Need help determining status of radios

[KC9VEG]

Hello all, I've come to a dead end trying to figure out a small problem. To start off, I'm assisting with our local red cross's comms program. I can't recall completely off the top of my head, but I believe we have 1x XTS 3000, 2x XTS2500's (in working order), and 2x XTS2500's (in non-working order), all 800mhz units programmed (or, SUPPOSED to be) for the Indiana Hoosier SAFE-T Statewide system. The rest of our radios consist of a handful of broken and mangled SP50's, and 6x MT1000's programmed for a 'tactical repeater' that we seem to have (haven't even tried testing it out), and a Spectra Desktop console (personally owned).

I've been told various stories of the previous person who was in charge of comms there, and whether or not any of them are true, what IS true is that we have no documentation at all relating to all of the 800mhz XTS units we have. Within the past year or so, there WAS a radio tech who stopped in (I believe they were from the local Motorola Shop; I did not deal with them personally) and did something with the functioning units, but was unable to perform work on two of the XTS-2500's (said something along the lines of 'they needed to be flashed', something else). One of the 2500's seems to have totally blank progamming (one conv. channel, nothing else), the other one appears to be programmed for Minnesota's statewide system. Again, since we have no documentation at ALL on these radios, we have no idea who to contact about the issue. I (and the person I have been working with) have concerns about the XTS-2500 that seems to be programmed for the Minnesota system, since I've been informed that some of the equipment the last comms person brought in may not have been acquired 'properly'.

At this point, I'm not sure of my options and how to proceed. I'd prefer to not have to take them into the local moto shop, since I (and others) haven't always had good experiences there before. I did have my dad bring the units to the city radio tech on his dept. to see what he thought, but was not able to point us towards anyone who could help. I don't believe we exactly have a budget either, which further limits what we can do with them. Any assistance at this point would be appreciated.

[Jim202]

Hello all, I've come to a dead end trying to figure out a small problem. To start off, I'm assisting with our local red cross's comms program. I can't recall completely off the top of my head, but I believe we have 1x XTS 3000, 2x XTS2500's (in working order), and 2x XTS2500's (in non-working order), all 800mhz units programmed (or, SUPPOSED to be) for the Indiana Hoosier SAFE-T Statewide system. The rest of our radios consist of a handful of broken and mangled SP50's, and 6x MT1000's programmed for a 'tactical repeater' that we seem to have (haven't even tried testing it out), and a Spectra Desktop console (personally owned).

I've been told various stories of the previous person who was in charge of comms there, and whether or not any of them are true, what IS true is that we have no documentation at all relating to all of the 800mhz XTS units we have. Within the past year or so, there WAS a radio tech who stopped in (I believe they were from the local Motorola Shop; I did not deal with them personally) and did something with the functioning units, but was unable to perform work on two of the XTS-2500's (said something along the lines of 'they needed to be flashed', something else). One of the 2500's seems to have totally blank progamming (one conv. channel, nothing else), the other one appears to be programmed for Minnesota's statewide system. Again, since we have no documentation at ALL on these radios, we have no idea who to contact about the issue. I (and the person I have been working with) have concerns about the XTS-2500 that seems to be programmed for the Minnesota system, since I've been informed that some of the equipment the last comms person brought in may not have been acquired 'properly'.

At this point, I'm not sure of my options and how to proceed. I'd prefer to not have to take them into the local moto shop, since I (and others) haven't always had good experiences there before. I did have my dad bring the units to the city radio tech on his dept. to see what he thought, but was not able to point us towards anyone who could help. I don't believe we exactly have a budget either, which further limits what we can do with them. Any assistance at this point would be appreciated.

The first thing you need to do is contact the radio systems manager of any system you plan on or are using the radios on. Get that person's feedback as to radio requirements and any upgrades the radios may need.

The local Motorola shop is always looking to charge their customers for any work they can wrangle out of their customers. They are there to make money.

As to the fact that the radio may or may not need to be upgraded with a flash is to be determined by it's current status. Again that answer may or may not come from the radio systems manager of the system they will operate on. In many cases, the flash is done for two reasons. One is to correct some operational issues in the radio and the second is to add a feature to the radio.

Anyone with the Astro 25 portable software and the programming cable should be able to read the radio and obtain the current flash information in the radio. A flash upgrade should be in the order of $85 to $100 plus the labor rate the radio shop charges. If the radio is on a trunking system, then the system key will be needed to make any program changes to the radio. The radio system manager will tell you where to go to have the radio programmed as the system key (a software file) is not freely given out to just any radio shop.

Hope this can point you in the right direction. Can't give you any more info with the little you already know about these radios.

Jim

[KC9VEG]

The problem is, this is a statewide public safety system so I'm not sure if I'd have to contact someone under IDHS or a different state dept. I believe the state knows we have these radios, since a radio tech was sent out by the state to perform work, but we have no point of contact on our side.

[RadioSouth]

Perhaps a FCC search on the system to obtain the system's contact person ?

[mostar]

First, I need to preface my comments with the disclaimer - I'm about 1,000 miles away from Indiana, so I really have no direct knowledge of any radio systems there. However...

> The problem is, this is a statewide public safety system so I'm not sure if I'd have to contact someone under IDHS or a different state dept.

It looks like the Integrated Public Safety Commission administers the system. They have a couple dozen people listed on their 'contacts' page:
http://www.in.gov/ipsc/2338.htm

Getting ahold of the right person there might require a bit of trial and error, but eventually you should be able to track down somebody who can help.

Alternatively, it looks like the Red Cross has talkgroups assigned to them on this system in Delaware County, Montgomery County, St. Joseph County. You might be able to contact the Red Cross in one of those areas, and see if their comms people can provide any assistance.

Hope this helps.

[Jim202]

First, I need to preface my comments with the disclaimer - I'm about 1,000 miles away from Indiana, so I really have no direct knowledge of any radio systems there. However...

> The problem is, this is a statewide public safety system so I'm not sure if I'd have to contact someone under IDHS or a different state dept.

It looks like the Integrated Public Safety Commission administers the system. They have a couple dozen people listed on their 'contacts' page:
http://www.in.gov/ipsc/2338.htm

Getting ahold of the right person there might require a bit of trial and error, but eventually you should be able to track down somebody who can help.

Alternatively, it looks like the Red Cross has talkgroups assigned to them on this system in Delaware County, Montgomery County, St. Joseph County. You might be able to contact the Red Cross in one of those areas, and see if their comms people can provide any assistance.

Hope this helps.

Maybe you need to go back and read the top line of the link you posted. It says something about a "radio programming shop telephone number". Don't you think that would be a good place to start?

Jim

[Batwings21]

Sent you a PM