MOTO TRBO Scanning

Jim1348 · Post by **Jim1348** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:20 pm

We use the Motorola XPR6550 at work. I does not look as if any of them are programmed for scanning. Can anybody pass along any tips, tricks, or suggestions for scanning on an XPR6550? I am certainly used to conventional analog scanning on HT1000, etc and trunked talkgroup scanning on an XTS5000. When the XPR6550 is configured for scanning, does it work pretty much the same or is it different in any way?

Also, I see that text messaging is possible. I am wondering if this is something that people here use and, if so, is it easy to use or cumbersome? I am thinking that it might be handy to use when dispatch wants to send something that they don't want all to hear via voice.

TreyH · Post by **TreyH** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 2:47 am

The scanning works pretty much like a HT1000 setup. If programmed to do so you can add/del scan channels via the menu. One caveat however is that if you are using IP site connect you cannot assign a scan list to that digital channel. In other words you can't mix 'scanning' and 'roaming'; you either have to assign a 'scan list' or a 'roam list' to that channel but not both. If you are simply wanting to monitor several 'talkgroups' on the same digital channel you can use a 'Receive List' to do that.
The texting can be useful but without using some type of 3rd party app I find it cumbersome to use.

Jim1348 · Post by **Jim1348** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 5:16 am

Thank you for the reply. In the radios currently, they have a zone of repeated talkgroups and then a zone of simplex/talkaround channels. I assume that there is no reason that this couldn't be configured to scan both seamlessly? What about priority? I suspect that it is simply one level of priority. I do recall dual level priority in the past on some analog, conventional radios. It also looks like a MOTO TRBO version of individual calling is available. Does that work pretty well? Can the repeater be configured so that access on certain talkgroups can ruthlessly preempt other traffic?

Also, can anybody suggest any training that I could take? Preferable something free and online. I agency that I work for went MOTO TRBO before I started here. I have been here two and a half years. I know that we are not taking advantage of all the features that we could be, but I just want to make sure that whatever features I add are worthwhile and going to be used.

Post by **wavetar** » Tue Apr 08, 2014 11:23 am

Jim1348 wrote:Thank you for the reply. In the radios currently, they have a zone of repeated talkgroups and then a zone of simplex/talkaround channels. I assume that there is no reason that this couldn't be configured to scan both seamlessly? What about priority? I suspect that it is simply one level of priority. I do recall dual level priority in the past on some analog, conventional radios. It also looks like a MOTO TRBO version of individual calling is available. Does that work pretty well? Can the repeater be configured so that access on certain talkgroups can ruthlessly preempt other traffic?

Also, can anybody suggest any training that I could take? Preferable something free and online. I agency that I work for went MOTO TRBO before I started here. I have been here two and a half years. I know that we are not taking advantage of all the features that we could be, but I just want to make sure that whatever features I add are worthwhile and going to be used.

They can scan across zones, but each scan list has a limit of 16 members. There are two priority levels, so you're good there. Private call works very well in MotoTRBO.

There is a feature called "transmit interrupt" which also works very well. However, it is not set in the repeater, but rather in the subscriber units. You set whether a radio is capable of interrupting others, and also whether it is capable of being interrupted. Your units must have a minimum firmware level of 1.7 to utilize that feature.

Training...I'd like to say there's an all-in-one free lesson out there, but I don't know of one. At the dealer level, we've had to keep up with all the feature developments over the years mostly via webinar every time a new firmware version is released. There are a lot of tutorial videos on YouTube if you search "mototrbo programming"...probably a good place to start.