• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

TSA and Motorolas

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beaker7

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Has anyone ever took a Motorola through TSA and on a flight?
Im going to be traveling on Delta and just want to make sure that if I bring my two XTS5000 portables that they dont get taken by TSA. Thanks!
 

rescue674aa

I’m an idiot
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No..but my friend used to work for a contractor for TSA and did all there radios..he never had a problem bringing all his Radio gear with him


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clbsquared

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I've heard of instances where radios have been confiscated for various reasons. Given the current state of what's going on in our country, it may be wise to call ahead and speak to the TSA about this and find out what they recommend.

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jaspence

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Radios and TSA

I have never had a problem with the TSA, with either a scanner or radio. I have even flown to Central America without incident. Make sure you have your license with you, and for foreign countries a letter of approval from their equivalent to our ARRL.
 

N4KVE

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8 out of 10 times the radios go through the scanner no problem. Only a few times they open the bag, & see the radios. I just tell them I'm a ham, & they say OK. Nobody has ever asked to see my FCC license, which is in my wallet.
 

Project25_MASTR

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Radios....never have had an issue with them (granted they've all said Motorola on them). Now taking a service monitor through a check point...that'll get you pulled out for a check more often than not. At least when I get to work on airline subscribers they'll have me bypass the TSA checkpoints.
 

FedFyrGuy

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Just last month I carried a jump kit with 8 UHF Motorola portables in my checked baggage from Afghanistan, through Dubai, through Amsterdam, into Dulles with no issues. At one security check they wanted to examine the radios for Lithium Ion batteries (they were NiMH), but no other issues. I returned back through the same locations on the return trip a few weeks later and again, no issues.
 

ecps92

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Taxachusetts
FYI New Rules - any electronics larger than a Cell Phone - Take Out of your carry on's and put on the conveyor belt.


As to the OP's question - never an issue - with Scanners and Two-Way radios.
8 out of 10 times the radios go through the scanner no problem. Only a few times they open the bag, & see the radios. I just tell them I'm a ham, & they say OK. Nobody has ever asked to see my FCC license, which is in my wallet.
 

MTS2000des

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FYI New Rules - any electronics larger than a Cell Phone - Take Out of your carry on's and put on the conveyor belt.

Ironic you should mention this. I went to IWCE this year, and leaving ATL I had zero issues with my APX8000, XL-200P and Icom IC-80AD, along with my Windows Surface tablet, Ipad, and three Lithium Ion battery packs, various chargers, Bluetooth headset, and a small Canon Elph digital camera- all neatly packed in my backpack as carry on. Went through HJIA without an issue.

Now leaving McCarran to go home, not the same. As soon as I was in line, the TSA said "new rules: all personal electronics needed to be removed from baggage, placed in a bin, and run through separately". This was announced right after I put my bag on the conveyor belt. As soon as it hit the X-ray, some TSA minion got freaked. I advised them who I was, and that my credentials were in the same bin as my bag (which they could clearly see the outline of a badge on the monitor). I stepped aside, they were just about to start putting me through a complete search, when a LVMPD officer stepped over and asked who I was. Told him who I was, and why I was there. He waved me through and got a "get out of getting your privacy invaded for free" card. Keep in mind, this was in March well before the mass casualty incident this month.

Moral of the story, it all depends who is working that day and what airport you are at. ATL is the busiest airport in the world. Just be prepared to explain what you have any why you have it. If you're a ham, it wouldn't be a bad idea (though not required) to show your ham ticket just to ease someone's concern and make life easier for you.
 

Project25_MASTR

Millennial Graying OBT Guy
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Ironic you should mention this. I went to IWCE this year, and leaving ATL I had zero issues with my APX8000, XL-200P and Icom IC-80AD, along with my Windows Surface tablet, Ipad, and three Lithium Ion battery packs, various chargers, Bluetooth headset, and a small Canon Elph digital camera- all neatly packed in my backpack as carry on. Went through HJIA without an issue.

Now leaving McCarran to go home, not the same. As soon as I was in line, the TSA said "new rules: all personal electronics needed to be removed from baggage, placed in a bin, and run through separately". This was announced right after I put my bag on the conveyor belt. As soon as it hit the X-ray, some TSA minion got freaked. I advised them who I was, and that my credentials were in the same bin as my bag (which they could clearly see the outline of a badge on the monitor). I stepped aside, they were just about to start putting me through a complete search, when a LVMPD officer stepped over and asked who I was. Told him who I was, and why I was there. He waved me through and got a "get out of getting your privacy invaded for free" card. Keep in mind, this was in March well before the mass casualty incident this month.

Moral of the story, it all depends who is working that day and what airport you are at. ATL is the busiest airport in the world. Just be prepared to explain what you have any why you have it. If you're a ham, it wouldn't be a bad idea (though not required) to show your ham ticket just to ease someone's concern and make life easier for you.

Yea...I made a trip to Schaumburg at the beginning of March (via Midway), beginning of April (via Midway) and again at the beginning of May (via O'Hare) and never got stopped and asked to remove my radios from my backpack. Now on the return trip home (leaving Midway) for the April trip my suitcase got pulled aside for a check (had a couple of routers in there with a rat's nest of wall-warts) but that was all.

I know IWCE 2015 when I was leaving I had checked a rifle I had picked up in town, then walked over to the check point carrying a demo R8000...which got pulled aside. Man, should've seen the TSA agent quickly remove their hands when I answered her question regarding the value of the unit (a fully loaded R8000 at the time). You would've thought the thing was hot.
 

masstech

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Oct 22, 2017
Messages
128
People bat their eyes at things they don't know about. Radios, people know and get.

I've never had any trouble with radios on domestic flights, and only once on an international flight back stateside during the whole Samsung battery mess - they wanted to look at my batteries and their labels.

Test equipment on the other hand... I had to haul an Agilent PNA with me because my destination's lab didn't have a working network analyzer nearby. TSA was not pleased, to say the least.
 

PACNWDude

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Oct 15, 2012
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1,336
+1 on Motorola radios being alright with TSA. Now I once carried my Harris XG-100P and got a few questions, since they assumed I was a fed, as few in the private sector carry them.

Another time, I was taking a cheap Ramsey Com3010 test set to Hilo, Hawaii and TSA just wanted to know what it was. They had me take it out of its case and open the battery pack door, and looked for anything unusual. It had company logos that they recognized and said it looked lighter than the "boat anchor" I came with the previous trip. (That was a HP9020.)

Radios, especially Motorola are not usually a problem if it is obviously a professional model, instead of a blister pack consumer grade FRS/GMRS unit.
 

zacabo

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Aug 22, 2010
Messages
74
Location
FL
I've never had a problem getting through with my APX 7000 or XTS 5000. I usually do not take them out of my bag so I have had my bag screened again. On the newer x-ray, batteries will show up as black so they will end up searching your bag and will test for explosives.
 

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RFI-EMI-GUY

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I always carry my FCC license and only once, way way prior to 9/11, pre-TSA, the security had my radio placed up front with the flight crew. Weird that they did that. Never since.
 

ME801

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Feb 12, 2017
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NV
I just arrived in Newark airport on a direct flight from Puerto Rico with my 8KXE, charger, two batteries, programming cable and RSM, no problems at all with TSA.
 
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