gman1971

In Motorolian, the Talkaround term is basically when two radios that are programmed to use a repeater, can talk to each other directly without the repeater. This comes in handy when you go out of repeater range.
G.

Since I don't really need the radios for critical communications I can afford to wait for a good deal. That's part of the fun collecting them, finding a good deal.
The second part is trying to discover where the radio came from originally. I managed to find this out on just a few. The best one came from "Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station" out east. I think another poster knew about it and commented they replaced all their analog radios with digital. Nice confirmation of what I figured out from the names in the memory tag fields and frequencies programmed in to the radio.

You are luckier than I am then... I rarely get 10% off buy it nows, etc... the only way to get a deal is by snipping stuff and being lucky...
G.

TETRA is another option available, but is not very popular in the US. Its basically the big brother of DMR... 4 slot TDMA... 
Prepping and SHTF, you should probably use AM/SSB to establish contact, then use digital encrypted for trusted intercom. I think FM still has issues due to PL/DCS codes potentially preventing interoperability like AM/SSB would. 
Digital has other advantages over analog, that I use extensively, text messages and call alerts, along with radio checks and if you have a dispatch console or something like that you can do real time tracking of assets etc, OTAP... etc.
G.

Dang this thread is picking up! Way to go LScott...
G.

Dang this thread is picking up! Way to go LScott...
G.

Yes, that's a weak point on some used/older XPR6550 radios. That, along with a PTT side button that becomes kind of picky about exactly where you squeeze to transmit. The fix for the side button is to replace the entire housing (Motorola doesn't sell the microswitch & flex assembly separately to my knowledge) - or to just use a Remote Speaker Mic to supply PTT.
The volume pot is a difficult repair for a hobbyist, but if you've got skills, it can be done. Before I'd pay someone else to do it, I'd probably look for another radio. That volume pot problem is rare enough that you don't always see it on older units, and even a "soft" pot still has some life left in it if you're not turning it on/off up/down 10 times a day.

I got mine setup here:
https://www.motorolasolutions.com
On the right upper corner, click -> Sign In, there is a popup, at the bottom of the popup it says "Don't have an account?" click -> Register and follow the instructions there. That is how I opened mine.

@Lscott
Still, admitting these things in public forums could get you in trouble, just saying. I personally decided to purchase the software, 169, considering the amount of radio equipment I've purchased over the years, I figured it wasn't too bad.
@tweiss3
I think Moto is been split into two companies for a while now, Motorola Solutions is supposedly the same as the original Moto from back then.
Wonder if its browser related? I remember Motorola preferred IE back when I opened mine... maybe that's changed. Or perhaps if you are using a VPN its throwing it off.
All I know is that aside from the 1-2 weeks wait time until my MOL account was approved, the application was pretty straightforward.
If you like Vertex, all the software is freely available for download at MOL, again: free of charge!!, and the EVX line of radios in particular is pretty nice... and quite affordable too.
G.

Just to keep things More Moto-confusing, there's another software pkg out there called "Tuner". You better know what you're doing before you mess around with Tuner blindly & just "try some stuff" to see what it does. Save your Tuner files before you do ANYTHING you might regret. You also need to match up the firmware package on the radio with the version of Tuner you plan to use. Newer versions of Tuner pretty much assume that you've got the radio hooked up to a high end Aeroflex service monitor to do "Autotune" which is a nice feature if you're going through 100 or 1000 radios, but not so great for the hobby user.
Anyway - the Tuner software is where you can actually adjust the squelch settings. From the factory, the standard Normal squelch is fairly close to threshold, and Tight usually brings it up 3-5 dB. 

This is how you repair a CCR...

Yep, I know that well...
With that said, I believe that something like a CDM 1250 will be a far better radio for GMRS, or some of the older Kenwood/Icom/Vertex LMR mobiles, plus those won't get blitzed under heavy RF traffic (as in: no desense, and little to no intermod) The CDM Professional radios can be aligned manually at home with a simple signal generator and a SINADder. The software can be found on the web and the the programming cable+jumper pin can be made at home for the cost of a CAT5 adapter.
Maybe having a tiny 2" inch color screen is more important than having a decent receiver... ?
G.

I ended up buying a scanner to scan... who knew it worked so well...
G.

This is how you repair a CCR...

The Impres battery system is one of the few Motorola things that impresses the heck out of me. I'm surprised that other manufacturers haven't followed Motorola's lead on this. I can vouch for the increase in battery life & efficiency. I've had some customers getting 4 and 5 years out of daily use Impres batteries before they drop below 80% capacity. Prior to Impres, those batteries would have been tossed after 2-3 years. Nearly doubling the lifespan makes a pretty good case for why you should pay twice as much for Impres.
Newer 2nd generation XPR radios (not the XPR6550) and systems allow you to report and track battery status "over the air" as the units transmit.
 
 

Lscott,
For a SHTF I recommend a backpack with a 5550e for local comms, encrypted, and a FT-817ND for long range all band/all mode work.  333 is how I would operate in a SHTF scenario.
All our cars have a mobile radio on them, either a 5550e or an EVX-5300... and all of my family members carry an XPR7550e, along a complementary SL7550e with spare batteries. We initially used them only for family business matters, but now we are at a point in which we use them all the time, for personal stuff too, instead of using the cellphone. In fact, I don't carry a cellphone anymore... the infrastructure I've built is so reliable now that I no longer need for the government/goggle/et all. to know where I am at every moment by tracking my cell movement, shoving some ads in my face in the process.
G.

That's how they found a number of the 1/6 protesters. Their cell phones got pinged of the local cell towers. The Fed's got the info from the wireless carries.

Well FedEx showed up with the VHF XPR6550 radio a few minutes ago here at the office. Looks like it's in good condition. Now as long as it works...

Yes, I'm not surprised. That has to do with what is called "Path Loss", which is not exactly what you would think it means.
When you TX the voltage component for the RF signal is independent of the frequency and is only a function of the power level. You see it expressed as volts/meter, the "E" component or field strength. However our radio's receiver also responds to that same component, but it has to come from the antenna. Since we must use resonate antennas the UHF one is about 1/3 the length, on 70cm, compared to the 2m band. With the UHF antenna being 1/3 the length the voltage induced is only 1/3 too. Power is the square of the voltage so the power is about 1/9! So if all other things being equal a UHF radio would need to generate 9 time the power of a VHF radio for the same signal strength.
Looking at a typical 5 watt VHF HT you would need about 45 watts out of the UHF radio.

I saw that on one of the packs, no info. That's why I was curious about what was going on. You explained that well. Thanks.

Oh, yeah I've noticed that just about any commercial VHF HT sells for a lot more. I managed to snag a TK-2170 for a good deal, about $15. The guy whol sold it said the radio turns on, the beeps when you press the PTT button, shuts down then turns back on. He though the radio was screwed. That what they do with a nearly dead battery pack. When I got it, yup, that's what the problem was. Worked perfectly with a freshly charged pack and reprogrammed.
I think the reasons why the VHF radios cost more than the UHF models, one there aren't that may out there because most business use UHF anyway. Second is the typical band split, 136 to 174, which is perfect for the popular Ham 2m band, MURS, VHF marine and NOAA frequencies.

I wouldn't touch any radio from which the original tags had been removed... ?

Yea, the SDS in the car does a wonderful job of picking up all the needed traffic, including CB19

Yes the stud is hot, but it's not running to the chassis.
I use a very similar adapter for my two Kenwood TK-370's that use this type of antenna connector. You'll notice the stud is isolated from the connector shell in the photo. It goes through it to the center pin connection for the BNC socket on the other end.
The other photo shows the stud type antenna connector on the radio. In this case you'll notice the stud screw hole is also isolated from the slotted ring nut.
When the adapter is screwed in the shell makes contact with that slotted ring nut which happens to also be the ground side of the radio.
It looks like in the case of the 7550 that ground connection is stuck behind the plastic case so the guy had to run a copper foil strap from the back side of the radio, the mounting screw for the belt clip, up to the edge of the antenna socket well. When the adapter is screwed in the shell makes contact with that strap completing the ground connection between the coax shield and the chassis ground. The adapter he uses is likely very much like the one I use.

It is indeed a different board, Mars at Comm Support did a mod to get a female SMA on it, but is not an easy mod, certainly not for the faint of heart, involves de-soldering and resoldering SMD connectors and other small stuff. Plus there are some parts (a flange nut) that are not readily available anywhere.
As for the stud, well, I've personally had pretty good results with it. But then I also purchased the right frequency range antenna for my application, so I am pretty happy. It handily beats the SMA 6550 with any antenna I've put in there. And for when the 7550e can't reach, that is why I have the 5550e with an HHCH, 50w and a 5/8 wave flexible whip... fits on a backpack and reaches 20+ miles. Again, I use the walkie for what is good for: being carried around. Carrying around a handheld with a 5/8 whip, especially in VHF, IMO defeats the whole purpose of being hand held... but again, that is just me, and my opinion. 
G.