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How to tell if a radio is ALT/DEV?

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slobonmycob

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What are some signs other then not having tags?
And yes, I do mean for ebay and every user here trying to protect themselves from being scammed.

sorry if this is a duplicate post.
 

GTR8000

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These days, parts built APX radios are a much more common issue. Slap together a few parts, put a shiny new housing over internals that may be of questionable origin, whore the flash out with Depot CPS, and sell it to someone as a "new/old stock" radio. There are a few sellers on eBay who are notorious for this behavior. Sometimes you get lucky and get a decent radio, other times you get burned.
 

slobonmycob

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These days, parts built APX radios are a much more common issue. Slap together a few parts, put a shiny new housing over internals that may be of questionable origin, whore the flash out with Depot CPS, and sell it to someone as a "new/old stock" radio. There are a few sellers on eBay who are notorious for this behavior. Sometimes you get lucky and get a decent radio, other times you get burned.
Care to name a few? If someone is an authorized dealer can’t they be reported for that type of behavior to Motorola?
 

N4KVE

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First of all, where do all the parts come from to build these radios? These radios are still fairly new. How many radios are actually tested for heat, & water? There are hundreds of no tag radios already out there. I was at APCO a few years ago. I went to the Motorola display, & pulled the batteries off every APX. Guess what? They were all no tag radios. Some have suggested these radios go out the back door at the factory in the third world country where they are built. But while there are hundreds of no tag radios out there, were they all alt/dev radios? How many do they need to test? I’m told all radios sitting in the factory waiting to be sold are all no tag radios with a serial number of 123ABC1234. Only when an agency commits to buy radios with the flashcode they need are the radios flashed, & ser # decals applied. So I’m speculating these are all brand new, but “missing” radios from somewhere in the supply chain, which means they’re brand new factory built perfectly good “missing” radios. Anyone got a better explanation?
 

com501

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Until verfied on an Aeroflex all radios not purchased from a Moto Partner or other legit source are suspect. There probably is a leak in the supply chain, but I haven't been able to find it.
 

MTS2000des

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Flashcode not matching the factory tag, factory tag reproductions, Ebay...unless one is buying from a reputable authorized dealer, the provenance cannot be guaranteed. What com501 said should apply to any used radio if one plans on the subscriber being provisioned for public safety use of any kind.

Scanner/ham? Not a big deal but such radios should NEVER be put into service or sold without fully disclosing the history.
 

K2NEC

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A "whore" flash and no tags are both pretty good indications. Add cheap, unknown serial, and unknown history and you have yourself a red flag jungle. (I'm looking at you brokenstolenradios.com) If you see a radio that has all of the above and very little or no information in the description, just close the tab and save yourself the trouble.

Ultimately it comes down to what you want to use it for. Personal or ham? Sure get a tagless radio, chances are it's probably ok for what you need it for. Public safety? Tags! Tags! Tags!
 

N4KVE

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It’s one thing to buy it online from someone across the country. Mine came from a friend who had it for a year, & used it for maybe an hour. I know the local guy he got it from, & watched it go through it’s paces on an Aeroflex 3920. It passed all the tests. It’s perfect for me as a hobby radio, & my life does not depend on it working. But it has never failed me yet, or done anything weird But again, where do all these radios come from? The boards were all assembled on Motorola assembly lines. Not in some hacker’s basement. how did they get out there?
 

N4KVE

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If the seller has the initals AA it's probably a dumpster dive special
But he’s not selling APX’s. I think the OP is talking about the 4, or 5 guys who always sell APX’s on E-Bay. Now back in the late 80’s, early 90’s there was a local guy who did go dumpster diving in the Motorola parking lot just west of Ft. Lauderdale. I forget his name though.
 

com501

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It should be noted that the Juarez Depot as shelves full of no tag radios for exchange of your warranty or flat rate radio. This includes APX and Trbo radios. They don't actually repair radios, they just exchange them.
 

com501

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Lanham is very secure. Not so with Juarez. At least no one has been murdered inside the facility yet by the cartels.
 
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