Batboard

right off the moto web page...

looks like a souped up xts chassis with some more buttons, and maybe a bigger display.

big thing...

dual band 700/800 coverage!

gonna need that in about 2 years

doug

It looks like the display is the same size as on an XTS3000 to me but they advertise it as a "bitmapped display" which may not be anything new, or it might be. A few extra buttons. A smart battery. Looks like most of the cool stuff is on the inside.

The literature isn't 100 percent clear on whether or not this will be available in any dual band configuration except 700/800. It'd be nice if they offered that...

That's the first time I've seen Motorola refer to Type I encryption in a commercial product offering. This is also the first time I've seen reference to type III and IV encryption, which are probably terms for existing formats we know of like DES and DVP and their XL variants...and DVI.

Anyone wanna bet on how long it'll be before the first one shows up on ebay?

I guess thirteen weeks from today. Just a guess.

Elroy

Just when I thought the XTS couldn't get any uglier! The XTS5000 will be using a 'Sierra' secure module from Harris Comms which is flashable up to Type 1 encryption. DES/DVP keys etc are still loaded from the M KVL's..
Type 1 via a Harris DS102.

My 2 cents..

I see the model II and III will support 512 modes. Can't wait for the first person to ask if it will scan more than 15 channels. Another question I would like to know is why the UHF range 1 radio goes own to 380 Mhz? My guess is it has to do with the 700/800 Mhz version, and the ability to keep some similarity between the RF decks.

Bugs

I believe that the UHF public safety/commercial/government spectrum either has been or will be opened up down to 380 MHz. If not in this market, perhaps overseas. The fact that the radio goes that low suggests that some customers can legally operate at those frequencies. M doesn't release radios to operate on bands they're not allowed on.

Elroy

The Motorola TETRA radios do cover the 380 MHz range. Curiously, if you look at Motorola's TETRA site (http://www.motorola.com/tetra), the MTP 300 radio is a dead ringer for our XTS series. To push the point further, the MTH 300 sure looks like an iDEN i600 to me.

With this in mind, I'm sure that the ability to operate in the 380 range might be a signal of things to come.

380 is a popular LMR band in europe... i really doubt the US military is going to give up a chunk of their spectrum to LMR, at least not in the continental USA


doug

XTS-3500 are $3500.00 XTS-5000 $5000.00?

The XTS5000 probably won't be significantly more expensive than a comparably equipped 3000 or 3500. Motorola has always kept their absolute top of the line model in the 3500 to 4000 dollar range, in today's dollars, after adjusting for the cost of living over the years. An absolutely maxed-out HT220 was about as expensive when you factor in inflation.

What I'm curious about is, with the 5000 now being in the lineup, what happens to the 3000 and the 3500? Will either model be discontinued?

I guess time will tell.

I heard this little blurb: Motorola wants to discontinue the Astro Sabers "sometime soon" but they've been getting a lot of comments from users of the XTS series and Saber series radios and a lot of them are saying that the Saber platform is nicer from a user's standpoint, or would be if it had a smaller hi-cap battery. Although there is NO confirmation of this, the idea has been tossed around to produce something new with Astro Saber family packaging and ergonomics. Maybe nothing will come of this, and then, maybe something will. It'll be something to watch for, anyway.

Elroy

I was at one of my favorite federal agencies in DC today and saw a radio, no names on it that looked like a cross between the astro saber and the xts. It had the xts buttons and display but the saber body, it was being tested for ergonomics by them and they liked it, It was very interesting. It had a lithium Ion battery of 2700 in the small case, maybe they are doing something that we will see soon. The guys told me that it worked very well.

Stan

The word is that the Astro Saber/XTS3000/3500 will stop production 2004! This comes from a Motorola CGISS exec. As Elroy has been saying, about the ruggedness of the Astro Saber, it seems there are a few agencies that agree with him and they seem to be keeping the axe from falling. I know the XTS 3500 is a fairly new radio but this is what I was told..

I don't suppose there's the slightest chance you could arrange to get a snapshot of that little beast, is there? Or see if someone at the office might 'accidentally' drop it on the scanner and hit the button?

Elroy

Well, I can ask, but I won't be up there for 2 weeks and I could probably do it when I get there. I don't think they will have a problem, they were quite happy for me to play with it and no one said that I could not talk about it so I will ask. LOL
Maybe it might slip into my coat pocket for a week or so??? Wishfull thinking

Stan

So, any word yet on whose supposed to use these new radios yet? I’m assuming, FBI? Army? Any thoughts on this one?

Just FYI There's an xts-5000 for sale on ebay about $3000

what do you use the 700mhz and the 380mhz band for?....i know we here in connecticut have a 60 and 70mhz mid-band radio....and i still don't know what we use that for...i think i need a radio frequency guide for dummies like me.....can anyone tell me what we use those bands for......
and anthor thing too....with digital trunking...is there system id's?...i think my town is telling me a lie because the won't give me the correct 800mhz digital frequencys....i have a digital scanner and a card and when i called the PD here they wouldn't give up the FREQS for the life of them.....which i thought was pretty strange.....

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe ... county.hts

sTART THERE