• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

Reset/Default Motorola XTS500

Status
Not open for further replies.

jasonmschmidt

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
4
Hello all,

I have about 100 Motorola XTS500 radios that I acquired from a local police department. They all came with a battery, charger, and antenna.

They seem to have the frequencies still programmed even though they said they were reset. Is there a way to reset them? I am beyond novice status when it comes to these. I have searched the forums for some guidance but perhaps I'm still confused. I was able to go into the service mode and get model number and such. The flashcode is 500008-000002-9. My plan is to sell these individually but I really don't know how to go about it given that the radios are still programmed. Any advice?
 

Skypilot007

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
2,581
Location
Medford, NJ
There is no one button press or a click in CPS to reset these radios back to a default state. You will need to read each radio with cps then go to town clearing the codeplugs out. If all your radios have the same model number and feature set you may be able to clear one radio and clone that codeplug to the rest of them to save some time. I've never done cloning before so someone else will have to advise on that.
 

jasonmschmidt

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
4
There is no one button press or a click in CPS to reset these radios back to a default state. You will need to read each radio with cps then go to town clearing the codeplugs out. If all your radios have the same model number and feature set you may be able to clear one radio and clone that codeplug to the rest of them to save some time. I've never done cloning before so someone else will have to advise on that.

Thank you, sir. I imagine anyone who does buy these, either hobbyist or another department, will have to have them programmed to their specifications. If that's the case, I imagine leaving them as is is probably the best bet?
 

NVAGVUP

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
145
I would wipe them. Yes the new owner would need to reprogram to make them legal on their licensed frequencies, but will they?

RE: Cloning- I would read an existing radio. Delete all systems and personalities. (You need at least one of each so build something generic) Assuming flashcode is the same, you can clone this "wiped" config into all radios. If you have flashcode mismatches, you need a "wiped" codeplug for each flashcode. (The above assumes you have the proper/latest software and cabling. ) Also assuming you are referring to XTS5000. (Not aware Moto made a XTS500).

If this is over your head, find out if previous owner can do it for you. It would be in their best interest be send wiped radios out the door for possible resale.
 

jasonmschmidt

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
4
I would wipe them. Yes the new owner would need to reprogram to make them legal on their licensed frequencies, but will they?

RE: Cloning- I would read an existing radio. Delete all systems and personalities. (You need at least one of each so build something generic) Assuming flashcode is the same, you can clone this "wiped" config into all radios. If you have flashcode mismatches, you need a "wiped" codeplug for each flashcode. (The above assumes you have the proper/latest software and cabling. ) Also assuming you are referring to XTS5000. (Not aware Moto made a XTS500).

If this is over your head, find out if previous owner can do it for you. It would be in their best interest be send wiped radios out the door for possible resale.

Thanks for heads up. Reading through the forums, I believe I need to get an account with Motorola Solutions and pay/download their CPS client. Is there any risk of me bricking the radio fooling around with this?
 

FFPM571

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2003
Messages
1,856
Location
Nashvillle
There is no Clone in Astro25 CPS. You would have to clean out a single radio of all the info. Keep that file and then program it to that radio. Then you have to do a top level drag and drop to each following radio.. If some have different flashcodes or models you have to go line by line and change them on the target radio. NOW that is saying that if you read the radio and it doesnt have a Advanced System Key you wont be able to do any of it and without that key the radios are locked into programming. There are ways around it but that is for another discussion probably not allowed here
 

jasonmschmidt

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
4
There is no Clone in Astro25 CPS. You would have to clean out a single radio of all the info. Keep that file and then program it to that radio. Then you have to do a top level drag and drop to each following radio.. If some have different flashcodes or models you have to go line by line and change them on the target radio. NOW that is saying that if you read the radio and it doesnt have a Advanced System Key you wont be able to do any of it and without that key the radios are locked into programming. There are ways around it but that is for another discussion probably not allowed here this info?

I think I'm starting to get the idea of what to do. I ordered a programming cable. I still need to find the software. I think I saw that Motorola Solutions doesn't have it available any more? Is there any risk of bricking a radio by deleting this info?
 

RKG

Member
Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
1,096
Location
Boston, MA
There is no one button press or a click in CPS to reset these radios back to a default state. You will need to read each radio with cps then go to town clearing the codeplugs out. If all your radios have the same model number and feature set you may be able to clear one radio and clone that codeplug to the rest of them to save some time. I've never done cloning before so someone else will have to advise on that.

This advice is good as far as it goes. Having had to do this a number of times, I would add the following, mainly to minimize the hassle you're going to get with errors generated during the process.

Assuming conventional (i.e., no trunked):

Start by creating a new conventional "system." Label it "System 1." Create a new conventional "personality," point it to System 1, and label it "Personality 1." Create a new zone/channel, which will contain a single channel. Leave freqs at the default values and point it to Conv Sys 1. Move this zone to position 1.

Now, and in this order:

Delete all the scan lists. The easy way is to click on scan lists in table mode, highlight all but #1 as a group, and click on delete.
Ditto all the conventional personalities except #1, same way.
Ditto all the conventional systems except #1, the same way.

At this point, you can probably ignore everything else (e.g., menu items), except (if you have one) an MDC alias list.

Trunked:

You do the same but first:

Create a new trunked system. The SysID will be 1 and you won't be able to change it.
Create a new trunked personality, and point it to System 1.

Now delete all trunked personalities but #1, as a group, as above.
Ditto trunked systems.
No need to create a single trunked talkgroup in the zone/channel page.

Hopefully, by the time you finish the above, there won't be any residual errors. (With XTS, errors will bar you from saving the codeplug or writing it to a radio.) If there are errors (e.g., Emergency Revert vectors), just highlight the errors one at a time, double click on the highlight, and it will take you to the error. Usually resetting things to the "factory default" will cure them.

OK, now with the errors gone, save the file to disk and then write the codeplug to the radio you read it from. After this, you should be able to clone all identical radios.

If firmware/feature set differences preclude a clone, you can try the "Top Level Drag and Drop." Frankly, I've had this generate even more errors, sometimes esoteric ones that take a while to figure out. What I do is use the Import/Export function to export the cleaned file, read the next radio, and then import the output of the cleaned export. Be sure to set your Import/Expore option to "overwrite." I have found that Import/Export is smart enough to ignore any source file parameters that are not relevant to the target radio.

Good luck.
 

Giddyuptd

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 6, 2018
Messages
1,379
Location
Here and there
I hope they wiped the ucm keys out but it wouldn't surprise me.

Seen places say who cares they are old then are shocked later many locals who bought the surplus can hear them in digital on nac 293 encrypted like their apx radios.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top