Hey MTS200des,
I was recalling from memory on my statements in my post about the findings of our P25 Selection Committee related to the different brands and models of radios we tried out because I did not have any of the evaluation results in front of me since I do not participate in this forum from the office. Anything I do on this site is on my on time and on my personal computer, so please keep this in mind and that it was almost three years ago that the committee performed the tests. I may be wrong, but I am almost certain the version of the XTS2500 that we looked at over three years ago only had 512 talkgroups compared to a lot more on the XTS5000 at that time. If the 2500 only had 512 talkgroups at that time then I'm sure Motorola has changed this since then because they have been marketing it to public safety agencies even though you and I both know this is not a public safety grade radio (I believe KSU and Southern Poly PD officers use the XTS2500 as do many other agencies). Again, our selection committee ruled out the 2500 for several reasons with the two main reasons being we did not feel it was durable enough and we felt the audio quality wasn't quite as good as the other models. I'm not going to take the time to outline all of these findings, but I highly encourage any agency considering this model radio to submit an open records request to our purchasing department and request a copy of the committee's findings to review before they make a purchase. Of course, the findings may not be applicable to present day versions of the radios since vendors have issued firmware and software upgrades since that time. I hear Motorola is considering adding MotoTRBO capabilities to some of their P25 products to enhance interoperability because many of their customers have public works, schools, etc. on MotoTRBO and public safety on P25. Sound interesting?
Regarding the TK-5410, again, I like it a lot. There are a couple of physical changes that I would like to see made, but overall I think it is a very good radio, especially for the price. I personally think the remote speaker mic pushes out a much louder audio than the XTS5000 and EFJ 5100. The TK-5410 will not do SmartNet, but you and I both know that really isn't a factor any more, at least not for much longer. Anyway, if you'd like to come by my office I would be more than willing to show it to you. I do not have the programming software or system key for the demo 5410, so I have to go to the County to have any changes made and I may be trying to get some of the scan settings changed later this week.
On your tests of the NEXEDGE equipment on the UHF System, you said the audio quality was superb, but would you rate the audio quality of NEXEDGE better than P25? I tested some NXDN equipment in VHF a few weeks ago and I was extremely impressed with the coverage and audio quality. I understand the City of Canton PD and McDuffie County SO really like theirs. I personally think NEXEDGE/NXDN could be a very viable alternative to P25 for public safety and it looks like that is definitely happening. I understand the NEXEDGE portable radio is less than $600 on State Contract, so an agency can't go wrong with the durability and capabilities of this radio at that price.
the XTS2500 got upgraded when the BN version was introduced. Not sure if you demo'ed an AN version or what the time frame was, but the 8MEG controller version supports the exact same HOST version as the XTS5000/XTL5000. The code is IDENTICAL, so all the capability of channel capacity, system capacity, etc is also identical to the 5000. There are some minor radio OS differences (for example the lack of a conventional user RF power output slaved to a control or menu as is possible on the XTS/XTL5000) but otherwise the same radio operating software (ROS).
the HARDWARE is quite different, the 5000 having a separate RF board and VOCON board, enclosed in a reinforced frame. The 2500 has a uniboard chassis, (not counting the display board or UCM board if equipped). This means if any failure in the controller occurs or the RF sections, the entire radio is pretty much replaced.
Both radios can and always have had the capability to use legacy Jedi/Cosmo audio accessories, such as speaker microphone and headsets. The XTS2500 does require a small plastic reinforcement piece to support the accessory connector, which is included with the radio, and just snaps on the rear and makes the radio thicker in that section of the housing so the accessory connector won't snap off. The public safety RSM's are different, due to the differences in the housing and the required mating RF switch adapter. Jedi RSM's are not compatible with either XTS as the Jedi series used an integrated RF antenna select switch in the connector itself (and it was a common trouble point, I've probably replaced over 100 in my time).
The radios are aimed at different markets. The 2500 is a light duty radio designed for EMS, public works, etc. I carry one for the size factor and prefer it to the 5000 only because I carry enough crap. :lol:
On the NXDN drive tests we conducted, we had the repeater setup for dual mode operation, so we could switch between analog 12.5KHz compandered audio and NXDN. NXDN was superior, especially in fringe areas or when heavy interference was present (we did have an offending carrier from a nearby system at times). As far as audio, it is hands down better than the IMBE systems I listen to including Cobb and Atlanta. Even when users overdrive the audio, the AGC is much better at taming it and not distorting the input to the vocoder. It also appears to have a better frequency response curve but that could be attributed to the subscriber radios themselves. We did not test the 6.25KHz mode as the repeater was not setup for it as was delivered. But overall, I am duly impressed.
The price point on the radios is indeed impressive and competitive as is the cost of the repeaters. And with the flexibility to buy other vendors subscriber radios (Icom, Tait, Ritron, etc) one isn't locked into a single vendor in the future should they wish to expand.
