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Flashcodes, what do they mean, and do I need a different one?

A

amcgilli617

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Hi,
I'm very new to programming motorolas. I've programmed Baofengs and Ailunce HD1s before, which I've been able to figure out. But I'm having trouble with this new Motorola XTS 5000R I bought. I'm trying to program a frequency in it in the UHF band (453.x), but it says its invalid on Astro CPS. Why is this happening? The flashcode is 509088-001686-4. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Edit for correction (453.x)
 
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N0BDW

N0BDW

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To answer the question in the title: the flashcode tells you which features are available in the radio. For example, the APX8000 is an "all" band radio. But it is possible to buy one that doesn't have all the bands in the flashcode. When that is the case, CPS will not allow you to program frequencies in the excluded bands, even though the radio has the hardware capable. It is a way for Motorola to sell the same hardware to different people with different feature requirements at different prices.
 
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amcgilli617

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N0BDW said:
To answer the question in the title: the flashcode tells you which features are available in the radio. For example, the APX8000 is an "all" band radio. But it is possible to buy one that doesn't have all the bands in the flashcode. When that is the case, CPS will not allow you to program frequencies in the excluded bands, even though the radio has the hardware capable. It is a way for Motorola to sell the same hardware to different people with different feature requirements at different prices.
Click to expand...
So is there a way to get a new flash code so I can get the right band?
 
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kayn1n32008

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amcgilli617 said:
So is there a way to get a new flash code so I can get the right band?
Click to expand...
The XTS1500/2500/5000 are mono band radios. You can not change bands by changing flashcodes. Sell tye radio you have and buy one in the band split you need.

XTS5000 model number example: H18QDH9PW7AN

The 4th digit from the left, Q in the example, denotes the band of the radio

K: VHF, 136-174MHz
Q: UHF-R1(UHF, range 1) 380-470MHz
S: UHF-R2(UHF, range 2) 450-520MHz
U: 700/800MHz, ~760-870MHz

The XTS2500 was also available in 900MHz and it's band split is denoted with a 'W' as the 4th digit in the model number.
 
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redbeard

redbeard

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MTS2000des said:
The OP has an XTS5000 not an 8000. The issue most likely is they have the wrong band radio- my money says some Ebay flipper advertised an 800 radio as "UHF". The model number will tell the story.
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Place your bets now before the model number comes in... Least likely it's a VHF, most likely an 800.

The common blunder of buying a Motorola based on it's label on the front and not the one on the rear lives on... "My vol. fire dept uses the XTS 5000 so I bought the cheapest one I could find on eBay and it won't let me put our frequency into it..."
 
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redbeard

redbeard

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It's like buying a sight-unseen Ford F-250 and expecting a 4x4 diesel crew cab and getting a regular cab 2wd gasser. The numbers on the stickers inside matter.
 
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N0BDW

N0BDW

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amcgilli617 said:
So is there a way to get a new flash code so I can get the right band?
Click to expand...
Software only goes so far. It can't make your radio defy the rules of physics. If your radio doesn't have the hardware for a band, no changing of the flashcode is going to fix that.

Sometimes the hardware is capable and all that is needed is a flash upgrade but that isn't the case here.
 
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