Can I link two spectra's together and run them off the same face plate? Anyone know that answer?

Yes you can, it's called an SIU Setup.

The Spectra was never intended to be used in a dual radio, single head setup. Motorola was contracted by several of the 3 letter agencies in the US to come up with a dual radio (VHF and UHF) Spectra that would work on both bands, for interoperation (at the time, the DEA was UHF and FBI was VHF). The outcome of this is what's known as the SIU.

Basically, you take both radio decks, mount them where ever you want, then run the control cables unto a box called the SIU, or Serial Interface Unit. The radios see this SIU as though it were a control head. There's an HHCH (Hand Held Control Head) that plugs into the SIU, which lets you select radios (bands), and such.

Personally, I don't like this setup, as you can't have a regular Spectra "look". This is what the HHCH and the SIU box look like (sorry for the shitty quality, but hey, that's what happens with a cheap camera I guess):

click to view

As I said...it looks like ass.

And before you ask...unfortunatly, there's no way to make a regular control head work in a dual-radio setup, you'd have to use two separate control heads.

-Mike

well fuck that I guess I'll just get two damn radios and fucking set them in a rack. Sounds like a plan to me. I wonder how much power draw these things take.

Alright so I got my UHF spectra today. Two things. It has a detached head with the cable that connects the radio to the head. Everything works. The cable only connects to half the head. IS the other half for another one? If so can I do this and how hard is the calbe to find?