Service manual

Guide to ASTRO™ Digital Radios
310AXA0399
The serial number can be broken down into sub-components which identify the year and week
of the original production. You may ignore the 310A (first four digits) of the serial number. Digit five (X)
of the example serial number identifies the year of manufacture.
In year 2000, Motorola Inc. started their alphabet calendar from “A”. So a radio with an (X)
representing the build year, indicates a manufacture year of 1998. Here’s a breakdown to become
familiar with this scheme: (The alphabet keeps going up as each year passes. G=2007)
U=1995
Y=1999
V=1996
Z=2000
W=1997
A=2001
X=1998
B=2002
Motorola Inc. discontinued the ASTRO Digital Saber™ in December 2002. The sixth digit in the
example serial number (A) indicates a two-week manufacturing period. (A) would indicate a radio
manufactured in the first two weeks of January. Here’s a week-by-week breakdown:
A=1/2
B=3/4
C=5/6
D=7/8
E=9/10
F=11/12
G=13/14
H=15/16
I=17/18
J=19/20
K=21/22
L=23/24
M=25/26
N=27/28
O=29/30
P=31/32
Q=33/34
R=35/36
S=37/38
T=39/40
U=41/42
V=43/44
W=45/46
X=47/48
Y=49/50
Z=51/52
This serial number breakdown also applies to the ASTRO Digital Spectra™, XTS 3000™ and all
ASTRO25™-family radios.
But it gets even more confusing. Any ASTRO Digital Saber™ or ASTRO Digital Spectra™ that
visited the Motorola Inc. Service Depot after November 1996 received a 1-meg vocon upgrade at no
charge, as part of the flat-rate repair service. Why? Because it’s standard practice to refresh a radio’s
firmware during each visit to the depot. Before this is explained in further detail, it’s necessary to
explain the host firmware size-limitation of the 512K vocon.
In 1999, Motorola Inc. released the final versions of host firmware which could fit into the
limited flash ROM space present on the 512K vocon. Since new radio-features, bug-fixes and audio-
enhancements required additional memory space which necessitated more memory than current
boards could offer, the 1-meg vocon was created. (Radio firmware is discussed later in this guide.)
The last releases of IMBE™ 512K host firmware are:
R05.60.04 / DSP x06.05.04 (ASTRO Digital Saber)
R09.60.04 / DSP x06.05.04 (ASTRO Digital Spectra)
In 2000, Motorola Inc. released the first builds of R07.xx.xx host firmware for the ASTRO Digital
Saber™ and XTS 3000™, and R11.xx.xx host firmware for the ASTRO Digital Spectra™. This firmware
requires the 1-meg vocon.