Thread: Motorola XTL2500 and Siren/PA kit

We have a Spectra VHF mobile radio (A5 head) with siren/PA in an older squad. We are migrating to the MN ARMER (7/800mhz) System and will be installing a new Motorola XTL2500 remote mount.

Can the old spectra siren/pa be interfaced with the XTL2500?

Pretty sure you need the Astro model sirenamp and DEK. Our new trucks have Astro systems 9000 sirens with our XTL 2500s ans 5000s.

Originally Posted by Narland

We have a Spectra VHF mobile radio (A5 head) with siren/PA in an older squad. We are migrating to the MN ARMER (7/800mhz) System and will be installing a new Motorola XTL2500 remote mount.

Can the old spectra siren/pa be interfaced with the XTL2500?

I've tested older amps on newer radios. They appeared to work fine.

Standard 9000 siren amps will work fine with the XTL line.

You will then need a special cable that goes from the XTL head to the DEK siren box. You should already have the DEK box, so just need the cable and you should be able to combine the 2 without much modification.

My best friend had an XTL-5000 with a VRS-750 and a siren setup, that he swapped from a Astro Spectra. He had to order the special cable for the DEK box and add a DEK box in his case.

Jordan,TCFD

Or, you could just program the siren buttons to the head for the XTL and forget the DEK.

Less cables, less hassle.

Originally Posted by SlickTop Solutions

Or, you could just program the siren buttons to the head for the XTL and forget the DEK.

Less cables, less hassle.

I thought you couldn't put the siren bottons on the XTL head, hence the DEK.

Jordan

You can still program the buttons on the head for siren, you just need to have the enhanced mic to control the other functions.

Or you could leave the head alone and program the siren functions to the buttons on the enhanced mic.

I'm thinking about doing this with my XTL2500. I was looking at some of the old Astro Spectra boxes on ebay. What sort of cable would I need to go from the XTL to the siren box? And do I specifically need a motorola speaker or would any siren speaker work?

Originally Posted by dasuriano

I'm thinking about doing this with my XTL2500. I was looking at some of the old Astro Spectra boxes on ebay. What sort of cable would I need to go from the XTL to the siren box? And do I specifically need a motorola speaker or would any siren speaker work?

For behind the grill, any siren speaker will work just fine so long as it is rated for 100 Watts.

So why is this worth the money instead of just adding a seperate siren? I had some FedGov vehicles come in that had the Motorola radio/siren systems and were abandoning them because they were too much of a PITA to use.

Originally Posted by SafetyLighting

So why is this worth the money instead of just adding a seperate siren? I had some FedGov vehicles come in that had the Motorola radio/siren systems and were abandoning them because they were too much of a PITA to use.

Most of the ones I have dealt with have never been programmed correctly by the radio guys. Depending on the set-up, some have a 2nd wildcard box for the lights and pressing buttons for lights and sirens is not easy for some folks without taking their eyes off of the road.

And what cable do I need? Do the astro cables also work for an xtl?

If you have a spectra (non-astro) you will need a new siren (model HLN1439 I believe is for the astro/xtl line) you will also need a new cable to go from the 2500 remote head to the dek, as the connectors are different. The part is odyssey control head to DEK (I forget the part number).