General Information
We've been told that you can use Lab RSS to get the Astro's out of band , and also to get them to do Modat. No specific details though.
If you have Astro Lab and press F4 then F9 from the Main screen, all Astro features can be enabled. Trunking, RAT Tones, MDC ID Display, Call Alert, Private Call, Battery voltage settings etc etc.
The radio uses a third generation keyloader, there is a retro kit to upgrade the DES-XL mkey key loader, and the data in and out pins are different.
Only keyloaders with a model suffix DX or later will properly keyload an Astro, while BX & CX (as well as DX) models will work fine with a regular Saber.
If you want to determine whether your radio is VSLEP or IMBE, look in RSS at the Astro ID number. If it will not go above 14000, it is a VSLEP. An IMBE radio can have all 999999 ID's possible.
By the way, you need a VSLEP radio if you want to enable MODAT.
Here you can find the Astro Portable model breakdown chart. Note that it is the same as the one for the mobiles, except for the available power levels and the "H" at the beginning of the model number to denote portable.
A listing of the flash upgrade options can be found here.
You may also want to look at the Saber Page.
Take a look at the programming cable.
You may also want to take a look at the RKN4046A Flash/Service Cable. This cable is for the Astro Saber and Saber Si. This cable is made up of the following parts:
| Reference | Part Number | Description |
| 1 | 0984538E03 | Receptacle, 25 Pos |
| 2 | 1580349B36 | Housing, Connector |
| 3 | 3000864145 | Cable, 5 Conductor |
| 4 | 0180754R26 | Plug Assembly |
| 5 | 4210217R24 | Strap, Tie |
| 6 | 3880373L24 | Protective Cap |
| 7 | 0410058B12 | Washer, Nylon |
| 8 | 0960113A07 | Connector and Cable |
| C1 | 2184008H06 | Capacitor, 33 nF |
| R1 | 0611009C59 | Resistor, 2.7 kohm |
| R2 | 0611009C73 | Resistor, 10 kohm |
By the way, if you thing you can make yourself a cheap cable by just ordering part number 0960113A07, well, forget it. The current list price for that item is $166US.
Astro Saber and LAPD
There seems to be a number of people interested in the Astro Sabers that the LAPD uses. This section will try and answer many of those related questions.
Just in case any of you want to get M to flash an Astro Saber to be "just like" an LAPD model, it has been discovered that it's better not to try it. Motorola considers FlashCode 8401018F0004 to be RESTRICTED. Try to get that flashed into your radio, and Motorola security may get in on the act and ask why. Although it IS legal to ask about it, M may not do it and may get nosey. Tell them to piss off, get a warrant, etc...
By the way, the options contained in that FlashCode are:
H869 Multikey H35 Conventional operation Q353 OTACR (Over The Air Channel Reassignment) Q351 MODAT H15 ASTRO data Q354 OTACS (Over The Air Channel Steering) Q352 Soft Id H29 Software Encryption
Now you know. If you want something similar, drop one of these options.
Modat can in fact be used with both IMBE and VSELP radios. It's Software Encryption that can't (isn't supposed to) be in an IMBE radio.
There is no such thing as 'Astro encryption' as such. The encryption types that can be used in an Astro system are the same types used in standard systems... DES, DES-XL, etc.
However, if your radio is CAI compliant, you can set the 'rx unmute rule' to 'digital carrier squelch' and that will decode ALL Apco25 compliant digital signals! (Excluding encrypted ones, of course!)
Saber Error Codes
If you have a Saber with a display, you may want to review the Saber Error Codes explanation. This does not necessarily apply to the Astro Saber.
Service Manuals
Here are a listing of the Service Manual part numbers for this series of radios:
Saber Accessory Connector Pinout
The pinout can be found here.
The Astro Saber uses a small, recessed, plunger type button, just under the retaining screw receptacle on the radio. This is how the radio decides whether to use the internal or external antenna, when pressed in, it selects the external antenna.
Saber Vehicular Adapter (SVA) Information
The question has come up many times, "What's the difference between an Astro Saber SVA and a normal SVA?".
Answer, not much. There's that Astro label on the front panel, and the cutout on the top rim of the housing that allows you to get a better grip on the radio top controls. The only other difference is that the connector body assembly is different and the connector is fully populated with 12 contacts, while on a standard SVA there are only 7 installed contacts. The main circuit board is apparently the exact same item in both models.
The part number for the Astro SVA is NTN7227BSP01. Other revisions exist, in which case the B in that part number is replaced with a C or a D which is the most current version.
The part number for a standard SVA is NTN5487A.
There is a decal on top of the Astro SVA that gives the following useful data:
"CAUTION: Inserting the wrong radio may Damage the Adapter. This Adapter works with ASTRO Digital SABER, SABER and Systems SABER radios manufactured on or after September 1, 1994. These radios can be identified by their serial numbers: The 5th character (year) must be "U" or later (V, W, X, Y, or Z). If 5th character is U, the 6th character (month) must be "S" or later (T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z). Use Adapter ONLY with approved radio models. For radios manufactured prior to this date please contact: Motorola at 1-800-523-4007 (ext. 112) for upgrade details."
So, later Saber (non-Astro) radios apparently can be used with an Astro SVA...hmm. I would not be surprised to find out that the modification is merely a new housing for Sabers and Systems Sabers that reshuffle the connector assignment. It's the way I'd do it. That suggests that Astro speaker-mics might work on newer Sabers.
So there it is...an Astro SVA is a regular SVA with a new connector body, an Astro decal, and a notch filed in the top of the housing...!
Out of Band Information
If you are using Depot Version B03.04.00 you should be able to change the bandsplits by hex editing the Runtime.odb file.
Search for the bottom/top of the bandsplit you are trying to change (on the ASCII side) and change it. There should be something like seven different places you need to change.
The later versions of Astro RSS are a combined portable and mobile software package. As a result, there are two files of interest Astrop.odb for portables, and Astrom.odb for mobiles.
Both these files are write-protected, and that protection must be removed before editing them. Windows Explorer does this very easily. Just open WE and highlight the file and right click, mouse to properties, left click on properties, and then deselect the read only attribute, and save the change by clicking 'apply' and then click 'ok".
Remember, after hacking the files, you should go back and reselect the 'read only' attribute by the same method. I don't know if it makes any difference to the program, but just to be safe, do it.
So now you have two unprotected .ODB files. Use a hex editor to get into them, and from the text side of the document, search out the ORIGINAL band limit of interest to you (eg. to pick the lower end of UHF 450-520 split use "450.0000"), and having confirmed that it's there, do a global search and replace of that band limit with your intended limit, example take it down to 430.0000. You do a global search because that way you make all adjustments you need at once, transmit, receive, and every other place the software looks.
Save the files, put them back where they belong in the programs, and reapply their write protected status, then run the software normally and enter your new out of band frequencies that will be accepted and programmed. If it's a reasonable change, the radio will take it and it will work. Some people have had success taking a 450-520 radio down to 430.0000 (haven't tried any lower than that) and have taken it as high as 535.0000. Your milage may vary.
This modification will work on all the versions of Astro RSS, up to and including version 8.5 (as of the time of this writing).
Getting Around "Codeplug Too New For This Application"
No doubt you know that the RSS automatically 'upgrades' the radios that are programmed with it so that no EARLIER version of software will work on that radio. The infamous "Codeplug too new for this application" message.
There is a way around this, sort of.
What you need is an OLD codeplug from the same radio, or type of radio, that you want to use with older software. The model number needs to be the same, and the Flashcode should be the same (not sure what happens if you try this with radios and files of differing flashcodes, it might just complain, and then again it might end up in a paperweight radio).
The old radio codeplug needs to be one that can be read by the Version B03.04.00 Depot RSS.
Load that codeplug into the Depot RSS. Add your channels, scan lists, etc. Go into the hidden labtool menus (F9 works in places where the area over the F9 button is blank like there's no feature available) and make whatever changes you want. Labtool configuration 2 will allow you to put up to 16 software encryption keyslots into the radio if software encryption is set up in your radio. From here, you can even change the controller's operating frequency band from VHF to UHF low or high, or 800 MHz (not to say that it will actually work there since the RF sections are different, but it is there anyways).
So, you've got your lab codeplug ready, and a radio with a new codeplug that isn't going to take that codeplug, right?
Wrong! Rather than PROGRAM the radio, you go into the CLONE menu, read the serial number, and then CLONE the codeplug into the radio! Error checking is minimal, consisting of the serial, model number, and (probably) the flashcode, and that's about it.
When you're done programming the radio, it can now be read by the Depot B03.04.00 RSS directly, along with other older versions. And once you HAVE those extra features in your radio, you can use your newer RSS and always know that you can go back and use labtools on your radio again by following the same procedure.
A word of caution: Your "old" files that were SAVED TO DISK or programmed into the radio with the OLD software are precious. If you read one of those files and then save it with NEWER RSS, it won't work with the depot software anymore, so keep those old files away from the newer RSS! You can use any software version you want to on the radio, including the newest one, but you've GOT to safeguard the old codeplug!
Good luck!
Tricks if you have Astro Lab B03.04.00 RSS
It appears that the ever-handy version 3.04 Astro depot lab software is perfectly capable of doing a direct read/write with no unpack and S-record conversion even on radios that have been programmed with the newest software (Astro 8.6). As such, it looks like you should be able to use that software DIRECTLY on any radio if you start with that process.
You can NOT unpack the newer S-records, though, with this software, which means that this avenue is useless. You get a block type mismatch. I guess the newer RSS uses a different format S-record type. As a result, you can't use lab to crack open the S-records for direct editing, which needs to be done with other software anyway. And the two different types of S-records are sufficiently different that a direct comparison between two codeplugs of IDENTICAL content but written with different software shows the two files to be radically different, to the point that comparing the two by hand would be virtually pointless.
On another note... A dead UHF Astro Saber was sent into Motorola for repair, it cable back working, but with a totally basic flash code (how useless!). So, it was a good candidate for experimenting. The 'useless' radio was read (with new enough regular RSS) and the codeplug file saved (just in case...).
The radio couldn't read the radio with Version B03.04.00 Lab, but there are LA-style codeplug archives to work with.
A different Astro Saber was read with lab, and CLONED it directly into the new radio. The serial number transferred.
BUT SO DID THE FLASHCODE.
MODAT SIGNALLING NOW WORKS (the cloning source radio has Modat).
Software encryption transferred, but it is really STRANGE now. It is not usable because the noise coming out of the other radio sounds like insane crickets in a blender. Chirps, squeals, all kinds of odd noises. The reason why software encryption can become non-functional in a cloned radio is because the DSP chips in the radios must be of the same version if they are to work properly. The DSP chips process the audio differently in software encryption mode, depending on the DSP version. So if you have two radios with different DSP versions and you clone software encryption enabled codeplugs into them, the radios may not work properly in software encryption mode, but they should be fine if their DSP versions match.
The transfer may have been a one way street. Newer software DOES check the flashcode before cloning and it wasn't possible to get the old software to read the newer codeplug.
No clue as to whether or not this trick will work on all radios.
My guess is that cross-flashcode cloning will work perfectly on any radios that are VSELP based. I think the lab version predates IMBE and doesn't have a clue about that. Still, the radio isn't showing any error codes.
So, this version of RSS CAN be used in place of the flashport system in some situations. Provided that you understand that this is an all-or-nothing cloning operation at this time. For example, Modat WILL transfer, and so will some other features, but I don't have any clue as to which ones yet.
However, IMBE/VSELP conversions are NOT going to happen this way.
I think that this technique will work on H-options, not Q-options. I am under the impression that Q-options actually require reprogramming the operating code in the radios, and H-options merely need to be switched on and off. Q-option changes would absolutely REQUIRE a SmartRib and upgrade files, since the programming voltages for the firmware chips need to be provided externally if Motorola is to be believed.
Something else...
An Astro Saber with a problem was recently 'converted' from one band to another (800 to VHF in this case) using Version B03.04.00 Lab software and the 'hidden menus', and replacing the RF deck with the right one for the new band. It is important to adjust the model number to be correct for the new band or the 'normal' software may not recognize the radio.
The results of this experiment? Success. Astro 8.5 has no problem with this radio and it seems to be normal in every respect for a radio with this feature set.