mpa no lock ?? what does this mean??

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avfd719
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Location: Corpus Christi

mpa no lock ?? what does this mean??

Post by avfd719 »

what does this mean>>> the radio says no lock SEND ME A EMAIL RUSSELLSTREI@AOL.COM :beer:
Alex
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Post by Alex »

I'm going to take a shot in the dark...

Sounds like there is a frequency programed out of the range where the VCO is unable to lock. Each radio has an acceptable programming range that usually can be gently pushed a bit in each direction, usually with some degragation in performance...

Give some more specifics:

Model Number
Band (that you are aware of...)

But it does sound like the VCO/Synthesiser is out of lock.

-alex
avfdadmin
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Location: Tranasouras Rex

RE NO LOCK

Post by avfdadmin »

Uh.. the radio is a MPA from what i know it is a edacs this is what is on the back
Last edited by avfdadmin on Thu Sep 26, 2002 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Alex
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Post by Alex »

Interesting. NO LOCK usually woud logically corespond to a synth. out of lock error.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with some more helpful information. Have you looked at the modules in the radio to ensure that what is on the outside of the case also matches the inside?

-Alex
avfdadmin
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mpa no lock

Post by avfdadmin »

I forgot
Last edited by avfdadmin on Thu Sep 26, 2002 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
willbartlett
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Post by willbartlett »

i wonder wether you have any keypad functions, can you enter the menu? Also, wierd as it sees, try turning the volume all the way down, there's some wierd interrupt to the keypad when it's sitting there beeping at you. I'm not sure, but you might try programming it as well with the volume down.

Also, If you're feeling adventurous, if you remove the shield on the rf side, you might try to twiddle the coils on the vco, see if it locks. Try the radtek site, the service section to the 800 mpa rf section is over there somewhere, it'll tell you which coil to tweak. I know it's not my radio, but if it's already out of lock, the worst you can do playing with the vco is to have to take it to a ge shop which you'll have to do anyway......

good luck, Will
willbartlett
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Also........

Post by willbartlett »

http://nsvii.tzo.com:8010/lit/ge_e_mans ... 38468A.PDF

Try this link, It's the aforementioned service manual. No Lock means either the radio was incorrectly programmed, the lithium battery has died and there is no personality info, or the VCO is out of lock. See my earlier post for other thoughts.

Good luck, Will
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vcaruso
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Location: Passaic County, NJ

Post by vcaruso »

The VCO is more than likely not locking.
if it were the lithium battery, the radio would have acted normal once programmed and only gone into nolock once the battery pack was removed from the radio or if the battery pack went fully dead.

From your post I am assuming the radio has not worked from the get go.
avfd719
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Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2002 5:16 am
Location: Corpus Christi

Post by avfd719 »

well.. i got this on free.. the person sending it to me said that it didnt work... and when i got it it didnt turn on... then all the sudden i cleaned the batt terminals and it worked. i tried to prog it and got " NO LOCK" so.... uh... what should i do...
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vcaruso
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Location: Passaic County, NJ

Post by vcaruso »

Its an 806 - 870 Edacs, if you are handy you can replace the internal battery. otherwise M/A-Com still services these and the pricing is fair (better than motorola depot)
mike m
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Post by mike m »

Try to read the radio using different software, that is if you really think it is an Edacs radio then make sure you are using edacs I, II or III software and not the MPA or MPA-MTL executable conventional software.

Also the front assembly may have been swapped and you may not have an edacs radio but possibly a conventional radio, try using conventional MPA or MPA-MTL software and see if you can read the personality, I have seen conventional MPA's with edacs keypads placed on them just because the conventional keypads are hard to find.

Also open the radio up and write down the board numbers on the controller section and the rear RF section and we can tell you what is truley inside of it, you'll have to remove the metal shield covers from each half to get to the numbers but it's the only real way to tell.

Another thing you can do is to turn the radio off and while holding in the side monitor button turn the radio on, the button to hold in is the side blue button but some radios are so worn from use that saying hold the blue button in is meaningless in some cases. Any way hold the side monitor button in, this is next to the PTT button, and power the radio on, keep holding the side button in and you should see some combination of letters and numbers representing the flashcode in the radio, write this flash code down and post it for us so we can see what type of radio you have or what flash is in it.

If you cannot get the radio to display a flash code then it's also possible that one of the pins connecting the front controller section to the rear RF section is out of the socket causing an unlocked condition or partial comm loss between sections. I think Iv'e covered all of the things that I have come across in working with MPA's over the last several years hopefully one of these will help you.


Will I still have not found the MPA 220MHZ conversion info but I have a lot of boxes I still need to search in, and I am still looking. I'll post when I find it, it has been about 7 years since Ive played with a 220 MPA.

Mike
willbartlett
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Post by willbartlett »

Hi Mike, Thanks for the thought. I'll look forward to hearing from you when and if you come across it. I have tracked down a spare hi split vhf section as the potential convert. I played with it, It'll lock to 183 mhz or so, and I have access to eagleware at work, so maybe I'll model the existing VCO and take a stab at reverse engineering it and the filters too.

Thanks, Will
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