PACNWComms

As a system administrator for a nationwide Motorola radio network, made up of Motorola P25 Phase 1, Phase 2, legacy analog, and Trbo sub-networks, I see this all the time. While much of the programming, engineering, and installation and maintenance is done in house (very large corporation with a dedicated radio shop) we still do use many vendors, local radio shops across the country. And we all tend to complain en masse, especially for the new Trbo R7, Ion series radios, and push for PTT over LTE with the APX Next radios. For firefighting, confined space, and first response use cases, licenses are a problem. We have also had to inventory radios, triage them by firmware, options and EID status. Then, as you mentioned, making templates from that. Two counties in Washington State, King and Snohomish, are going through this right now. Too many templates to make and falling behind schedule, as they did not even know what they had end user wise, and have found they have more radios/license issues, and options that need updates. My fire departments are now sitting on APX6000XE radios, and awaiting the templates from the counties they must be interoperable with, to catch up. King and Snohomish counties are going P25 Phase 2, leapfrogging over FDMA Phase 1. They are now learning of the drastic changes in programming, entitlement ID's, CPS versus Radio Management, and other issues with TDMA P25 Phase 2. Then WAVE also gets pushed, with the monthly service cost being glossed over. All of this being typed as my old HT-1250 is being charged, the one I use for GMRS.

Had some UHF Vertex VX-261's myself, and they were very rugged little radios. They were cast off from a corporation that was standardizing on radio models and these were the odd model out for them. I did not need more radios, but will not turn down a gift.....and in turn they went to new amateur radio Technician's. One mentioned using them for GMRS use as well as a couple of local repeaters....and accessories were readily available. There were some wired remote speaker/mics with some of them as well. Reminded me of some of the Vertex amateur radios made with the heavy metal chassis, which seem to last forever, even when dropped many times. Great suggestion for an economical radio.

My area has a bit of everything, P25, NXDN, DStar, Trbo, and even some ISM band, but part of that is having elements of Icom, JVC/Kenwood Group, and some lesser known aviation radio companies in the area (Bendix, Relm, BK Precision) and even test equipment manufacturers being local. I either have to have several radios, or pick and choose what to listen to from time to time. My Part 90 radios are probably worth more than my car at times when I drive down the road. I picked up an old vintage analog AM Technisonic base station radio recently too. Use an old analog scanner instead, my Realistic Pro-2006, and Radio Shack Pro-2032's work much better than a Technisonic radio from 1985.

From the heartache of several Motorola people I am dealing with this week, it would seem that Kenwood's NX-5300 series and some Tait radios are making a dent in the big /\/\'s Part 90 radio market, due to the capability versus price difference. I have some APX4000 FDMA radios on a Tait system for interoperability, and the system administrator keeps asking if I can buy Tait radios to keep his network consistent....his leadership wants to get rid of Motorola and my leadership wants only Motorola (Kenwood for confined space use, and Icom for aviation) in use.

Yes, Kenwood followed the precedent set by Motorola for Entitlement ID's for both radios and Customer Programming Software (CPS). I do not like this either, and make labels on my programming computers on which ones have EID's (wideband for GMRS/VHF Marine/amateur use), and other features I find necessary, like Front Panel Programming. Harris Radio Program Manager is locked down to one computer via registering the computer to their server, which logs its MAC address. No adding multiple instances of software like Motorola. Kenwood licenses have been hit or miss depending on radio series......my current job requires multiple licenses for NX-5300 series radios for example....one license per computer, but it is also a custom software made by Kenwood for Confined Space Communications in Hazardous Areas (CSCHA) use. The next nightmare seems to be "software as a service" and the push to "license" programming capability based upon a monthly payment plan, or pushing codeplug programming vie the Internet, cloud, or WiFi from a distant server, but only if your bill is paid on time. Part 90 radios in the secondary market could get interesting if/when that happens.

I should also add that federal grant money is also only available to buy radios that are P25 capable. This came out after many manufacturers tried to find new ways to grab market share a decade or so after the terrorist attacks of 2001, when radio interoperability was found to be lacking. So, finding many of these NX-5000 and similar Kenwoods, will be expensive, if you are looking for something that is capable of P25, which may be out of the budget for those wanting to use them for GMRS as well. Although, I do know many people that add an analog Zone, channels, or TalkGroups to their P25 or DMR radios for GMRS use. I do this with several myself.

Yes, that would be me. Ironically enough, I am currently in Motorola training this week as well, now being administrator of a large P25 Phase I/II and Trbo network. The JVC/Kenwood Group was trying to gain some market share in P25 radio, while supporting smaller departments/municipalities, and those that may not have been able to afford P25 hardware up front. The idea was to market hardware that contained P25/NXDN/conventional capability, then unlock those features through software when needed/wanted and paid for. The only problem with this is that they also hired way too many software engineers from Microsoft, with little to no radio knowledge. Some Kenwood radios then needed to be sent in for hardware upgrades, as software changes over production cycles meant that several versions later, the hardware was now incompatible. It was a marketing plan that resulted in many different model/hardware/software versions. They are most likely out there in the wild, but Kenwood has spent several years fixing that problem, and you may find it hard to find parts, or shops willing to swap boards for what you want. Just in time manufacturing has changed that a bit, especially now with chip shortages. Kenwood has had a chip vendor lose some production capability recently as well. Good luck though, as you may find enough parts radios, or shops that have the combination you want. But,they probably won't be cheap, as the P25 hardware meant higher prices to get back the research and engineering budget spent to develop the product line.

Great source of radios for amateur and pro use. Use them often for cheaper radios that will be used in a commercial environment. Have six XPR7550e UHF radios that just came from them, San Mateo trade ins that they re-cased, look like new. However, they left the Capacity Plus programming in them, as they know I do my own programming.....had to do a recovery on them to set to factory default. Great source, and as you said, will program for you when you buy a radio if needed. Has great customer service, and I have purchased about 300 radios for corporate use through them, but only one for personal use.

I bought a Radiodditty GM-30, it was a bundled kit with a DB20G mobile. It works ok for GMRS, but also has some little issues being a cheap radio. One is that even with external power applied, the LCD display dims slightly on transmit. It also came with a programming cable that required some searching for drivers. But, for a cheap radio it does work. +1 on commercial radio though. There are many UHF handhelds out there for $60 or less, Kenwoods, Icoms, etc. I sometimes use Motorola EX500's and EX600-XLS radios for GMRS use. they can both be had for about this price point, but you need the programming cable and software. That is cost prohibitive to anyone that does not already have that. For someone that really wants to stay below that price point all inclusive, I just tell them to buy a Motorola TalkAbout radio, or even the DeWalt ones at Home Depot. They work, but have less/or no ability to program them via computer.

Talk In versus Talk Out range, something that does need to be emphasized at times. Kudos to those that did in this forum. I use a 25 Watt Spectra briefcase repeater when I head into parts unknown. With an antenna on a tripod about 30 feet above ground level usually gets me a few miles increased range, if on a hill, often ten or more. This works for my use case, as all other users are carrying four to five watt handhelds. Great portable repeaters, but getting harder to find. I use two deep cycle marine Optima batteries and often get an entire weeks of use before a charge.

Your method can work, but I would recommend fuses in both positive and negative wires, and also some method for charging that battery. Many radios do draw a small amount of current when turned off(and will lose some charge sitting as well), and your battery may be dead when needed if there is no charging circuit, or method to trickle charge the battery. If you wish to use a car type battery for backup, add a Battery Tender or similar type of charger connected to the posts, to keep the battery charged. The, it is as easy as you mention. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) units also work well for this purpose. At work today, I just repurposed several Eaton battery backup power supplies for exactly this use case. I have some mobile radios that are lightly used, but when the are needed, they need to work. Seeing many UPS units that just needed new batteries,I swapped in new gel cells and charged them up for their new job, as backup power for these radios. For my use, I only need the radio to work for an hour or so when AC power is lost, so small desktop, or under the desk UPS units work for me. If you need more time, use a larger UPS.

From my own experience in the oil and gas industry, many radio systems for refineries, transfer stations, and related areas are either full on P25 Motorola FDMA (and/or TDMA P25 Phase 2 now), or large scale Linked Capacity Plus Trbo systems. Even here in the Pacific Northwest, I know of no GMRS repeaters in use by the oil industry, they use an event channel on their main radio system. Some even have their own parks and recreation areas, also often used for training and family events, with those events using a specific channel for radio comms if/when needed. Repeater range costs money, and yet there is always the issue with intrinsic safety standards, so a radio network will only be as big as it needs to be. Oil and gas work is dangerous, and even the tablet computers and other electronic tools, flashlights, gas monitors, all have to be built to an intrinsically safe standard. That drives a huge part of the radio footprint in the oil and gas industry. As for 102" whip for GMRS, it all has to do with resonance, and that length is for old school CB in 27MHz. UHF GMRS will benefit with an antenna that is resonant between 462-467 MHz.

Performance is the same, the cure time just determines how much time you have to work the pieces together or support it until dry. I use more of the fast cure, as I am often using smaller parts (marine VHF antenna mounts and connectors), where the regular is probably what boat builders use, as they may need to move things a bit to fit pieces together and may need some wiggle room. Since my last post, I have also been shown how this is used in recreation vehicles as well, especially around the TV (over the air digital) antenna, air conditioner, and other penetrations in the roof of that type of vehicle. Buy it at a hardware store (not a boat or RV store) to save some money.

Yes, at those prices, they are a great deal. I should have added to my XPR7550e purchase at $505, that was to prove a point to my employers procurement process, they pay Motorola $1172.00 for each XPR7550e. Usually, I look for the better deals, but in this case, I was making a point to them that the price is less than half if I pay with a credit card instead of a purchase order. I still can't believe I paid that myself looking back.....I could have bought a lot of other radio gear at that price, and my XPR6550 still works and looks practically new, even after some drops on concrete. (But the so does my Anytone 878.) 6580's for $85, I need to get to my local ham swap meet sometime, has been a few years and that is a great deal.

In the military I went from Motorola for commercial radios, then worked as an engineer in the JVC/Kenwood Group. I stay away from anything made when too many former Microsoft software engineers were hired.....2012-2017 or so. Now, I am back to Motorola. My XPR7550e was $505 to y door from Sunny Communications. XPR7580e's are $385 plus tax/shipping, also great radios. I also use XPR6550's and XPR6580's, I totally agree those are great for amateur use, and even cheaper now that the are "end of support" by the big M. Since batteries are readily available, I have recommended the 6550 for many GMRS users, as a solid radio, if you do not mess with programming all the time, or travel the country and need to make changes (I do not assume everyone has CPS and cables, even though those are getting cheaper too.) As for Ukraine, it did not surprise me much to see DMR in use, I had to buy a pile of XiR8668 (Asian market XPR7550) for a project a few years ago. With the new R7, Motorola is keeping the name the same worldwide, no DP4x00 for eastern Europe, XiR86xx for Asia, and XPR75xx for the Americas, all being the same hardware.

On the Ukrainian side, looks like Motorola DMR. Very capable radios. I myself use a Motorola XPR7550e for GMRS and other UHF personal comms. https://k0lwc.com/what-radios-are-ukrainian-military-using/

No matter which antenna you end up using, I would highly recommend 3M 5200 sealant for use on the coax penetration. Years of adding radio antennas and satcom equipment to RV's for emergency communications has shown that sealant to work very well for keeping the water out. It is also used by Bayliner/Sea Ray/Meridian for their vessel hull penetrations. As others have mentioned the Air conditioning unit would be a good place to mount to the metal under the plastic cover, perhaps even having the antenna poke out through one of the vent holes in the plastic. You would also have the opening to the inside for the coax run. Just use a lot of good quality sealant on that roof. Although, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and everything gets wet, eventually, you may have a different climate or use case for that camper. Good luck.

That's the truth, just licensed two commercial sites in Florida and one in Colorado, thousands of dollars for UHF spectrum. Luckily no towers, repeaters, combiners, or duplexers needed, just spectrum for line-of-site comms. However, the Colorado site was using Midland T70 radios and wondering why they were not working well. Half million square foot warehouse and acreage around the facility. Some were in low power mode, others high power. Sent them some trusty old but great condition Motorola EX500's at higher power. Just needed licensed freq's for commercial use.

Good to know, and like many other radios, even much more expensive ones out there (Motorola, Thales, Harris have also had issues with this over the years.) Thank you for sharing for all of us.

I had this issue with my GM-30 handheld when I got it as well. However, I had bought the GM-30 handheld/DB-20G mobile combo online. My original intent was to use the DB-20G for home use (even though I had a Motorola CDM1550LS+ in use as well, I like the smaller size and easier programming), and the GM-30 for my smaller daily commute car. Well that USB cable fell out often. I then realized the DB-20G fit perfectly in a "pocket" in the console made for an iPhone. On a slightly different note, I had a friend that bought the GM-30 handheld, and spent about a week charging it with the USB cable, and complained that he could not program it properly. I found out he was trying to program it via USB as well. He also wondered why it came with two "programming" cables. His laptop also never found the "drivers" for that USB C cable either. He is on the right track now.