Upgrading XPR3500 w/ Cap+

[Twlighting]

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to add Capacity Plus to an XPR3500e and have run into a roadblock with Motorola - evidently one needs to be a dealer in order to purchase the entitlement key which will enable the feature on the radio/CPS.

Is this something a local radio shop could purchase and then hand off to me to do the upgrade, or would they need to upgrade the radio in house using their CPS? If the latter, would I be able to make changes to Cap+ parameters and still write to the radio using my existing CPS with no entitlement key (assuming we're on the same version)?

Maybe better off selling the 3500 and getting a 6550?

Thanks,
-Griffin

 

[KG4INW]

I suppose it depends on the dealer and whether or not they insist on doing it for you or will let you do it yourself. It's just a long hexadecimal string that as long as you register it using CPS on an Internet connected PC, you should be able to activate it easily.

Once activated, the upgrade resides in the radio so you can use any copy of CPS (equal revision or greater, of course) to program Cap+ parameters. Device entitlements are different from application entitlements (like 25 kHz).

 

[Twlighting]

Great, thanks for the information. That's interesting about the device entitlements vs. application entitlements... the Motorola rep on the phone indicated that the Cap+ entitlement key could in fact enable the feature on multiple units, which I find hard to believe.

Though if that is the case, perhaps the local shop may charge less to enable the feature than the $166 I had planned to pay for the key. I'll give them a call tomorrow to find out.

Being that the the 25kHz key resides in the software, I assume it would be able to increase the bandwidth on multiple radios?

Thanks,
-Griffin

 

[KG4INW]

One key can be used for multiple units, be they radios or CPS. That is, you can order a key for 1 radio or 100 (I'm not sure of the actual limits), or any amount you need. Once the EID is registered, it'll give you the quantity and decrease the number each time you activate a radio.

As for the CPS EID, yes, you can program as many radios as you want with 25 kHz analog channels. Even if you update the CPS, the EID will still be active. You can also order multiple activations on one key.