XTS 2500 "Clicking" Mystery

[portroyalbirdy]

This one is a mystery to me, but my brother has a Motorola XTS 2500 (used) that does a "pulsed clicking" noise on analog channels, and we have no idea on the cause! It happens in vehicle, out of vehicle, different vehicles. Used in or FD. It's only on analog that it does this, P25 Conventional is fine. And I/we would see if anyone would have any ideas/causes/fixes, or if it's a hardware issue, and/or due to age (We believe it's an older gen 2500) It IS also using an aftermarket battery, but from a brand we've used in the past with/on 2500's before, but we know you can sometimes get a "bad" battery!

Thanks in advance!

(Click Here) for the combined audio file.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

You probably have priority channel scan set up in one or more modes. Based on the recording I would hazard a guess that the repeater input is set up in the non priority scan list and the repeater output is in priority scan list

 

[portroyalbirdy]

You probably have priority channel scan set up in one or more modes. Based on the recording I would hazard a guess that the repeater input is set up in the non priority scan list and the repeater output is in priority scan list

The recording is from a live feed hosted by a feed of mine. Feed is stereo but the channel the audio is recorded on is the Dispatch channel which the feed mobile is "parked on". I just chose the feed audio because it captured it. It can be heard on pages, scanners, etc.

I (think) this also occurs when the scan is turned off on the 2500, but will check/test next time it's used.

I believe, but not 100% sure it's set up that the 1st Priority is User Selectable (whatever channel you're on) and the the 2nd I think may be the Dispatch Channel or Safety Channel (Repeater Output) but again, not 100% sure. A friend of mine does the programming.

 

[mmckenna]

I (think) this also occurs when the scan is turned off on the 2500, but will check/test next time it's used.

That would be the thing to test.

as RFI said above, this is almost always the priority scan and the clicking is the 'lookback' when it checks the priority channel. I've got L3Harris, Kenwood, Icom and Motorola radios that all do the same thing.

 

[MTS2000des]

What I hear sounds like VCO/synthesizer noise on TX, not priority scan lookback. If that's the case, radio should be pulled from service. It is dying.

 

[Giddyuptd]

I bet it is a AN model xts2500,1500 isn't it. Like mts said. We had a few AN 2500s that would get worse as time passed by to point they were removed from field and done away with and replaced with BN at time back then.

 

[portroyalbirdy]

What I hear sounds like VCO/synthesizer noise on TX, not priority scan lookback. If that's the case, radio should be pulled from service. It is dying.

After doing some looking into that, that's what I'm leaning to the cause/issue is. It's not a "Every day use portable" we have FD APX's for our primary use. That/his 2500 (personal bought/owned) is more just a "spare/keep in a vehicle" radio. We're likely going to keep that 2500 as a receive only unit, and find him a APX down the road! It was an ebay find for a easy price (Now we know why) and not from the typical sellers, this was a "1 off". No diss to the seller! Didn't pay all that much for it so.

 

[portroyalbirdy]

I bet it is a AN model xts2500,1500 isn't it. Like mts said. We had a few AN 2500s that would get worse as time passed by to point they were removed from field and done away with and replaced with BN at time back then.

It may be! I'll have him/I check next time I have access to it!

 

[portroyalbirdy]

I bet it is a AN model xts2500,1500 isn't it. Like mts said. We had a few AN 2500s that would get worse as time passed by to point they were removed from field and done away with and replaced with BN at time back then.

I wasn't sure if my eBay history would still have it, but from the listing, it shows as a "BN"

 

[MTS2000des]

At the end of the day, the 2500 was cancelled over 10 years ago, IIRC December of 2013. It's lived a useful life. We just handed down the "verdict" that all legacy non-TDMA radios be "vacated" from our system by Jan 1 2026 for primary dispatch. We will then set all TGs to TDMA only except I/O.

The XTS/XTL line came out in 2002. That was a long time ago. Some of our call takers are younger than that. Time to put the old horses down.

 

[nokones]

At the end of the day, the 2500 was cancelled over 10 years ago, IIRC December of 2013. It's lived a useful life. We just handed down the "verdict" that all legacy non-TDMA radios be "vacated" from our system by Jan 1 2026 for primary dispatch. We will then set all TGs to TDMA only except I/O.

The XTS/XTL line came out in 2002. That was a long time ago. Some of our call takers are younger than that. Time to put the old horses down.

Although, the XTS/XTL series radios are great radios to be repurposed for the radio enthusiasts to use on GMRS or other similar radio hobbyist systems and will provide good service for many years.

 

[MTS2000des]

The O/P indicated these were in public safety service, albeit a spare, but not hobby/enthusiast/whacker use. That being said, any portable or mobile in a public safety setting that fails a PM, is damaged, or experiences degraded performance needs to be locked out/tagged out and either repaired or in the case of 10-15 year old relics, destined for the beyond economical repair pile.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

This one is a mystery to me, but my brother has a Motorola XTS 2500 (used) that does a "pulsed clicking" noise on analog channels, and we have no idea on the cause! It happens in vehicle, out of vehicle, different vehicles. Used in or FD. It's only on analog that it does this, P25 Conventional is fine. And I/we would see if anyone would have any ideas/causes/fixes, or if it's a hardware issue, and/or due to age (We believe it's an older gen 2500) It IS also using an aftermarket battery, but from a brand we've used in the past with/on 2500's before, but we know you can sometimes get a "bad" battery!

Thanks in advance!

(Click Here) for the combined audio file.

Can you tell us the frequencies and agency that are heard in that audio clip? I still stand by my comment that it is priority scan lookback, but there is something very odd. Also have you tried turning off scan features?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

The recording is from a live feed hosted by a feed of mine. Feed is stereo but the channel the audio is recorded on is the Dispatch channel which the feed mobile is "parked on". I just chose the feed audio because it captured it. It can be heard on pages, scanners, etc.

I (think) this also occurs when the scan is turned off on the 2500, but will check/test next time it's used.

I believe, but not 100% sure it's set up that the 1st Priority is User Selectable (whatever channel you're on) and the the 2nd I think may be the Dispatch Channel or Safety Channel (Repeater Output) but again, not 100% sure. A friend of mine does the programming.

Is priority scan turned on in the host radio for the feed? This is very much a priority scan look back. It could also be the same heard on a vehicular repeater, priority interrupt feature, as normally heard on the portable associated with it.

 

[KevinC]

So what I'm getting is the recording is of the repeater and the "clicking" is when the suspect radio is transmitting. Is that correct?

 

[MTS2000des]

So what I'm getting is the recording is of the repeater and the "clicking" is when the suspect radio is transmitting. Is that correct?

You'll clearly hear the suspect radio with a pulsing noise on TX of the VCO starting to unlock. Heard/seen this on many XTS/XTLs that start dying.

 

[N4DES]

At the end of the day, the 2500 was cancelled over 10 years ago, IIRC December of 2013. It's lived a useful life. We just handed down the "verdict" that all legacy non-TDMA radios be "vacated" from our system by Jan 1 2026 for primary dispatch. We will then set all TGs to TDMA only except I/O.

The XTS/XTL line came out in 2002. That was a long time ago. Some of our call takers are younger than that. Time to put the old horses down.

When I retired in 2023 I had one from rebanding still in its original plastic clamshell in my office. We got our use out of them when they and the XTL2500's were exchanged for the LTS2000 and LCS2000 by Sprint/NEXTEL.

 

[MTS2000des]

When I retired in 2023 I had one from rebanding still in its original plastic clamshell in my office. We got our use out of them when they and the XTL2500's were exchanged for the LTS2000 and LCS2000 by Sprint/NEXTEL.

I'm still finding STX821s squirreled away that for some reason, hoarders kept hidden (we got a ton of 2500RBs too)