Batboard

mab

BTW, before you update to 16.20, this just appeared under its listing on MOL:

NOTE: DO NOT UPGRADE TO R16.20.00 IF USING FIREGROUND OR ANY OTHER RF MODEM APPLICATION
MTN WITH FULL DETAILS TO BE POSTED SHORTLY

mab

Has anyone gotten CPS 16 without RM to work? I installed it without incident, but when I try to read an APX8000 (running firmware R15.12.00) via USB, the radio briefly goes into programming mode, but then reboots. The CPS then reports an "application error". CPS 15 on the same machine work...

mab

It might not be your computer; it might be your codeplug. There's a codeplug option to only recognize devices when the radio is powered up. If that option is on, you have to turn the radio on AFTER you've connected it to the computer. I accidentally set this once, and I spent hours debugging the USB...

mab

... And firmware R15.00.00 is now up, too.

Haven't loaded into any radios yet.

mab

What kind of battery are you using?

There was a run of bad Impres2 IS batteries that would randomly shut down. I had the misfortune to get a few of them, and I thought my radios were developing problems.

mab

Also mentions firmware R15.00, which does not appear to be online yet.

Readme mentions the APX8500, so I guess that's official now.

mab

I can only say it's not an intrinsic problem with the 8000. I just tested, mine do not exhibit that behavior.

What firmware?

mab

Update: mine arrived today. First impression: nice feel in the hand. Main differences from XE RSM: - Different look. Black band around the edge (not all green like the XE). - The channel selector knob (obviously) - Two LEDs on the top - one for bluetooth (but it doesn't seem to go on even when a BT...

mab

Update: mine arrived today. First impression: nice feel in the hand. Main differences from XE RSM: - Different look. Black band around the edge (not all green like the XE). - The channel selector knob (obviously) - Two LEDs on the top - one for bluetooth (but it doesn't seem to go on even when a BT ...

mab

The main actual difference is the pressure testing of the actual radio. Same exact parts in the R vs non-R versions.

mab

Mine also seem to have just shipped. One black, one green, both went from "hold" to "shipped" today.

mab

Yep, me too. Only get about 2/3rds of the life (on standby) as a 7K, with wireless and backlight off.

Also noticed that the 8Ks run noticeably a bit warmer (over the keypad area) in standby mode.

mab

Hmmf. I just "upgraded" an APX7K to firmware 10.0.0, and it seems to have broken FPP. The FPP menu item is still there, I can enter it with the password, but when you try to select "Zn/Ch Param" it just beeps. Yes, the radio is provisioned for FPP, FPP is enabled in the CPS, and...

mab

Hmmf. I just "upgraded" an APX7K to firmware 10.0.0, and it seems to have broken FPP. The FPP menu item is still there, I can enter it with the password, but when you try to select "Zn/Ch Param" it just beeps. Yes, the radio is provisioned for FPP, FPP is enabled in the CPS, and ...

mab

rc50won wrote:I have installed both and have no issues with wideband. The new APX CPS looks a little like TRBO CPS.

Great; thanks.

mab

Does wideband still work correctly with the APX CPS?

mab

Is it just my account, or have the APX firmware files disappeared from MOL?

And what's an APX2500?

mab

And by R07.07.00 , I mean R08.07.00. Sorry.

mab

Seems to load on a 7K portable without incident; crypto keys and wideband channels remain intact.

[Fixed that for you.... now reads R08.07.00. -Alex]

mab

Seems to have just posted today.

Anyone know what's changed from 8.01?

mab

Yes, I'm aware that there's software to decode flashcodes. What I'm asking is *how* such software converts alphabetic codes into bitmaped options.

mab

Ah, I didn't know that 3.5 nomenclature; thanks.

So if flashcodes are no expressed as a string of 4bit hex bitmaps, how does one decode them now?

mab

I just got a couple of APX7000XE model 3 radios from Moto. (They are configured identically to APX7000R model 3s that I already had). But I noticed something odd: the FM label claims that the radio is an APX7000XE Model 3.5. Huh? I've never seen the "Model 3.5" nomenclature before. Also, a...

mab

I just did a very quick test of VHF portable antenna performance on one frequency, with all the antennas that were within reach. All I did was set up a Rohde & Schwarz PR100 portable measurement receiver, and measured the signal strength of my local NOAA weather station (162.4750), with the ante...

mab

I'm not aware of any way to disable the top display of the radio alias, but it should cycle on the top display only temporarily, for only 30 secs or a minute after powerup.

mab

Ah, got it now. I thought you were designing a system or trying to program a bunch of radios for a large system. I see that this is just about how you display ASTRO25 IDs on your radios. So what you want is to be able to run the received ID through some kind of regular expression -based filter and d...

mab

Ah, I see I may have misunderstood the question. Just to be clear, you're wanting to send a "multicast" message to a subset of radios, based on a subset of digits their IDs? No, you can't do that with the MDC or P25 IDs, as far as I know. But P25 talkgroups may be able to accomplish someth...

mab

You don't mention which radios you're talking about, and different CPSs have different features. As far as I know, there's no feature in the CPS that can segregate the digits of the Astro25 or MDC ID into separately programmed subfields. However, if it's the low order digits you're changing, the &qu...

mab

Is there any way to coax an APX7k (running R8.05) to enable the "SoftID" feature for some personalities (or, failing that, for some Astro systems) but not for others? In the CPS it seems to be an all-or-nothing radiowide feature, but perhaps I'm missing some trick. In particular, I want to...

mab

I've found that all the P25 data services, including OTAR, are unreliable when scanning. Vote scan, where all the channels in the bank carry the same traffic, is more reliable than regular scan in this regard, but it still doesn't work 100% of the time.

mab

Does the APX7000XE Model III actually exist? This page shows one, and it's mentioned in the user and service manuals, but my dealer claims the 7000XE is Model I only. http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/Two-Way+Radios+-+Public+Safety/P25+Portable+Radios/APX_7000XE# A...

mab

Thanks KS4VT!

mab

Does anyone know if this update erases crypto keys? (On a trip with several portables but no keyloader).

mab

Glad it loaded for you without incident. I'm always hesitant to be on the leading edge of a firmware update, especially if its released without any documentation about what's changed.

mab

I just noticed APX portable and mobile firmware R08.05.00, dated 6/20/2012, is up on MOL. There's just the zip file with the .cvn file; there's no other documentation or information about what's changed/fixed/broken in this release, at least that I could find.

mab

I have GPS in our APX7000 radios. They need to be orderd with the packet data and GPS flash. Then the option will show in the CPS. You can have the GPS always on or user selectable from the radio menu. We do not send GPS data over the air as the equipment required to interface at the console was qu...

mab

Thanks for the reply XMO.

That's what I figured, but I can't see anywhere to turn this on the APX CPS (8.0.1). Any idea? My APX portables have the GPS and P25 data options, etc Or perhaps this a new option that has to be flashed? Is the data format documented anywhere?

Thanks

mab

I just upgraded the firmware on my APXs, and noticed that a new firmware feature was listed in the README (starting with 7.00.00), "GPS on Conventional PTT". I presume this feature allows sending the current GPS coordinates with every keyup in conventional systems, but can find no further ...

mab

Thanks CTAMontrose, at least I know it's not me. The worst part is that this makes it difficult to store in a safe in a ready-to-use state. Sigh.

Yeah, the KVL app crashes from time to time for me too, but not in any repeatable way (of course).

mab

A few months ago I got a couple KVL-4000 keyloaders. (This is the new one, based on an industrial touchscreen PDA and a clip-on security module). I've always thought of myself as a reasonably smart guy, but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to turn the KVL-4000 off other than by removing ...

mab

I believe it will with no problem (I've had no problems with that setup, at least). I'm not aware of any Impres batteries for the XTS4000, so it just acts as a standard LiIon charger on the standard and high capacity batteries.

mab

I've noticed that on every one of my FPP XTS2500s and XTS5000s (VHF, UHF, firmware 12.xx, 14.xx and 15.xx), it doesn't seem to be possible use FPP to program an analog-only channel for 12.5KHz spacing (only 20KHz or 25KHz). Mixed-mode allows 12.5KHz, however. I can program analog-only 12.5KHz channe...

mab

I've got a VHF and a UHF. They're quite good for what they are, and much better than I expected. It's more rugged than it looks, but not as rugged as a full sized XTS. Others have commented on the battery life, which I can confirm is problematic with the standard battery. There's a higher capacity b...

mab

Escomm, You misunderstand my question. It's not that I don't believe you, or that I don't think you're a smart person of goodwill. I'm asking whether anyone knows what the Impres calibration cycle *actually does in the real product*, not what might it potentially be doing if it were designed the way...

mab

Yes, I understand how doing a deep discharge periodically might help with more accurate *calibration*, but I'm asking about maximizing battery life and capacity, not about maximizing the accuracy of the battery meter. Does anyone know what the Impres calibration cycle actually does (for LiIon batter...

mab

I've noticed that once a month or so, my Impres chargers (mostly 4111's running 3.40) will decide to do a "recondition" cycle (yellow light). The recondition cycle is similar (to the user at least) to the initialization process, and takes time proportional to the capacity of the battery (u...

mab

Right, for example 450.1225 is indeed a part 74 remote broadcast channel, but as you discovered, cannot seem to be programmed into an XTS portable. Of course, since it's technically illegal under ECPA to intercept part 74 broadcast remote channels without permission, think of it as Motorola doing yo...

mab

Trying this, I AM able to replicate your problem on a UHF.

On an FPP VHF XTS, you seem to be allowed to program any 2.5 KHz increment in addition to 6.25 Khz channels.

But on an FPP UHF XTS, I can only program in 6.25KHz increments.

mab

Hmm, Akardam, that's not quite the behavior I'm seeing. My channels are programmed in non-FPP zones on an FPP radio. When I got to direct mode on these channels, the radio transmits (as we'd expect) on the Rx frequency, but uses (contrary to expectations) the repeater input PL. This is reflected in ...

mab

I've definitely been able to program splinter channels on a UHF XTS2500 (running host 12.00), so it's not a difference between the 2500 and the 5000.

You mention the radio has FPP; what happens when you edit the frequency via the keypad and hit the up or down arrow? Does it change by 2.5KHz?

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