-
To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:
Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.
If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.
To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.
The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.
For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).
This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.
HT-1250 or MT-2000 which to buy?
- Thread starter Nasby
- Start date
- Status
An HT1250 will do up to 128 channels, while and MTS2000 will do up to 160. In my opinion, I prefer the MT/MTS Jedi series radios. They have excellent receivers.
Software for the HT1250 is noy cheap...a little over three hundred bucks. The MT2000 you would have to have programmed by someone who has the Jedi DOS software.
Software for the HT1250 is noy cheap...a little over three hundred bucks. The MT2000 you would have to have programmed by someone who has the Jedi DOS software.
I owned a MT2000 top display (48ch) and that was a great radio as are the other Jedi radios (HT1000, etc). If you are not needing MDC1200 or QCII you could also look into a MTS2000, just depends on what you find that is cheaper.
I do not like the HT1250 so I am biased, plus for the same amount of money you can get a junky 1250 VS a very clean MT2000/MTS2000.
I do not like the HT1250 so I am biased, plus for the same amount of money you can get a junky 1250 VS a very clean MT2000/MTS2000.
Ht1250
I like the HT1250 best because its narrow band ready and the MT2000 is not , I own both. Now with that said I like the accessories for the Jedi radio much better. With price in mind the MTS is a good choice if you have the CPS programming and not the RSS. I keep my HT1250's up to date as far as firmware and the old ones have alot of issues firmware versions R1.00 - R4.00 are the ones to stay away from. They can be updated to new firmware to fix them.
I like the HT1250 best because its narrow band ready and the MT2000 is not , I own both. Now with that said I like the accessories for the Jedi radio much better. With price in mind the MTS is a good choice if you have the CPS programming and not the RSS. I keep my HT1250's up to date as far as firmware and the old ones have alot of issues firmware versions R1.00 - R4.00 are the ones to stay away from. They can be updated to new firmware to fix them.
bezking
Member
Also - you may have a hard time buying the HT CPS from Motorola - while the MT2000 should be easier to get... However - you may also consider, as Grog said, the MTS2000 because it is FLASHport capable - which means a wider range of available options.
Astro25
Member
I'll agree here. I think the Jedis are a superb radio over the Waris, if not for anything else at least the audio quality. You can get an MTS with everything flashed, MDC, GE-Star, etc, but those are far and few between. The MT usually comes with everything you need anyways. Plus you'll save some $$. People want an arm and a leg for a 1250....
Josh
Member
I've used the HT750/HT1250 line of radios before, and have owned them on VHF and UHF and don't see any problems with them. Yes, the older ones were flaky on VHF, so avoid those from 1999 especially, but when you have a decent one, it's a fine radio and very sensitive. I used the VHF one I had for railroad monitoring too, and found the receiver to be hot.
Some of the audio issues with the HT1250 lineup were solved with firmware upgrades. I had one that came with version 4.00.00 or so, it had an "issue" where RX audio caused the speaker to make a popping sound when unmuted, it wasn't a noticeable issue except when signals were weak and choppy. I had it upgraded to then 5.08.00 (now they're up to a significantly high level) and that disappeared. There were issues with the built-in clock not keeping good time, these issues were also resolved. The radio itself is just fine now.
With the MTS/MT line of radios, there were and currently are still issues with the display going bad, losing pixels, lines etc. The PD I interned with last year used MTS2000 radios and few, if any, had displays that weren't totally unintelligible. So, if you do go with the MT2000 route, you'll probably have that issue at some point, even if the radio is fine now and you baby it. The volume knobs on these radios also tends to be loose, so any bumping of it could send it to max-volume rather easily.
The HT1250 is smaller than the MT2000/MTS2000 radios, and has a lot more features/ creature comforts like an RSSI guage to see how strong signals are, battery indicator, clock, and buttons that can be programmed to do stuff with both short and long presses, effectively doubling the number of programmable options to the buttons (and there are 7, the orange top button, 3 on the side and 3 on the front).
I was very pleased with mine and had it from 2003 until just last year. I since upgraded to an XTS5k w/FPP. Another option you may want to look at is the HT1550XLS, and while it will cost you significantly more than an HT1250, it has the ability to have frequencies altered from the front keypad and also a larger multi-line display. People with these already tend not to get rid of them, hence I don't seen any on eBay very often. If you want smaller form-factor, but all the same features as the HT1250, you may want to look at the EX600/EX600XLS portable radio, it has more channels (160) and is smaller, but has the same display.
This is my 2cents. Some people live and die by the Jedi line. I have never had much luck with them, aside from the VISAR, which few like, but I really do. Avoid the HT1250LS and LS+ radios because they don't do many conventional channels.
Good luck in your decision.
-Josh
Some of the audio issues with the HT1250 lineup were solved with firmware upgrades. I had one that came with version 4.00.00 or so, it had an "issue" where RX audio caused the speaker to make a popping sound when unmuted, it wasn't a noticeable issue except when signals were weak and choppy. I had it upgraded to then 5.08.00 (now they're up to a significantly high level) and that disappeared. There were issues with the built-in clock not keeping good time, these issues were also resolved. The radio itself is just fine now.
With the MTS/MT line of radios, there were and currently are still issues with the display going bad, losing pixels, lines etc. The PD I interned with last year used MTS2000 radios and few, if any, had displays that weren't totally unintelligible. So, if you do go with the MT2000 route, you'll probably have that issue at some point, even if the radio is fine now and you baby it. The volume knobs on these radios also tends to be loose, so any bumping of it could send it to max-volume rather easily.
The HT1250 is smaller than the MT2000/MTS2000 radios, and has a lot more features/ creature comforts like an RSSI guage to see how strong signals are, battery indicator, clock, and buttons that can be programmed to do stuff with both short and long presses, effectively doubling the number of programmable options to the buttons (and there are 7, the orange top button, 3 on the side and 3 on the front).
I was very pleased with mine and had it from 2003 until just last year. I since upgraded to an XTS5k w/FPP. Another option you may want to look at is the HT1550XLS, and while it will cost you significantly more than an HT1250, it has the ability to have frequencies altered from the front keypad and also a larger multi-line display. People with these already tend not to get rid of them, hence I don't seen any on eBay very often. If you want smaller form-factor, but all the same features as the HT1250, you may want to look at the EX600/EX600XLS portable radio, it has more channels (160) and is smaller, but has the same display.
This is my 2cents. Some people live and die by the Jedi line. I have never had much luck with them, aside from the VISAR, which few like, but I really do. Avoid the HT1250LS and LS+ radios because they don't do many conventional channels.
Good luck in your decision.
-Josh
One of the issues I have with the waris family is that they feel like a cheap ham rig.
Maybe the first MT2000s were not, but mine was as I had several narrowband frequencies as well as a 12.5khz splinter frequency. They might not do EVERY splinter frequency, but mine did what I needed so I was happy. A top display from the new APX would have kicked ass on a jedi with 160/255ch.
I have heard (FWIW) that they are not as tight-gripped on the "professional" CPS as they used to. I just loved being able to buy CPS for the XTS5000 while not being able to buy it for the HT750 :lol:
I guess I will have to look at MOL and see if I can add it, just to be curious.
Maybe the first MT2000s were not, but mine was as I had several narrowband frequencies as well as a 12.5khz splinter frequency. They might not do EVERY splinter frequency, but mine did what I needed so I was happy. A top display from the new APX would have kicked ass on a jedi with 160/255ch.
I have heard (FWIW) that they are not as tight-gripped on the "professional" CPS as they used to. I just loved being able to buy CPS for the XTS5000 while not being able to buy it for the HT750 :lol:
I guess I will have to look at MOL and see if I can add it, just to be curious.
narrow band
Grog,
The Jedi's say they will do 12.5 and they will on some frequencies. For example 151.3625 will work but 151.3475 and 151.0025 will not in HT1000,JT1000 and MT2000's. I don't know about the MTS line as no one has these in my area in VHF. I have not ran in to that with UHF. The Kenwood dealers have made alot of sales of the TK2180 which is a poor performing radio to the HT1250 or any of the JEDI line. I wish Moto would have made an update to the Jedi's. The HT1250,750 just had a bad start but have upgraded to be a great radio. I updated some V2.00 firmware HT1250's and HT750 about a month ago for a VFD and they cannot believe how much better they are.
Grog,
The Jedi's say they will do 12.5 and they will on some frequencies. For example 151.3625 will work but 151.3475 and 151.0025 will not in HT1000,JT1000 and MT2000's. I don't know about the MTS line as no one has these in my area in VHF. I have not ran in to that with UHF. The Kenwood dealers have made alot of sales of the TK2180 which is a poor performing radio to the HT1250 or any of the JEDI line. I wish Moto would have made an update to the Jedi's. The HT1250,750 just had a bad start but have upgraded to be a great radio. I updated some V2.00 firmware HT1250's and HT750 about a month ago for a VFD and they cannot believe how much better they are.
Josh
Member
My 12.5Khz and narrowband, it's not about the PLL synthesizer steps, it's about the radio's ability to filter out adjacent signals that are at minimum 12.5 khz away... thus no bleeding over occurring. Just as well, 2.5Khz transmit deviation is the other requirement to keep it from bleeding over onto other frequencies.
- Status
