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new to raidios i have a a few questions !!! help me

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h8t3rsauce

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i have a motorola radio that my dad left me when he passed away and im tryin to figure out how it works

i have a hand held xts 3000


-wat are these radios used for

-do they need to be programed

-if i sell it will any of my fathers information be on there ( for saftey purposes)
 

N4DES

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Was your dad a ham (amateur radio) operator or employed by a gov't agency?
Have to give us some hints as to what he used to use it for.
 

h8t3rsauce

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no he didnt do amateur radio that i know of and he was not employed by a gov agency
i didnt even know that he had it i found it in the attic ..... its a couple years old now so i have no idea wat its used for

could it be programed for government use or programed for truckers..... wat can it be used for
 

C138NC

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no he didnt do amateur radio that i know of and he was not employed by a gov agency
i didnt even know that he had it i found it in the attic ..... its a couple years old now so i have no idea wat its used for

could it be programed for government use or programed for truckers..... wat can it be used for

the xts3000 is either VHF/UHF and 800mhz, cant really be programmed for the 27mhz CB band "truckers" but it would be awesome but only in our imagination and programmed for government use? well they wouldnt program it for where you can use it on any local/state system but maybe for scanning but doubt it if its for trunking."just to act as a scanner only" it never hurts to have it all checked out just in case "if a radio shop nearby would do that"
 
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N4DES

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Push the button on the bottom of the radio and peel the battery away from the body of the radio.
On the back you will find the model # and flashcode number. If you post it we can tell you a lot more about it.
 

h8t3rsauce

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i looked up the flash code and it says it these are the options installed and i thought it was a 3000 but its a 2500 i didnt see it on the front wat would these be used for or wat can i use it for my dad had a couple friends that are cops maybe they gave him there old one or something?

Q806/G806 IMBE / APCO-25 Digital Operation
H14/G114 Digital ID Display
H38/G51 Smartzone Operation
Q173/G173 Smartzone OmniLink Operation
Q575 XTS2500 3600 Signaling
 
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N4DES

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i looked up the flash code and it says it these are the options installed and i thought it was a 3000 but its a 2500 i didnt see it on the front wat would these be used for or wat can i use it for my dad had a couple friends that are cops maybe they gave him there old one or something?

Q806/G806 IMBE / APCO-25 Digital Operation
H14/G114 Digital ID Display
H38/G51 Smartzone Operation
Q173/G173 Smartzone OmniLink Operation
Q575 XTS2500 3600 Signaling

The XTS2500 series is a very new radio, no more than 3 years old.
You posted a typical 800 MHz flashcode, so he must of bought it from someone as they aren't "old enough" to be given away.
 

PeterGV

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FIRST of all, sorry to hear about the loss of your dad.

Now... to the radio stuff: A model number, as requested, would help us here.

A 2500, in this particular case, is actually better than a 3000. The XTS-2500 is still in production, the XTS-3000 is not. This is an expensive, professional, radio... retail price new? Probably around $3,000.

You've got a good flashcode... based on that it's almost certainly a police or fire department radio. So, it could be used for listening to various local police/fire frequencies, SORT of like a scanner. It can also probably be used as a ham radio, if you had a ham radio license.

By the way, IF by some chance you find a way to charge it, please be careful, VERY careful, to not transmit with the radio until you have it checked out and re-programmed. No joke. Not only can officer safety be at stake, but with that particular type of radio it is possible for the your radio to be detected and "stunned" (made inoperable), right over the airwaves.

The radio needs a specific charger to charge the battery, as well as a special cable and software to read or program the radio. None of these things are inexpensive (the software, for example, is about $275, that cable another $100 or so), I'm sorry to say.

Depending on its condition, the model, and the band on which it operates, your radio is probably worth between $600 and $1000.

You could probably get it checked out and re-programmed to RECEIVE ONLY on local PD/FD channels, if you can find a cooperative local Motorola dealer (or from somebody here on RR). They'd probably charge you between $50 and $100 to program it, probably about the same to "bench" it (tune it up and be sure it works according to specs).

Unless you really want this specific radio for sentimental purposes, your best course of action would probably be to sell it (here on RR for example) and buy a kick-ass scanner if you were interested in radio stuff.

Peter
K1PGV
 

h8t3rsauce

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FIRST of all, sorry to hear about the loss of your dad.

Now... to the radio stuff: A model number, as requested, would help us here.

A 2500, in this particular case, is actually better than a 3000. The XTS-2500 is still in production, the XTS-3000 is not. This is an expensive, professional, radio... retail price new? Probably around $3,000.

You've got a good flashcode... based on that it's almost certainly a police or fire department radio. So, it could be used for listening to various local police/fire frequencies, SORT of like a scanner. It can also probably be used as a ham radio, if you had a ham radio license.

By the way, IF by some chance you find a way to charge it, please be careful, VERY careful, to not transmit with the radio until you have it checked out and re-programmed. No joke. Not only can officer safety be at stake, but with that particular type of radio it is possible for the your radio to be detected and "stunned" (made inoperable), right over the airwaves.

The radio needs a specific charger to charge the battery, as well as a special cable and software to read or program the radio. None of these things are inexpensive (the software, for example, is about $275, that cable another $100 or so), I'm sorry to say.

Depending on its condition, the model, and the band on which it operates, your radio is probably worth between $600 and $1000.

You could probably get it checked out and re-programmed to RECEIVE ONLY on local PD/FD channels, if you can find a cooperative local Motorola dealer (or from somebody here on RR). They'd probably charge you between $50 and $100 to program it, probably about the same to "bench" it (tune it up and be sure it works according to specs).

Unless you really want this specific radio for sentimental purposes, your best course of action would probably be to sell it (here on RR for example) and buy a kick-ass scanner if you were interested in radio stuff.

Peter
K1PGV

thank you that was alot of good information i think im going to take it in and make sure its receive only pd/fd cause im not tryin to mess around with that or have the radio get into the wrong hands.... when you say stunned you mean the radio will never work again or cant be reprogrammed to work ever again
 
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h8t3rsauce

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How on earth did you mistake an XTS2500 for a 3k?
Forgive me if I'm wrong but something here seems strange..


wat did i ever say to you for you to come in my thread and make me feel stupid for not knowing wat model it is if you read the title im new to radios which means i dont know anything about them so please go hassle someone else
 
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C138NC

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Usually the model number would of been on top, sorta like at the top right corner, but these XTS2500's are some neat little radios, especially that NC is using most of them for the VIPER system except i still see a bit of the SHP officers carry the 3k models.
 

Colin9690

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thank you that was alot of good information i think im going to take it in and make sure its receive only pd/fd cause im not tryin to mess around with that or have the radio get into the wrong hands.... when you say stunned you mean the radio will never work again or cant be reprogrammed to work ever again

I'm sorry for the loss of your father. About the radio, as far as I know if it gets stunned, or "inhibited" in technical radio terms I think for it to work again it has to be "un-inhibited" by whoever stunned it, or be completely reloaded by a Motorola tech (VERY expensive). I'm sure your intentions are nothing but innocent but just so you know if you get caught transmitting (talking) on that radio, the fine from the FCC could be in the thousands. Anyways, if you get it programmed as receive-only, you'll have yourself a very rugged, professional-grade radio.

Cheers :)
 

PeterGV

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Sorry... just to quickly follow-up a bit:

Colin, KCChiefs9690, is exactly correct. If the radio gets inhibited, it'll have to be re-enabled before it can be used.

I also wanted to be clear, I wasn't in my previous post, that if you do manage to charge this radio, depending on how it's programmed, what system it's for, where you are at the time, (and a bunch of other things)... just turning it on -- not even pressing the transmit button -- can cause it to "show up" (affiliate) on a particular radio system. If the radio system administrator isn't too busy that day, or if the network is a sensitive one, he could decide to inhibit it without you ever having transmitted with it.

So, here's what I would recommend you do: Call some local Motorola authorized repair shops in your area. Talk to a service manager. Be exceptionally nice. Explain to them what you told us here, that your Dad's passed away, that you found his radio, that you don't know anything about it. If he seems sympathetic, maybe you can offer to drop in and show him the radio and see if he can give you some advice about what to do with it. When you drop in, if he's REALLY nice, he might be willing to put it on a computer and read it out -- at no charge -- to see what's programmed in it for you while you're there... it'll only take about 2 minutes, it won't cost him anything to do it, so you might as well ask.

Note that different Moto service shops can act VERY differently to requests like this. Some local shops don't like to deal with individual radios or their owners at all (you know, they want to deal with the County, where they have tons of units and a chance at ongoing business). Other shops can be very helpful, and don't mind doing things for individual radio owners.

I suspect if you tell a reasonable service manager your story, they themselves will become curious enough that they'll wonder what the heck you have, and be willing to spend the 5 or 10 minutes to help you out and give you some advice.

Hope that helps,

Peter
K1PGV
 

N4DES

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I would be willing to do the same if he is willing to pay the back and forth shipping. I have the required CPS and cables and will offer to read the radio, make a print-out of what is in it, and then let him decide what he would like to do with it.

If the OP is interested he can PM me.
 
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Unless the radio shows up on a "hot sheet" then be prepard for some questions regarding the source of the radio. You may even have to answer a few question from a not so kind guy in a uniform with a gun attached to his belt.
 

KM4WLV

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Unless the radio shows up on a "hot sheet" then be prepard for some questions regarding the source of the radio. You may even have to answer a few question from a not so kind guy in a uniform with a gun attached to his belt.

Because he found a radio that belonged to his dad that passed away? C'mon, give the guy a break......
 
N

N_Jay

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Because he found a radio that belonged to his dad that passed away? C'mon, give the guy a break......

No, because he is in possession of a radio that was listed as stolen. (on a "Hot Sheet")
 
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