Primary versus secondary in apx7000

[radiownc]

Does it make any difference which freq band is primary and which is secondary in a 7000? Is there any downside to my main band of interest being the secondary?

 

[duggerd]

The primary RF band is routed to the side connector for the PSM.

 

[radiownc]

I don't suppose there is any way to switch that once the radio is put together at the factory?

 

[sjxts3000]

And it appears that the only PSM available is for 700/800 MHz only. So unless your 7000 is Primary Band 700/800, it won't matter.

See bottom of PDF page 8 (printed pages 14/15)
https://www.motorolasolutions.com/c...sories/_documents/apx_accessories_catalog.pdf

 

[duggerd]

I don't suppose there is any way to switch that once the radio is put together at the factory?

There is a different RF board for each combination. You can not change out RF boards even with the tools available now.

 

[Magnus]

There is a different RF board for each combination. You can not change out RF boards even with the tools available now.

Where do you get this information? I see one for each band combination not two. The primary band is just a software thing. If you read the service manuals it describes the switching of the bands.

 

[duggerd]

Where do you get this information? I see one for each band combination not two. The primary band is just a software thing. If you read the service manuals it describes the switching of the bands.

Oops, got that mixed up. You are correct.

There is a board for each RF combination (VHF / 800), (UHF1 / UHF2), etc. but the primary band is as you pointed out is able to be switched by the software.

 

[com501]

So the specific FLASHCODE when you order the radio determines the band order. Another thing for the salesman to screw up along with forgetting to order multikey for ADP!

 

[hambone]

And it appears that the only PSM available is for 700/800 MHz only. So unless your 7000 is Primary Band 700/800, it won't matter.

See bottom of PDF page 8 (printed pages 14/15)
https://www.motorolasolutions.com/c...sories/_documents/apx_accessories_catalog.pdf

I believe this is mis-leading. It should say no VHF. PSM works in UHF.

Right?

Mine is primary 700 and UHF secondary. PSM works for both.

We originally all had RSM as suggested by the salesman.

After the radios were delivered and we were having coverage issues, Motorola came out. The engineers told us to switch to PSM as this brought the antenna from belt level to shoulder height. When seated in the car, the antenna was mostly defeated by the car door metal. With the PSM, the antenna is up higher at the window.

 

[sjxts3000]

I believe this is mis-leading. It should say no VHF. PSM works in UHF.

Right?

Mine is primary 700 and UHF secondary. PSM works for both.

We originally all had RSM as suggested by the salesman.

After the radios were delivered and we were having coverage issues, Motorola came out. The engineers told us to switch to PSM as this brought the antenna from belt level to shoulder height. When seated in the car, the antenna was mostly defeated by the car door metal. With the PSM, the antenna is up higher at the window.

Well, if it's true that only one RF band is being routed to the side accessory connector and it's the Primary RF band, then the only explanation I have for your UHF working is that you've got really good gain on the repeater antenna. There's a few VHF ham repeaters here in my area where I don't even need an antenna on the radio to hit the repeater LoS 15 miles away.

 

[hambone]

I am sorry. I am wrong. After reading the posts again, I see my mistake. When we switch to a UHF channel, the radio is using the antenna on the radio, not the PSM antenna.

My apologies for injecting confusion.

 

[radiohead1800]

There is a different RF board for each combination. You can not change out RF boards even with the tools available now.

Yes you can,with tools that can not be discussed here, I have seen it with my own eyes. Unfortunately I can not do it myself but I have seen someone swap RF boards in an APX 7000.

 

[radiownc]

I don't have a service manual and don't see a place to switch it in the CPS software. Is it switchable in the CPS or do I need to do something else?

 

[duggerd]

I don't have a service manual and don't see a place to switch it in the CPS software. Is it switchable in the CPS or do I need to do something else?

It is switchable in the flashcode, if you decode it you will see one primary band and one secondary band by the different bands in the radio. That is where the primary and secondary bands are selected.

 

[MattSR]

Is there any hardware configuration that needs to be changed as well as the flashcode?

 

[Magnus]

Is there any hardware configuration that needs to be changed as well as the flashcode?

No, it's just the flashcode that needs to be changed.

 

[Alpha]

From what I understand the hardware determines which sub-band goes to the side connector, and the flashcode has to agree with whatever the hardware configuration is. Changing the flashcode would not change the hardware port selection, AFAIK.

In some revision (12, 13?) they made invalid configurations no longer possible, i.e. if you had a UHF1/800 board you couldn't put a flashcode in it that reversed it and made it an 800/UHF1. Prior to that revision, it was possible to use a flashcode with either band as primary regardless of which was ACTUALLY primary in hardware. If you select the wrong confguration, it will transmit on weird frequencies at random, but apparently the RX seems OK. This has been confirmed by a reliable source.

 

[com501]

So when inspecting a flea market radio, the best bet is to open it up and look at the internals for the Tanapa or board number? -AFAIAC, if a seller is not willing to allow an 'open box' inspection of a multi-kilobuck radio at a swapmeet, there is a problem- particularly if the buyer can demonstrate competency in disassembly technique.

 

[Magnus]

If you look at the schematic the radio is capable of switching either rf band to the side jack. If I order a vhf/7800 apx7000 and do not order enable dual band operation then I can pick either band to be my primary band. It has to do with software and which band is enabled when you order a dual band radio with only one band enabled.

 

[com501]

So then a specific bandsplit Tanapa pair can be either way, depending upon flash. The is actually pretty forward thinking. Leads to a feature for multi-band, the ability to determine side connector accessories in sofware (if they wanted to).