MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS Talkabout T38 Two Way Radio User Guide

June 10, 2024
Motorola Solutions

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MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS Talkabout T38 Two Way Radio

Product Information

The radio has various features and buttons that allow you to communicate with other radios. The PTT button is used for transmitting your voice, while the headphone jack is used for connecting an external headset for private listening. The radio has different power settings, VOX/iVOX for hands-free communication, call tone for notifying others, scan for finding an open channel, and monitor for listening to weak signals. The radio is weatherproof to IP54 standards, making it resistant to occasional splashes of water.

Product Usage

Setting up the Radio

  1. Observe the battery polarity before installing the battery.
  2. Charge the battery using the desktop charger or USB. Charging takes up to 8 hours.
  3. To turn the radio on or off, hold the Power/Menu button until the display turns on or off.
  4. Insert or remove the belt clip as needed.

Using the Radio

  • Press the PTT button and speak to transmit your voice.
  • Use the menu button to navigate through the different settings and options.
  • The radio has different sensitivity levels for VOX/iVOX, which can be adjusted according to the environment.
  • The call tone can be used to notify others of your presence.
  • The scan feature allows you to find an open channel with less traffic.
  • The monitor feature can be used to listen to weak signals on a channel.
  • The roger tone adds a beep to mark the end of a transmission for confirmation.
  • The radio is weatherproof to IP54 standards, but should not be submerged in water.

Getting to Know Your Radio

  1. High or Low Power
  2. Transmit or Receive
  3. Mute
  4. Easy Pairing
  5. VOX/iVOX
  6. Call Tone
  7. Battery
  8. Scan
  9. Roger Tone
  10. Monitor
  11. Code
  12. Channel
Buttons Descriptions
Menu/Power •    Press to enter Menu and scroll through the menu screen.

•    Press and hold for two seconds to turn on or off the radio.

+ and _

| •    Press to adjust the volume level.

•   Press to change the settings or trigger action in the menu screen.

PTT| •    Press and hold to talk, release to stop transmission.

•    Press to exit menu screen and return to home screen.

EZ-Pairing

| Copy channel and code settings from radio A to radio B.

1.  Radio B–Hold the button until you hear a beep. The radio is ready to be paired. Multiple radios can be paired simultaneously.

2.  Radio A–Hold the button until you hear a double beep. The radio broadcasts channel and code settings for other radios to pair.

Setting up Your Radio

Installing and Charging the Battery

  1. Observe the polarity before installing the battery.
  2. Charge the battery using the desktop charger or USB. Charging is completed when the battery icon on the radio stops blinking. Charging takes up to 8 hours.

Note : Connect the USB charger to a nearby and easily accessible wall power outlet.

Inserting and Removing Belt Clip

Turning your Radio On and Off
To turn the radio on or off, hold the Power/Menu button until the display turns on or off.

Channel and Codes

  • Set your radios with the same channel and code setting to enable communication with other radios.
  • The H/L (High/Low) icon is part of the Channel Number. Ensure all radios in your group show the same H/L icon.
  • The channel setting controls the radio frequency. To avoid jamming, select a channel that is not used by others in your area. See table in Section 3, “Scan” for more information on selecting unused channel.
  • The code setting on the transmitting and receiving radios need to match, otherwise the receiving radio blocks the received signal. This feature helps you to mute unwanted voices from other radio users transmitting on your channel.
  • When code is set to zero, radio does not block any signal and everything that is picked up on the channel is sent to the speaker. Motorola Solutions recommends setting your code to zero when using T38 with radios that do not support the code feature. See Section 3, “Navigating the Menu Pages” for detailed instructions on how to change settings.
  • Channel and code settings can be copied from one radio to multiple radios simultaneously with a shortcut feature called Easy-Pairing. See table in Section 1, “EZ-Pairing” for instruction on how to copy channel and code settings.

Transmission Power
In some countries different powers are allowed for different channels. The H/L icon indicates if the current channel is a High or Low power channel. Motorola Solutions recommends you to use high power channels for more reliable communications. Select low power channels only when your radios are not far from each other and you want to maximize the battery life

Use the Menu button to scroll through the menu screen. Press PTT to exit any screen and return to home screen

MOTOROLA-SOLUTIONS-Talkabout-T38-Two-Way-Radio-FIG-6

Using Your Radio

Talking/Transmitting

  1. Press and hold the PTT button, then start talking into the microphone.
  2. Release the PTT button to stop transmission.

Note : Do not press the PTT button when others are talking. When more than one radio transmits on the same channel, the air-wave is jammed and all transmissions are lost.

Listening/Receiving

  • The radio speaker receives signal automatically if radio is set to the same channel and code as the transmitting radio.
  • Ensure the speaker volume is set to an appropriate level.

Adjusting Speaker Volume
Press + or _ from the home screen.

Using Headsets

  • When a headset is connected to the radio, radio speaker is disabled. You need to wear headset to monitor and receive messages.
  • If your headset has PTT button, you can use the button to make a transmission with the microphone on the headset.
  • You can still use the PTT button on the radio to make a transmission with the microphone on the radio.

Channel and Frequencies

Channel Frequency (MHz) Channel Frequency (MHz)
1 409.75000 11 409.87500
2 409.76250 12 409.88750
3 409.77500 13 409.90000
4 409.78750 14 409.91250
5 409.80000 15 409.92500
6 409.81250 16 409.93750
7 409.82500 17 409.95000
8 409.83750 18 409.96250
9 409.85000 19 409.97500
10 409.86250 20 409.98750

Additional Information

Internal Voice Operated Transmission (iVOX)/Voice Operated Transmission (VOX)

The microphone detects if you are talking when using VOX. If you are talking, the radio triggers transmission automatically.

  • When iVOX is displayed, the radio uses the built-in microphone to detect your voice.
  • When a VOX headset is connected to the radio, VOX is displayed and the headset microphone is used to detect your voice.

You can turn off or select the following settings to select the sensitivity level.

L3| High Sensitivity for quiet environments. Speaking softly is enough to trigger VOX transmission.
---|---
L2| Medium Sensitivity for most environments
L1| Low Sensitivity for noisy environments. You must speak up to trigger VOX transmission.

Note : Pressing the PTT button cancels the VOX transmission.

Call Tone
When you send a Call Tone, the receiving radio sounds a tone similar to phone ringing tone.

Scan
Radio scans for voice activity by cycling through the channels. When signals are detected, the signal is sent to the speaker. This feature allows you to find which channel is being used by other groups and have heavy traffic. This helps you to avoid the busy channels when deciding which channel to use for your group.

Monitor
You can hear everything including noise on your current radio channel. This feature allows you to monitor a channel for weak signals.

Roger Tone
This feature adds a beep to mark the end of a transmission when you release the PTT button. When the receiver hears the roger tone, it is a confirmation that complete message has been received.

Weatherproof
This radio is weatherproof to IP54 standards. The radio is resistant to occasional splash of water only when the battery and connector covers are sealed. Do not expose the radio to water for extended period of time. Do not submerge the radio in water.

Battery Information
The rated battery life is measured under industrial standard 5-5-90 duty cycle under lab conditions. (5% of the time transmitting, 5% receiving with speaker on, 90% waiting for incoming call.) Turn off the radio while charging.

Battery Capacity Maintenance
The T38 radio comes equipped with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery. This battery should be fully charged before initial use to ensure optimum capacity and performance. Battery life is determined by several factors. Among the more critical are the regular overcharge of batteries and the average depth of discharge with each cycle. Typically, the greater the overcharge and the deeper the average discharge, the fewer cycles a battery will last. For example, a battery which is overcharged and discharged 100% several times a day, lasts fewer cycles than a battery that receives less of an overcharge and is discharged to 50% per day. Further, a battery which receives minimal overcharging and averages only 25% discharge, lasts even longer.

Push-to-Talk Time-out Timer
To avoid air-wave traffic congestion, transmission ends after one minute even if the PTT button is still pressed. To reset the timer, release the PTT button briefly.

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