G5, SDS100, 436 which is better on P25 simulcast?

genemalet · Jun 16, 2018

This is my experience and only my experience.
I live in Johns Creek Ga. Have a P25 Simulcast system. For the last 2 years, several people have said with my 436 and P25 simulcast, play with this setting and play with that setting and use a paperclip for an antenna, blah blah blah then I started hearing about LSM issues. I said screw it. Bought a Unication. Fricken system is clear as a bell. Then... I was excited about the SDS100. Was told this will work just as good. Lots of folks saying its a great radio. I spent the 649.00, had the scanner for 5 days, my 436 picks up the Simulcast better than the sds 100. Here is the weird part the 436 and sds pick up different parts of the conversation. So I need to have them both running at the same time to hear everything. WTF!!!

But wait, I pulled out my trusty Unication G5 and guess what, clear as a bell. All conversations are heard. So I sold my SDS for 680.00, made a profit and called it a day.

sprite1741 · Jun 16, 2018

Thanks for the review. I had the same bad experience with a BCD 436 vs my other scanners over a year ago. Missing transmission, rattling speaker above 8 to 10 on the vol. among other issues. The Uniden forum is all cheerleading and was no help and a turn off to the whole brand. I got rid of the 436 in short order and have been very happy with scanning since, but would like to try something new. Reading about the SDS100 is 436 all over again. Looking at the G5 right now.

troymail · Jun 16, 2018

Based on the track record and hype, for the first time in a long time, I opted to stay on the sidelines this time and not get all that excited about (or run to the front of the line for) the SDS-100.... My G5 just can't be beat for simulcast... My original G4 worked great on day 1 and my upgrade to a G5 is only getting better over time (and, even better since developing my own nearly fully automated programming script).

rvacs · Jun 16, 2018

SDS100 will get refinements to make it better. (Firmware)

But not sure it will ever be as good as the Unication Radios on Simulcast.

PS - Had an SDS100 and sent it back....

markjrenna · Jun 16, 2018

I just ordered a G5 to go along with my G4. I don't feel like being a Uniden beta tester for the $649.99 SDS100 entrance fee. I will try the SDS100 once it has matured and I see more positive reports.

FYI for those in NJ on the fence: NJICS Phase 2 and Phase 1 on my G4 is marvelous!

UPMan · Jun 16, 2018

For pure simulcast, I have only seen 100% positive results for the SDS100. I have seen 3 classses of other issues reported as simulcast problems, but that were actually:

User error (not turning on service types, scanning multiple sites and attributing missed calls to simulcast and not that it just wasn't on a site carrying the desired traffic...resolved by holding on a site)
Weak signal, not simulcast
Interference from local RF sources (sitting a couple of feet from an RF noisy PC, resolved by moving it several feet away, etc).

kinglou0 · Jun 16, 2018

UPMan said:
For pure simulcast, I have only seen 100% positive results for the SDS100. I have seen 3 classses of other issues reported as simulcast problems, but that were actually:

Interference from local RF sources (sitting a couple of feet from an RF noisy PC, resolved by moving it several feet away, etc).

Where do I even start?

Selling an "advanced" scanner that chokes in the modern environment of high noise floors created by everything and anything, not just noisy PC equipment. So the SDS100 is no better than my drawer of sub-$200 SDR's? That's not reassuring.

Pretty sure Unication didn't cheat, bribe, or scam their way through the FCC Part 15 tests for the G4/G5 and yet, my G5 does great even when its parked right next to an older Panasonic plasma TV that wipes everything radio related out unless it is unplugged from a power source. I'd venture to say that the RF hash coming out an aging plasma TV rivals anything a modern PC could emit.

I know we're comparing apples versus oranges (a scanner with a wide receive range vs a pager with a very narrow range) but jumping into this forum to defend your product to a set of people who have a very clear set of requirements NOT met by the SDS100 just screams (insert an applicable word here).

Maybe you guys get it figured out but years of trying to crack the simulcast nut by Uniden and Whistler/GRE leads me to believe you won't especially given the new receiver architecture.

UPMan · Jun 16, 2018

The title of this thread is Simulcast performance. Perhaps you should start a thread on immunity to wide-band RF interference to continue that diversion from this thread's titular intent.

Markscan · Jun 16, 2018

markjrenna said:
I just ordered a G5 to go along with my G4. I don't feel like being a Uniden beta tester for the $649.99 SDS100 entrance fee. I will try the SDS100 once it has matured and I see more positive reports.

FYI for those in NJ on the fence: NJICS Phase 2 and Phase 1 on my G4 is marvelous!

My G5 does excellent on NJICS. But my testing of the SDS100 has been almost as good. Plus it has the added benefit of having additional features like talk group delay, and talk group hold so I don’t miss the remainder of a conversation. But the G5 is an excellent unit.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

eaf1956 · Jun 16, 2018

UPMan said:
For pure simulcast, I have only seen 100% positive results for the SDS100. I have seen 3 classses of other issues reported as simulcast problems, but that were actually:

User error (not turning on service types, scanning multiple sites and attributing missed calls to simulcast

How can you HOLD on a particular site on SIMULCAST when they only have one set of frequencies for all the sites? In other words for my local simulcast system they have the frequencies being used but do NOT have 3 different sites because they all use the same frequencies.

jonwienke · Jun 16, 2018

eaf1956 said:
How can you HOLD on a particular site on SIMULCAST when they only have one set of frequencies for all the sites? In other words for my local simulcast system they have the frequencies being used but do NOT have 3 different sites because they all use the same frequencies.

There's only one site to hold on, even though there are multiple transmitters within the site. It's a logical entity, rather than a physical entity.

Citywide173 · Jun 16, 2018

I learned my lesson on being an early adopter with my 536. Never again. I waited several years before buying my G5, watching the threads here very closely, and then snatched up a deal on ebay for $495. I have been very happy with the performance and Unication customer service was more than accommodating when I had a problem purchasing the Phase II upgrade.

I'm not saying that I will never buy another Uniden, but I know I won't be the first to have any new model they come out with. Sitting back and looking at things, it appears that there are two types of scanner users-those that enjoy listening/searching for frequencies and those that use it as a tool. I, and many others are in the latter group. I use a Home Patrol I next to my desk in work, and it saves the battery on my XTS2500. When I am not working, I do fire scene photography on the side and the expectation of the scanner to hear what I want makes it a mission critical device. The G5 outperforms every scanner I've ever owned. I have watched the Uniden fanboys fall over themselves cheering about the SDS100, but I have also seen many people with issues that don't appear to be occurring with the G5. For those of us that it is a mission critical device, I don't think the SDS100 is currently something that is going to replace a Unication product anytime in the near future. For the average scanner user, I hope they enjoy it.

mancow · Jun 16, 2018

I'm an early adopter mainly for the fun of it. The highs and lows of getting to test the new stuff is addictive to me. That being said I'm sitting here listening to a system on a lesser efficient antenna that I could in the past only pick up sporadically with a 536 on an 800 beam. The simulcast issue is eliminated and this is a system that gives my APX4000 trouble at times.

The SDS100 is exactly what I expected RF wise but maybe that's from messing with SDRs quite a bit. I expected a bit of overall RF sensitivity reduction and hoped I would be rewarded on the back side with proper LSM recovery. I received exactly what I paid for.

allend · Jun 17, 2018

Citywide173 said:
I learned my lesson on being an early adopter with my 536. Never again. I waited several years before buying my G5, watching the threads here very closely, and then snatched up a deal on ebay for $495. I have been very happy with the performance and Unication customer service was more than accommodating when I had a problem purchasing the Phase II upgrade.

I'm not saying that I will never buy another Uniden, but I know I won't be the first to have any new model they come out with. Sitting back and looking at things, it appears that there are two types of scanner users-those that enjoy listening/searching for frequencies and those that use it as a tool. I, and many others are in the latter group. I use a Home Patrol I next to my desk in work, and it saves the battery on my XTS2500. When I am not working, I do fire scene photography on the side and the expectation of the scanner to hear what I want makes it a mission critical device. The G5 outperforms every scanner I've ever owned. I have watched the Uniden fanboys fall over themselves cheering about the SDS100, but I have also seen many people with issues that don't appear to be occurring with the G5. For those of us that it is a mission critical device, I don't think the SDS100 is currently something that is going to replace a Unication product anytime in the near future. For the average scanner user, I hope they enjoy it.

Oh yeah I was an adopter too on the 436 and 536 and learned a big lesson. This why I stay on the sidelines too for now with my APX radio. There is no hurry when you have commercial grade equipment that works flawless and is worth every penny spent on it. Between people that have Moto equipment and Unication G4 and G5 radios there is no complaining about nothing.

The old saying goes "Shame on them once and then Shame on us twice" if we do it to ourselves over again. Enjoy sitting on the sidelines with the rest of the commercial grade crew.

bdp278 · Jun 17, 2018

Hands down the G4/G5 performs much better on the Louisiana LWIN P25 simulcast site, much better than 436, 536, HP1, HP 2. But it's not a scanner, so don't expect all the scanner features like Channel hold, lockout, etc, but if you have specific talk groups you like to listen to most of the time, this unit will be perfect. There are occasional audio squeals, & some channels come across as encrypted audio when actually they are not encrypted, but that's just the nature of this unit. Been having my G5 for about a year, even dropped it a few times, still works well.

Uni1 · Jun 17, 2018

bdp278 said:
Hands down the G4/G5 performs much better on the Louisiana LWIN P25 simulcast site, much better than 436, 536, HP1, HP 2. But it's not a scanner, so don't expect all the scanner features like Channel hold, lockout, etc, but if you have specific talk groups you like to listen to most of the time, this unit will be perfect. There are occasional audio squeals, & some channels come across as encrypted audio when actually they are not encrypted, but that's just the nature of this unit. Been having my G5 for about a year, even dropped it a few times, still works well.

What firmware version do you have on your G5?

markjrenna · Jun 17, 2018

Never heard anything encrypted that is in the database as not encrypted. I also have my G4 near my computer. Never an issue. Try again.

bdp278 · Jun 17, 2018

v0.93-0.17K-R02

bdp278 · Jun 17, 2018

markjrenna said:
Never heard anything encrypted that is in the database as not encrypted. I also have my G4 near my computer. Never an issue. Try again.

I've read about same issues from G5 users on other threads, so maybe has to do with certain systems.

troymail · Jun 17, 2018

bdp278 said:
There are occasional audio squeals, & some channels come across as encrypted audio when actually they are not encrypted, but that's just the nature of this unit.

I've experienced both of these under certain conditions in the past (I even briefly reported some TGs on a Florida system as partially encrypted but then had to retract it).

However, I can say that these issues are non-existent (or nearly) with the T08 firmware that was provide when I upgraded to Phase 2. The audio has never sounded better since getting that firmware....

G5, SDS100, 436 which is better on P25 simulcast?

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