• 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.

Seeking help with the mind numbing labyrinth of Motorola technology...

Status
Not open for further replies.

ur20v

The Feds say my name hot like when the oven on
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
751
Location
NOVA
I like to think of myself as a person of above average intelligence. But as soon as I start delving into the world of Motorola land mobile radio, my brain turns to soup. I can literally hear it sloshing around in my skull as I shake it in confusion.

Basically what I am wanting to do is build a repeater for use on 33cm. I'd like to have P25 capability and the ability to change settings/channels remotely. What I am concerned about is buying radios that are locked to their original systems, or radios that cannot be programmed easily, or cannot be used in mixed mode, etc. I also want reliable radios that don't need constant nannying. I'm absolutely fine with older technology if it meets my expectations. But what I have been finding is a lot of people buying radios online that are virtually useless, sellers who don't know anything about what they're hocking, programming software/cables/devices that are impossible to acquire through legitimate channels or for a realistic, affordable price, and stories of a lack of access to legitimate programming tools and information from Motorola even after the product in question has reached its end of life or the technology has been abandoned or is otherwise obsolete.

I need some guidance from Motorola experts to help me find what I'm looking for, please.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
6,859
Not sure you are going to easily find 900 MHZ P25 subscribers.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 

Skypilot007

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
2,537
Location
Medford, NJ
I agree, nothing but utter silence on the 900MHz machines in my area and they are analog. I don't think you could build a P25 repeater say from two mobile radios if that was the plan. I think there would be some audio performance issues with the transmissions being vocoded multiple times. I believe this was discussed in depth either here or on Batboard, maybe CS, can't remember. I may be wrong but I do remember a discussion about this and the possible negative effects on audio performance.

If I was doing this I would just bite the bullet and get a properly provisioned Quantar repeater. There's been some 900MHz Astro25 radios (XTL series) on ebay lately, some flashed for P25 some not. Just make sure they are properly optioned for P25 operation if that's what you need.
 

ur20v

The Feds say my name hot like when the oven on
Joined
May 8, 2015
Messages
751
Location
NOVA
Just to clarify, this is not for profit or a commercial operation - this is just for myself and a few other hams that want to take advantage of our 33cm privileges and take advantage of my location/antenna height while experimenting.
 

jim202

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2002
Messages
2,729
Location
New Orleans region
Your looking to take on a very ambitious project.

Let me point out a very important aspect of one thing your looking to do. That is to be able to remotely change the repeater frequency. This is not something that is physically inside the realm of being able to do. The reason is that all repeaters require some sort of cavities or filters to be able to function and not jam their own receiver. The cavities and filters are a very narrow frequency selective devices. Translation - one frequency and no more with out tuning the whole filtering system for the new frequency. If your talking about the user radios and not the repeater, that is a whole different story.

Obtaining equipment for use on the 900 band is not that easy. Sure there are some radios that can be modified to function on the band. But to do it yourself will require some physical skills to modify the radios. Then you will need the test equipment to align the modified radios so the function correctly.

There are a few web sites that have some 900 MHz. modification information. You could try looking around the "repeater builder site" and see if they have what your looking for. I have never been interested in the 900 band, so have just ignore anything I have seen regarding the band.

Maybe you can try some simple searches on the Internet and see what pops up. I am a firm believer of doing this before getting on some of the chat groups and asking for help. Most of those that do show up on the chat groups are new to the hobby and have not gone out of their way to do any searching on their own. They expect people on the chat groups to hand everything to them on a gold platter. Problem is the gold platters have run out.

The other thing is in the details. If you don't supply some details, your not going to get much in return. All of us on these chat groups have been asked so much that we are to the point of asking those looking for help if they have even done any searches for the information being sought.

Not trying to be a hard butt here, but you have to look at it from our prospective.
 

N4KVE

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
4,103
Location
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
A bunch of us are using 900 P25 Quantar repeater's in SE Florida. XTL's in the base, or car, & XTS2500's for portables. They work very well. We needed to get away from all the Dollar Store radios that have been polluting the local DMR repeater's. All equipment is auto tuned before installing.
 

Anderegg

Enter text in this field
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
2,662
Location
San Diego
I don't know if the XTL's can handle a lot of HAM chatter non stop for extended periods...what are they rated at for low and high power duty cycle?

Paul
 

N4KVE

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
4,103
Location
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
I don't know if the XTL's can handle a lot of HAM chatter non stop for extended periods...what are they rated at for low and high power duty cycle?

Paul
We don't use our XTL's in this fashion. We don't discuss what we ate for dinner, or yesterday's ordeal at the doctor's office. My radio stays cool, & is always in the low power mode. It's not DMR.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top