Motorola Radio Programming Softw
Nichelle Gruger
The most popular Motorola two-way radio is the CP200 analog two-way radio, and most recently, the digital counterpart, CP200d two-way radio. However, most radios can be programmed to customized frequencies. In most cases, you can program different radio brands to communicate to each other, as long as they are all on the same frequencies.
Typically, two-way radios are programmed on PC. Most programming software is only designed to run on a PC, and not on a Mac. To program your radios, you will need the radios to program, radio programming software for your computer, and a programming cable with a USB and proper connection for your two-way radio.
In some cases, you can simply clone your two way radios instead of using programming software on a computer. For example, in the below video we demonstrate how to use the multi-unit charger and radio to clone the frequencies of the Motorola RM Series Radios without programming software.
All Motorola two-way radios can be programmed. Here is a list of the most popular Motorola radios that can be programmed, including CP Series Radios, XPR Series Radios, CLS Series Radios, RM Series Radios, and more!
If you need additional help programming your Motorola two-way radios, give us a call at (888) 742-5893, and our experts will be able to walk you through the program or provide you a quote so we can program them for you.
For advanced programming like the interference eliminator code, follow the same steps above. For call tone, your alert for programming is when the call (CA) displays, while G is the alert for tinkering microphone gain.
Hi there! I am Howe, and I am the founder of G0HWC. I have been a radio enthusiast for as long as I can remember. I live and breathe radio, always taking the chance to blabber about it when customers seek my radio mechanic services.
Five years into working as a radio mechanic, I realized that most people struggle to fully understand the different complex aspects of owning and using a radio, though they understand the importance of having one.
And it dawned on me: I can put my blabbering to good use!
I started G0HWC to blabber all I want and help others who are not yet well-versed in radio language in doing so.
Much of the information presented below was compiled from information provided by a half-dozen folks via emails and phone calls, and condensed into article form for distribution here to help the radio enthusiasts understand just why the older Motorola (and other brands) service software is such a pain to use and why the perfomance is so problematic. Other information was contributed, some anonymously on a floppy disk (the envelope had no return address but had a Schamburg postmark !). You can pack a lot of plain text onto a 1.44 MB floppy...
Motorola has two different software packages: RSS (Radio Service Software) and CPS (Customer Programming Software). Think of CPS as RSS for Windows. Motorola sells the software, like the radio manuals, through their spare parts system. Each software package, like each manual, has a part number, generally starting with RVN or HVN. RSS is MSDOS-based, and CPS runs only under Windows, but some people refer to all Motorola programming software as RSS. The earliest CPS runs under Windows 95, some packages run on Windows 98 and some runs under Windows 2000, XP, 7, 8, etc. Windows 95, 98 and ME had some USB support but it was very inconsistent and you will be smart to NOT count on it. Personally, if I need to run a Windows 95, 98 or ME vintage program I use only a 9-pin "D" connector cable on a real COM port.
Some RSS supports multiple radio models - for example, the GM300 RSS package supports the entire GM300 product line which includes the M10, M120 and M130 models as well. This is because the M10 is a single channel GM300, the M120 and M130 are two channel versions. The GM300 was designed from the outset to be four models on three different front panels, hence that particular RSS "knows" about and supports the entire product line. More recently, the CDM Mobile series uses the "Professional" (or "Waris") product line software (initially for the HT750, HT1250 and HT1550 handhelds.
Some RSS packages contain other RSS. For example, the Desktrac base comes in two versions, a base (with one radio chassis inside) and the Desktrac repeater (with two radio chassis inside). The stock radio chassis inside the Desktrac housing are Maxtrac mobiles, plus there is a control board that interfaces them together plus controls the wireline remotes. The RSS package for the Desktrac contains two different RSS programs, one is the Maxtrac RSS, the other program talks to the control board inside the Desktrac station.
However the Maxtrac RSS won't work if the radio chassis inside has been swapped for a GM300... a common amateur radio modification since the radios are physically interchangeable, the UHF Maxtrac comes in either a 406-420 MHz or a 449-470 MHz range and the GM300 comes in a 406-420 MHz and a 438-470 MHz range and covers the amateur UHF repeater band quite nicely (but the Desktrac channel display won't work with the GM300 radio body).
Trunking radios generally used different RSS packages than the conventional models in the same product line - I first ran into this on Maxtracs - the conventional units used different RSS than their trunked cousins.
The revision (or version) number only comes in to play when Moto updates that particular RSS. Naturally revision 2 is later (newer) than revision 1. And the version number of the RSS is embedded in the "codeplug" - the data block that is loaded in the radio - to change the programming later you need to use the same version or a newer one (more on this in the articles below).
Revision (or version) numbers typically have a leading letter then three numeric fields and frequently end with a letter. The overall number starts with R or B (I've seen one "D" and I personally think that was a transcription error or typo of "B"), as in R07.01.03a or B03.00.01c, and the "R" stands for "Release" or "Revision" (they've used both), and "B" stands for "Beta" (a pre-release product).
So, from the above, you can see that what is critical is that the model number of the RSS / CPS has to be the correct one for your radio product line, and the version number has to be equal to or greater than what was last used to program the individual radio.
RIB or RIBless ? And what's a RIB ?
A newcomer to programming Motorola radios has to first understand the question, then answer it before the purchase of his first cable. Many people do not understand the parameters of the decision to go with a RIBless cable versus a RIB coupled with one or more "dumb" cables.
There are manufacturers that build so-called "RIBless" cables. You need to understand that there are two different types of RIBless cables - those that have a DE-9 or DB-25 serial plug on the computer end, and those that have a USB connector.
We will discuss the D-shaped connector ones first: They aren't really RIBless as these serial cables take advantage of the design of the serial port (sometimes called the data port) built into some radios which allows the use of a simple RIB circuit that works almost all of the time and some manufacturers package that circuit into the shell of the DB connector. These expensive cables are capable of programming a limited number of radios: model numbers include the GP300, GP350, GTX, MaxTrac, Radius Mobile, M10, M120 / M130, GM300, HT600 / MT1000, MT2000, etc. and several others. These cables are very attractive to those folks that have a fleet of all or mostly one kind of radio.
The USB-connector cables essentially have BOTH the RIBless circuitry AND a USB to serial adapter in the connector shells. These USB cables are totally USELESS on any DOS-based RSS as DOS has no concept of USB, so if you purchase or use one of them you are deliberately limiting yourself to only those radios that have a Windows-compatible RSS or CPS package available for them. Again, if you limit yourself to USB cables then you are limiting yourself to Windows 2000 (or later) compatible RSS or CPS and you won't be able to program the older radios with that cable.
My personal opinion: I'd build (or buy) a real RIB and a dumb cable because if you have problems with a RIBless cable you will never know if it is the USB to serial converter, the quirky RIB circuit, the radio, the inconsistent USB support in the older Windows, or .... ????
Some of the RIBless cables purchased from ebay just don't work, and for multiple reasons - some are wired up wrong, others have flaky or proprietary USB drivers, some have weird USB to serial converter chips, others have shoddy construction and fall apart. 99% of the time you are normally dealing with a company in Hong Kong, Tiawan, Indonesia or mainland China. In many cases they speak English only until they have your money - after that they just ignore you or pretend to not understand. Every single person that I know that has bought a RIBless cable has sooner or later ended up buying (or building) a real RIB and the appropriate cable(s) - for one of three reasons:
1) He gets a better radio, for example graduating from a GM300 or MaxTrac (that can use a DE-9 RIBless cable) to a Spectra or Syntor X9000 (that can't), or ...
2) He's damaged the expensive RIBless cable (just try and get a schematic of it to do any troubleshooting, and many are nonrepairable because they are molded rubber or potted), or ...
3) The RIBless cable is inconsistent - this first showed up with a friend that has 8 or 9 GM300s and a few Maxtracs in his extended family - several for the business trucks and the business base, several more for for ham radio (6m, 2m and UHF), Civil Air Patrol, all of the UHF ones include both the business channels and the GMRS channels. The chinese RIBless cable he purchased would program some radios but not others. My real RIB and homemade cable did every one, every time, and with his computer.
As I said above, either way sooner or later every single friend of mine that purchased a RIBless cable eventually acquired a RIB and a repairable or duplicate-able quality dumb cable. Over the long term they had more consistent programming, less discord and a more cost-effective arrangement.