Service manual

Guide to ASTRO™ Digital Radios
Model-specific Discussion: ASTRO25 Series
XTS 5000™
This is the first ASTRO25™-series portable released to the market back in approximately late
2003. It may look similar to the Motorola Inc. XTS 3000™ portable, but under the case is a far superior
radio.
The Patriot IC is the powerhouse of the radio. It’s a dual-core processor which contains both a
32-bit micro-controller unit (MCU) and a 16-bit digital signal processor (DSP) in one IC package. What
does this mean to you? Much faster boot-up time, superior audio tone and artifact removal and support
for many internal/external options which are somewhat CPU intensive. The keypad operation is much
faster and menus which may’ve lagged in the XTS 3000™ are no longer an issue.
Figure 6.1 Photo illustration of a Motorola Inc. XTS 5000™ in a model III configuration.
The cosmetics of the radio are also improved. The DTMF keypad is flush with the flat-front of
the radio, the side-buttons are much more responsive (especially the PTT, which has a definite click
when pressed) and the channel knob feels much more solid. The XTS 3000™ is inferior to these
differences.
Under the hood it’s quite simple: An RF board (band-specific) and a vocon.
Is the XTS 5000™ worthy of an eBay purchase? It depends on your wallet and need for features.
The ASTRO25™ series radios are not easily manipulated for unauthorized features. (Lab-tool hacking, for
example.) What you purchase on eBay is what you will end up with, unless you pay for a legitimate
FLASHport™ update to add features and/or upgrade radio firmware.