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Motorola DTR700 Portable Digital Radio 900Mhz

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n1das

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I ordered them but they haven't shipped yet. It will be a while.

When I test range with different antennas, I use the same antenna on both radios used for testing. I put one radio in a window in an upstairs bedroom in a carefully controlled spot and then go for a drive with the other radio.

I live on a hill and have a few favorite locations a few miles away to test from. Coverage is marginal at these locations which makes them good for testing different antennas. These are hot spots where I'm right on the fringe of coverage and coverage is already gone at other locations.

I'm not worried about getting "x" miles of range out of them. I am not trying to set any range records with them because they are intended for local on-site type use. I'm more interested in which antenna performs better when I have already run out of coverage and right on the fringe of coverage in a hot spot. That's where diffences in antenna performance will be noticed. It would be nice if the DTRs had an RSSI display on the screen.

I will post an update after I get the antennas and do some testing.


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n1das

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I wish the DTR 600/700 used a recessed female SMA connector for the antenna like the older DTR 410/550/650 models. I have a bunch of spare antennas for my DTR650 radios.

The DTR 600/700 and the TLK100 antennas use a small threaded stud for the antenna connector. It reminds me of the larger standard "Motorola thread" stud used on a lot of Motorola radios many years ago. Many non-Motorola radios also used the same threaded stud. If I can come up with a fixture for an antenna connector for the smaller stud, I maybe could sweep the antennas with a VNA and get a look at the return loss for each antenna. A plot of the return loss would give us a picture of how each antenna should perform.


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K2NEC

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The DTR 600/700 and the TLK100 antennas use a small threaded stud for the antenna connector. It reminds me of the larger standard "Motorola thread" stud used on a lot of Motorola radios many years ago. Many non-Motorola radios also used the same threaded stud. If I can come up with a fixture for an antenna connector for the smaller stud, I maybe could sweep the antennas with a VNA and get a look at the return loss for each antenna. A plot of the return loss would give us a picture of how each antenna should perform.
Those have the same connector as the SL300 then. It's a rather strange connector and a little flimsy in my opinion but it does the job I guess.
 

XTS3000

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Those have the same connector as the SL300 then. It's a rather strange connector and a little flimsy in my opinion but it does the job I guess.

Just use the drop in charger that comes in the box. No need to use the micro USB side charger unless it’s an emergency.

As an option, your can buy a drop in charger for the SL300. I use one and after inspection, it uses the same circuit in the radio as if you used a USB micro charger. So nothing special about a SL300 charger....
 

n1das

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K2NEC is talking about the small stud type antenna connector, not charger connections.

Speaking of chargers, I ordered the Multi-Unit Charger (MUC) for my DTR700 fleet. It is expected to ship in mid-February. It was originally expected to ship from Motorola in mid-January but Motorola slipped the date to February.

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n1das

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I ordered them but they haven't shipped yet. It will be a while.

When I test range with different antennas, I use the same antenna on both radios used for testing. I put one radio in a window in an upstairs bedroom in a carefully controlled spot and then go for a drive with the other radio.

I live on a hill and have a few favorite locations a few miles away to test from. Coverage is marginal at these locations which makes them good for testing different antennas. These are hot spots where I'm right on the fringe of coverage and coverage is already gone at other locations.

I'm not worried about getting "x" miles of range out of them. I am not trying to set any range records with them because they are intended for local on-site type use. I'm more interested in which antenna performs better when I have already run out of coverage and right on the fringe of coverage in a hot spot. That's where diffences in antenna performance will be noticed. It would be nice if the DTRs had an RSSI display on the screen.

I will post an update after I get the antennas and do some testing.


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I received my stubby antennas today. These are the HKAN4002 antenna for the TLK100 LTE radio.

Out testing tonight and will post an update.


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I had a portable with a no TX complaint, when I unscrewed the antenna to put the SMA adapter in I noticed the antenna was the threaded type from a Radius. The antenna made a nice RF shield.
 

JASII

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I decided to download the software and make some programming changes on my DTR 550s. The cable was the one sent for my Nextels years ago. It has the number 04292-0091655 on it. When I use the software, it reads the DTR 550, but when I go to write back to the DTR 550, I get the message:

Communication Error
For RM and RMM Series radio, please toggle the USB cable to ANALOG (CPS) mode.
For DLR Series radio please toggle the USB cable to DIGITAL (Flash) mode.

What should I try next?
 

n1das

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I had a portable with a no TX complaint, when I unscrewed the antenna to put the SMA adapter in I noticed the antenna was the threaded type from a Radius. The antenna made a nice RF shield.
The DTR 600/700 uses a threaded stud connector instead of a recessed male SMA connector like in the DTR 410/550/650. The DTR 600/700 connector is a smaller version of the threaded stud connector on a GP300 and other radios from many years ago.

The TLK100 LTE radio uses the same connector as the DTR 600/700.


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n1das

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I picked up my DTR700 radios today. I unpacked two of them and the date of manufacture on them is December 20, 2018. It looks like they shipped from the factory in Malaysia right after they were built. They are barely 2 weeks old.

Below are pics of a lineup of radios and closeup pics of the antenna connector. The DTR700 antenna connector is a stud type, not the SMA type used in the older DTRs. The connector scheme reminds me of the antenna connector in my old GP300 and HT1250 radios I owned years ago. Time will tell how rugged and reliable the connector design is. The DTR700 antenna is a half wave type.

View attachment 67316View attachment 67317View attachment 67318

I powered them up and verified that they work. Audio seems identical to the older DTRs. They are insanely easy to set up with a 4 digit Profile ID to secure your channels. The Profile ID is easily set from the keypad.

I just got them out of the box and powered up. I haven't had time to play with them much yet. Initial out of box first impressions are that the DTR700 is a nice replacement for the DTR 410/550/650.
Check out the bottom 2 pics from my earlier post showing the threaded stud on the antenna and connector on the DTR700.


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fireemt55

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I decided to download the software and make some programming changes on my DTR 550s. The cable was the one sent for my Nextels years ago. It has the number 04292-0091655 on it. When I use the software, it reads the DTR 550, but when I go to write back to the DTR 550, I get the message:

Communication Error
For RM and RMM Series radio, please toggle the USB cable to ANALOG (CPS) mode.
For DLR Series radio please toggle the USB cable to DIGITAL (Flash) mode.

What should I try next?

I'm not sure what you mean by "...was the one sent for my Nextels..." You need this cable: Programming Cable Is this the one you have?

When you are in the Business Radio CPS, you need to make sure to click the drop down box under Radio Type and select DTR. You then need to set the Preference Setting to your appropriate COM port. You can just pick COM1 then try Read Radio, then if that doesn't work move down the list and try again.

Also of note, I had an issue with my Windows 10 box doing the same type of behavior with the DTR700, would read the radio fine, but would not always program back to it. Installed the CPS on another laptop, moved my programming file over, and it programmed it fine. There is something with different versions of Windows 10 or USB ports, but if you are having trouble programming back to the radio, you may also try a different computer.
 

n1das

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I found when programming my DTR650 radios that you have to manually set the correct COM port in the CPS for it to work. The Auto Detect COM port option doesn't work with the older CPS cable for the DTR 410/550/650 models. The Auto Detect COM port option does work with the CPS cable used to program the DTR 600/700 and the DLRs.

The latest CPS version is R07.00 and supports the DTR 600/700 models. I have been using the CPS on a laptop running Windows 7 Professional and without any issues.

I have not tried programming a DTR or DLR radio with the CPS on a laptop running Windows 10. I have run the CPS on a Windows 10 machine to explore the CPS and various radio models but haven't tried reading or writing a DTR or DLR radio with it yet.

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W5JG

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I came here to say I was having the exact same error. I can read both radios, but get the error when programming. One radio gets to 40%, the other to 57% before giving the error.

I bought this cable, which someone said was the correct cable (I don't remember where I read this).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EC2PV6A/

I guess I'll dig out the XP laptop and try programming on it.
 

W5JG

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My memory failed me. It was Windows 7, not XP on that old laptop.

In any case, I just successfully programmed both DTR700 radios on the laptop.
 

JASII

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I'm not sure what you mean by "...was the one sent for my Nextels..." You need this cable: Programming Cable Is this the one you have?...

No, it isn't. I checked the part number and I have an NNTN5970A. That was one that Nextel sent to subscribers to do an A-GPS update.

After reading more here and on other websites, I gather that for the DTR550, I would actually need two cables:

-The Motorola NNTN6367A USB Firmware Flash Cable (For updating the firmware only.), and

-The Motorola DTR Series Programming Cable 0105950U15 (To do the actually programming AFTER the firmware has been updates.)

Right now, I am not willing to spend $179.99 just to do a firmware update on two DTR550s. Is there a way to borrow a cable from someone or somewhere to do the update? Or, alternatively, is there somewhere I can send my radios to have someone do a firmware update?

With regards to the programming cable, I don't have any computers in service any longer with an RS232 DB9 serial port, so I would have to get an adapter.

The more I think about this, the more I wonder if I would actually be better off selling both of my DTR550s and getting the newer DTR600/700. I guess I will have to look a bit further to see what I would gain and what I would lose by updating to the newer devices.
 

n1das

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My memory failed me. It was Windows 7, not XP on that old laptop.

In any case, I just successfully programmed both DTR700 radios on the laptop.
Good that you got it figured out.

I find the DTR 600/700 programming to be more straightforward and less cryptic than the older DTRs. The DTR 600/700 program like the DLRs. The DTR 600/700 added the 4-digit Profile ID feature and Call All Available and Page All Available features. The one feature I want that the DTR 600/700 models don't have is the talkgroup scan feature. I use the talkgroup scan feature in my DTR 650 radios. I also use the home group feature and my private group is the home group. The radio may jump around on the public groups when it hears traffic on them but it will always return to my private group after 30 seconds of inactivity. I can monitor up to 10 public groups and up to 5 private groups on the same hopset. The talkgroup scan feature is a nice feature to have.

The DLRs and the DTR 600/700 have the home group feature. When the radio's channel is changed from the home channel, the radio will return to the home channel after 6 seconds of inactivity on the current channel. The 6 second hang time is too short and renders the home channel feature useless. A 30 second hang time like the older DTRs have would be better. Unfortunately the 6 second hang time is not adjustable in the DLRs and the DTR 600/700 models.


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n1das

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No, it isn't. I checked the part number and I have an NNTN5970A. That was one that Nextel sent to subscribers to do an A-GPS update.

After reading more here and on other websites, I gather that for the DTR550, I would actually need two cables:

-The Motorola NNTN6367A USB Firmware Flash Cable (For updating the firmware only.), and

-The Motorola DTR Series Programming Cable 0105950U15 (To do the actually programming AFTER the firmware has been updates.)

Right now, I am not willing to spend $179.99 just to do a firmware update on two DTR550s. Is there a way to borrow a cable from someone or somewhere to do the update? Or, alternatively, is there somewhere I can send my radios to have someone do a firmware update?

With regards to the programming cable, I don't have any computers in service any longer with an RS232 DB9 serial port, so I would have to get an adapter.

The more I think about this, the more I wonder if I would actually be better off selling both of my DTR550s and getting the newer DTR600/700. I guess I will have to look a bit further to see what I would gain and what I would lose by updating to the newer devices.
DTR 600/700 gains and losses compared to the older DTRs are highlighted below.

Gains:
- Easier to program
- Color display
- 4-digit Profile ID feature
- Call All Available feature
- Page All Available feature
- Better Tx audio due AGC in the Tx audio path. This is a BIG win in my book and for a lot of people.

Losses:
- No talkgroup scan feature like the older DTRs have.
- Home group hang time is too short (6 seconds) compared to the older DTRs (30 seconds), rendering the feature almost useless.
- Slightly shorter battery life on a charge compared to the older DTRs even though the DTR 600/700 has a larger battery (2450 mAh) compared to the hi cap battery in the older DTRs (1800 mAh). The standby time is what's a little shorter. The radio still goes plenty long on a charge like the older DTRs.
- Stud type antenna connector instead of a recessed male SMA connector prevents using different antennas. I tried using the stubby LTE antenna for the TLK100 which has the same stud type connector and it didn't do as well as the stock 1/2 wave 900MHz antenna and came as no surprise. It is hard to beat the 1/2 wave 900MHz antenna on the DTRs.

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JASII

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And, if I recall correctly from previous discussion, didn't texting vanish from the DTR600/700, too?
 

n1das

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And, if I recall correctly from previous discussion, didn't texting vanish from the DTR600/700, too?

Yes, that too. Texting went away in the DTR 600/700. I forgot about that since I don't use the feature in my DTR650 radios. I have only used it with my DTR650s just enough to verify that it works. I don't miss it in the DLRs or the DTR 600/700.
 

JASII

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Where are the best places to list the DTR550s for sale and what is the fair market value of each of them?
 
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