I honestly find this thread to be weird/surprising. My stock G5 antenna works with nearly 100% copy almost anywhere in my county and there's near zero reason I would think to replace it with something else. There are some rather isolated places in my home (i.e. directly behind a steel door) that I've been able to see the (Harris P25 simulcast) system drop out but the vast majority of the time and placement this thing works flawlessly. Wonder if this just varies based on the service your county / system is providing to you. Also I'm not looking to monitor the system from a significant distance i.e. a county over so maybe that helps too.
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Antenna suggestions for Unication G4
- Thread starter seth21w
- Start date
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W8RMH
Feed Provider Since 2012
Did you break the pin off on the stock antenna? Also aftermarket antennas vary, as their connectors may be longer, or shorter. You may have forced the radio's connection down to where the stock antenna pin no longer connects.
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NC3Z
Member
I have looked at both under magnification. Both connectors look intact and as normal. On the antenna I can see the gold center contact.
The radio SMA looks normal. But it may have been possible the other antennas pushed the inside down?
If anyone can measure the distance from the top of the connector down to the teflon spacer. I took a dial caliper and measured right at 0.25"
The radio SMA looks normal. But it may have been possible the other antennas pushed the inside down?
If anyone can measure the distance from the top of the connector down to the teflon spacer. I took a dial caliper and measured right at 0.25"
NC3Z
Member
Thinking back to why I started testing other antennas, the stock antenna may have been bad from the start and just got worse. As I noted I had at least a 15dB improvement per the RSSI meter, that is a lot of difference.
APX8000
Sarcastic Member
My XTS and APX radios with their stubby antennas are all range and signal comparable with my G5 with its factory stubby. I’d check the pin on the G5.
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NC3Z
Member
With a dial caliper I did measurement checks and the pin is at the proper depth. Ray's Pager is getting me another antenna, he said they have seen some issues with the stock antenna.
troymail
Silent Key
I agree that the stock stubby antenna generally works just fine (and is prefered if wearing the unit on your belt) within the area of coverage for most simulcast systems... but there are always exceptions.
I myself initially started trying other antennas (the RS 800, Moto, etc.) to "extend" my reception to systems outside my local area where I lived in Maryland. The Moto was a bit better than the stock stubby and the RS 800 did even better than the Moto. With the RS 800, I could receive systems from Harford County MD to Fairfax VA from inside my house.
When driving and monitoring a statewide system, I usually switch to the stubby. In that situation, you don't (most times) want a "better" antenna the causes the radio to stick to a distant site when you've passed others that are closer along the route.
Living here on the southeastern coast on North Carolina, I pretty much must use something better than the stock stubby to receive the two local NC VIPER (non-simulcast) sites which are only 7-8 miles from me.
OK All
Got an antenna off Ebay - cheap Motorola type but it doesn't screw on deep enough to make contact. I will have to trim quite a bit of the base to get it to connect fully.
WHAT IS AN ANTENNA - That I DON'T HAVE to Trim for my G4 ?? Besides stock stubby.
Got an antenna off Ebay - cheap Motorola type but it doesn't screw on deep enough to make contact. I will have to trim quite a bit of the base to get it to connect fully.
WHAT IS AN ANTENNA - That I DON'T HAVE to Trim for my G4 ?? Besides stock stubby.
APX8000
Sarcastic Member
There are numerous threads regarding antenna selection for the G4/G5 series. But before you search and purchase let me just give my .02:
Most factory Motorola antennas will require you to trim the bottom in order to get a proper connection. Because of this, I have seen the pin forced down requiring a trip back to Unication to repair.
The Unication factory antenna is literally on par with my factory stubby antenna on my several thousand dollar APX portable. As a matter of fact, both radios will go out of range at the same time when I drive outside my County’s coverage area.
The external antenna only applies to reception on the 7/800 band. On the G5, it has an internal loop antenna for VHF or UHF.
While the use of a longer antenna will increase reception distance (I prefer the RS800) if you are going that route, I’ve really found that it wasen’t that great of a distance while mobile to really justify it. The same reason why I use a stubby on my APX vs the longer factory antenna. With 7/800, it’s either there or it’s not.
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Most factory Motorola antennas will require you to trim the bottom in order to get a proper connection. Because of this, I have seen the pin forced down requiring a trip back to Unication to repair.
The Unication factory antenna is literally on par with my factory stubby antenna on my several thousand dollar APX portable. As a matter of fact, both radios will go out of range at the same time when I drive outside my County’s coverage area.
The external antenna only applies to reception on the 7/800 band. On the G5, it has an internal loop antenna for VHF or UHF.
While the use of a longer antenna will increase reception distance (I prefer the RS800) if you are going that route, I’ve really found that it wasen’t that great of a distance while mobile to really justify it. The same reason why I use a stubby on my APX vs the longer factory antenna. With 7/800, it’s either there or it’s not.
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NC3Z
Member
I was a proponent of the longer antenna as I was seeing a 15dB improvement as I live in a very fringe area. But now that I had to send my 1 week old G4 to the factory as the antenna connector failed I will stick with the stock antenna from here on out.
seth21w
Member
I have a moto antenna and the bnc adapter/rs800 and the motorola is the same range as the stock stub the rs800 is slightly better than stock, but not enough to tell much difference so i am just sticking with the stock stub, i chalk it up to me being used to scanners, and having to have many antennas! With this unication pager it is built to pick up clear even with just 1 signal bar. Just got to get used to not having to buy so many antennas to make it work. Because it just does!
I have a G5 and the stock antenna works perfect in and 15 miles around Indpls.
KM4WLV
Member
If you're looking for an antenna you don't have to trim the skirt on then check out the Laird EXS8065F 800 stubby. No need to trim the skirt and it works great. If you compare the threads of it versus a Motorola the connector is just a bit shorter. The other positive with this particular antenna, due to its design, is that you can't crank it down so far like other antennas (Motorola for example) and chance either damaging the center pin or breaking it altogether. Here's a pic of it on my G5. As far as aesthetics I think it looks great.
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KM4WLV
Member
Here's a comparison of the Laird antenna, Motorola antenna, and OEM Unication antenna......
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APX8000
Sarcastic Member
Have you noticed a significant improvement with the Laird vs the factory ?
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Two questions for you:
1. In an older post, you reported that you indeed ended up shaving a small amount of rubber off the Laird to make better center pin contact. Did that resolve the performance issue you reported in the same post?
2. I can't find that product number on the Laird site and makes me wonder if it's still in production. Also, I suspect the "5" should really be "S" when comparing to other Laird products, but that change yields no result either.
Can you supply a source for that product?
Thanks for any additional insight!
KM4WLV
Member
I assure you it wasn't me that posted anything about trimming the Laird antenna down. It didn't need to be because of the threaded stud being shorter. It fits almost identical to the OEM antenna. In an earlier post in this thread I mentioned trimming my Motorola stubby down, which I posted side by side pics of. I'm posting a pic of my Laird antenna as it sits now showing it hasn't been trimmed. This is the same one currently on my G5. Also attaching some of the pics previously posted of it and the Motorola stubby I did trim down. (The first pic is the one I took just now, the second is a comparison of the Laird, Motorola, and OEM Unication antennas side by side)
On the part number it's EXS806SF. Gotta love autocorrect on phones lol. I don't remember where I purchased from. If you do a Google search with "Laird EXS806SF" you'll find what you're looking for.
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KM4WLV
Member
The Laird didn't really cause a noticeable improvement as far as reception. As long as you're within good RF coverage of what you're listening to its works fairly well compared to the OEM antenna. However it does struggle indoors depending on building construction. I've left it on recently but I also normally keep the Unication antenna in my pocket when I don't have my computer bag nearby where I normally keep spare antennas.
All in all I don't have any regrets about purchasing it because it really does work fairly well.
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