Upgrading an 800 MHz Astro APCO 16 XTS5000 Radio to APCO 25

MtComm · Post by **MtComm** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:23 pm

Does anyone know what is involved in upgrading a SN/SZ 3600 baud
XTS 5000 to APCO 25 9600 baud in the field? I assume this is done via
a flash upgrade. How long does it take to load the new software? Will
the ugraded P25 XTS 5000 operate in analog, sn/sz P16 and P25
channels in the same radio? Can all XTS 5000's be upgraded/flashed up to true P25 no matter how old they are? Thanks.

RocketNJ · Post by **RocketNJ** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:34 pm

To answer your questions (as best I can). Yes, the radio will require a flash upgrade. not sure of the exact time but I would say several minutes (maybe others can give a better estimate of time).

Old vs new and APCO25. Depending on the age of the radio you may want to consider a firmware refresh also. There have been many bug fixes/enhancements over the last two years. Some bugs directly affect P25 trunking operation.

Once you upgrade from analog to digital and SmartNet to SmartZOne the radio will be capable of the new features as well as the old. So you can have analog & digital, and SN & SZ systems all in the same radio (provided the radio has the proper flashcode).

George

Post by **wavetar** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:23 am

Flashing time is approximately 6 minutes per unit with the serial ribless cable, approximately 2 minutes with the USB cable. The first unit takes longer, the times above are for subsequent units. We had a flash failure rate of approx 1% with the USB cable, none with the serial ribless.

Todd

MtComm · Post by **MtComm** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:25 pm

George,

Thanks for the prompt reply. Your answer suggests that the flash is different than the firmware. How do they differ or are the same?

I am most familiar with the EF Johnson 5100 portable. It ships with all
functions in the radio memory. The lowest cost radio is analog. By buying files, one can turn on in seconds added functions including
IMBE, sn, sz, P25, DES, AES. Is this the flash function with the Moto XTS 5000? Does the flash turn on function? To load new firmware in an EFJ it
takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Thanks for you help.

Mike

RocketNJ · Post by **RocketNJ** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:52 pm

The flashcode determines what features are enabled. So a new flash is needed to go from analog to analog/Astro IMBE.

Think of the firmware as the radio operating system. A firmware upgrade may contain bug fixes and new basic radio features 9not to be confused with the flash options).

George

Post by **wavetar** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 3:37 am

FLASHport upgrades include the latest & greatest HOST/DSP firmware versions. A firmware 'refresh' is when you don't require any new features, but need later firmware for bug fixes. The procedure for both is identical.

Todd