• 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.

More than one way to enable ESK?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Thayne

Member
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
2,145
I have heard some talk that turning on ESK in older ESK capable radios with the proper feature string is possible without a keyloader. Does anyone know if that is true?

It seems to me that there probably was not any use of ESK until the last few years when FL, TX, etc. started using it. Of course those users are using newer radios that require RPM rather than Programmer to set up the radios.

I noticed the software to implement ESK on the CSD-transmission side is priced at about 11 grand, (not counting the cost for the reception side), yet the key card readers are only a little over $100.

Just wondering if any one of the EDACS gurus have any comments--
 

rmiles

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
248
Thayne said:
I have heard some talk that turning on ESK in older ESK capable radios with the proper feature string is possible without a keyloader. Does anyone know if that is true?

It seems to me that there probably was not any use of ESK until the last few years when FL, TX, etc. started using it. Of course those users are using newer radios that require RPM rather than Programmer to set up the radios.

I noticed the software to implement ESK on the CSD-transmission side is priced at about 11 grand, (not counting the cost for the reception side), yet the key card readers are only a little over $100.

Just wondering if any one of the EDACS gurus have any comments--


ESK is enabled through feature encryption, as you indicated. It has nothing to do with a keyloader. The keyloader is used to load voice encryption keys into radios. One has nothing to do with the other. Perhaps I’m not reading your question with its proper intent?
 

JungleJim

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
175
It wasn't the radio model that would allow ESK automatically, it was a certain version of Programmer and it would not magically "turn on" the ESK but would allow an ESK personality to be read, viewed, changed and saved to disk with out the key card. You can't view the key in programmer and the key itself isn't stored in the personality, only a pointer telling the radio which key to use on which system. Writing the same personality to another radio, ESK featured or not, will not load the ESK keys unless you have the keycard reader and keycard with the actual keys on it.

ESK does require a keycard, and hence a keycard reader. They are the same as the keycard used to store and distribute the voice encryption keys but the two keys cannot be on the same card. You do have to spend eleven grand for the software in order to generate the ESK keys and write them to the distribution keycards.
 

rmiles

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
248
JungleJim said:
it was a certain version of Programmer and it would not magically "turn on" the ESK but would allow an ESK personality to be read, viewed, changed and saved to disk with out the key card

Which version was that?
 

Thayne

Member
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
2,145
Thanks for the info. It is kind of a moot point since the new GRE scanners will negate the ESK keeping scanners from tracking.
Some media types really like a REAL radio since they do work better in marginal conditions, and I guess I can understand that.
 

ElroyJetson

I AM NOT YOUR TECH SUPPPORT.
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 8, 2002
Messages
3,685
Location
DO NOT ASK ME FOR HELP PROGRAMMING YOUR RADIO. NO.
I believe it's either 16 or 18 that allows you to read SOME of the contents of an ESK radio personality without having the ESK key.

All you have to do is make ANY SINGLE CHANGE to any accessible information, like change
one letter in one group name, and now you can save the file to disk without the key.

But a lot of data is still obscured.


If there's a version that lets you look at ALL the data, I'd like to know about it.


Elroy
 

otter9309

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
154
Location
On the move
What all is on the seperate CD that will enable the security feature in programmer? I am not speaking of the ESK card.
 

Thayne

Member
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
2,145
I don't know but it must really be the Cat's meow if it costs 11 Grand. :)
 

MMIC

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
442
Location
Inside of the circuit....
Are you sure that the $11,000 is not for the entire CSD software package? As I recall ESK is available in all CSD packages, you just have to buy the keycard and card reader to plug into the CSD and all of the keycards and card readers to program along with feature data for all radios. I don't think that there is a separate network-end price to enable ESK.

And back to your original question, to get a radio to work on an ESK-enabled system you must have the ESK code that is programmed into the CSD also programmed into the radio. Any random code won't make it work - it's not like a scanner where it is either on or off.

But it is the cat's meow because it keeps turds from programming up radios and talking on the system ;)

Tell the media friends just to get a PSR-500 and live with it......sure beats the heck out of the alternative which is nothing at all or a fight with the City to get radios programmed on the system.
 
Last edited:

Thayne

Member
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
2,145
Yes, that is for the entire CSD Software package. The card reader is about $120. Programmed keycards--Priceless :cool:
 

MMIC

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
442
Location
Inside of the circuit....
The CSD package is used for many more functions than ESK and is a must for any public safety system in order to administer the sites, radios, users, groups, etc. It's just part of the system, really...

Programmed rogue key cards, eh? Hmm...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top