Any phony dos
or shells or windows wont work as they quite often use virtual uarts.
What happens then is that the comm data stream structure gets
corrupted and you end up "bricking" your radio.
This is not ALWAYS true but some of the series of radios are much more sensitive to these problems than others. The decision is do you want to take that chance? It is just one of those things that is what it is
and we all live with it. Hope this may help you to understand
what is happening and why we are SOOOOO adamant about using
only very stable and low speed pc's for this job. Phrawg

twowaytekk · Post by **twowaytekk** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:45 pm

Are you using a good power source of 13.6 volts for the Spectra?? If not you will get this error.

Hope this helps
Mark

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:34 pm

okay here we go built new cable ....same result.....voltage is at 13.71 says meter ....not sure where to go from here....the laptop i have is 486/66 .....i've also tried a pentium 166 ......same result........i dont have a old 486 desktop...still not sure where to go from here.....hard to believe 3 pcs have same issue...could it be radio...

wlloyd · Post by **wlloyd** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:40 pm

Not sure if this will help, but I do know it clears programming problems for me. Go into your antique computer's BIOS and turn off BOTH internal and external caches. Reboot the machine, and try it.

Bill.

Jim202 · Post by **Jim202** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:57 pm

Lets ask some basic questions.

Is this a front mount or rear mount radio, not that it makes much difference, except the programming cable.

Do you have + 13 volts on the TX PA cable as well as the control / programming cable? Need volts on the PA heavy power cable to make the radio work and program.

By any chance is this a new radio for you?

Has this radio worked before you tried to program it?

By any way was this a government dual radio package with the SIU and the DES boxes? Maybe even had the siren connected to it.

Give us some more input so that we may be able to help you.

Jim

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:57 pm

more of the same.......however i noticed that the error with new cable is different than first one i dont get a protocol error with every thing on like it should be....what i get with new is "Serial Bus Failure: Busy Line Locked" i was getting "Serial Bus Failure: Protocol Error"

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:02 pm

dash mount D44KMA7JA5BK, voltage at 13.7 in both places radio is new to me i'm trying to read codeplug ...it does power up and show display beeps through modes....didn't want to TX with it till i knew where it was TX'ing from all apperances it is a working unit...Thanks

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:57 pm

how much power will i need for keying this unit up....will 12 amp PS have enough juice...i believe its a 50 watt radio..

wb0qqk · Post by **wb0qqk** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:16 pm

Spectra manual specifies 13 amps @ 13.8 vdc for 50w rated output.

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:07 pm

/\/\ should have done a better job at this....this is worse than the 2000 date thing we went through 4-5 years ago....

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:27 pm

i'm using the RSS ver of 6.00.05 03-JUN-93

Jim202 · Post by **Jim202** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:11 pm

There is a small ribbon cable that comes from the rear DB15 connector that goes to the logic board. Once in a while the cable will not make a good connection. Try pushing the cable off and on the pins of the connection at the rear of the logic board.

You may need to try a different logic board to see if the problem goes away.

It would be nice if you had another radio to make sure your cable, RIB and computer all work together on this series radio.

Jim

DFD565 · Post by **DFD565** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 1:27 pm

yeah trying to find a low power as we speak.....to test this...will check ribbon cable....still cant locate a 486 door stop.

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