Motorola XTS 5000

[emtbls1987]

Just trying to see how I can program my Motorola XTS 5000 to monitor our state VHF P25 Trunking system with a XTS 5000. I just would like to set it up so if I wanted to monitor the County fire patch from analog to the Trunking system to hear my fellow units talking per portable since I’m using a portable and the trunking side is transmitting what the dispatchers are hearing so I can hear all units acknowledge pages and traffic. Is there a way to program in talk groups so I can keep it turned that group and it will only monitor and allow me to hear all traffic on that channel instead of scanning all the frequencies a trunking site has and hope I catch everything which I won’t without it being able to sit on that talk group and just monitor. I can’t transmit without my Radio ID being authorized in the system so don’t have to worry about accessing the system to Tx at all. But yah is there a way to program so I can turn the channel to that talk group and it will monitor that talk group only

 

[mbnv992]

Get. A. Scanner.

Or if you’re “trying to hear your fellow units” as you so eloquently put it - talk to your system’s administrator to have your xts5000 do what you want it to.

Just reading your first sentence I knew this would be a doozy of a post.

Man these posts like this that keep popping up here are keeping my popcorn supply fully stocked.

 

[tunnelmot]

In an attempt to answer OP here I go, (group) feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Conventionally...You could make a zone with all your local sites' voice frequencies set to auto scan, then further filter down to just your target talkgroup. Crank your hold and unmute times to 0. Set your conventional personalities to RX only. Scan away. Could work well or could be janky depending on how much traffic your local site carries. Actually kinda works on sites with VERY light traffic.

The radio would effectively be scanning all the voice channels and only unmuting upon correct NAC and talkgroup info. But for every busy voice channel it comes across, it will validate that info against your parameters. Thus scanning a busy site can quickly get painfully slow causing short transmissions to be missed.

Of course, this is scanning the voice channels conventionally.

Another GREAT OPTION would be a Unication G2 VHF. Will do what you want and so, so much more. Perfect solution for folks just like you. Some dealers even have one-click financing if cash is an issue. I personally think you'd be happier with this option instead of d***ing around with a subscriber.
It won't hurt to go up your chain of command and ask. You might get a door slammed in your face, or you might get help. Depends on the system admin, etc.

 

[cpg178]

Hard to understand the OPs post, but it seems he may want to monitor the analog patch from the trunking TG? If that's the case just put in the frequency and pl/DPL of the analog channel and set it to RX only.
If you want to monitor the actual trunked system, I would recommend going to your radio admin if you would be considered an authorized user, they can program everything you need in there. Any other way you try to do it going into a grey area that can have serious complications if you do not do it right. Even if you do it right you can run into trouble.

 

[ElroyJetson]

It's the common scenario: Some guy wants to program his Motorola trunking radio to listen to a trunking system that he's not an authorized user of.

BUY A SCANNER.

What you propose is possible but has a steep learning curve and will require you to do things that will bend or break a few laws and a few departmental policies.

BUY A SCANNER.

Doing it properly requires strict compliance with a devious means of programming trunked systems into your radio, PRESUMING your radio even has the options and features in it that makes this possible, which requires you to gain access to "system keys" that you almost certainly can not obtain through legal channels.

BUY A SCANNER.

You do have one thing in your favor: Being an OBT system (Other Band Trunking, not 7/800 MHz) there is an easy way to keep the radio from appearing on the system, which is to intentionally enter the wrong TX offset value, but this creates other legal issues relating to unlicensed data burst transmissions on frequencies you are not licensed to transmit on. Hopefully those frequencies are used and monitored by NOBODY but you can't guarantee that.

BUY A SCANNER.
At the very top of this Motorola subforum, there is a topic titled,

"Do you want to monitor a Trunked system with a Moto? Read This!"

and you should absolutely read that now before you go any further.

REALLY, BUY A SCANNER.

 

[K2NEC]

In case it wasn't clear, a scanner would be your best bet here

 

[GlobalNorth]

You do not want to experience what happens when a trunking radio affiliates with a trunked system that it is not specifically allowed to affiliate with.

 

[ElroyJetson]

What MAY happen. Some agencies are more aggressive in their pursuit of occasional intrusions, some are less so. Better not to find out which in your case.

 

[a417]

Such a well traveled path down this information superhighway about this topic, I think it's time for this topic to have it's own meta tag here.

I recommend 'FAFO'.

 

[ElroyJetson]

"How to scan your way into legal trouble".

 

[JethrowJohnson]

Just trying to see how I can program my Motorola XTS 5000 to monitor our state VHF P25 Trunking system with a XTS 5000. I just would like to set it up so if I wanted to monitor the County fire patch from analog to the Trunking system to hear my fellow units talking per portable since I’m using a portable and the trunking side is transmitting what the dispatchers are hearing so I can hear all units acknowledge pages and traffic. Is there a way to program in talk groups so I can keep it turned that group and it will only monitor and allow me to hear all traffic on that channel instead of scanning all the frequencies a trunking site has and hope I catch everything which I won’t without it being able to sit on that talk group and just monitor. I can’t transmit without my Radio ID being authorized in the system so don’t have to worry about accessing the system to Tx at all. But yah is there a way to program so I can turn the channel to that talk group and it will monitor that talk group only

Well, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but they're right that it would be better to use a scanner or a pager instead. Radios that aren't authorized to affiliate with trunked networks will use those frequencies and talkgroups and sites which could take resources from everyone else that they need. Sanners and pagers can't do that, and they would probably do a better job at what you're describing anyway. It sounds to me like that's a job for a Unication G4 or G5, which probably would work even better than the best Uniden scanners.

 

[Nasby]

Gee, I’ve never seen a thread like this before.

 

[Badboy536]

It can get pretty nasty when it comes to this topic.

 

[ElroyJetson]

Ultimately we're just either trying to do something that can get us into trouble via ignorance or carelessness, OR we're trying to keep people out of trouble by helping them to go down the ignorant/careless path.

The third option is to acquire the education required to safely program a radio to monitor a trunked system with no repercussions, but this is the end stage of a hazardous learning process.

 

[GlobalNorth]

What MAY happen. Some agencies are more aggressive in their pursuit of occasional intrusions, some are less so. Better not to find out which in your case.

Others can hope they get a compassionate FCC Commission member to take pity on their RF transgression in order to save their licenses and pray that they get a prosecuting attorney that is a practicing Buddhist to prosecute their telecommunications fraud case, but I won't.

One can just about guarantee that anyone playing around on public safety frequencies will be prosecuted by the locals and or the FCC.

 

[ElroyJetson]

I can tell you a personal story about a radio that was under my control that came to the attention of the Sheriff's Department. It was handled quietly, in a very civil manner, and no harm done. And in truth it wasn't even due to anything I had done. An EDACS radio programmed to no affiliate, no TX in any group. As safe as a radio with a transmitter can be. But a meddlesome...someone...who wanted to rise higher in the ranks of the fire department decided to play Mr. Snitch and reported the LID of that radio as having an unauthorized radio on it. So that stunned the radio and it was broadcasting occasional "Here I am!" signals. I was quietly informed, off any official records, by an investigator with the SO that this was something I should take care of. And so I did.

That particular radio was also an AUTHORIZED radio on the system of a neigboring county, being used in support of my company's contracted radio maintenance duties for some of that county's radio system users. Kind of a strange scenario there. Normally it would not be the practice to allow a third party radio service company to support users on a large trunking system. But the county's contract with the vendor and prime support contractor did not disallow it. We had the contract, permission, and capability to execute maintenance and repair on the customer's mobile units. Eventually that would come to an end with a revision to the contract, demanded by the prime contractor, but it was fun while it lasted. And fairly lucrative.

So, do not presume that all interactions with an agency regarding an errant radio are going to be negative. It's on a case by case basis, with many factors to consider. Prior history, nature of the situation, appearent nefarious intent or lack thereof....lots to take into account.

 

[a417]

Well, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but they're right that it would be better to use a scanner or a pager instead.

yep.

Radios that aren't authorized to affiliate with trunked networks will use those frequencies and talkgroups and sites which could take resources from everyone else that they need.

No, they won't. This is a gross misunderstanding of how these systems currently operate. The system controller will inhibit them, and they will use no resources. Any system administrator worth their salt will have their system set up so this won't happen. Many of them are on here, you may ask them.

It sounds to me like that's a job for a Unication G4 or G5, which probably would work even better than the best Uniden scanners.

...please, show your work.

 

[JethrowJohnson]

I figured a Unication should work better since they were designed for public safety and scanners are consumer grade, and I knew that the radio could be inhibited but I thought before that happens it could affiliate and then use the system's resources, and I thought that's why it's illegal.

 

[MississippiPI]

Yeah, what they said. So much knowledge here...


Be safe

 

[acarleton2000]

The end game for this should be a Unication Pager or scanner. The Unication page programs exactly like the OP wants and has no negative issues regarding the law unless your state law says you can't have it in your vehicle. The audio is pretty good and it has a lot of features. I know the radio is "cool" to have but lets face it, if you want to stay out of the court room, get the pager or scanner and be done. Have one and I'm happy with it. Think they just came out with a new version recently or soon to be on the market.