My digital experience with the Motorola XPR5500, DMR and Capacity Plus

Motorola XPR5550 - Mobile Setup

 I got my Motorola XPR5500 a few weeks ago and I thought it's about time to share my first impressions. (Actually, Claude gently pushed me to do it ...)

I will start with the audio: it's absolutely fantastic! Both on analog and TRBO digital (DMR)... The front-facing speaker is loud and delivers a full spectrum, rich audio. The Intelligent Audio option adds another level of enhancement by automatically adjusting the volume depending on the surrounding noise.
All the above combined with the DMR enhanced digital vocoder make this radio sound amazing!



A side note: When Claude VE2YI told me that the DMR vocoder is much better than the DSTAR one, I was skeptical and I thought he was biased ... Using a portable XPR6550 radio made me doubt my original judgment. As soon as I turned on the XPR5550, on  I had a "WOW" moment: it does sound much better. The voices are far less "robotic" then DSTAR and the audio spectrum seems to be richer.
 
Another nice addition is the color display. Although others will dismiss it as a "gadget", I am really happy with it. It is bright enough in direct sunlight and it allows me to read the status of the radio and to check the IDs in a glance. I think the contrast of the display is much better than any "standard" radio displays. The display's day/night mode comes very handy while driving at night.

Bluetooth data and audio is another relatively new feature on a commercial radio. While I was told that programming the radio via Bluetooth is a breeze, I prefer to do it the old fashion way, using a cable ... I didn't try to hook up my Bluetooth headset yet, but I'll give it a try soon.
And speaking about programming cable, I was absolutely thrilled to find out how easy is to build one for the XPR5550. It takes 10 minutes and the only things you need are a standard USB printer cable, some mini MOLEX connectors (or the original blank accessory plug that comes with the radio) and a little dexterity.

The XPR5550 comes also equipped standard with GPS, but as far as I know, I don't think you can interface it with the APRS/DPRS system. Maybe in a near future ...

Another interesting option is the text messaging. I guess it works only in digital mode but it's a neat feature ...

I received my XPR5550 equipped with the RMN5127 Impres Keypad Microphone which gives me the possibility to control the radio without reaching for it. I was impressed by the way this microphone sounded on the air so I specifically asked Claude for one. The microphone suppresses the ambient noise and it has a very high quality audio amplifier.

The only thing missing from my setup is the separation kit for the XPR5550 ... I hope it will come out soon.

I will end this post by thanking Claude VE2YI and Alain VA2SPB for their support.