astro spectra plus questions

[topcop1833]

i've never worked with a spectra plus before, so I was being lazy trying to figure out what flash options and crypto algos were in the radio. power it on, hit home a few times, and see what pops up. it sent the radio into an endless boot loop, powers on, self check, power cycle, rinse, wash, repeat. curious how long it would go, went for a good 15 minutes before i removed the power. i managed to get it out of the loop by hitting the home button several times again.

does the as+ allow you to look at the options like the xts3k or 5k, or xtls for that matter? didn't know if the spectra plus is modified spectra firmware or xtl firmware slammed into a spectra? i ask becuase it uses the specta name, but astro 25 CPS.

is the loop a common occurrence in the astro spectra line?

does the as+ use the same KVL adapter as the spectra or astro spectra?

enjoy your turkey day! and for the "out of towners", enjoy your thrursday!

 

[Alpha]

That's very strange, but it sounds very possible - the AS+ is sort of a red-headed stepchild, it's not quite a full ASTRO25 radio, and as such it has a few failings - one of which is the bootloader on the radio seems fairly fragile, and there is no internal way to activate the "FlashZap Bootloader" which the ASTRO25 radios have access to in case you brick one of them. With the AS+ if you mess up flashing, etc. - you're screwed. You have to lift the EEPROMS or Flash parts off, erase and reprogram them with a known good image to recover a bricked radio, not good.

That said, however, I have never seen self-test throw it into a boot loop. The self-test works the same as a normal Astro Spectra (usually!). One exception, I believe, is that you can pause the display or advance it using the mode rocker. The regular Astro Spectra self-test chugs through at a fixed speed, but you can speed it up or pause it with the arrow keys in most of the ASTRO25 line radios.

The KVL adapter is the same as the Astro Spectra one, AFAIK. The programming cable is NOT, and you must use one specifically for the AS+ that plugs into the Mic connector on the front of the radio.

Happy Turkey Day to you too! (And to all of our guests from the US!)

 

[jry]

the other programming ( not firmware flash though ) is to go through the rear 15 pin accessory connector. The radio command board still has to be configured for RS-233 and hasn't been switched to VRS.
No RIB is needed ...just straight RS-232 to the P25 CPS and tuner

 

[topcop1833]

thanks all! like i said, never worked with a plus before, redheaded is probably a good designation.

btw, p25 is hosted out of the states i believe, so i guess we're the out of towners!