NX-P500

[kd4efm]

for you dealer guys

Who has played with the NX-p500 BRS, and the NX-p500 LMR?
Got an issue where a place got sent LMR versions and my KPG-D5 wont read or write the radio due to it being LMR.
Anybody else come across this?

By the way, the LMR can't be reverted back to BRS from what Tech Support sent back to me.

 

[mmckenna]

There was a post about this a while back. Someone had bought a few and I think they got the BRS model and wanted to be able to reprogram them to GMRS channels. I don't recall the outcome, I think there's some software voodoo that you need to do, and then the thing with sending the radios back to get them reflashed. If I wasn't so tired, I'd probably remember….

 

[kd4efm]

Further info about this MM,
If you have the LMR version you have to have the KPG-D5-L1K license to do it.
So yeah that a LIST PRICE hit os 308.50 for that... BRS also has an advanced license key for the BRS features too. KPG-D5-B1K

 

[mmckenna]

Sounds like what I remembered.

 

[KG7PBS]

Question can the NX-P500 go in to the 440 Ham band? I know some Of the NX 450 to 520 will go down a little in the 440 thanks

 

[kd4efm]

Question can the NX-P500 go in to the 440 Ham band? I know some Of the NX 450 to 520 will go down a little in the 440 thanks

No, the software is locked to 450 and up.

 

[KG7PBS]

No, the software is locked to 450 and up.

Okay thanks

 

[devicelab]

There was a post about this a while back. Someone had bought a few and I think they got the BRS model and wanted to be able to reprogram them to GMRS channels. I don't recall the outcome, I think there's some software voodoo that you need to do, and then the thing with sending the radios back to get them reflashed. If I wasn't so tired, I'd probably remember….

Yep that was me. It was a major pain. I've honestly forgot most of the details but I wanted to simply have the unit that the Kenwood brochure had implied was the default programming -- which was their preprogrammed frequencies, but that's not the case. The dealer gets them essentially unprogrammed and then one has to decide if they want it LMR mode (to program their own stuff) or preprogrammed mode. Either requires buying specific licenses for the software AND the radio feature. Oh and the USB programming cable is also not cheap.

Frankly, this is a scam by Kenwood. I'm sure dealers would probably defend them but if you read their brochure it implies quite a difference end user experience: buy this model and you get XYZ features by default -- like any GMRS/FRS radio -- but that's totally misleading.

Oh and it doesn't support NXDN4800 just FYI.

 

[mmckenna]

Yeah. It's a lowest tier radio, so it's not intended to have a lot of features. Several of the older NXDN models would only do 12.5KHz NXDN. The P500 isn't any different. Sort of like buying a cheap car.

Kenwood went that route with the radio features specifically to lower the amount of stock the dealers had to carry. The newer radios, especially the NX-3000 line, can be set up for NXDN or DMR, and if you look at the UHF and 800MHz radios, they cover a lot more spectrum than the previous models. One UHF model covers the entire spectrum, so no need to stock multiple UHF models. The 800MHz hand held radios also cover 900MHz.

I understand your frustration, though. The system is set up for the dealers to sell the radios, not so much for hobbyists/amateurs to be buying equipment and trying to make it do what they want.

 

[devicelab]

This experience made me wonder if the Kenwood marketing team got ahead of the engineering side a little before certain decision were made. Ah well, live and learn.