MOTO TRBO

vodka_martini · Oct 21, 2017

A question for MOTO TRBO users.

How would you describe your experience with required firmware and software upgrades to your system? Reasonable or excessive?

Was it cost prohibitive?

How often do these come down the pike?

Thinking of switching an analog single site system for a campus to MT.

Thanks.

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Project25_MASTR · Oct 21, 2017

It honestly depends on the system and company policies. Occasionally you get to a point where a frimware is so old that a current version of TRBO CPS won't read the radio. Anytime a radio goes to depot (even for warranty repair) Motorola sends it back with the latest firmware. So for the most part with conventional and Capacity Plus firmware isn't a major concern. For Connect Plus it is recommended to keep your controllers and repeaters in the same firmware revision but the Connect Plus Option Board CPS doesn't have the same range of support that TRBO CPS does (so you find yourself updating firmware on subscribers almost every-time you reprogram them locally.

RadioGuy7268 · Oct 21, 2017

What type of MotoTrbo system do you plan to implement? A basic single site system with one or two repeaters running in digital mode would require very little in the way of ongoing updates or anything beyond basic preventive maintenance.

Most of the time when we're going in to update a MotoTrbo system, it is due to the customer wanting to add features.

If you're buying a new system, spend a little time thinking through the setup to make sure you're getting what you need & making the most of what's available to you.

clbsquared · Oct 21, 2017

I've had an XPR 8400 in operation for three years now. I switched it from analog to digital 2 months ago. A firmware update was required for the switch to digital. That's the only one that's been done to it. You need to be aware of what exactly the updates are for. Some of them are just to update or fix features that may not apply to you. And therefore are unnecessary. Some firmware updates do more harm than good.

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kayn1n32008 · Oct 21, 2017

Also be aware that Motorola uses their customers as beta testers for new firmware releases

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N4KVE · Oct 21, 2017

I NEVER upgrade for at least a few months after new FW comes out. I'm not a paid lab rat.

kayn1n32008 · Oct 22, 2017

N4KVE said:
I NEVER upgrade for at least a few months after new FW comes out. I'm not a paid lab rat.

Unpaid lab rat. Actually Motorola customers are paying Motorola to be unwitting beta testers, which IMHO is even worse.

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N4KVE · Oct 22, 2017

kayn1n32008 said:
Unpaid lab rat. Actually Motorola customers are paying Motorola to be unwitting beta testers, which IMHO is even worse.

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And I agree. But not every user is a "paying customer". Many, like myself are affiliated with an entity that does pay for CPS, but as an employee, I don't. So every employee of a 2-way shop uses CPS, but does not pay for it. Many of us wait until that FW version is rock solid, & proven. Heck, I'm still on Trbo 13.5 for my personal radios, but the firm gets the newest. No need for me to upgrade, until a future version offers a feature, or improvement my "hobby" radio can use.

Firebuff880 · Oct 22, 2017

I think this is more a discussion of philosophy than anything else.

If you are using gen 1 radios there is no advantage to touching them or paying for CPS as support ended back on 1.12.17.

If you are gen 2 or 2a then I recommend you touch them at least once a year. There have been just to many odd issues that get addressed an rebroken every release not to. I tell people it's no different that any other software you have. It needs the updates.

Now dollars are the issue an that can be 25 to 50 per unit depending on the dealer, location an contract.

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TampaTyron · Oct 22, 2017

Just wait, Moto has been saying for a while that ahops/end users will have to start paying for tech support and firmware updates..... TT

Golay · Oct 22, 2017

We have the 3 year license. And have renewed it a couple of times now.
But to be honest, the only time I upgrade the software on the computer is when I get a radio in from our vendor that has software newer than what I got, and I need to reprogram a radio.

masstech · Oct 22, 2017

You can be as hands off you want for such upgrades. Honestly, the last MOTOTRBO system I had to touch was running radios and repeaters with software several years old - my recent copy of CPS was very unhappy about that, and I had to grab a copy of the older CPS in use from the primary administrator.

There never really are "required" updates, they're only as required as you desire them to be.

For a single site, you're looking at Capacity Plus. That's a few repeaters (the new SLR 5700 1U repeaters are about 3k USD each last I checked), and depending on how fancy you want your subscriber units to be, XPR 7550s are south of 750 USD each. You could probably reuse the RF infrastructure you already have (antenna(s), duplexer(s), combiner(s) if you're doing that, coax), throw in the cost of CPS, and all this is standard support and 3 years warranty - in the grand scheme of things, not cost prohibitive at all.

If your campus is popular/famous in any way, you can do what I did and throw it's name around at Motorola, play the prestige account card, and get some freebies and better support. No one likes bad press, and if a high and mighty university has a bad experience with Motorola, they can expect you to sully their name and wouldn't want that and would rectify any problems you've been having right away.

MOTO TRBO

vodka_martini

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Project25_MASTR

Millennial Graying OBT Guy

RadioGuy7268

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clbsquared

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kayn1n32008

ØÆSØ

N4KVE

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kayn1n32008

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N4KVE

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Firebuff880

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TampaTyron

Beep Boop, Beep Boop

Golay

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masstech

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