[Programming Motorola XTL5000 or CDM1250 mobile radios]

On 8/29/2022 at 3:41 AM, WRKC935 said:

And yet NO ONE actually answered this mans question.

With most radios (non-motorola) you program them in one big spreadsheet looking thing where you name the channel, put in the frequencies and tones and then blow it into the radio.

CDM software and Astro25 software are different and you need to understand how to use the software.

With CDM software, you build all the channels independently and then once the channels are built, you go into the zone list, create the desired zones and set the channel configurations in the zones.  This is done two different places in the software.  Scan lists are also build elsewhere in the software and assigned to the channels.  Of course, you can't add a channel to a scan list that doesn't exist so there is some back and forth that goes on.

 

Astro25 software (XTS /XTL) software

This is a bit more complicated as the radio has multiple transmit modes that are set in a 'conventional personality' that is assigned to the channels.

It DOES however program more like the spreadsheet radios, but there is some prep work that has to be done.  the XTS XTL stuff is P25 and analog.  So the settings for the modulation are set in the personality, but not the frequency as in the CDM.  You DON'T have to create a personality for each channel either.  THe personalities can be shared across many channels.  Be aware that the scan list is set in the personality and a scan list can only have 16 channels in it.  So if you get crazy and program up zones by state, county or whatever, you will need to create a scan list and personality for each zone.  Not hard once you understand it but really time consuming. 

Once you have the conventional personalities built, you then add zones and program the channel frequencies and tones in a spreadsheet format in the zone configuration area. 

 

Ask if you have questions. 

I have a bit of experience with Astro25 as I have been using it for about 15 years now.

 

Thank you for your info to the question. I just purchased a XTL5000 (380-470- MHz) and a XTS5000 (380-470- MHz) for my Jeep and a handheld for my wife's Jeep. I have the ASTRO 25 software and am new to all this, may I contact you with Question as I try to learn to program these radio's?    Jordi