XTS5000 "Alpha" radios

KD6MHO · Post by **KD6MHO** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 5:54 pm

A friend of mine was looking for a XTS5000 radio. He found one but the serial number was 123ABC1234. I recognized this as an "alpha series" radio as outlined in r0f's Astro guide for newbies that should be avoided.

The guy selling the radio said it was a "parts" radio and that is why the serial number was like that. However, my friend errored on the side of caution as he did not have access to a programming cable or RSS at the time to verify if it was programmable via the consumer RSS and he decided to pass on the radio.

Can anyone elaborate on these "alpha series developmental" radios? Is the "alpha series" RSS kind of like the theorhetical

"lab" software? And I cannot think of why anyone would put THAT serial number (123ABC1234) into a parts vocoder if it is likely to throw up a red flag.

Any thoughts or info woould be appreciated.
Thank You
Aaron

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 6:04 pm

Edited -Sorry, the link I posted had already been covered. I'd be curious to know if it had anything already programmed in it, other than one test channel.

Frank

KD6MHO · Post by **KD6MHO** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 6:34 pm

Of course...there was only one channel programmed in the radio

It simply read "CHAN 1" on the display (along of course with the clock...etc.) which is another reason it seemed somewhat likely that it was one of the alleged "Alpha" radios.

KD6MHO · Post by **KD6MHO** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 9:49 pm

Thanks again for the responses. Another friend of mine decided to buy the radio (not the first guy who passed on it) and he says that it programmed up fine with the standard "R" version RSS, even though the serial was 123ABC1234. Maybe it WAS a "made up" serial number from the guy who built it and he just so happened to use that "red flag" serial number instead of generating a unique one when initializing the board. He didn't say anything about messing with the flash of the radio, as it already has all the features he will need for his application.

As far as XTS5000 in general...it has one advantage over the Saber or other series 800 handhelds as far as I know, in that it is DUAL BAND 700/800. Personally, I don't like the style of the radio and own a AS III on 800 that works fine, but when (and if) the migration begins to 700 I will have to scrap the Saber for something else unless there is another solution. Given, by that time 700 / 800 MHz ASTRO gear should be much cheaper.

The fact the radio is dual band and has 8meg of memory is the reason I think people are wanting them. But you are right, in that they REALLY seem to attract alot of attention which is not desirable in my opinion.

scanman · Post by **scanman** » Mon May 03, 2004 9:45 pm

Shaun, where did you get that info? It is wrong. those are referred to as "beta" units and most will function w/ Reg. ware. And the "Alphas" are actually the project name for what the GP2000 series are referred to as.

RocketNJ · Post by **RocketNJ** » Tue May 04, 2004 3:15 am

The 5000 is technically better on both tx and rx, just look at the specs.

The 3500 and 5000 both have better rx specs and better IM immunity than the 3000.

The "alpha" radios basically have early firmware (not alpha) but have a developmental codeplug which can only be read with alpha or beta CPS.

If someone has a way to upgrade the codeplug to a regular release version then it would read/write with the retail CPS. I agree there is no way to hack the flashcode at this time (while the 3k can be). It doesn't mean the 5k's are not worth it. They do features the 3k can't.

I've got legit 5k's and love em.

George

scanman · Post by **scanman** » Tue May 04, 2004 7:27 am

That is the first time I have ever heard anyone say they loved their 5k without it being flashed for front panel programming. Which by the way moto hates to admit they offer. Glad you like it but it is a battery hog made w/ poor quality and designed as a $6000 disposable that I to would never under any circumstances reccomend and I own several. If I did not need them for cable testing they would not be in my fleet, they would be in the river.

RocketNJ · Post by **RocketNJ** » Tue May 04, 2004 4:37 pm

I never said mine don't have FPP

George