Jesus christ. I'm getting attacked a lot for just stating I wanted the radio up. No I don't have my HAM yet, but am working towards it, I just want it up for listening purposes and emergency use. I can get the software and the cable for it pretty easy through my local radio club here in Alaska (they are helping me get my HAM license).
Some folks here tend to get a bit uptight if they think someone is going to try and operate illegally. It happens quite a bit, so try not to take it personally.
The whole point of asking is so I CAN get the radio up and working. Alaska doesn't have very many radio shops to ask, and the local motorola place up here wants like 500$ to program it which is BS.
Yeah, that's about 10 times what it should cost. However, you've just discovered the first rule about Motorola. That is: If it has the Motorola name on it, it's going to be ridiculously expensive.
I want to program it with local FRS/GMRS, Ambulance Dispatch (listen), Police/Fire (Listen Mic locked out.), and a few of the local HAM stations here so when I get my license I can get started. I have no malicious intent in this.
Shouldn't have a problem with any of that if it is the right radio. Individual channels can be programmed as "receive only". This is a really good idea to prevent accidents.
Programming the radio up with some of the local amateur radio repeaters would be an excellent idea. Listening in on their traffic can teach you a lot.
There are a few helpful answers here and a few not. I have the software (hopefully the right version) just need the cable. I THOUGHT you could just plug in a RJ45 cable to a PC and be good to go, but there's no documentation on how to actually program it online that I can find.
The programming interface for the radio can be done either through the front RJ-45 microphone jack or through the rear 20 pin connector. It's usually easier and more common to use the RJ-45 jack on the front.
The programming cables:
You can do it the 'official' Motorola way, which involves a RIB (Radio Interface Box) which converts your computers RS232 signal to the TTL level signal used by the radio. They are not cheap, although you can find after market models. With the RIB, you need a radio specific cable, or if you are good at soldering, you can whip up your own cable out of a DB type connector and an old RJ-45 Ethernet cable.
You can also purchase aftermarket "RIB-less" cables that will connect between your computers RS232 or USB port and the radio.
The programming software:
If you've got a local amateur club, let them help you out. It's not easy to do and getting some experienced help really prevents a lot of headaches.
If you need to acquire your own copy of the software, the only -legal- source is to purchase from Motorola. The Motorola software licensing is pretty serious stuff with them and they take their copy writes really seriously.
Also....The software version is critical. The version of software you can use depends on the version of the radio and the last version used to program it.
They are really good radios. Make sure you spend some time getting the installation done right. Getting the antenna installed correctly and properly tuned will really impact the performance.