Motorola XTS5000 Type IIIs For Federal Monitoring

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JASII

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I picked up both a VHF and a UHF Motorola XTS5000 Type III, that is FPP (Front Panel Programmable), for both amateur radio and federal monitoring. When I program federal frequencies, I will program them as receive only, with no transmit frequency, should I program the actual NAC code, when known, or should I simply program each one as F7E? Also, are most federal repeaters Motorola Quantars that are capable of both analog and P25 traffic? If so, should I try to determine the analog PL/DPL, program that, and program the portable as mixed mode? Or are most federal agencies APCO P25 only and can't even default to analog any longer?
 

signal500

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I picked up both a VHF and a UHF Motorola XTS5000 Type III, that is FPP (Front Panel Programmable), for both amateur radio and federal monitoring. When I program federal frequencies, I will program them as receive only, with no transmit frequency, should I program the actual NAC code, when known, or should I simply program each one as F7E? Also, are most federal repeaters Motorola Quantars that are capable of both analog and P25 traffic? If so, should I try to determine the analog PL/DPL, program that, and program the portable as mixed mode? Or are most federal agencies APCO P25 only and can't even default to analog any longer?

Yes, all of the federal repeaters I have seen are dual mode Quantars. There are still many agencies using analog and/or digital mix mode so I would program the XTS5000's receivers in mixed mode. I would also program the P25 receive NAC F7E for all agencies. Many agencies are still transitioning from analog to APCO P25.
 

jim202

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I picked up both a VHF and a UHF Motorola XTS5000 Type III, that is FPP (Front Panel Programmable), for both amateur radio and federal monitoring. When I program federal frequencies, I will program them as receive only, with no transmit frequency, should I program the actual NAC code, when known, or should I simply program each one as F7E? Also, are most federal repeaters Motorola Quantars that are capable of both analog and P25 traffic? If so, should I try to determine the analog PL/DPL, program that, and program the portable as mixed mode? Or are most federal agencies APCO P25 only and can't even default to analog any longer?


Unless you know how to trick this radio into a receive only radio on a P25 system, it will try to affiliate on that system each time you turn it on or change the talkgroup. Plus you will need a systems key to even put in the trunking program information.
 

jhal94

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Unless you know how to trick this radio into a receive only radio on a P25 system, it will try to affiliate on that system each time you turn it on or change the talkgroup. Plus you will need a systems key to even put in the trunking program information.

Most likely this is for conventional (non-trunking). To Program a UHF or VHF system you need to know the OBT control channel offsets and that is a HUGE undertaking.
 

carterblumeyer

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Speaking from experience.. Most agencies are p25 and not analog.. But the quantar is usually programmed as one or the other but not both. If P25 you can guess that encryption is on...
 

ecps92

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Yes dual mode, but not always programmed for the Dual mode.
Guess it varies by Agency and/or Region

Yes, all of the federal repeaters I have seen are dual mode Quantars. There are still many agencies using analog and/or digital mix mode so I would program the XTS5000's receivers in mixed mode. I would also program the P25 receive NAC F7E for all agencies. Many agencies are still transitioning from analog to APCO P25.
 

SOFA_KING

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Yes on the Quantar usually not being mixed mode, but how many times have I heard P25 talkaround on a analog repeater output frequency? Way too many times to count. And many common federal simplex frequencies are a real mixed bag of tricks...even with different PL tones and NACs used on the same frequency. I always program P25 Digital CSQ mixed mode with the last known analog PL they used before the agency went digital (if they even went digital yet). And if they are still analog, I also use mixed mode Digital CSQ (+ F7E). It is not often I listen to analog as CSQ (too much noise), but some of these simplex channels really use many PL tones, so I have to at times.

P :cool:
 
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