XTS 3000 issue with tx

[Stretchman]

I recently acquired a Motorola xts3000 and managed to get a virtual box win xp vm installed. It's talking to the radio, and I have an efj 5100 that can hear the 3000 talking, plus, the 3000 can hear the 5100 and the hot spot. But when I tx on my hotspot or to the local repeater on astro, it won't key either up in p25. Works for analog no problem.

Nac is 293. Is there something else I might be missing in programming this radio that could cause this? Not a total noob, as I already have a working p25 rig with the efj, but I am scratching my head and losing sleep trying to get the radio working.

Is there a programming reference wiki or a how to so I can check my work. Posting from work on my phone, so I can't get to the radio until later.

 

[KE4ZNR]

My first thought is that the radio probably needs an alignment because it has probably been forever since one has been done.
That radio is now ancient and unless you are a glutton for punishment I would cut your losses and recommend selling it and getting an XTS 2500 or 5000 instead. Either can be found at decent prices these days.

 

[Stretchman]

My first thought is that the radio probably needs an alignment because it has probably been forever since one has been done.
That radio is now ancient and unless you are a glutton for punishment I would cut your losses and recommend selling it and getting an XTS 2500 or 5000 instead. Either can be found at decent prices these days.

I understand. Just getting a VM put together was a real chore. But the thing is, I have a 5100 p25 radio that is on the same hotspot channel and hears the xts3k perfectly. It will also key up the repeater local to me in analog with no problem.

My p25 efj isn't in mixed mode either, so I know it both transmits and receives p25. I have another radio with an outside antenna that picks it up on the repeater perfectly in analog.

But, for some reason, I am guessing me, it doesn't even key up the hotspot. If I tx on p25 on the frequency the hotspot shows no signal even when I hear it on the efj. I'm figuring it's some kind of NAC issue, but I have it set to 293. Does it need hex, or decimal? Maybe 659?

 

[KD9RTX]

KE4ZNR is probably right about the alignment. A friend has an XTS2500 that was so far out of alignment that his XTS5000 wouldn't open the squelch on a digital channel that otherwise has no issues. We knew it was transmitting because we could hear the digital noise on another radio set to an analog channel with the same frequency. He sent it off for an alignment a few weeks ago and it came back working perfectly. Your 5100 might have a bit wider tolerance for receiving slightly off frequency. Not sure.

As far as the NAC, I'm not 100% sure about the 3000 since I don't have one but Motorola typically wants the NAC in hex.

 

[Stretchman]

I might be inclined to believe it, but it's using the same stage on analog and sounds to my ears to be perfect. I have a working p25 radio either way, but I'm out 160 bucks if it's a waste of time.

I'm going to take another look at it tonight when I get home. Still, going on 4 hours sleep ( didn't want to quit) and working a 12 today, so I'll see what I can figure out. Id like to get my hands on a working code plug so I can see the right settings. I know someone else who has a radio and might try to get him to send me a copy of his.

 

[Stretchman]

Got it working. It talks on everything except the pi-star. Works fine on an openspot 3. Talks to the local repeater. So, it's testing out ok, and gets good signal reports. Hopefully, it'll work for a little while. Once my weekend gets here (tomorrow is friday for me) I'll try to get some more channels into it.

Thanx all who took the time to read my drivel.

 

[kk6rq]

Got it working. It talks on everything except the pi-star. Works fine on an openspot 3. Talks to the local repeater. So, it's testing out ok, and gets good signal reports. Hopefully, it'll work for a little while. Once my weekend gets here (tomorrow is friday for me) I'll try to get some more channels into it.

Thanx all who took the time to read my drivel.

What did you change?

 

[Project25_MASTR]

An XP VM seems pretty...challenging. I always had a difficult time with licensing those in the modern era. Windows 7 and 10 is what I use for Astro Saber/XTS3000 CPS.

 

[WT1W]

I'm having the same issue. About 3 years ago, I had my 3K working fine with a hotspot. Put it away and hadn't used it. Now, it will not key up the hotspot at all. I've monitored the transmission with DSDPlus, and the radio is xmitting, but it is garbled thru DSD. DSD does decode it as P25P1, and sees the TGID sent from the radio. This is the VHF model. If I had to guess, it seems like the modulation is wrong (C4FM), or some kind of data issue (wrong baud???). I suppose it could be alignment issues, but it keys up analog just fine, clear as a bell on 52.

 

[MTS2000des]

Analog performance and digital are two different things. A radio 80Hz off will sound "clear as a bell" on analog, but produce BER and trash on P25.

Being that these radios are 20-25 years old, it is very likely components have drifted and an alignment may bring it back to performance. OTOH, the cost of getting this done and finding one with the correct tools may exceed the value of the radio. XTS5000s are selling for under $200 and are miles above the 3000 in performance and many more shops and people are setup to tune them using various modern service monitors with AutoTune software. I can align one in about 10 minutes.