Motorola XTS5000

[alex17o6]

I'm looking into buying an XTS5000. I live in Austin, Texas and want to be able to hear the Austin Fire Department. I have a Uniden BCD996T but am not satisfied with it. I know that the AFD radios are the xts5000 and my question is can I program the radio with the database info on this site and will it work? I'm not looking to talk with them just hear their radio traffic.

Thanks.

 

[C138NC]

I dont think you can program an XTS5000 with the DB here, i dont think, never seen anyone try it but i dont think its possible plus if austin fire department is running on a digital system and trunked, if you want it programmed, youll need to get the flashcode and control frequencies etc from the communications system admin and i dont think he/she would allow you to have it, I wanted to get an XTS3000 and i once asked my EOC manager about me having one just to listen in and he said "He will not or the other system allow a radio of such from outside be used on the system or license even if i wanted to just RX only but i cant say all systems are the same if your radio has RX only, I cant be to sure if you turn your radio on it will pop into the system, i know i saw ours do that but i no longer pay attention to it.

Save your money keep the scanner but also im not in the position to tell you how to spend it

So eh it was worth it and i didnt have to spend so much but get a scanner.

I would say its safe to have a scanner since you can program it anytime any day without the hassle of carrying the XTS around alot though it has 12 zones and if my math is right youll have 192 channels on it.

 

[firephoto20]

If you get the right XTS yes, make sure you get the right bandsplit....radios receive so much better than scanners but make sure you don't program TX into it..

 

[C138NC]

If you get the right XTS yes, make sure you get the right bandsplit....radios receive so much better than scanners but make sure you don't program TX into it..

Key it up once the dispatcher sees it and quote "who the **** is this..."

 

[firephoto20]

No No No, he wont be able to key up cause he's not gonna get TX....RIGHT!



Go Iron your Uniform and go on patrol for a few hours C138 lol

 

[fineshot1]

I'm looking into buying an XTS5000. I live in Austin, Texas and want to be able to hear the Austin Fire Department. I have a Uniden BCD996T but am not satisfied with it. I know that the AFD radios are the xts5000 and my question is can I program the radio with the database info on this site and will it work? I'm not looking to talk with them just hear their radio traffic.

Thanks.

The XTS5000 CPS programing software requires a programing key in order to program the radio.
It will also require a valid radio ID number to program into it.

Should you obtain the proper CPS and cable - how do you propose to get the key and ID?

Unless you take the radio to the system administrator and he/she programs the radio it does
not seem likely to get done.

 

[FFPM571]

Keep the scanner..

 

[JnglMassiv]

Alex17o6, please identify which channels you'd like from the database page:
Travis County, Texas (TX) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Please correct me if I am wrong but it appears that Austin Fire Dept/EMS is a UHF conventional system.
You don't need digital scanner/radio to monitor these channels.
If this is the case, you are a very, very good candidate for a commercial radio upgrade. You will almost certainly see an improvement in selectivity and overall reception. You may also enjoy a tremendous increase in both quality and amount of audio: professional radios sound better under virtually any circumstance.

May I suggest a conventional Motorola Saber for Alex17o6. Inexpensive, accessories plentiful, rugged, fantastic audio, reasonable battery life.

The XTS5000 is, frankly, a poor first-time commercial radio and probably not worth the trouble.

 

[RodStrong]

If you are not satisfied with that scanner, get a GRE or one of the new RS ones. The older conventional analog mentality of wanting a "real" radio to scan stuff might be valid, but not with digital trunking on most modern public safety systems.

On the digital trunked system (DTR) that I work on (which I am guessing Austin is similar to), my DTR radio is not ideal to use for receiving (scanning). If my goal was to receive only, and I had to make a choice between the two, I would toss my several thousand dollar tranceiver in the trash and keep my 500 dollar Pro 197. The scanner, if programmed correctly, will scan all towers within your receiving range, whereas the tranceiver will generally only be able to scan traffic on the tower that the radio is affiliated with. If this does not make sense to you, PM me and I will explain further.

As one of the other posters stated, you won't even be able to put a tranceiver on the system without a system key and a radio ID which is assigned by the system administrator. And if for some reason you might be able to defeat this, your radio would likely be inhibited by the system administrator once he/she finds out you somehow made it onto the system. Once your radio is inhibited, it will become a several thousand dollar bookend.

 

[bezking]

The problem with the Sabers is that he won't be able to get the RSS as Moto has discontinued it...

 

[immelmen]

Alex, It looks like there is a 800/VHF P25 TRS the Austin FD has talkgroups on, and Im guessing thats what your interested in. There will always be the people who will try to tell you it cannot be done with out the system admin approval ect ect. The simple fact is, it IS possible to program a 5000 to passively monitor that system with the info in the database here and some other resources found on the web...However, it is not legal to do so and therefore your not going to get anyone to help you. In order to do it on your own you will need a very through knowledge of Motorola firmware, CPS and trunking theory acquired through disciplined, extensive self study.....not to mention a lot of money

The fair and honest answer to your question is, while it is possible to do, if your interest is simply to listen to the fire calls, that is not sufficient motivation to self educate to the level the task requires. This will most likely result in programing/operating errors that will leave an expensive radio inhibited and useless. So, in general, its best for the monitoring enthusiast to stick to scanners for their listening purposes.

 

[JnglMassiv]

Alex, It looks like there is a 800/VHF P25 TRS the Austin FD has talkgroups on, and Im guessing thats what your interested in.

Immelmen is right. I hadn't looked at the trunked system details. I'm afraid I will have to chalk this up to a failure of the RR database. Looking at the Austin entry I linked to earlier, there's no way to tell from that FD has a major presence on that system.

You'll want to use scanners all the way for this.

 

[C138NC]

No No No, he wont be able to key up cause he's not gonna get TX....RIGHT!



Go Iron your Uniform and go on patrol for a few hours C138 lol

omg i cant believe i forgot it was you haha.... i already ironed my uniform and stuff and went along with some fire calls expecting something big tonight but eh.

Oh and check your PMs on FB about that radio you mentioned...

 

[RKG]

The XTS5000 CPS programing software requires a programing key in order to program the radio.

True.

It will also require a valid radio ID number to program into it.

False.

 

[firephoto20]

I think what he meant is you need a Valid Radio ID or they will brick your radio.

 

[fineshot1]

I think what he meant is you need a Valid Radio ID or they will brick your radio.

Yes - that is what I meant to say. Thank you

 

[C138NC]

Mm a valid radio ID which would be assigned by the austin fire or the system admin or the radio shop?

Just curious but if hes only intending to listen in then I thought an RID would be needed if he has TX unless regardless it still TX a transponder signal to the communications center when turned on if its hooked up to the system?

 

[FFPM571]

Keep the scanner...

 

[MTS2000des]

Mm a valid radio ID which would be assigned by the austin fire or the system admin or the radio shop?

Just curious but if hes only intending to listen in then I thought an RID would be needed if he has TX unless regardless it still TX a transponder signal to the communications center when turned on if its hooked up to the system?

"valid ID" usually refers to the individual ID of a trunking radio, which is set by the system manager to identify each subscriber radio on the system. It requires the CPS, and either a legacy system key or advanced system key for that trunking system to change/modify/program that system into a Motorola trunking subscriber radio. No "ID" is required to monitor a CONVENTIONAL system and the radio can be set to RX ONLY for that channel.

Motorola trunking radios, especially Smartzone and Astro 25 systems, require affiliation to function and there is no way around it on Astro 25 to "just listen". Even legitimately authorized radios in on receive can cause issues during mass incidents, as affiliation occurs and when users cross zone boundaries, channel resources can be depleted by users listening to talkgroups across zones. This happened in the bridge collapse in Minnesota where users on the system far away tuned into the talkgroups in Minneapolis to hear the traffic. This strained the sites in their area and caused system busies for users on other TG's.
This is one of many reasons why you'll be hard pressed to find any system managers who will cut you on a mission critical network "just to listen".

So as others have said, if it's a trunking system, buy a good scanner and antenna. OTOH, conventional professional radios can and do have superior front end, interference rejection, intermod rejection, and usually superior RX audio. Problem is finding someone to program it the way you want it, and with some rare EXPENSIVE exceptions (eg. XTS5000 with FPP, JT1000, etc) you cannot change what is programmed without investing in costly software, cables, and the skill to use it all. Scanners are so much more flexible, and keep in mind, they cover all the RF bands- commercial radios cover only 1 (unless you want to blow 7 grand on a Thales Liberty or Motorola APX7000, or Harris Talk as One).

 

[immelmen]

No "ID" is required to monitor a CONVENTIONAL system.....

FYI, *if* it is an Astro digital conventional system (such as most of the Federal Government), then there most definitely is still a RID for the Astro system associated with the conventional personality. Its default ID is 1 if not changed and If care is not taken to disable the feature the radio can be inhibited on said conventional system. A "valid" RID is no more or less required to monitor a Digital conventional system then a trunking system, neither require affiliation with the system to monitor. The only difference is you can turn off "Remote radio inhibit" for conventional systems whereas you cannot for trunking.

Motorola trunking radios, especially Smartzone and Astro 25 systems, require affiliation to function...

No, they don't. Especially not Type II SZ. P25 is more tricky.

... and there is no way around it on Astro 25 to "just listen".

Yes there is. As I said above, even on a P25 system, it is possible ...Again, that should NOT be construed as a suggestion for someone interested in scanning to attempt it for the purpose of monitoring the local TRS, but the honest answer is it can be done.