A very quick, down and dirty how to on setting up TMS (text messaging service ) on your Motorola XTS5000 radio. This works for both Model 2 and Model 3 radios, within the ASTRO25 series. The procedure is the same for APX radios, just things are located differently within the codeplug.
To do this, the radio must have the W947/Q947 APCO Packet Data option enabled in the flashcode! Open up your Astro25 CPS and lets get programming that Motorola!
1. Fire up your radio
2. Fire up CPS and read your radio, or open your codeplug
3. Open the Radio Wide settings, and under the General Tab do the following:
-3.1 Check the box for ARS User Login Enable
-3.2 Set a Soft ID/Username & Pin/Password (4 digit pin will work)
-3.3 Under the same window, hit the Data tab and do the following:
--3.3.1 Enter an IP address for both fields (Keep in mind, the third set of digits must be different)
--3.3.2 Make sure Context Deactivation Alert Tone and ICMP Echo are checked (The Authentication UDP Port is defaulted to 49165, and that works just fine)
4. Open the Astro System under Astro Systems and do the following:
-4.1 Under the Data tab, set your IP addresses, the last digit boxes on each must be different than the radio wide settings
-4.2 Check the box for Packet Data Capable System (PDS)
-4.3 Check the box for Auto Generate IP address & Auto Generate Target IP address
-4.4 Set the Packet Data Mode to Direct
-4.5 Set the Text Messaging Service to one of the following:
--4.5.1 List Only (this works best for Model II radios)
--4.5.2 Unlimited (this allows you to use the list and free text, works best for Model III radios)
5. Under the ARS tab, do the following:
-5.1 Check the box for Automatic Registration Service Enable
-5.2 Change ARS Mode to Non-Server
You can actually write this to the radio and have TMS working - but if you selected list because you have a Model II radio, you are going to want to establish a predefined message list. Here's how:
1. Open the Quick Text Message list from the codeplug tree
2. Create pre-defined text messages!
It also helps to have your call list set up, it's not required, but very handy, especially for Model II radios. To do that:
1. Open the ASTRO Call List from the ASTRO Systems section of your codeplug
2. Create entries! You get two options: Grp and Ind (Group and Individual)
That's it! Send it to the radio, and you will be on your way to sending messages over P25 simplex channels. Using this method, we were able to pass messages across a conventional P25 repeater (which we do not control) so either the repeater jut blindly passed the traffic, or it was set up to do so in the repeater's codeplug. So, keep in mind your mileage may vary with that. Short of that, simplex works just fine using this above.