Excellent review… love the DTR 410 for kids/guests. DTR 550 for wife with group scan & DTR 650 in manager mode for Dad. I’ve setup custom messages and private groups while maintaining public scanning. The new DTR 600/700 has OTA over the air “push” contacts or groups sharing from handset.
Thank you ! We squirted contacts back and forth extensively during a class last year with the 650's . Manager mode is a double edged sword however ........ Thanks for watching !
I was actually considering trying to contact you about this subject because I may be able to get my hands on some and had questions. You have answered most of them in this video. Thank you for sharing this and if I do get some of them I can watch this again 👍.
Hello, enjoyed this video so much that I bought four of these radios and a programming cable. Any plans on making a programming video? I learn best by watching. Thank you.
Great video. Be good for local ( 2 mile) mag to mag group communication and within groups in a SHTF situation. For 0-25 miles I'm looking at the HYS 25 watt UHF. Would have to speak in code on that but no repeater necessary
My boss give me the manual to set 3 radios for janitors. This video had more important info's than spending time with searching in the pdf file, Thank you
I have two of these, very cool to watch on the Spectrum Analyzer, (I have not programmed yet). Questions; In the public mode, does it do any handshaking at the beginning? Then if there are a limited number of hopping sequences, could you just get that many radios, set each to a different sequence, and be able to catch all the Public communications?
They are inside as well and that was what they were marketed for. Customers who were concerned with just covering their facility without the recurring expense of iden handsets. Thanks for watching !
I have an old Optoelectronics near field receiver and it can track the frequency hopping on these, but it can't handle the VSELP digital voice. When it picks up a DTR transmission there is an initial data burst which probably contains sync information for the other radios. After the data burst it just sounds like pops of static. It would be cool the try and analyze the initial sync data. I first got into these DTR radios in 2005. The frequency hopping on the DTR isn't that fast. It looks to hop every 90mS. That opto receiver was able to defeat the frequency hopping on the old Trisquare eXRS cause those radios used analog NFM.
That's very cool - its evident the hopping routine is pretty slow. I have a couple of older trisquares here that still work. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for watching !
Hello, very good explanation of this radio, I use this radio with my church security team and we use the wired ear piece and mic. There are several clips to secure the MIC. and ear piece coil and I find it uncomfortable and makes it hard to dress more casual. I did try a wireless adapter (prymeBlu BT-503) that paired to a wireless headset. It worked great for me but those who received my transmissions said it sounded like I was in a helicopter. I'm wondering if that was due to the frequency hopping this radio has. Is it possible to make this radio work with a wireless headset?
Thank you ! That is an interesting problem . It is possible that there is interference between the wireless headset and the radio causing this issue. Audio amps do exhibit this effect when in the near field of this radio ( transmit next to an amplified speaker and hear it) Outside of testing other vendor's products it is hard to ascertain if they will be subject to the same trouble. The DTR product line predated factory bluetooth options. I wish I had a mode definitive answer for you but based on my experience that is the best advice I can give you. Thanks for watching and if you find something that works please share.
Wait! I saw a birdie down on 444 MHz. Nice and small kinda like my old Nextel Heavy Duty phone. What's the deal with these new Sonim phone I see every now and then? Getting ready to convert an old Desktrac UHF repeater to P25 for use over here in SV9 land, won't work down in the Ham bands but will work in the PMR section.
They were even vselp but they wouldnt work with the off network 900 ss nextel rolled out . I use the Sonim XP8 here and it is a good device but it is heavy. Thanks for watching !
lots of good information. I have a question. I have 3 dtr550 radios i picked up at a garage sale. Is it possible to programmed these radios for camping or hiking? Or are these radios not meant for outdoor recreational activities? I also would like to download the free Motorola programming software, hopefully i can find it online and buy the necessary cable as well. Thanks for uploading this video.
Thank you and you are welcome ! Yes you can use the public groups or the groups preprogrammed in what you bought right off the bat to use for camping or hiking. These will likely do everything you want them to . If you want to download the software the software is available for download directly from Motorola : www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us/products/two-way-radios/commercial-business-two-way-radio-systems/business-radio-software.html. Programming cable wise look for one for the models you purchased. Thanks for watching !
If for example you were to buy a set of dtr550s, and you used private call to only that specific radio's unit ID, would it be possible for a stranger with a dtr550 be able to receive the private traffic? Or would it be unable to decode or track the frequency?
No it would would not be possible unless they duplicated an id . An advanced threat could compromise the system. But it would entail recognition, identification, and time. Bobby won't be doing it with his uniden scanner. Thanks for watching !
Very interesting and thanks for sharing. Can you give any tips for running Spektrum on Windows 10 64bit? I'm just getting a grey screen. One forum suggests to install MS Visual C++ 2012 - but no success. Thanks
You are welcome. When you extract the files it makes more than one folder. The folder you want to excecute the file from only has two folders and the executable in it. Try running search for instances of spektrum and try that to locate the folder in question. It had me in a headlock until I found that second folder. I hope this helps ! Thanks for watching !
Excellent video! One question though- if I buy a few of these, do they need to be paired together to work with each other? In other words, even if Bobby down the road buys one of these and creates a channel with the same hop set and name, or even names his radio the same as one of mine, he still would be left out of conversations in my group(s) because his radio wasn't paired with any of my group(s), even the "public" ones, correct?
Interesting ... I wonder how these co-exist with the 1 W frequency hopping Landis+Gyr 'smart meters' ONCOR uses here in Texas. The brief transmissions from these meters hop all over the 902-928 MHz band as viewed with a spectrum analyzer ...
That is a good point. They have rolled those out in droves in Duke Energy's service area. Where I live in the sticks the smart meters (if one elected to use one) are all individually LTE based . Apparently in the suburbs the scheme is 900 ISM to an LTE supervisory radio. When I lived in town I was a mile from a large hospital and 900 ISM was in heavy heavy use on campus but I rarely had a peep at my QTH. Its pretty amazing how these modern devices manage to not step on one another. Thanks for watching !
Thanks for the review, nice job. What if someone were to record all of the IQ data across the band and post process it? Would that be a way your communication security could be compromised on these devices?
Possible but unlikely. That would take time , skill , and resources that are not common . If someone is truly that capable there is little one could do to exclude them. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms For sure a complex task. Only ones doing it are maybe the FCC and even then, at 1 watt TX power you would need to be close to the subject or have some serious directional gain on the snoop antenna.
www.buytwowayradios.com/motorola-dtr-programming-cable.html You may be able to find it cheaper on ebay. IIRC the old Nextel handset programming cables work as well. I hope this helps and thanks for watching !
This is a link to a video I did on my radio kit : ua-cam.com/video/mbaIrpEWILg/v-deo.html The antenna kit is at minute 11:27 I have revamped the antenna system to improve it and will be putting out a video on it soon. Thanks for watching !
@@Porty1119 It does roll the VSELP. I don't have a VSELP A/S in my collection just a P25 one. In contrast I do have an Aegis MRK however. Thanks for watching !
One of the better videos I have seen in a while. Nice job 👍
Thank you ! Thanks for watching !
Excellent review… love the DTR 410 for kids/guests. DTR 550 for wife with group scan & DTR 650 in manager mode for Dad.
I’ve setup custom messages and private groups while maintaining public scanning.
The new DTR 600/700 has OTA over the air “push” contacts or groups sharing from handset.
Thank you ! We squirted contacts back and forth extensively during a class last year with the 650's . Manager mode is a double edged sword however ........ Thanks for watching !
I was actually considering trying to contact you about this subject because I may be able to get my hands on some and had questions. You have answered most of them in this video. Thank you for sharing this and if I do get some of them I can watch this again 👍.
Very cool and you are welcome ! These are a great value for task radios. Let me know if you pick some up. Thanks for watching !
Great video, thank you very much!
Thank you ! Thanks for watching !
Looks like a very good radio I put this video in my play list under Comms thanks very much ATB
Thank you ! They are good radios . Thanks for watching !
great video really enjoyed it
Thanks for watching !
Hello, enjoyed this video so much that I bought four of these radios and a programming cable. Any plans on making a programming video? I learn best by watching. Thank you.
Great video. Be good for local ( 2 mile) mag to mag group communication and within groups in a SHTF situation. For 0-25 miles I'm looking at the HYS 25 watt UHF. Would have to speak in code on that but no repeater necessary
They are great radios for local use. Thanks for watching.
Excellent.
Thank you ! Thanks for watching !
My boss give me the manual to set 3 radios for janitors. This video had more important info's than spending time with searching in the pdf file, Thank you
I am glad it helped ! Thanks for watching !
I have two of these, very cool to watch on the Spectrum Analyzer, (I have not programmed yet). Questions; In the public mode, does it do any handshaking at the beginning? Then if there are a limited number of hopping sequences, could you just get that many radios, set each to a different sequence, and be able to catch all the Public communications?
It's laid out just like a Nextel used to be
They are inside as well and that was what they were marketed for. Customers who were concerned with just covering their facility without the recurring expense of iden handsets. Thanks for watching !
I have an old Optoelectronics near field receiver and it can track the frequency hopping on these, but it can't handle the VSELP digital voice. When it picks up a DTR transmission there is an initial data burst which probably contains sync information for the other radios. After the data burst it just sounds like pops of static. It would be cool the try and analyze the initial sync data. I first got into these DTR radios in 2005.
The frequency hopping on the DTR isn't that fast. It looks to hop every 90mS. That opto receiver was able to defeat the frequency hopping on the old Trisquare eXRS cause those radios used analog NFM.
That's very cool - its evident the hopping routine is pretty slow. I have a couple of older trisquares here that still work. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms
No problem. The Trisquare's hopped even slower (4x a second). Heard they had sync problems too.
@@rfi-cryptolab4251 Mine worked ok but were pretty range limited compared to the DTR or a FRS radio for that matter. I bought them as a curiosity.
Hello, very good explanation of this radio, I use this radio with my church security team and we use the wired ear piece and mic.
There are several clips to secure the MIC. and ear piece coil and I find it uncomfortable and makes it hard to dress more casual.
I did try a wireless adapter (prymeBlu BT-503) that paired to a wireless headset. It worked great for me but those who received my transmissions said it sounded like I was in a helicopter.
I'm wondering if that was due to the frequency hopping this radio has. Is it possible to make this radio work with a wireless headset?
Thank you ! That is an interesting problem . It is possible that there is interference between the wireless headset and the radio causing this issue. Audio amps do exhibit this effect when in the near field of this radio ( transmit next to an amplified speaker and hear it) Outside of testing other vendor's products it is hard to ascertain if they will be subject to the same trouble. The DTR product line predated factory bluetooth options. I wish I had a mode definitive answer for you but based on my experience that is the best advice I can give you. Thanks for watching and if you find something that works please share.
Wait! I saw a birdie down on 444 MHz.
Nice and small kinda like my old Nextel Heavy Duty phone.
What's the deal with these new Sonim phone I see every now and then?
Getting ready to convert an old Desktrac UHF repeater to P25 for use over here in SV9 land, won't work down in the Ham bands but will work in the PMR section.
They were even vselp but they wouldnt work with the off network 900 ss nextel rolled out . I use the Sonim XP8 here and it is a good device but it is heavy. Thanks for watching !
lots of good information. I have a question. I have 3 dtr550 radios i picked up at a garage sale. Is it possible to programmed these radios for camping or hiking? Or are these radios not meant for outdoor recreational activities? I also would like to download the free Motorola programming software, hopefully i can find it online and buy the necessary cable as well. Thanks for uploading this video.
Thank you and you are welcome ! Yes you can use the public groups or the groups preprogrammed in what you bought right off the bat to use for camping or hiking. These will likely do everything you want them to . If you want to download the software the software is available for download directly from Motorola : www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us/products/two-way-radios/commercial-business-two-way-radio-systems/business-radio-software.html.
Programming cable wise look for one for the models you purchased. Thanks for watching !
How much were that at a garage sale, just curious, I am betting you got a STEAL!!
If for example you were to buy a set of dtr550s, and you used private call to only that specific radio's unit ID, would it be possible for a stranger with a dtr550 be able to receive the private traffic? Or would it be unable to decode or track the frequency?
No it would would not be possible unless they duplicated an id . An advanced threat could compromise the system. But it would entail recognition, identification, and time. Bobby won't be doing it with his uniden scanner. Thanks for watching !
Absolutely awesome video! Very well explained. 10/10 quality. Definetely gave you a thumbs up!
Thank you very much ! These are great little radios. Thanks for watching !
Cool.
Thank you ! Thanks for watching !
Very interesting and thanks for sharing. Can you give any tips for running Spektrum on Windows 10 64bit? I'm just getting a grey screen. One forum suggests to install MS Visual C++ 2012 - but no success. Thanks
You are welcome. When you extract the files it makes more than one folder. The folder you want to excecute the file from only has two folders and the executable in it. Try running search for instances of spektrum and try that to locate the folder in question. It had me in a headlock until I found that second folder. I hope this helps ! Thanks for watching !
Can a old nextel phone be flashed over to a dtr radio?
Unfortunately no but setting up several old nextel direct talk capable handsets for direct talk gives the same functionality. Thanks for watching !
Excellent video! One question though- if I buy a few of these, do they need to be paired together to work with each other? In other words, even if Bobby down the road buys one of these and creates a channel with the same hop set and name, or even names his radio the same as one of mine, he still would be left out of conversations in my group(s) because his radio wasn't paired with any of my group(s), even the "public" ones, correct?
If you are not using the public groups yes. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms thanks!
Interesting ... I wonder how these co-exist with the 1 W frequency hopping Landis+Gyr 'smart meters' ONCOR uses here in Texas. The brief transmissions from these meters hop all over the 902-928 MHz band as viewed with a spectrum analyzer ...
That is a good point. They have rolled those out in droves in Duke Energy's service area. Where I live in the sticks the smart meters (if one elected to use one) are all individually LTE based . Apparently in the suburbs the scheme is 900 ISM to an LTE supervisory radio. When I lived in town I was a mile from a large hospital and 900 ISM was in heavy heavy use on campus but I rarely had a peep at my QTH. Its pretty amazing how these modern devices manage to not step on one another. Thanks for watching !
Thanks for the review, nice job.
What if someone were to record all of the IQ data across the band and post process it? Would that be a way your communication security could be compromised on these devices?
Possible but unlikely. That would take time , skill , and resources that are not common . If someone is truly that capable there is little one could do to exclude them. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms For sure a complex task. Only ones doing it are maybe the FCC and even then, at 1 watt TX power you would need to be close to the subject or have some serious directional gain on the snoop antenna.
Do you know where I can buy the data cable to program?
www.buytwowayradios.com/motorola-dtr-programming-cable.html You may be able to find it cheaper on ebay. IIRC the old Nextel handset programming cables work as well. I hope this helps and thanks for watching !
Hi ...do you have a link for your diy bug out antenna? Ive trawled through lots of videos but cant find it. Many thanks👍
This is a link to a video I did on my radio kit :
ua-cam.com/video/mbaIrpEWILg/v-deo.html
The antenna kit is at minute 11:27 I have revamped the antenna system to improve it and will be putting out a video on it soon. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms many thanks...great channel...im new to radio so its very interesting and helpful😊
@@versatec1 You are welcome and thank you ! I hope my content helps. Thanks for watching !
Is there a less expensive option than the Motorola radios with the FHSS?
Not really there have been several for sale for 60 dollars per radio on internet sources. Thanks for watching !
do you need sim cards to use them ?
Not at all. These are radios.
SDR Play RSP DX with SDR Angel Software can Be Listen to!
That is interesting. I have not seen that in action yet. I have an SDR play. Do you have any specifics ? Thanks for sharing !
Nope
What is the modulation p25, DMR
This predates that . FHSS using VSELP modulation. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms Like an old Astro Saber!
@@Porty1119 It does roll the VSELP. I don't have a VSELP A/S in my collection just a P25 one. In contrast I do have an Aegis MRK however. Thanks for watching !
Trunked
Its simplex trunking is infrastructure based and does not use FHSS. Thanks for watching !
connect it to 900 mhz antenna on the roof of your house and talk for a good few miles
Yep with the right antenna and good feedline you are good to go. Thanks for watching !
@@survivalcomms is there one for car?
@@petetran2018 No they never made a mobile version.
There is a 2 channel desktop version DB100 and a repeater module that’s pretty expensive… DRX1020