Batboard

I Got my crystals for my flexar and put them in , but not getting any sound ( scratch or nothing) or power output. Anyone have any Ideas or thing to check??????

You will have to do a complete realignment to put it on the amateur bands.
I dont think any component changes are necesssary on the Maxar/Flexar
450-470 to do 440. If you cant do it yourself Email me.

Chris
N9llo@aol.com

Well I understand the Alignment process the problem is that I can't get it to Transmit or receive.... Need to know what to check?????

Did it work properly before you changed the crystals?

Here's the scoop I bought a Flexar repeater off of here from a guy I was told it worked just needed crystals.. So I took it that it worked, I ordered the crystals for the Freq. I wanted took it to my cousin Who works on my Electronic stuff He says when He plugged it in and hit the monitor key on the mike no squelch sounds... So We have not done nothing to it since we go it....

I'd put the old crystals back in it and fix it on the frequency it was on before turning any of the screws - much easier than not being sure if your problems are due to component failure or alignment or both.

Keep it simple. Once it works - then change the crystals and start the re-alignment process.

I'm not sure your understanding ... I bought the unit without crystals... So I can't put the crystals in and Test it. I have to test it then realign this...

"I bought the unit without crystals... So I can't put the crystals in and Test it. "

Then it looks like your cousin has his work cut out - or else send it to Monty.

You really DO have to align crystalled radios. I'd be nice if it would work 100% fine without tuning just by poping in a new set of crystals. But, it doesn't. This isn't much of a setback in a repeater though. Having a repeater's RF circuits tuned to the repeater frequency seems like a better idea then using a newer broadbanded mobile.

This shouldn't be much trouble, if the person who fixes your gear has expirence in radios. And it helps if they have ample RF test gear, too. If they don't, ask around. Someone in the area MUST have to gear and expierence to do an alignment. Try asking aorund on the local repeaters.

Tune it up correctly, and you will have a one nice lil' repeater.

As for tuning the duplexers, that is something that you would have to do anyway, even when using the radios of today.

Since the radio does nothing, no "squelch" noise, perhaps there is something wrong with the power supply. Do the lights come on? There is a power lamp and a Ptt lamp.
Be aware that there are two crystal sockets for the receive and transmit.
In any case you are in way over your head. You will need test equipment not found in the usuial TV shop.
I would not spend any more money than you are willing to entertain your self with on this unit. It is true that it can be made to work, but the receiver is not one of Motorola's best, The transmitter is intermittent duity, and when the power supply avalanches the whole unit smokes.
So do your self a favor and send it to some one that works on these.
Also beware of cheap amateur grade crystals. You don't want your frequency drifting. While the FCC might not care if you get off freq, you slowly degrade, and you may not notice it until it is unusable.
I wish you the best of luck,
Aloha, Bernie

The guy that I bought the flexar form said to put the crystals in it and Align the radio then it should transmit and receive does this sound right?????

Put a dummy load onto the Tx output, and run the Rx with no connection. Take an HT near it. Key up on the repeater's Rx frequency (which would be the HT's Tx Freq.) Make sure the PL or DPL is set right on the HT. Try using a scanner, or another HT to listen to the repeaters output (Tx) freq. If the scanner or other HT unsquleches, then that is a good sign.

Otherwise, there is a zilion different things to check on. I don't have a manual in front of me for the Flexar, so I don't know. You mention disconnected wires inside of the unit... they might be for the "pin" connections that were popular with the Maxar series. What type of connector do they have on the ends? The stock PL board should use connectors like this to the reciever board.

Good Luck!

If anyone else has any tips, please post them now.

I think what we all need to do is step back and give ourselves a "Radio Check".

Listen to what monty is saying here. The repeater MUST be aligned prior to expecting it to work properly.

You have to put the crystals into the radio, and align the IF, multipliers, exciter and PA and all the inbetweens as per the service documentation from Motorola.

Perhaps just hitting the monitor switch on the mic won't be sufficient. Let's say that the squelch is turned up (or "closed"), and all the monitor button does is disable PL. Well, even with PL disabled, if the squelch is up, your still not going to hear anything.

Get the service manual, get someone with an IFR or similiar service monitor, put the four together (the radio, the manual, the service monitor and the guy who knows how to use it), and go do it properly! Half-assing a two way radio is one thing, but you don't want to half-ass a repeater. I have a local person I took both of my amateur repeaters to, and while he bitched and moaned about having to tune up a 4 channel voting system (6 crystals involved, 5 receivers (4 voting + 1 standby rx + 1 transmitter), well, the IFR made it relatively easy, and it only took a few hours. A repeater with it's duplexer, shouldn't take more than a couple hours at most to align provided everything works properly.

Do yourself a favor, TAKE IT TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO ALIGN RADIOS.

~119

Sometimes the simplest will bite you: are the crystals in the right sockets? T in TX and R in RX. I've seen more than one person bit this way.