BEWARE!!! R2500's from Japan - NO P25 Connector!

[vince48]

Scott
If that is the "DV" button, yes..... but nothing. Any other ideas..... anyone? The manual isn't all that clear.

[EricCottrell]

Originally Posted by vince48

Scott
If that is the "DV" button, yes..... but nothing. Any other ideas..... anyone? The manual isn't all that clear.

Hello,

From Page 118 of the manual there should be a P25 button. The P25 settings are identified as P25 and not DV.

73 Eric

[scancapecod]

Don't give up the ship yet...I see another problem. This software came from Japan...and I'll wager that IT doesn't allow P25 access! According to what I'm reading in the manual, there should be a P25 "button" directly beneath the "DV" button....in my software there isn't, nor is there a provision for setup under the settings menu. I can access a DV setup tab, and I obviously don't have the UT-118 installed. However, there is no P25 tab as in the setup menu as shown in the manual!

I know you have the PCR2500, Vince, so you can't do any testing with the control head. My board is coming on Tuesday. I'll give it a try then.

[MacombMonitor]

Originally Posted by scancapecod

Don't give up the ship yet...I see another problem. This software came from Japan...and I'll wager that IT doesn't allow P25 access! According to what I'm reading in the manual, there should be a P25 "button" directly beneath the "DV" button....in my software there isn't, nor is there a provision for setup under the settings menu. I can access a DV setup tab, and I obviously don't have the UT-118 installed. However, there is no P25 tab as in the setup menu as shown in the manual!

That could be. The Japanese software I received with my PCR-1500 when I bought it did not have the WX (Weather) button in it. No big deal there, but it shows there are differences.

[scancapecod]

The Icom America website doesn't even acknowledge the existence of any receiver beyond the PCR1000, so obviously no software download there. I found a software download for the 1500/2500 at the Icom Japan site, but the results are the same, DV only and no P25 button or setup tab. This software is one day newer than what's on my CD (4/12/06 CAB files vs 4/11).

Oh well. Like I said I'll be able to test this Tuesday as I have the R2500. If P25 appears on the control head as a mode, we'll know it works. If it doesn't......help?

[EricCottrell]

Originally Posted by scancapecod

Don't give up the ship yet...I see another problem. This software came from Japan...and I'll wager that IT doesn't allow P25 access! According to what I'm reading in the manual, there should be a P25 "button" directly beneath the "DV" button....in my software there isn't, nor is there a provision for setup under the settings menu. I can access a DV setup tab, and I obviously don't have the UT-118 installed. However, there is no P25 tab as in the setup menu as shown in the manual!

I know you have the PCR2500, Vince, so you can't do any testing with the control head. My board is coming on Tuesday. I'll give it a try then.

Hello,

I have been playing with the PCR1500 software. Without a radio it will error but still comes up with the screens and says PCR-1500. The software is labelled as 1500/2500 and I noticed some P25 stuff in the resources. Software is here:
http://www.icom.co.jp/downloadfile/w...287901-006.zip
It is a long shot but try this software and see if it comes up in 2500 configuration and if there is a P25 button.

73 Eric

[EricCottrell]

Originally Posted by scancapecod

The Icom America website doesn't even acknowledge the existence of any receiver beyond the PCR1000, so obviously no software download there. I found a software download for the 1500/2500 at the Icom Japan site, but the results are the same, DV only and no P25 button or setup tab. This software is one day newer than what's on my CD (4/12/06 CAB files vs 4/11).

Oh well. Like I said I'll be able to test this Tuesday as I have the R2500. If P25 appears on the control head as a mode, we'll know it works. If it doesn't......help?

Hello,

I guess I am slow on the trigger. Oh well it looks like the software on the website is the same.

The only other thing I can think of is if a reset is needed after putting the option board in.

Maybe we should have waited for the Canadian version. I see that the ICOM Canada website has the PCR-1500 listed while the ICOM USA site does not.

73 Eric

[scancapecod]

I installed the software you point to on a computer not running my R2500. As you say the screens still come up, there is still a DV button, but no P25 button. In the settings there is still a DV setting but no P25 setting.

It's a battle. I tried to find the "people on the internet" that Mr. Tom was referring to, but found no references to the UT-122. Maybe they're all in Japanese, which of course wouldn't do me any good anyway. I'll still hold out hope that it didn't work for Vince because he has the Japanese software and the PCR2500 instead of the R2500.

Interestingly, Icom's software screenshots at the Japanese site show the P25 button.

Additionally, I have received an e-mail from a gentleman who lives on Cape Cod who just returned from Japan. He bought an R2500 while he was over there. He opened his today and discovered that it didn't have the connector for the UT-122 either. I doubt that he bought it from Mr. Tom, so it appears that we have a production run that is Japan specific and leaves these connectors off.

[vince48]

Eric, Scott
I too tried ther software, same thing as the original version that came with my 2500. Let's keep trying. If somehow we can get the american version of teh software, I belive Gronve and Universal Radio are selling them, but I doubt they would give us a copy?
I guess we will find out if my UT-122 was DOA when Scott get his next week. Funny thing on the box that the UT-122 came in, the From adress is a person from ICOM in Bellevue? Maybe nothing, not sure why a person would appear on the box, just strange.

[vince48]

Tried uninstall and reinstall with board plugged in. No P25 showing.

[scancapecod]

Well, I just installed the software on a third computer. I had forgotten that for a brief period of time I ran the software on what I was using for a test computer, so the drivers were already installed and the previous version of the software had already recognized the install as an R2500.

On the third computer, which never had the software installed on it until just now, the software comes up as a PCR1500 and there is no DV button at all. Back to the old drawing board I think; I may have lead us up the garden path. As a matter of fact as I think about it this might not bode well at all. I wish there was a way to run it as a 2500 in demo mode to see if a P25 button showed up. This is now making me wonder if there are further "omissions" in the radio that might cause us further grief.

[EricCottrell]

Originally Posted by scancapecod

Well, I just installed the software on a third computer. I had forgotten that for a brief period of time I ran the software on what I was using for a test computer, so the drivers were already installed and the previous version of the software had already recognized the install as an R2500.

On the third computer, which never had the software installed on it until just now, the software comes up as a PCR1500 and there is no DV button at all. Back to the old drawing board I think; I may have lead us up the garden path. As a matter of fact as I think about it this might not bode well at all. I wish there was a way to run it as a 2500 in demo mode to see if a P25 button showed up. This is now making me wonder if there are further "omissions" in the radio that might cause us further grief.

Hello,

So you installed the 1500 software on the third computer with the R2500 connected and the software came up as a 1500?

On the second computer with the previous install you installed the 1500 software with the R2500 connected and the software came up as a 2500?

In both cases was the R2500 correctly identified in the USB dialog?

73 Eric

[scancapecod]

Originally Posted by EricCottrell

Hello,

So you installed the 1500 software on the third computer with the R2500 connected and the software came up as a 1500?

No. The initial install was without the receiver connected. This is where it came up as the 1500, and thus of course without the DV option showing.

On the second computer with the previous install you installed the 1500 software with the R2500 connected and the software came up as a 2500?

This computer was the original computer that I very briefly had installed the 2500 on when I first got it. Shortly thereafter I moved the 2500 to a laptop I use in the shack. I installed the software I downloaded today over the top of what had existed prior, but stupidly forgot that I had done the original install on that computer. That's why the software came up and showed the DV option and looked like a 2500.

In both cases was the R2500 correctly identified in the USB dialog?

The prior install of the software and drivers on the "original" computer made it show as an R2500 yes, despite the fact that the R2500 was not connected. The "third" computer showed as a 1500 until I connected the R2500 and installed the drivers. It then came up as a 2500 of course, but only with the DV button available and no trace of one for P25.

I guess it will have to be Tuesday before we can take the next step, when my UT-122 arrives and I can try it with the control head. I'm now wondering if it is the software or if the software simply put doesn't see any P25 circuitry in our radios, and thus doesn't show the P25 button at all. Like I said, obviously I don't have the UT-118 installed but I was still able to click the DV button, and still able to enter the DV settings tab.

Sorry for the misinformation earlier. Lack of sleep + frustration with this situation = oversights.

73 Eric[/QUOTE]

[EricCottrell]

Originally Posted by scancapecod

Sorry for the misinformation earlier. Lack of sleep + frustration with this situation = oversights.

Hello,

Actually you hit the nail on the head!

I played around in the Registry, which can be a dangerous place even if you know what you are doing. My research indicates that ICOM uses the same program for the 1500/2500 and it is the registry entries that get written during the install that determine the features.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Icom\IC-PCR1500\Model\mx
is an interesting place. There are three keys:
mtype - if I set it to 0 then I get a 1500 screen, if I set it to 1 I get a 2500 screen. So I kept it at one.
ver - was 0 and if I put in 1 or 2 very restrictive frequency limits occur.
pat - was 3b and when I set it to zero I hit the mother lobe!!
if a pat bit is set then it seems to disable something. If you look at the bits in Hex.
20 = disable P25
10 = disable DV
08?
04?
02 = disable 810 - 834 and 860-889 MHz ranges
01?
So the default value for the 1500 would disable P25, DV, and put in a cellular block.

I would exit the R2500 software, run regedit, find the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Icom\IC-PCR1500\Model\mx\pat key, make a note of the old value, then modify the value and enter a 0 (Zero). The P25 key should be displayed when you run the program.

Thanks again for the clue.

73 Eric

[vince48]

Eric
Great! I will try and let you know.

[scancapecod]

My pat was set to 28 using the computer that does not have the R2500 interfaced. Set it to zero and sure enough, P25 now shows in the software, both in the mode settings and under the settings option....drum roll please....Vince?

Nice work, Eric. If nothing else it certainly teaches us more about the inner workings of the software. Hopefully it will be a means to an end.

[vince48]

Guys
I keep changeing the "pat" to 0, but when i open the program I don't see the P25, still DV. How do you save the value after you make the change?

[scancapecod]

Once you've drilled down to where you can see pat, double click on the actual word pat, record the old value, change it to 0, click OK, and exit Regedit. Should work.

[vince48]

I keep doing that, but when I open the program, I don't see P25 under DV, I close the program nad go back to regedit and the value is back to (40)

[EricCottrell]

Originally Posted by vince48

Guys
I keep changeing the "pat" to 0, but when i open the program I don't see the P25, still DV. How do you save the value after you make the change?

Hello,

Does the value change back after you exit the program? I find you have to be out of the program entirely before you change the value. If you press F5 while view the key values (not editing) then it will refresh the values.

The other possiblity is that the program reads the radio and sets the values as well. I do not have a radio. Scott should try it on the computer with the radio connected.

73 Eric