G4 Random Reception Dropouts

DewAddict · Mar 18, 2018

Hi All,

Had my G4 a couple of weeks now and on occasion (seems to be more frequent lately) it will lose signal reception after a transmission is received. I can hear the entire transmission and then the signal meter drops to nothing. During this time I miss any radio traffic until the signal pops up again. I can hear the missed traffic on my other scanner so I know it's losing signal and not just a display issue.

I am monitoring the Michigan P25 system, Phase 1, simulcast sites when this happens. I am not using monitor mode at all either...no wildcards in my programming. Any ideas what is happening? I really like the G4 but this issue is getting annoying.

I'd like to reflash the firmware..maybe that will fix it?

Thanks,

Rob

WX4JCW · Mar 18, 2018

Do you have the Michigan specific firmware

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Jason WX4JCW
Unication G4, BCD536HP

DewAddict · Mar 18, 2018

WX4JCW said:
Do you have the Michigan specific firmware

Sent from my iPhone 8 using Tapatalk Pro
Jason WX4JCW
Unication G4, BCD536HP

I was not aware that a special firmware existed for Michigan. I am using the regular firmware V0.93-0.17K-R02.

Thanks for the reply.

WX4JCW · Mar 18, 2018

Yes check with your vendor Michigan is a separate FW

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Jason WX4JCW
Unication G4, BCD536HP

DewAddict · Mar 18, 2018

WX4JCW said:
Yes check with your vendor Michigan is a separate FW

Sent from my iPhone 8 using Tapatalk Pro
Jason WX4JCW
Unication G4, BCD536HP

Thanks for the info. I'll follow up with the dealer who sold me the pager.

troymail · Mar 19, 2018

WX4JCW said:
Yes check with your vendor Michigan is a separate FW

Sent from my iPhone 8 using Tapatalk Pro
Jason WX4JCW
Unication G4, BCD536HP

Jason - is there something in the Michigan firmware that fixes this?

IAmSixNine · Mar 19, 2018

Your positive you have missed traffic while this is happening.

I ask because what i have noticed on my 2 G4 units is the signal indicator follows the CC when there is no voice activity, then when there is voice it seems to show the signal of the voice path. When the person stops talking theres a slight pause, signal goes down and back up. So im guessing its going back to CC. The reason why i think the signal bars are following the talk path is i see a pattern of signal bars fluctuate at the end of each transmission. Ill also note this is when im monitoring a system where i may be on the edge of reception. If im close to a tower or have excellent reception i never notice the bars drop out.
Unlike Uniden scanners, my BK KNG2-P800 and APX which all show the signal indicator of the CC only and not the voice channels.
At least that is what it appears to be doing. But i have not missed any traffic due to that.

ffexpCP · Mar 19, 2018

For an experiment, try turning off multi-select call sampling.

JSsignal16 · Mar 19, 2018

Based on my observation, I've noticed my G5 dropping signal when I'm scanning more than one talkgroup that is active and the radio is switching back and forth between the talkgroups frequently. This seems to occur on any system I've tried that's busy. If I'm only scanning one talkgroup or if only one talkgroup is active in the scan list I've selected, it doesn't seem to do this. I've used the G5 next to other radios and can confirm that it is missing transmissions when the signal drops. When this does occur the signal drop usually lasts about 5 seconds or so and then comes back. I honestly think that not having a scan delay is probably contributing to this because the radio is constantly switching between active talkgroups in between conversations and it probably overloads the processor enough to drop signal.

cpetraglia · Mar 19, 2018

This was happening to my G4 awhile back and seemed to coincide with one of the recent firmware updates. I have the latest FW installed now (R02) and it is no longer doing it. I also listen to a very busy system.

IAmSixNine · Mar 19, 2018

ffexpCP said:
For an experiment, try turning off multi-select call sampling.

Where is that located at again?
I found it. Looks like i do NOT have that enabled. I do not use talk group priority.

JSsignal16 · Mar 19, 2018

cpetraglia said:
This was happening to my G4 awhile back and seemed to coincide with one of the recent firmware updates. I have the latest FW installed now (R02) and it is no longer doing it. I also listen to a very busy system.

That's interesting I also have the current firmware. I can't think of any setting that I could've changed that would cause this. I pretty much left most settings at default.

DewAddict · Mar 20, 2018

I am positive I was missing traffic as I could hear it come through on the 436 scanner on the same talkgroup that the G4 had dropped. The dealer that supplied my pager sent me an older firmware that was labeled for Michigan. It is the firmware ending in R11P. I have flashed the G4 and can report that it no longer drops out at all. I've been listening for several hours now. The PPS is also an older version and is missing some features but they are not any I would use.

I am monitoring a very busy multi-talkgroup system and what JSsignal16 states seems like it could be the problem. A scan delay options would be great.

Thanks for the help all. Problem solved.

mdsxfire · Mar 20, 2018

DewAddict said:
I am positive I was missing traffic as I could hear it come through on the 436 scanner on the same talkgroup that the G4 had dropped. The dealer that supplied my pager sent me an older firmware that was labeled for Michigan. It is the firmware ending in R11P. I have flashed the G4 and can report that it no longer drops out at all. I've been listening for several hours now. The PPS is also an older version and is missing some features but they are not any I would use.

I am monitoring a very busy multi-talkgroup system and what JSsignal16 states seems like it could be the problem. A scan delay options would be great.

Thanks for the help all. Problem solved.

I thought I read a few threads when the last firmware came out That people were having this issue, some fixed it by reflashing the firmware, others are waiting for the next firmware to hopefully fix it.

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IAmSixNine · Mar 21, 2018

Is the site on the Michigan system your monitoring busy?
I ask because of the couple systems i monitor, and noticed the signal go up and down as i mentioned in an earlier thread, that system is much busier then the other one i monitor which has no signal fluctuation.

DewAddict · Mar 21, 2018

IAmSixNine said:
Is the site on the Michigan system your monitoring busy?
I ask because of the couple systems i monitor, and noticed the signal go up and down as i mentioned in an earlier thread, that system is much busier then the other one i monitor which has no signal fluctuation.

Very busy. I'm monitoring several municipalities at the same time since they all use the same tower site.
My signal does also bounce around but that's different than what was happening to me with the dropout. With the dropout, ALL of the signal bars would drop and the lightning bolt would disappear for at least 5 seconds. I live right under a tower so normally I have 3-4 bars and never any out of range indications. Even when it dropped out, it would not show the out of range indication, it would just drop out.

mdsxfire · Mar 21, 2018

DewAddict said:
Very busy. I'm monitoring several municipalities at the same time since they all use the same tower site.

My signal does also bounce around but that's different than what was happening to me with the dropout. With the dropout, ALL of the signal bars would drop and the lightning bolt would disappear for at least 5 seconds. I live right under a tower so normally I have 3-4 bars and never any out of range indications. Even when it dropped out, it would not show the out of range indication, it would just drop out.

Did u have the last firmware and if so did u have the same issue?

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DewAddict · Mar 21, 2018

My G4 came with the lastest firmware and was causing the issue for me. The R11P rollback has still been flawless for me and still no dropouts.

mdsxfire · Mar 21, 2018

DewAddict said:
My G4 came with the lastest firmware and was causing the issue for me. The R11P rollback has still been flawless for me and still no dropouts.

So it seems as with all the drop out complaints the latest firmware is the culprit. Hopefully the phase2 firmware will address this also

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DewAddict · Mar 22, 2018

I don’t have any interest in the phase 2 update so I’m hoping they release a regular firmware update in addition to the phase 2 update. I know many of you have been waiting a long time for phase 2. The Michigan system is phase 1 and if/when they decide to go to phase 2, it will be years before the upgrade is completed. Still going strong without any dropouts since I flashed it. Makes me wonder what hanged in the latest firmware that is causing the bug. Hopefully Unication Dave is at least reading our posts.

G4 Random Reception Dropouts

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