Amateur Radio

I wanted to drop a quick note here in case any future travellers are asking the questions I did when I first started my journey so many moons ago. My first radios were a pair of Baofeng's and an Alinco DJ-MD5x. After a while, I started working with a small outfit that was using Motorola radios, and I ended up picking up an XPR 7550e UHF version.

Some time and effort later, and I got everything working properly, updated, and all the rest. I learned a lot along the way, and I'm hoping that my experience will help someone who might be considering picking up a professional series radio for Amateur use.

The biggest weakness of this radio, in my opinion, is that it is UHF only. You can get VHF XPR 7550 models, even the 7500e, but you can't get one that will do both. In my case, the UHF wasn't my choice, it was the group I was working with (I no longer work with them but that's an entirely different story). The first thing you need to understand if you're considering a Motorola "professional" radio, is that you're going to have a hell of a time working with Motorola to try to get access to programming software. You might be able to find it bootlegged on the internet, but for continual, reliable access to it, you need to go to the source. The process looks a bit like this: Create an account, start a support request for access to the customer hub. They email you a survey thing, which you can't really fill out because it's mostly asking about the company and/or organization that employs you, which, you don't have one. Save yourself a lot of hassle here and assume that your "company" is you as an individual, and answer in kind.

This process can take weeks, so be prepared for that. After they give you access, you have to go to the downloads and "buy" the free software. Once you do that, it can still take HOURS before they actually publish the software in your account so that you can actually download it. The whole process sucks, but you can come out the other side, just be clear with them from the start that you're an amateur operator, and you need to get the software to program your radio. They should eventually get around to giving you access.

After you get through that mess, the programming software is a beast. There's a lot of stuff in there you won't ever use. Capacity plus calling systems and other Motorola specific proprietary stuff that isn't really anything you'll have access to, unless you have a big pile of money you don't like, and want to buy their repeaters and build out such a system.

The radio itself is absolutely excellent. I got the e version because it has WiFi/Bluetooth, and I managed to get a bluetooth enablement for my radio. It works really well on my firmware version. The firmware that was on the radio when I initially got it, not so much, but the newer version yes. It pairs to my bluetooth headset and I can use it as an earpiece and mic. I just have to reach over for the PTT button.

A big reason why I got the XPR 7550 and not something else, is because it supports conventional DMR; just like my Alinco. I ran into a big caveat here that I didn't see coming, there's only capacity for about 1000 digital contacts in the radio. With worldwide DMR contacts being closer to 150,000, that's a problem. Either you don't put anybody on, or you have to severely limit the list you add.

So let me address the elephant in the room. This is not a radio designed for Amateurs. It's a "professional" radio. It's entirely unlocked in the band it supports. I can go way outside of the amateur range if I choose, as long as it's in range of what's supported by the transceiver. This wasn't designed for us, so the limits on contact lists makes a lot more sense. This radio was designed to be used in a licensed band in the UHF space, among a much smaller group of radio users, mainly those that aren't exactly knowledgeable with their kit. Most of the programming features are completely absent from the front panel, and a lot of the 'channels' are severely limited when you're using the radio. This is great for non-radio people. they pick a channel and go. Not so great for someone who might want to do some reconfiguration on the fly. You're going to be constantly tethered to your computer whenever you need to make changes. If you're always using the same frequencies, like you would in a licensed professional setting, this isn't really a problem.

These are GREAT radios, don't get me wrong. I really like mine, but they are EXTREMELY limiting. If you're thinking about getting one, I can't recommend it. Go out and get yourself an Anytone or something, it'll cost less, you'll get more, and the radio will have been built for your use specifically. If you already have a "professional" radio, and haven't yet put it to use, then I hope the information here helps.

TL;DR: Don't buy a "professional" Motorola radio if you can help it. They're excellent radios that are not made for amateurs, and so there's a lot of compromises you'll have to make if you use one. They sound great, work really well, they're reliable as all heck, and totally wrong for anyone intending to operate as an amateur.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.