Batboard

Looking to buy an XTS3000 III Astro UHF (403 split).

Thanks to all of the great info I've read here, I now have some knowledge on the model. However, I'm still really a newbie.

The part that scares me is spending a lot of money on a brick. I want to do it right and already set up my Mot acct, ready for the CPS purchase.

My question is that I see a lot of the 3000's on the auction site, some with (what look like?) original tags and sellers with good feedback.

Is there a way of checking a model, or at least being somewhat confident it isn't hacked or stolen?

Including software, radio and cable, the cost will be around $1000, which is a big investment for me. Any help is appreciated!


Regards,
Mark

Mark,

While it's probably impossible to summarize in a concise
post what you should and should not be looking for in
an XTS "buy," I can emphasize one point in particular
that may be helpful to you. That point concerns the
versions of the Host and DSP firmware in any radio you
are considering. I see a lot of old XTS3K radios on eBay
with versions 2 and 3 firmware, which makes them, first
of all, relatively old. Newer, or as new as you can find,
firmware, is always better. Next thing is the flashcode,
which you'll find has usually, but not always, been changed to
something "more exotic" from the code in the radio when
it left the factory. Depending on your needs, simpler is
better. Personally, all I would really need in an XTS 3K
would be analog and P25 operation. There is a flashcode
decoder available here on this board that also might be
helpful to you; it's the best and most up-to-date one
available right now.

Others will jump in an add their opinions. Good luck.

Regards,

Tom is right on point, and the key is to find a reputable seller (like Tom himself who knows his product). Many of the Astros on broken-stolenradios.com are either old f/w gov't surplus, hacked units, etc. Any seller who cannot provide the information on the radio's history should be avoided at all costs. As Tom said the f/w is pretty critical, as older f/w not only means an older radio, but in the digital realm there is a HUGE difference in performance on P25 between say a 3.xxx/4.xxx and current f/w 7.x/8.x

The flashcode is your feature set and you need to decide what you need. Beware of any XTS that is flashed for "digital ready" as this means it won't do P25 in any flavor without spending money. Tuning and alignment is critical on a digital radio, and often times, Astros fall into the wrong hands and get codeplugs forced in with lab/depot, boards swapped, etc- and the person doesn't have access to the correct service facilities to do a full alignment which is critical if you want a P25 radio to actually work to spec. They may think that just because it powers up and works on analog FM means it's good to go- but often this isn't the case and you find out when you try using it on digital. Then it costs you that much more finding someone to do the work- most Motorola shops and the Mexidepot won't touch hacked radios and if they do, often you get back a stripped down (basic flash) radio back or get charged time and materials ($$$$$$$$)

If you're going to spend any serious money, I would say post a want here and only deal with reputable people like Tom, N7MAQ, Batdude, etc- people who know Astro radios. Yeah you may pay a little more than that great deal on BSRadios.com, but you get what you pay for. I would advise against buying an Astro on that site unless you personally know the seller or it's really cheap where you can afford to lose if you get some POS.

Excellent info gentlemen...

I suspect some of the people on the auction site are very reputable, since I bought a few GM300's a while ago and was happy with the purchase. As usual, a few bad guys in the crowd make us all a bit wary ...especially when spending big money.

Digital (and newer radios) seem like a bit more of a risk. I've been watching the DSP versions and Flashcodes. Some of the Flashcodes have encryption, trunking features and other things I will never use.

As I check the Flashcodes, I often see Astro and IMBE in different combos which still confuses me. I *thought* they were the same?

A big thank-you to everyone for the info. I appreciate it.


Regards,
Mark

I bought mine from

http://myworld.ebay.com/rickthompson602t/

It was exactly as advertised.

Chris

Astro and IMBE are the same thing, unless it is an old VSLEP=Evilbad digital radio

The flashcode decoder is here, http://www.akardam.net/moto

N9LLO wrote:I bought mine from

http://myworld.ebay.com/rickthompson602t/

It was exactly as advertised.

Chris

Rick is straight up... he may even be a member of the board. We see him every year at Dayton. A few years ago, we bought 11 XTS3000 403-470 M3s from him. They all worked just fine - one was known to have a problem and this was stated ahead of time. One developed an RF board issue later in life, but that's a risk with any radio - definitely not Rick's fault. I'd buy from him again in a heartbeat.

Yes, Rick gets 10/10 from me too. Unlike most US sellers he is actually aware of the true export regulations regarding encryption, and is quite willing to export crypto boards overseas (such as to Oz)

Hes a very helpful bloke and his pricing is quite reasonable.

Cheers,
Matt