flash upgrading AS3 to 9600 baud?

[alex4659]

Hi,

I would like to know who can personally flash my astro saber to to 9600 baud digital trunking.


I found a way to monitor trunked radio systems w/o affiliating; from reading the forums on radio reference.


thanks,
Alex

[XTS3000]

Remember with 9600 firmware, you also need a new flashcode to handle to 9600 features.

[ElroyJetson]

Problem: It's not CONFIRMED yet with EVERY radio, but supposedly, a 9600 baud system requires an authenticated affiliation or the radio won't unmute. This is known to be true with XTS5000s but may not
be proven either way on Astro Sabers.

Also, due to flash memory limitations on Astro Sabers, (1 meg being the max), an Astro Saber that's
9600 baud capable is then ONLY 9600 baud capable. It can't be used for any 4800 or 3600 baud
legacy systems. It's either/or. 9600 or something else. Not both in one radio.


The simplest way to make the radio "safe" to the system is to drop the TX data deviation to zero. Also force encryption to always on, without an encryption key...or module. The system won't know that
your radio exists.


Elroy

[ILMRadioMan]

Originally Posted by ElroyJetson

This is known to be true with XTS5000s

Incorrect.

[WayneH]

Originally Posted by ILMRadioMan

Incorrect.

I think you hit submit accidentally since your post appears to have ended abruptly without displaying any details. /s

He is correct though in a way. Yes, you can get around it via the scan methods but there's no way to not program an XT_5000 for anything other than auto affiliation. There's no way around actually parking on a trunked channel and having it unmute without affiliating.

[alex4659]

Originally Posted by ElroyJetson

The simplest way to make the radio "safe" to the system is to drop the TX data deviation to zero. Also force encryption to always on, without an encryption key...or module. The system won't know that
your radio exists.


Elroy

So, is there more ways to safely monitor 9600 baud P25 systems or is this the best way?


thanks,
Alex

[immelmen]

Originally Posted by alex4659

Hi,

I would like to know who can personally flash my astro saber to to 9600 baud digital trunking.


I found a way to monitor trunked radio systems w/o affiliating; from reading the forums on radio reference.


thanks,
Alex

You cannot just smash an S record with 9600 trunking into any Astro radio. There is a fork in Astro Host firmware with a separate version (R06.X) that supports 9600. Under normal(legit upgrade purchased from moto) circumstances, this firmware is loaded onto the radio during the flashport upgrade process. If you try to "turn on" or whore the P25 features with lab, the radio will have no idea what 9600 trunking is.

Having said that, it is possible to rip the firmware from the eprom of a 9600 radio and clone it to your radio, but this is an exponentially more complicated undertaking then a simple S record jam.

Originally Posted by ElroyJetson

Problem: It's not CONFIRMED yet with EVERY radio, but supposedly, a 9600 baud system requires an authenticated affiliation or the radio won't unmute. This is known to be true with XTS5000s but may not
be proven either way on Astro Sabers.

There is a workaround that has been tested and proven possible to trunk and unmute audio on 9600 systems in the 800mhz band without affiliation on both Astro and Astro25 platforms. It is not, as of now, possible to do this with OBT 9600 systems...though it may be possible at some point in the future.

Originally Posted by ElroyJetson

Also, due to flash memory limitations on Astro Sabers, (1 meg being the max), an Astro Saber that's
9600 baud capable is then ONLY 9600 baud capable. It can't be used for any 4800 or 3600 baud
legacy systems. It's either/or. 9600 or something else. Not both in one radio.

1 meg Astros flashed for 9600 can still trunk Type II. You loose some personalities and trunking features like private call.

Originally Posted by ElroyJetson

The simplest way to make the radio "safe" to the system is to drop the TX data deviation to zero. Also force encryption to always on, without an encryption key...or module. The system won't know that
your radio exists.

Elroy

Originally Posted by alex4659

So, is there more ways to safely monitor 9600 baud P25 systems or is this the best way?


thanks,
Alex

The tips Elroy lists above will not help monitor a 9600 system. These things can help with a Type II 3600 system, but it is not complete, there are a few more things that need to be done to be bullet-proof.

Originally Posted by wayne_h

There's no way around actually parking on a trunked channel and having it unmute without affiliating.

Already discussed this with wayne but for others who are interested; there is a "back door" method to program any radio that uses Astro25 CPS that "tricks" the radio into doing exactly that: behave as though you have directly selected a P25 9600 trunking personality even though you have not...ie, sit on a 9600 control channel, continuously trunking a talkgroup, without scanning away from that control channel/talkgroup but still unmute with no affiliation.

[newtomotorola]

I can tell you that i am able to monitor our p25 9600cc system with my xts5k this is a UHF system using a conventional frequency to call a trunk talkgroup scan list.

[ElroyJetson]

That you can do that with a 5000 is a fairly new development to me. I've been mostly out of the loop for
the past couple of years as I've had no local Astro systems to try to listen in on. The trunked scan from a conventional channel method, which is a variant of the "hidden talkgroups" method, works well on
3600 baud systems with any radio. That much, I know. As far as I can recall, I'm the first one who
actually tried doing it that way. Or more specifically, I figured out the theory but didn't have a system
to try it out on. Others tried this method for me, with success.

I began "exploration" of trunked Moto systems back in the days when the STX was king. But I didn't stay with it consistently.

Elroy