APX APX programming

[slobonmycob]

I’ve been given a unique opportunity at my agency. One of the Admins for our state wide trunking system is going to teach me how to do basic programming and maintenance for our departments radios.

What questions should I ask?

 

[PARTHCITY]

One thing I hear from some guys who are allowed basic maintenance but not full access is that they wish they had a system key. A system key will allow you to make changes to the trunked programming if you ever need to. You may not ever use it, but it's good to have.

 

[n7maq-1]

Hopefully the Admin will have a good lesson plan and will cover what they feel is needed. Sorry but I must disagree with Partcity, if some one is just learning to do BASIC programming of a life safety radio they should not be programming anything on a TRS, one small mistake could cause a issue for several users, not just the one subscriber.

Jim

 

[PARTHCITY]

Hopefully the Admin will have a good lesson plan and will cover what they feel is needed. Sorry but I must disagree with Partcity, if some one is just learning to do BASIC programming of a life safety radio they should not be programming anything on a TRS, one small mistake could cause a issue for several users, not just the one subscriber.

Jim

You know what, you're right. I overlooked the basic part. If I were teaching someone APX CPS, I would just go down the menu tree on the stuff that is applicable to their use case. Like Menu items, buttons etc.

 

[gary123]

One major thing to bear in mind on the APX CPS is the fact that many 'advanced' setting only become active if other settings are set correctly.

PARTHCITY has the best suggestion go down the menu tree. You will find that most processes such as adding a Channel are the same for adding a trunked system, TG, Zone, Scan list etc. The invalid fields prompt is your friend use it to give yourself a heads up on a missed field or entry.

 

[slobonmycob]

Hopefully the Admin will have a good lesson plan and will cover what they feel is needed. Sorry but I must disagree with Partcity, if some one is just learning to do BASIC programming of a life safety radio they should not be programming anything on a TRS, one small mistake could cause a issue for several users, not just the one subscriber.

Jim

That’s fine our agency is a little interesting. We operate on a conventional system, but our radios also have access to the state wide trunking system. So the main focus will be conventional programming, I don’t plan to mess with trunking.

 

[Colin9690]

If they are going to teach you, then just ask about anything as it crops up in your mind. I know that's a simple answer, but that's what I'd do.

Just listen to what the person is saying, and if something comes up ask right then, or write it down to ask at the end of the lesson. Sounds fun, enjoy.

 

[dickie757]

Ask for a Motorola Learning account. That will get you a ton of resources. It used to be called LXP.

 

[MTS2000des]

MSI also has the APX Subscriber Academy. It was in person when I took it, cost a ton, but worth every penny. If your agency is going to put you in charge, they should provide the training and tools to do it right, as MAQ said, these are life safety tools in a life safety setting. Doing it wrong could be life changing or life ending.

 

[slobonmycob]

MSI also has the APX Subscriber Academy. It was in person when I took it, cost a ton, but worth every penny. If your agency is going to put you in charge, they should provide the training and tools to do it right, as MAQ said, these are life safety tools in a life safety setting. Doing it wrong could be life changing or life ending.

Anything I do to the radios would be reviewed by a technician. But I found out I will be learning about trunking and given access to that.

 

[OnYourSix]

Save your codeplug MULTIPLE TIMES. Use the "SAVE AS" feature to save it, and not "SAVE" as it will overwrite what you just saved. I usually time or date stamp them if I'm testing a new feature or setting.

 

[MatRat80109]

Always read and save the codeplug before you make any changes. Name the save with "Original" so you can always go back to the start. (Example:: "481AAA0001 Patrol Unit 3002 Original 24OCT2025", more detail is always better.) Keep notes of what you are changing.

MR

 

[slobonmycob]

Save your codeplug MULTIPLE TIMES. Use the "SAVE AS" feature to save it, and not "SAVE" as it will overwrite what you just saved. I usually time or date stamp them if I'm testing a new feature or setting.

Yes he was big on this!