hello, i am new to the site. i have recently bought some 355's and been fooling around with them. i have figured out how to get them onto private single communications. But i am unsure abou thte group private communication. what i am wanting to do is be able to privately group talk and then privately talk to individuals. can this be done??
You can talk to a "group", meaning that each i355 is on the same Channel and Code. I did try setting up a group contact with every radios private numbers (sort of like a group private call) but the i355 told me this was not possible in DT mode. You can set the Code for PVT ONLY, meaning private call only, IIRC, this defaults each radio to private calls only.
You can privately talk to individuals, even though every radio is on the same Channel and Code. First, you need to set up each radio with a unique number. Go to main menu->my info. I've named each radio "Radio1", "Radio2", etc. In the Line 1 field, assign a unique number to each radio. The longer the number, the harder it would be for someone else to figure it out to spoof it. Save this, and then power down and restart your phone for the changes you've made to take effect. Set up unique numbers for each radio you have. For example, for Radio1, the unique number would be 1340987601, with 01 being the radio number. Radio2 would be 1340987602, and so on.
Next, create a Contact for each radio. Go to Contacts->New Contact. Put in the name of each radio you have, other than the one that you are setting up the contact on. In the Other field, put in the unique number you set up above that is assigned to each radio.
To transmit privately between radios without the other radios hearing you, go to the Contacts menu, then using the up or down buttons, highlight the contact you wish to contact privately. Then, push the PTT button to call that radio. The receiving radio will respond to you privately as well until either the call times out or you push the end key. My wife and I use this feature when we need to speak to each other privately without our kids or other family members using our radios hearing us.
There is also a huge thread
here that has more information on these radios.
Also, just curious is everybody here keeps an old SIM card in the unit (even though the service is no longer active).
I use either old SIM cards or unactivated SIM cards for Boost mobile that I bought off eBay. I keep them in the radios.
I have never looked into a source for new batteries. It might be worth checking with Southern LINC ttp://www.southernlinc.com/ since they are still iDen. I would also check directly with Motorola, too.
I believe the batteries for the i365 can be used in the i355, but i've never verified this.
the only thing I hate is the "Loud Chirp" sound it makes before talking.
+100. I wish I could turn down the volume of the chirp - it's louder than the volume setting that you are using - or turn it off. I do have each one of my i355s vibrating when the receive a call. IIRC, one fella looked into turning off the beep, but couldn't find any way to do so in the iDEN RSS.
