RCA RPX6500 Series User manual

RCA P25 Mobile Radios
25 Watts
RPX6500V VHF (136 MHz – 174 MHz)
RPX6500UR UHF (335 MHz – 400 MHz)
RPX6500U UHF (400 MHz – 480 MHz)
RPX6500U2 UHF (440 MHz – 520 MHz)
Communications Systems
USER MANUAL
RPX6500 Series
RPX6500
Radio
Optional CTRH6500 Control Head Shown

Copyright © 2015 RCA Communications Systems
RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
2
PREFACE
Any performance figures quoted are subject to normal manufacturing and service tolerances.
The right is reserved to alter the equipment described in this manual in the light of future
technical development.
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could
void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
NOTE
The manufacturer is not responsible for any radio or television interference caused by
unauthorized modifications to this equipment. Such modifications could void the user’s authority
to operate the equipment.
COPYRIGHT
All information contained in this document is the property of RCA Communications Systems
(RCA). All rights are reserved. This document may not, in whole or in part, be copied,
photocopied, reproduced, translated, stored, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-
readable form, without prior written permission from RCA.
DISCLAIMER
There are no warranties extended or granted by this document. RCA accepts no responsibility
for damage arising from use of the information contained in the document or of the equipment
and software it describes. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that use of such
information, equipment and software complies with the laws, rules and regulations of the
applicable jurisdictions.
EQUIPMENT AND MANUAL UPDATES
In the interests of improving the performance, reliability or servicing of the equipment, RCA
reserves the right to update the equipment or this document or both without prior notice.
ERRORS AND OMISSIONS
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this manual; however,
some errors and/or omissions may still exist. It is requested that any errors or omissions should be
reported to RCA’s authorized North American dealer:
RCA Communications Systems Discount Two-Way Radio
1421 Gould Blvd., Suite #A 1430 240th St.
La Vergne, TN 37086 Harbor City, CA 90710
Toll Free: [phone]/Fax [phone] Toll Free: [phone]/Fax [phone]
www.RCACommunicationsSystems.com/ Email: [email protected]
www.DiscountTwo-WayRadio.com

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................9
1.1. OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................... 9
1.2. CONFIGURATION................................................................................................ 9
1.3. MODES OF P25 RPX6500 OPERATION................................................................. 9
2. CONTROLS.....................................................................................10
3. MAIN SCREEN................................................................................12
3.1. LAYOUT............................................................................................................ 12
4. MENU SYSTEM...............................................................................16
4.1. MENU NAVIGATION.......................................................................................... 16
5. MENU SCREENS .............................................................................18
5.1. CHANNEL SCREEN............................................................................................ 18
5.2. ZONE MENU ..................................................................................................... 19
5.3. SQUELCH MENU............................................................................................... 20
5.4. MUTE ADJUST MENU ....................................................................................... 21
5.5. PHONEBOOK MENU ......................................................................................... 22
5.6. PHONEBOOK EDIT MENU ................................................................................. 23
5.7. SETUP MENU .................................................................................................... 28
5.8. USER OPTIONS MENU....................................................................................... 29
5.9. CONTRAST MENU ............................................................................................ 30
5.10. ALERT VOLUME MENU ................................................................................... 30
5.11. RADIO INFO MENU ......................................................................................... 31
5.12. MODE MENU.................................................................................................. 33
5.13. RSSI MENU ..................................................................................................... 33
5.14. CRYPTO KEY MENU........................................................................................ 34
5.15. STORED CALLS MENU .................................................................................... 35
5.16. MESSAGES MENU .......................................................................................... 37
5.17. SCAN EDIT MENU........................................................................................... 44
5.18. NO MENU....................................................................................................... 47
6. COMMON FUNCTIONS AND FACILITIES..........................................47
6.1. SWITCH ON/SWITCH OFF ................................................................................. 47
6.2. DEFAULT SCREEN TRUNKED MODE................................................................... 47
6.3. VOLUME ADJUSTMENT .................................................................................... 48
6.4. RECEIVING (SINGLE CHANNEL SCREEN) ............................................................ 48
6.5. TRANSMITTING................................................................................................. 49
6.6. SCAN/VOTE FUNCTIONS................................................................................... 50
6.7. KEYPAD LOCK .................................................................................................. 51
6.8. ENCRYPTION .................................................................................................... 51
6.9. EMERGENCY ALARM........................................................................................ 51

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
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7. SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS...............................................................52
7.1. ALARM............................................................................................................. 52
7.2. ANNOUNCE...................................................................................................... 52
7.3. CHANNEL UP AND DOWN................................................................................ 52
7.4. CRYPTO............................................................................................................ 53
7.5. DTMF SEND 1 AND 2 (ANALOG)....................................................................... 53
7.6. LOW POWER .................................................................................................... 53
7.7. MENU............................................................................................................... 53
7.8. MODE .............................................................................................................. 53
7.9. MUTE ............................................................................................................... 53
7.10. REPEATER DEFEAT (P25 CONVENTIONAL)........................................................ 53
7.11. RESET ............................................................................................................. 54
7.12. SCAN ............................................................................................................. 54
7.13. SCAN EDIT...................................................................................................... 54
7.14. SCRAMBLER (ANALOG) .................................................................................. 54
7.15. SKIP................................................................................................................ 54
7.16. SQUELCH (P25 CONVENTIONAL) .................................................................... 54
7.17. TALKAROUND ................................................................................................ 55
7.18. ZONE.............................................................................................................. 55
7.19. UNDEFINED .................................................................................................... 55
8. ACCESSORIES ................................................................................55
8.1. CONTROL HEAD/MICROPHONE REPLACEMENT (CTR6500 PKG) ....................... 55
8.2. CONTROLLER MICROPHONE REPLACEMENT (MM6500) ................................... 55
8.3. KEYPAD DISPLAY HANDSET (KDH6500) ............................................................ 55
8.4. CONTROLLER MICROPHONE (MM6500MCD) ................................................... 55
8.5. CONTROLLER MICROPHONE (MM65020CM).................................................... 55
8.6. EXTERNAL SPEAKER (EXSPK6500)..................................................................... 55
8.7. MICROPHONE BRACKET MOUNT REPLACEMENT (MM6500-BM)...................... 55
9. TROUBLESHOOTING.......................................................................56
10. SPECIFICATIONS ..........................................................................57
11. WARRANTY .................................................................................58

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 5
PERSONAL SAFETY
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
These Safety Precautions, Warnings and Cautions advise personnel of specific hazards which may
be encountered during the procedures contained in this document and that control measures are
required to prevent injury to personnel, and damage to equipment and/or the environment.
Before using this equipment, personnel are to acquaint themselves with all risk assessments
relevant to the work site and the task. They must then comply with the control measures
detailed in those risk assessments.
References covering safety regulations, health hazards and hazardous substances are detailed
under the WARNINGS section below. These are referred to in this user manual when they are
encountered.
GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
Do NOT operate your mobile radio while driving a vehicle without a hands-free kit. (Subject to
local law.)
Do NOT operate your radio in an explosive atmosphere – unless the radio’s level of IECEx is
approved for use in that environment.
Obey the ‘Turn Off Two-way Radios’ signs where they are posted, e.g. on a fueling station.
Do NOT touch the antenna while the radio is transmitting.
Do NOT operate the radio if the antenna has become disconnected or damaged.
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
Before using any hazardous substance or material, the user must become acquainted with the
safety precautions and first aid instructions:
• On the label of the container in which it was supplied.
• On the Material Safety Data Sheet.
• In any local Safety Orders and Regulations.
WARNINGS
Radio Frequency Radiation
WARNING
RADIO FREQUENCY RADIATION. A RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) RADIATION
HAZARD EXISTS WHEN USING THIS EQUIPMENT. TO AVOID RF INJURY,
DO NOT TOUCH THE ANTENNA WHEN THE TRANSMITTER IS IN USE AND
DO NOT OPERATE THE TRANSMITTER WITH ANTENNA DISCONNECTED.

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
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Dangerous Voltages
Dangerous voltages exist in this equipment. For the appropriate safety precautions, refer to the
relevant Electrical Safety Regulations appropriate to the country of operation.
WARNING
DANGEROUS VOLTAGES. DANGEROUS VOLTAGES EXIST IN THIS
EQUIPMENT. FOR THE APPROPRIATE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS REFER
TO THE RELEVANT ELECTRICAL SAFETY REGULATIONS APPROPRIATE
TO THE COUNTRY OF OPERATION.
HINTS FOR USING THE RADIO
When transmitting, hold the microphone a few inches from your mouth and speak across it,
rather than into it.
Keep the length of your conversation to a minimum and replace the microphone on its holder
after use.
When it is possible to move location, avoid making calls from known poor signal-strength areas
such as the radio systems fringe areas (limit of range) or from screened or shadowed areas, e.g.
an underground car park or underpass.
To avoid unnecessary drain on the vehicle battery, keep the engine running when using the radio
for extensive periods of time.
GENERAL NOTES
CONVENTIONS
Where the word “generally” or “may” is used to describe a facility, this operation is an option
that may be enabled with your Programming Software (PS).
In some cases, key functions will be determined by the customer configuration. When a key
function is referred to in these instructions, it is possible the function may be assigned to another
location than designated in this manual.

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 7
ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations are used throughout this document. Wherever practicable,
whenever the abbreviation is first used, the full meaning is given with the abbreviation in
parenthesis, after that only the abbreviation will be used.
ABBREVIATION MEANING
ANSI American National Standards Institute
ACPO Association of Public safety Communications Ocials
BER Bit Error Rate
CTCSS Continuous Tone-Controlled Selective Squelch
DCS Digital Coded Squelch
DMR Digital Mobile Radio
DSP Digital Signals Processor
DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency
FCC Federal Communications Commission
FM Frequency Modulation
ICNIRP International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection
ID IDentication
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IP Internet Protocol
KID crypto Key IDentication
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
LED Light Emitting Diode
LMR Land Mobile Radio
NAC Network Access Code
PMR Private Mobile Radio
PS Programming Software
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
PTT Press (Push) To Talk
RF Radio Frequency
RSSI Received Signal Strength Indication
Rx Receiver/Receiver
TGID Talk Group Identication
Tx Transmit/Transmitter
UHF Ultra High Frequency
US United States
VHF Very High Frequency
WACN Wide Area Coverage Network
WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Copyright © 2015 RCA Communications Systems
RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS
A summary of common radio terms and some other terms used in this document, and their
meanings, are given below.
BANK SEE ZONE.
Channel
A logical combination of: Network Access Code (NAC); Radio Frequency; De-
fault Talk Group Identity (TGID); Encryption Key Index (KID); and other channel
associated parameters (CTCSS, Scan etc.).
DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency signaling. Used to dial into telephone networks
using tone dialing.
Monitor Mode of Radio Receive – Any P25 signal regardless of NAC or TGID will be
heard
MPT1327 A signaling standard for Trunked Private Land Mobile Radio Systems.
Muted Audio cannot be heard from the loudspeaker.
NAC Network Access Code – Used as a lter where multiple networks may share a
common RF frequency.
Normal Mute Mode of Radio Receive – Only signals with matching NAC will be heard.
P25 PMR mode using analog FM used in as a “fallback” mode with P25. (Interopera-
bility requirement).
P25 Channel Denition consisting of Tx and Rx RF frequencies, NAC and TGID.
P25 Conventional Non-trunked digital, like digital Private Mobile Radio (PMR).
PS Programming Software. Used to congure the radio options and parameters.
PTT Press To Talk. This is the term given to the operator’s key normally used to
commence transmitting a message.
Radio Unit ID Unique identier allocated to each radio (0-16,000,000).
Selective Mode of radio receive – Only signals with matching NAC and TGID or Unit ID
will be heard.
Unmuted Audio can be heard from the loudspeaker.
Zone A collection of channels (usually organized by functional group of users).

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 9
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. OVERVIEW
The RCA RPX6500 Radio is a versatile Digital Signal Processor (DSP) controlled, software defined
two-way mobile radio.
This User Manual describes the operation of the Association of Public safety Communications
Officials (APCO) P25 Standard compliant Mobile Radio, which consists of:
Product Quantity
RPX6500 – Transceiver 1
MM6500 - Mobile Microphone 1
CTRH6500 - Control Head 1
CTRH6500MB - Mounting Bracket (w/2 screws) 1
MM6500-BM - Microphone Bracket Mount (w/2 screws) 1
PC6500 - Power Cable 1
EC6500 – 3 foot Unit Extension Cable 1
1.2. CONFIGURATION
Before using your RPX6500 P25 Radio, it must be configured using the P25 PS. The configuration
process defines and loads the radio channels, signaling and user options/settings so the radio will
operate with your system. Your RCA representative can help program your radios to meet your
present and future requirements.
1.3. MODES OF P25 RPX6500 OPERATION
The RPX6500 P25 Radio operates in Analog Frequency Modulation (FM), P25 Conventional and
P25 Trunked modes.
Radio channels are organized in groups of up to 250 per zone. Up to 40 zones may be defined.
Generally, zones can be programmed with channels belonging to common function groups.
A radio channel can be defined as analog, Conventional P25 channel or Trunked P25 network. A
Zone may contain a mix of Analog or Conventional P25 Channels.

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
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2. CONTROLS
The RPX6500 Control Head has the following features:
• 11 programmable direct Function Buttons.
• 10 additional indirect Function Buttons (keys 0 - 9).
• 1,500 Channels.
• 40 Zones.
• 250 Channels per zone.
• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 1 ¾” (44.5mm) x 2 3/8” (60.3mm) graphic display. Eight lines
of 14 characters (small type). Three type sizes, small medium and large. Context based soft
menu labels.
• Light Emitting Diode (LED) indicator.
The controls on the RPX6500 Control Head are shown below in Figure 1.
Figure 1. RPX6500 Control Head.
Indicator
LED
On-O
Volume
Down
(F2)
Up
(F1)
Call
(F7) (F10) (F11)
Alarm
(F5)
OK
(F3)
Menu
(F4)
Reset
(F8)
(F9) (F12)

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 11
Each control function is detailed in Table 1.
Table 1. Control Functions
RPX6200 KEY LABEL FUNCTION
Power On/O
To turn the radio on, press and hold the volume knob for about 1
second. To turn the radio o, press and hold the volume knob until the
long tone sounds.
PTT Push-To-Talk. Hold the microphone about 4 inches from your mouth.
Press and hold the PTT switch and speak.
Volume Turn the volume knob clockwise to increase volume and counter-clock-
wise to reduce volume.
Function Key F1 Programmable Function key. Default – Menu Select.
Function Key F2 Programmable Function key. Default – Channel Down.
Function Key F3 Programmable Function key. Default – Channel Up.
Function Key F4 Programmable Function key. Default – OK.
Function Key F5 Programmable Function key. Default – Emergency Alarm.
Function Key F6 Programmable Function key. Located on Microphone.
Function Key F7 Programmable Function key. Default – Call.
Function Key F8 Programmable Function key. Default – Reset/Cancel.
Function Key F9 Programmable Function key.
Function Key F10 Programmable Function key.
Function Key F11 Programmable Function key.
Function Key F12 Programmable Function key.
Keypad Keypad can be used to select a Channel or Special Function. E.g. 12#
will select channel 12.
INDICATOR LED FUNCTION
A Green LED when receiving a signal.
A Red LED when the radio is transmitting.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
* 0 #

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
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Channel
Name
Zone
Name
MenuF1
F2
F3
RSSI
Bars F4
Y
Icon Area
3. MAIN SCREEN
3.1. LAYOUT
Figure 3 (below) shows an example of the main or default screen when the radio is on.
Figure 2. Main/Default screen
The screen has three main areas: the Icon Area; the Text Panel; and the Soft Labels area.
3.1.1. SOFT LABELS
The right-hand side of the screen is used to display the Soft Labels associated with the function
buttons.
The soft label text is defined in the PS and can be assigned to the F1 to F4 function buttons. Each
soft label can be up to five characters.
3.1.2. TEXT PANEL
The main area of the default screen is the Text Panel, which displays textual information. This
information contains both Persistent and Non-persistent text information as follows:
• Persistent Text, e.g. Channel name, Zone name.
* The Channel Name shows the text associated with the currently selected radio channel.
* The Zone Name shows the text associated with the currently selected radio zone.
• Non-persistent Text messages, e.g. keypad dial string entries, received status/data
messages, error messages, etc.

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 13
3.1.3. ICONS
The lower part of the display is reserved for Standard and Special Icons.
There are only six positions for icons to be displayed (see Figure 4), however, the number of icons
that can be displayed exceeds this. Therefore, some icons will share the same location (see Table
2).
RSSI Bars is a special Icon and it is displayed on the left of the default screen when a signal is
being received. They indicate the signal strength of the current channel. The stronger the Rx
signal, the more bars will be displayed.
Figure 3. Icon Locations.
Menu
F1
F2
F3
Y
F4
12 3
456
Icon Area

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Table 2. Icon Details.
POSITION ICONS
1ჸ
Message
2
TA
Talk Around
3Ѭ
Tx Other Signal Signal Scanning
4M N S
Monitor Normal Selective
4
C !
Connecting Connect Fail
5
25 %SC
P25 Digital Encrypted Scrambler
5T
Trunking
6
Locked Keypad Individual Call

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 15
ICON INDICATION
A lled speaker icon indicates that a signal is present and the audio can be heard
from the speaker (unmuted).
The outline speaker icon indicates that a signal is present and the radio is muted.
This could be another user group, for instance.
Scan/Search Indicator. When radio is on a scan channel and scanning, the arrow will
rotate.
ѬTransmit indicator.
Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). A stronger signal will display more bars
above the antenna icon.
%Encryption Indicator. This icon is shown when the selected channel is programmed
for encryption. If an unencrypted signal is received, the icon will not be displayed.
25 25 = Digital Mode Indicator.
SSelective Mute. Only radio signals specically directed to the user or the channel’s
dened talk group will be heard on the speaker.
NNormal Mute. Only radio signals from the users own network will be heard on the
speaker.
MMonitor. All P25 digital radio signals on the channel will be heard.
Key-lock indicator. All keys except PTT, or any function assigned as Alarm, will be
disabled. Press the OK key for 2 seconds to unlock all keys.
TA Talk Around enabled indicator. When shown, Talk Around is active.
SC Scrambler indicator (analog only).
E
Emergency mode. Blinking icon indicates that the emergency key has been
pressed.
Individual Addressing Mode. When shown, the radio will transmit to an individual
address instead of a talk group.
ჸThe Envelope icon. A steady icon indicates there is one or more stored messages. A
ashing icon indicates an unread message(s) is stored.
TTrunking mode. Icon is displayed when a trunking system has been selected.
C
Connecting icon. Displayed when a text message is being sent and the connection
is in progress.
!
Connection Fail icon. Displayed when a text message transmission has failed.
*
The asterisk symbol indicates whether the radio has stopped on a scan channel.
Details of the Icons in the Icon Area are contained in Table 3.
Table 3 Icon Details

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
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4. MENU SYSTEM
This section details the operation of the menu system.
The RPX6500 series has a menu system that is configurable by the PS. The PS has a number of
menu entries that can be applied as desired in the order desired. In simple configurations, no
menu can be programmed, if desired. See Figure 5 for example menu.
Pressing the ‘F1’ key from the top-level channel screen enters the menu system. By default this
key has a soft menu label alongside it titled ‘MENU’. When in the menu system, the soft key ‘F4’
is generally the ‘OK’ key.
The possible menus are:
• Zone (usually the first menu as it is often accessed) • Radio Info
• Squelch • Mode
• Mute Adjust (FM)/Monitor (DMR) • RSSI
• Phonebook • Crypto
• Phonebook Edit • Stored Calls
• User Options • Messages
• Setup • Scan Edit
• Contrast • No Menu
• Alert Volume
The presence and order of the above menu selections is determined by the PS configuration.
The Setup menu is special. Setup is a subgroup that can have any of the list of menu selections
assigned to it. This means that the lesser used selections can be partly hidden away under the
Setup subgroup but still remain accessible if desired.
The order and presence of the Setup subgroup selections is determined by the PS. For instance
Info, RSSI and Contrast could be placed under Setup.
The User Options menu group is also a menu subgroup. This subgroup usually contains on/off
functions, such as Key Beeps or Backlight.
4.1. MENU NAVIGATION
Pressing the ‘F1’ key selects Menu mode from the main Channel Screen. Once in menu mode,
the and keys cycle through the menus.
To exit Menu mode, press the ‘F1’ key again or the Menu timeout will exit automatically.
Generally, pressing ‘F1’ key while in a menu backs up to the next highest level of menu and the
‘F4’ (OK) key selects the menu screen.
The and keys are used to navigate through a list of options such as channels, or to increase/
decrease a value.
When the ‘F1’ (menu) key is first pressed, the numeric keys become short cut keys to functions.
Numeric keys can be programmed (using PS) with functions, e.g. Scan.

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 17
E-U-MNTLAUNAMRESU–OIDARELBATROP52P08/0719PRS -0091
32egaP)0.2.ssI(31tpeS MENU SYSTEM
When the Menu key is first pressed, the numeric keys become short cut keys to functions.
Numeric keys can be programmed with functions using the FPP, i.e. Scan.
To access these functions, you can press the ‘M’ or menu key from the channel screen and then
the numeric key assigned to that function.
Figure 4. Menu Navigation.
Select
Zone
OK
Back
Menu
ENTRY POINT = Default Screen
Normal
Channel
Screen
Channel
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
OK
Menu #1
Zone Select
Note: Example menus only shown.
Other Menus may be configured with the CPS.
Submenu
Submenu
Submenu
Submenu
Submenu
Submenu
Submenu
Key Beeps
ON/OFF
Backlight
ON/OFF
(Other User
Menu items)
Mode
Alert
Volume
Crypto Key
Radio Info
Contrast
User
Options
Menu #2
Setup Menu
Menu #3
(Optional)
Menu #x
(Optional) Menu #x
Menu #3
Back
OK OK Key
Back Key
Up Key
Down Key
Submenu Selections
RSSI
Mute
Adjust
Back
OK
Submenu
Squelch
Back
To access the menus, press the ‘F1’ or menu key from the channel screen and then the numeric
key assigned to that function.
Figure 4. Menu Navigation

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL
18
5. MENU SCREENS
The menu structure on the RPX6500 series is configurable using the PS. Your system
administrator can tailor the order and presence of the menu options to your specific
requirements.
This section describes all the menus that are currently available. It also describes the Channel
Screen, which is the main default screen that is displayed after the radio is switched on.
Menus are normally divided into two lists - The Main Menu and Setup Menu list.
In the default configuration, the Main Menu contains the Channel, Zone and Setup menus. This
allows access to the second ‘Setup’ menu level.
The Main Menu can be accessed from the default screen by selecting the ‘Menu’ (F1) button.
To access any of the menu options from the Main, Setup or User Options Menus, use the and
keys to scroll through the lists until the required menu option is selected with the pointer ( )
and then press the ‘OK’ button.
Pressing the ‘Back’ key at any point will go back to the previous screen.
5.1. CHANNEL SCREEN
The Channel Screen shows the current channel and allows channel selection.
Menu
F1
F2
F3
Y
F4
Figure 5. Channel Screen.
Pressing the “Menu” key enters the Menu mode.
Radio channels may be configured with the PS as specific frequencies or as auto scan types.
When an auto scan channel is selected, it will immediately go into scan mode. Selecting another
non-auto scan channel will stop the scan.
If a radio channel is defined as a P25 Conventional Digital Channel, it will only receive P25 digital
signals.

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RPX6500 P25 MOBILE RADIO - USER MANUAL 19
If a radio channel is defined as an Analog FM channel, it will receive both P25 Digital and Analog
FM signals.
A radio channel defined as a P25 Trunked network will automatically start searching for the pre-
programmed network, and only receive signals from that network once it has service.
Note.
When an analog FM channel is selected and in Monitor mode, all unencrypted digital P25 traffic
will be heard regardless of NAC or Talk Group.
5.2. ZONE MENU
The Zone Screen is used for changing Zones. A Zone is normally defined as a group of radio
channels with a common operational role.
When the ‘Zone’ menu option is displayed, press the OK button to enter the ‘Zone’ select screen.
Once the Zone menu appears, press the and keys to choose the required zone. Press the OK
key to select the required zone. The radio will return to the channel screen and select the first
channel in the new zone.
Direct access to the Zone menu from other screens can also be programmed to one of the
function buttons with the PS.

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20
5.3. SQUELCH MENU
The Squelch menu allows the channel’s default squelch mode to be modified.
If the selected channel is changed or the radio is switched off, the channel’s default squelch
setting will be restored.
From the main channel screen, press the ‘Menu’ key to enter Menu Mode. Use the / keys to
scroll through menu options. With the Setup menu option displayed, press the OK key to access
the Setup sub-menus.
Use the / keys to scroll through sub-menu options and, with the Squelch menu option
displayed, press the OK key to access the Squelch screen.
For a P25 digital channel, the / keys can be used to select either Monitor, Normal or
Selective squelch mode.
For an analog channel, the / keys can be used to select either Monitor or Normal squelch
mode.
For each channel type, after selecting the required squelch mode, press the OK key to confirm
the selection and return to the default channel screen.
Press the Back or Menu key to return to the next highest menu level.