Batboard

I am setting up some of these portables to send out the QCII tones.

It works, but I have to hold the PTT down for the duration of the tones,
otherwise the tones get cut off.

Anybody know what to change to make this work with just a momentary
press of the PTT button? (my HT1250 works that way)

Thanks!

Tim

I don't have an answer for you, but I've got an associated question... What option would I need to have added to the XTS2500's to transmit / receive QC tones? I'm looking to do a regional communications grant and this would be a great feature for the Chief Officers to be able to tone out staff... Thanks, Ben

Hi Ben,

Those features are included in the radio... I don't think it's an option.

Even on the HT1250, it was standard.

I only use this in the conventional mode... not sure how to use it in
the trunked mode.


Tim

radio64 wrote:I don't have an answer for you, but I've got an associated question... What option would I need to have added to the XTS2500's to transmit / receive QC tones? I'm looking to do a regional communications grant and this would be a great feature for the Chief Officers to be able to tone out staff... Thanks, Ben

If your radio does not do it now, it would probably need a firmware update, its a standard feature that just did not work right in older firmware revisions.

If I'm successful in this grant, I will be migrating from VHF low to VHF, so I'd be buying a slew of equipment (nearly $500,000.00 of radios) County is providing the infrastructure, but we are responsible for the mobiles, portables, pagers... So, I'd be getting around 150 VHF portables for officers. I'm steering toward the XTS2500 for officer radios, so I'd be looking to buy it right out of the gate with that capability... Thanks all! Ben

Hi Ben,

Just my 2cents on the XTS radios.

Our department (EMS & Fire) have been using Icom ICF50 handhelds.
They are small, lightweight, waterproof, but they are not Motorola.

We (through a county grant) were given 20 of the XTS to EMS, and 6
to Fire. We can't get anybody to take the XTS, due to it's large size!

The batteries are quite large, and the NiMH is really heavy. The Li-Ion
is just as big, but considerably lighter.

The XTS is really a nice radio, but you might do some comparisons
of other Mot radios before pulling the trigger - there might be some
with as many capabilities, but not as large.

I've had an HT1250 (and an EX650) from just about day one, and they
both performed the QCII paging function flawlessly. Maybe there were
some earlier firmware versions that didn't come up to snuff.


Tim

A lot of grants in my area have wording in them that require radios being bought with the money to be p25 capable or upgradable. Which rules out the ht1250 and ex560, that said the xts2500 is only a half inch taller than the ht1250 and has much better rx sensitivity in vhf where the 1250's have had issues since day one.

Just some things to think of.

And as far as Icom's Tim said it all "they are not Motorola", or even a kenwood

Thanks for the suggestions / comments. Yes, since I'd be using federal dollars, I would be required to buy p25 capable equipment (which limits my choices right out of the gate, even though the County is not going to use P25). Also, my scheme has one 'style' radio for officers (ex xts2500 mod 2 or 3: one zone for dispatch & FG channels, administrative channels, etc., one zone for EMS, one zone for utilities, one zone for LE) and a similar for firefighters (but with far less options and channels (only the fire channels) maybe the XTS1500 mod 1.5) I'm looking at display screens so everybody knows what freq they are on (not by memory or guessing) This is where the possibility of being able to generate QC tones to open pagers would be a good thing. Also, I'm shooting for an 'all inclusive' package, so the accessories would be swapable.

Yes, I'm familiar with the XTS family - use them at work, and I own the VHF, UHF, and 800 XTS3000. Not much difference than the old bricks in lowband that we are using now, so size and weight won't be an issue. Conversely, if the thing is too small and light, they will get lost easier (one of the ambulance companies bought a bunch of ICOMs, lost a few, broke a few, and switched back to Ma M... The Kenwood and ICOM gear may be good, but I still can't get over it being too much like my amateur gear... They were great for ragchewing but... That's why I have my amateur channels programmed in my commercial gear: battery lasts much better and I find it more reliable.

Thanks again guys, Ben N2ROQ

Hi Ben & all,

Gotcha - you got the experience, go for it!

Understand about the feather light radios!

Now, back to the original question... any way to make the 2500
complete the tone paging with just a momentary press of the
PTT? Now I have to count & make sure I hold it down long
enough!!

Thanks

Tim

Looked through a couple codeplugs, looks like that may be the way it works. You can enable either a sidetone that will be emitted until the tones are done, or a short sidetone that beeps once when you press ptt and a second time when the tones are done.

No offense intended on the Icom's Tim just don't care for them personally. What version firmware are you using BTW?

Tim wrote:Now, back to the original question... any way to make the 2500 complete the tone paging with just a momentary press of the PTT?

Sounds like you're using CALL (private call) instead of PAGE (call alert).

Thanks guys, the PAGE vs CALL was the issue.

I used CALL, because the help screen only talked about using
PAGE in the Trunking menus.

Changed to PAGE, & it once you push the PTT button, it says
"Please Wait" while the tones are going out. That'll help our
dispatcher out a bunch! Thanks Akardam!

BW21.. which firmware, the Icoms or the XTS? If it's the XTS,
It says Host Version 12.00.17. Not sure if that's the #s you
need. We had to get V13 of the RSS to program them. It took
Mot 2 weeks to set us up & get the SW!

On the Icoms, they started getting the radios before I got here.
Had lots of issues with their method of attaching the accessory
port to the main board - you screwed in the programming adapter
or remote mic too hard, & the solder blobs that attached the two
boards would break! Fortunately, it only affected whatever was
connected on the port, not the operation of the radio by itself!

Other than that, they have been pretty reliable, etc. The waterproof
issue is a big one here, as we do a lot of swift water rescues. I
think the XTS is the first 'regular' version of a Mot radio that claims
to be 'immersion proof/resistant". In that regards, it's great!

So far, I've been pretty 'impressed' by the Impres batteries & charger.
I guess they have a micro in the battery that they tell it to discharge
& give info to the radio (BATT Menu Option).

Wonder if it actually discharges internal to the battery... couldn't
see how they could pull any juice out of the charge connectors
(safety).

To keep the weight down on mine, I'm using one of my 1250's LiOn
batteries - obviously not as much capacity, but lot's slimmer. Too
bad I have to use my 1250 charger to charge it.

Thanks again for the help guys!

Tim

Tim wrote:
Other than that, they have been pretty reliable, etc. The waterproof
issue is a big one here, as we do a lot of swift water rescues. I
think the XTS is the first 'regular' version of a Mot radio that claims
to be 'immersion proof/resistant". In that regards, it's great.

It's the "R" version (ruggedized) that are immersible. I believe it's 6 feet for an hour or 2.

I'm not sure what the rating is for the regular version XTS.