Service manual

Guide to ASTRO™ Digital Radios
Guidelines For Buying & Selling ASTRO™/ASTRO25™ Kit
Over the last five years, eBay has become the primary source to find new and used
ASTRO™/ASTRO25™ kit at reasonable prices. Some sellers do an excellent job when listing their products
for sale, stating all critical information in their auctions.
Whether you’re buying or selling ASTRO™/ASTRO25™ on eBay or a for-sale forum of an Internet
discussion board, you must know/list the following information:
- The host firmware (ROS) installed in the radio;
- The DSP firmware installed in the radio;
- The revision of the DSP firmware (A,I,M or N);
- The flashcode installed in the radio;
- The size of the vocon/controller ROM (512K or 1M. Larger if ASTRO25™);
- The band-split of the radio (H04UCH9PW7AN for example);
- The encryption module firmware, if installed;
- Encryption algorithms, if installed;
- Last version of RSS/CPS radio was programmed with (not critical);
This information is easily obtained by putting the radio into SERVICE mode by powering it on,
and pressing the “..” button five times within the first 10 seconds, or by pressing the HOME key
(mobiles) five times within the first 10 seconds upon power-up. If using a W3 hand-held control-head
mobile setup, it’s the lower-most option-button on the right side of the control-head.
Depending on the host ROS firmware installed in the radio, certain fields may not display. If this
is the case, you must state this in your auction.
ASTRO25™ products do not have a DSP revision—just a version. You do not need to ask this
question when purchasing a radio. The flashcode determines whether the radio will transmit in IMBE™
mode.
Finally, if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. There are a lot of thieves in this hobby.
Only deal with credible (positive feedback) or other established persons from Internet discussion
forums. Someone who wants $1000 for an XTS 3000™ that signed up a week ago, is not credible.