(Novice) Preparing 28 UHF Police/EMS XTS3000 Model II For Sale. What Needs To Be Done?

[phreaktor]

Hello All. While I have an Engineering/RF Technician (military satellites for Lockheed) background, I don't have much experience with surface radio. I recently purchased 38 Motorola XTS3000 units plus extra accessories at a local Police/Fire/EMS auction. I'll list as many details that I think may be relevant as I can before getting to questions.:

H09SDF9PW7BN (Model II)
Programmed for UHF 445-521MHz

Service Mode shows:
R.07.23.00
DSPN08.03.02
1MEG
Flashcode 100008-000000-0 options:

Q806/G806	IMBE / APCO-25 Digital Operation
H38/G51	Smartzone Operation

Inventory:
1. Setup 1: 8 systems with XTS3000, 2x OEM Impres NNTN6034A, NNTN4436B, or NTN8299BR batteries, NMN6193C shoulder mic, AA16740 charger base, and 377673 battery charge status dock.
2. Setup 2: 30 systems with radio, 2x batteries and shoulder mic.
3. Parts: 65 OEM batteries that all take and hold a charge for a week. I'd like to know how to properly evaluate them as they look to sell for $30-$50 a pair in used condition.
4. Parts: 38 mics.
5. Parts: 4 battery charge status docks.

I acquired the lot for what I believe to be a good price and they are in nice cosmetic condition, generally speaking. That being said, the current eBay market value for this specific model, mostly with the radio/battery alone, ranging from $150-$250 (Listed) and about the same for Sold listings. Does this seem accurate? Based on my initial investment, I am willing to put up to an additional $600 into whatever is required (some antennas, chargers, cable/software, service) to get them up to snuff for new owners if I can move them for somewhere in the aforementioned price range. The cable I am looking at is $52 and the software is purported to be $275 for 3 years based on my research. I have a stack of compatible laptops and desktop PCs already. I am little confused by the eBay listing for this cable with regard to whether or not it requires WinXP or if it is compatible with Win10.

My main questions are:
1. How do sellers typically prepare this particular unit for sale or better yet, in what state would you expect to receive this unit? Are these XTS3000 units that sold on eBay already programmed for a specific purpose in a specific region, making them more marketable, or are they simply flashed via the CPS to a default state with commonly used options based on their intended use as a scanner or for HAM? What determines the value or lack thereof as far as desirability with the Model II?

2. How can these units be further tested outside of checking the inputs and LEDs in Service Mode if I purchase the cable and the Astro Motorola CPS? Is any other hardware required outside of a compatible computer/OS to prepare them for HAM use? I've seen mention of a RIB box or a cable that has the RIB circuit built into it being required for programming. I do know to stay away from the generic cables out of China. The cable seller above seems knowledgeable and reliable.

3. I see the CPS uses a spreadsheet type format. Is there somewhere on this or another site where I can download a .xls spreadsheet that would have all the standard options entered, save for channel information, that I can use to import data into the CPS? How long does programming one unit take on average once you get in a flow?

4. What pertinent data besides the frequency. model, power etc should be in the title? Are these "P-25 and analog enabled" by default or is that capability selected during programming? How can I tell if a radio has "Enhanced ID" as mentioned in the attached chart from the auction? It doesn't show the Flashcode 100008-000000-0 for the radios that I have checked so far for some reason. It's only associated with the Spectra 30W in-vehicle units they had, unless someone made a typo.

5. What would you estimate the market value of Setup 1 in the inventory above to be with the unit ready for channel programming and in 7/10 cosmetic condition? Do you think what I have is worth the investment into hardware, software and education/research time to sell them for the most they can be worth?

I will keep two for myself, I think, as this seems like an engaging hobby to add to my ever-growing list. I truly appreciate anyone who takes the time to address my questions.

 

[clbsquared]

Use this site. Enter the flashcode and select the correct model number. It will tell you what options the radio has. https://www.akardam.net/r/m/tools/fdecode.pl

From the flashcode you listed, it appears to be basic conventional operation only.
The XTS3000 has long been EOL. I wouldn’t invest anymore money into them than what you’ve already invested.
The CPS will most likely not be available from MOL and will need to be obtained from other sources.
Keep in mind that these radios are old. While they may be in good shape, your market for selling them is going to be small. Mostly to hams and hobbyists. You may actually make more of a profit from selling the accessories rather than the radio itself.
No one is going to spend $250 on an EOL radio that old when they can easily pick up an XTS2500 or 5000 for that same price or less. Granted, all of the XTS series is EOL with the 3000 being probably the oldest.
Good luck

 

[N4KVE]

Agreed. Don’t put a cent into them. They were great radios in their day, but that day has passed. And they are hi split, which doesn’t include the ham band, although hex editing the CPS could get around that. There’s a bunch of XTS2500’s, a much newer radio in the correct ham split with FPP on the Bay for $150, or less. You may break even.

 

[MTS2000des]

XTS3000s are two decades old, zero support from the vendor as far as service, flashport/firmware upgrades, and require antique (by today's standards) 32bit Windows to run the no-longer-legally sold CPS. These are a fifty dollar a pop radio in the real world, and they are T-band (450-520) factory bandsplit. Yes, the can be modified via CPS to drop a few MHz down into the 440 ham band, but performance MAY suffer and quite frankly, this is about the only viable market for these ancient radios.

You also have to consider the flashcode as indicated (which may or may not be what is in the radio) is a basic P25 operation only. No digital ID display, and without reading the radios and putting them in test mode, no idea what the HOST/DSP version are. Informed digital radio buyers need to know the EXACT version number, flashcode installed, and the big one is did anyone hit this radio with an advanced system key and enable write protect? This is to thwart unauthorized reprogramming and can be bypassed, but takes technical skill and quite frankly no one is going to pay top dollar for an "as-is can't test" special.

Which brings up another point: a radio like this needs a proper PM and auto-tune to work well, especially on P25. Have these radios ever been properly PM'ed?

As is, where is, $50 max. Real talk. These aren't serious money and haven't been for 12-15 years.

 

[prcguy]

I believe the 3000 was the bastard child of the XTS series and in my opinion the least desirable, except for maybe a stripped down 1500. It uses different programming software than the 1500, 2500 and 5000 series. The XTS2500 was the latest and last of the series and newer and I've been buying full blown UHF 380-470MHz XTS2500 model IIIs with FPP and AES encryption in the $125 range for some time now.

Buyers will determine the price with an auction type sale and you generally have a problem selling lots of them because the few people that gotta have one will pay a little more in the beginning then the rest will sit unsold until you make a serious price drop. Then that cycle repeats until the last ones sell for a really low price and well below what you might have thought.

If it was a very desirable item and priced right you can sell lots of them but for that to happen with an XTS3000 that might be in the $75 range for just the radio then add a little more for used batts and other accys. The main market for used batteries is for people dumping a used radio and they need a cheap batt to sweeten the sale. For that reason most used batteries sell very cheap unless they are NOS with a recent date code.

I've seen friends of mine do similar things buying big lots of radios hoping to make some $$ only to still have much of the stuff a year later because they saturated the market and were not willing to lower the price to the new reduced value after everyone got their fill. They didn't due the research before buying the lot of radio stuff and didn't take into account the small number of people that might really want the item leaving the rest as an expensive mistake.

Agreed. Don’t put a cent into them. They were great radios in their day, but that day has passed. And they are hi split, which doesn’t include the ham band, although hex editing the CPS could get around that. There’s a bunch of XTS2500’s, a much newer radio in the correct ham split with FPP on the Bay for $150, or less. You may break even.

 

[vagrant]

I had an XTS3000 UHF R1 model 3 w/FPP and P25. I sold it with an impress charger, antenna, programming cable and battery for $100 to $200. I forgot the exact price. While that model works in the amateur band, the guy I sold it to uses it for GMRS. Had a friend of mine had his GMRS and or Amateur license back then, I would have given it to him. Fortunately, my friend lucked out and I gave him an XTS5000 UHF R1 P25 Model 3 w/FPP and an XTVA w/HHCH.

That XTS3000 R2 Model 2 would be a good candidate for GMRS use. Forget the P25 and program them for the GMRS frequencies. On one of the zones perhaps load up just the GMRS repeater pairs and use the default 141.3 PL tone, so they can use them with open GMRS repeaters. I definitely would not put any more money into them with accessories, but I would load up the GMRS freqs and sell them as-is but confirmed working after programming and testing. UHF antennas (Moto knockoffs) that fit are inexpensive and batteries for that model can be had for under $25 on Amazon. I purchased five Moto knockoff NAE6549 antennas for $12 via eBay, but they swept the range and work very well.

 

[mbnv992]

XTS3000’s never had FPP. Also - the “bastard child” of the XTS series was the XTS3500 which requires special RSS to program. The XTS3000 was just a standard produced radio with standardized CPS.

As has already been said - the XTS3000 is basically a worthless radio now, and are very very old. I still have several xts3000R’s I use for our local GMRS repeater club. I’d say they are going for $100 a piece for a pristine model 3 UHF. The 800MHZ ones are practically being given away. All of my xts3000’s have a 2002-2003 manufactured build date so they were made more towards the end of their production and have worked flawless for my needs and I’ve owned them for years.


Just my .02 cents.

 

[mikewazowski]

No digital ID display, and without reading the radios and putting them in test mode, no idea what the HOST/DSP version are.

R.07.23.00
DSPN08.03.02
1MEG

I believe the 3000 was the bastard child of the XTS series and in my opinion the least desirable, except for maybe a stripped down 1500. It uses different programming software than the 1500, 2500 and 5000 series. The XTS2500 was the latest and last of the series and newer and I've been buying full blown UHF 380-470MHz XTS2500 model IIIs with FPP and AES encryption in the $125 range for some time now.

You're confusing two different product lines that both used the XTS name. An XTS3000 is a member of the ASTRO family which includes the Astro Spectra and Astro Saber and the XTS1500, 2500 and 5000 are members of the ASTRO25 family.

The Astro line of products were programmed with RSS and later progressed to CPS. The ASTRO25 line of products used ASTRO25 CPS for programming.

The red headed step child of the ASTRO line was the XTS3500 which looked like an XTS3000 but used completely different software.

 

[phreaktor]

Thank you guys for the insight. What is special about the recent sold listings for this model number that they fetched the price range they did? Most appear to be in the same generic configuration that these are in.

I will need to research some of your replies acronym by acronym, but this is a great start for me to do some self-education about these little dinosaurs I’m apparently saddled with. I buy and sell industrial and medical hardware for a living, so I didn’t put in more than I knew I could easily see at least some return on. I’ll see about tracking down the CPS first, then understanding the configuration and finally purchase a cable. If I have to brick a couple to learn, it’s no big deal. I’m not in a rush to make a return and this sounds like an educational and possibly fun project.

Is there some confusion regarding which model these are? The info in the original post was all taken from the Service Mode screens.

Edit: it seems a couple of these sold units that went for $175-$200 are set up for GMRS. I won’t pretend to know what that is, but I’ll find out. Funny side note, I think the sellers are all guys that went to the same auction I did because we are all in the same area, haha.
Sold XTS3000

 

[mmckenna]

Edit: it seems a couple of these sold units that went for $175-$200 are set up for GMRS. I won’t pretend to know what that is, but I’ll find out. Funny side note, I think the sellers are all guys that went to the same auction I did because we are all in the same area, haha.
Sold XTS3000

Some people will pay for pre-programmed radios, especially the big name brands. Programming and the tools necessary to do it can be a steep learning curve to get correct, some don't want to tackle that sort of challenge.
Problem with selling pre-programmed radios is you don't know who they are going to and if they have a legit license or not. Yeah, some sellers don't care, some have morals...

You may sell some just by name brand. Some buyers will drool over the Motorola name on the radios, no matter what they are. I've sold some used radios for downright stupid prices. I don't claim to know why, but name brand is part of it, and then the "I gotta win at any cost" is the other. I've sold used radios for more than they cost me new. Go figure.

 

[jaspence]

Radios for GMRS must be FCC certified for that service and use fixed frequencies. P25 not allowed on GMRS.

 

[vagrant]

That‘s probably another reason why I sold the 3k, thinking it should work and did not. Thanks for that.

XTS3000’s never had FPP.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Program them all up for analog GMRS operations. Make the default zone CTCSS tone 141.3 Hz and program MPL for 32 common CTCSS tones. Make one zone SIMPLEX on the available GMRS 462 simplex channels and another zone as repeaters with +5 MHz offset. If you can follow the common GMRS channel numbering it will be a bonus. There are folks that will pay a bit more for a real radio (part 90 is acceptable) for GMRS. Offer custom programming for an optional price.

 

[MississippiPI]

I'm always amazed with all the knowledge, you guys rock! Happy New Year..


Be safe

 

[phreaktor]

Program them all up for analog GMRS operations. Make the default zone CTCSS tone 141.3 Hz and program MPL for 32 common CTCSS tones. Make one zone SIMPLEX on the available GMRS 462 simplex channels and another zone as repeaters with +5 MHz offset. If you can follow the common GMRS channel numbering it will be a bonus. There are folks that will pay a bit more for a real radio (part 90 is acceptable) for GMRS. Offer custom programming for an optional price.

Thanks. Are you familiar with the Astro Saber CPS vR5.0.3? I have the software now and I am waiting on an FTDI cable. If I were to send you a screen shot of the software, would you be able to input the data where it needs to be for me to import? I'm confident once I get one right, I can handle them all. What I was thinking about doing is setting up al of them for GMRS here locally, testing and selling everything as a lot ready to use on the local yard sale pages. The licensing is up to the buyer to posses rather than the responsibility of the seller, right? I'm going to go ahead and get it for myself because I will be keeping a few of them.

If I didn't do that and decided to sell them on eBay, it is possible to program them to a default state for GMRS and just leave it up to the user to program their local channels? Or am I understanding this incorrectly? How would I determine softkey functions?

 

[N4KVE]

What I was thinking about doing is setting up al of them for GMRS here locally, testing and selling everything as a lot ready to use on the local yard sale pages. The licensing is up to the buyer to posses rather than the responsibility of the seller, right? I'm going to go ahead and get it for myself because I will be keeping a few of them.

Totally irresponsible attitude. If I sell a radio to a friend who I know is a ham, I’ll keep the freq’s in the radio. But if it’s a stranger who I don’t know, I‘ll blank the radio, & let him take care of the programming. That’s the problem with many CCR’s coming into the country. They’re programmed on test freq’s, & buyers use them without any license causing interference by transmitting where they’re not licensed to operate. This reminds me of a guy I used to know who bought a few guns, & sold them to folks who lived on the wrong side of town. He felt it was OK, and the buyers would use them responsibly. Take them to a Hamfest, & sell them there, as most attendees will be licensed.

 

[clbsquared]

Thanks. Are you familiar with the Astro Saber CPS vR5.0.3? I have the software now and I am waiting on an FTDI cable. If I were to send you a screen shot of the software, would you be able to input the data where it needs to be for me to import? I'm confident once I get one right, I can handle them all. What I was thinking about doing is setting up al of them for GMRS here locally, testing and selling everything as a lot ready to use on the local yard sale pages. The licensing is up to the buyer to posses rather than the responsibility of the seller, right? I'm going to go ahead and get it for myself because I will be keeping a few of them.

If I didn't do that and decided to sell them on eBay, it is possible to program them to a default state for GMRS and just leave it up to the user to program their local channels? Or am I understanding this incorrectly? How would I determine softkey functions?

I can’t speak specifically for the XTS3000, but, the majority of Motorola radios require the feature sets to be an exact match in order to “clone” other radios with the same codeplug. That being said, Motorola does allow the Astro series of radios to be capable of a “drag and drop” method across the Astro platform. Once you “read” one 3000, edit the codeplug and “write” it back to the radio, you can then read each radio individually in another instance of CPS and drag the top node of your new codeplug over and drop it into the receiving radio.
Sadly, you’re going to have to read and write each radio individually.

 

[MTS2000des]

I concur. These aren't consumer grade toys. These are professional tools intended for professional use. Slapping GMRS into them and selling them at yard sales isn't a responsible thing to do IF one cares about being part of what could potentially generate interference for legitimate GMRS licensees/repeaters/users, but if you think the FCC is going to come busting down doors- it ain't gonna happen and as much I'd like to believe one would get the same treatment as those assisting with straw purchasing guns would- the FCC is a JOKE and does NOT CARE about anything except pandering to the wireless cartels.

They don't even give a rats behind when rogue BDA/DAS generate harmful interference to our so-called protected NPSPAC 800MHz frequencies. Ask me how I know. But yes, one should do the right thing and either sell them deprogrammed (ideally one conventional channel has to be setup but could be RX only) or unload them at a hamfest as Gary suggested.

 

[clbsquared]

Download Home :: www.codeplugsupersite.com

Register through the link provided and find an XTS3000 codeplug. Open it in the CPS and take a tour through all of the various sections of the “tree”. Use the help menu and familiarize yourself with how the CPS is set up and what is required for programming

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Download Home :: www.codeplugsupersite.com

Register through the link provided and find an XTS3000 codeplug. Open it in the CPS and take a tour through all of the various sections of the “tree”. Use the help menu and familiarize yourself with how the CPS is set up and what is required for programming

Best advice.