Unication *New* G4 and G5 pagers/ somewhat limited scanner

[phirephoto]

So my dealer is going out of town until the end of the month but he believes the price point is around $850 or so for the dual band G5..

 

[phirephoto]

For what it's worth, I spoke with a couple Unication bigwigs a couple weeks ago at the International Wireless Communications Expo. They *are* aware that there is a small market amongst scanner-geek hobbyists for this product, and they are happy to sell units to them. I was told the programming software is readily available, and I assume based on context, he (a VP) meant available to hobbyist purchasers.

One nice thing it looks like the amplified drop-in charger will have is a VHF whip antenna/port on the back of the unit. I don't know if there's also a 7/800Mhz external antenna port.

Software is free. Their support has been great. For the G4, programming and charging is done via a micro USB cable.

 

[phirephoto]

So my dealer is going out of town until the end of the month but he believes the price point is around $850 or so for the dual band G5..

Going through my notes.. $850 might have been for the G4. So I'll confirm once he's back in town.

 

[whisper16]

Phase II

What's the word on phase II capability?

 

[phirephoto]

What's the word on phase II capability?

"In the pipeline" was I believe what they said....

 

[kayn1n32008]

True however i was saying for the cost of a G4 pager you can buy a minitor and used ht1250 for each member instead of an overpriced pager that is trying to do the same as a scanner basically.

What good is a HT-1250/Minitor 4/5/6 if you operate on a 700MHz or 800MHz trunk system? With the advent of a true trunking pager, you no longer need to have a VHF-Low, VHF-Hi, or UHF FM/Conventional paging frequency. Seems like a great idea.

One thing to remember, this is NOT a scanner, designed for scanner-Wackers. This is a pager meant for Fire and EMS. Likely the receiver is designed to receive the various wave forms the different manufacturers use for both multi-site and simulcast P25 systems.

 

[DanRollman]

"In the pipeline" was I believe what they said....

At IWCE last month, Unication told me Phase II would be "later this year". He was well aware that these devices could now be a big hit among hobbyists and said they were working on some improvements that would make the devices more scanner-like in terms of features and operation, while retaining their professional-subscriber-radio-like quality.

A Relm /BK Radio KNG-P800 can be purchased new with software, with Phase II enabled, for well under $2k, and has the ability to program in a true receive-only trunking mode (with no system keys needed) and operate just like a very high quality scanner, programmed with 16 systems and 5000+ channels. So Unication ought not raise their price too much more when they add Phase II.

Dan

 

[whisper16]

Phase II

At IWCE last month, Unication told me Phase II would be "later this year". He was well aware that these devices could now be a big hit among hobbyists and said they were working on some improvements that would make the devices more scanner-like in terms of features and operation, while retaining their professional-subscriber-radio-like quality.

A Relm /BK Radio KNG-P800 can be purchased new with software, with Phase II enabled, for well under $2k, and has the ability to program in a true receive-only trunking mode (with no system keys needed) and operate just like a very high quality scanner, programmed with 16 systems and 5000+ channels. So Unication ought not raise their price too much more when they add Phase II.

Dan

Hi Dan

Thanks for the additional info. It's nice to see a manufacture that is listening. I will be keeping tabs on what they come out with.

Scott

 

[jcardani]

Hi Dan,

The Relm/BK is a very interesting radio. I quickly browsed some of the documents on their web site including the programming software pdf manual.

Is there an option in the software to ignore the system key and allow receive only trunking mode. I did not see those options but I did go through the document very fast.

This radio sounds like the dream professional scanner I was waiting for!

How is one purchased? Can you recommend a dealer?

thanks!

 

[K4SVT]

I rather go with a harris....but Relm is we have out in the field and they are pretty good radios

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

 

[DanRollman]

Hi Dan,

The Relm/BK is a very interesting radio. I quickly browsed some of the documents on their web site including the programming software pdf manual.

Is there an option in the software to ignore the system key and allow receive only trunking mode. I did not see those options but I did go through the document very fast.

This radio sounds like the dream professional scanner I was waiting for!

How is one purchased? Can you recommend a dealer?

thanks!

Joe,

I have two KNG-P800 phase II radios and they are fantastic. Yes, they have a true receive only mode. In the section of the software where you set up a system, you simply check the "RX Only" check box and the software stops asking for a system key and ensures that the radio is incapable of transmitting on that system. On that system, it just becomes a very high quality "trunking scanner". In my experience, the Relm radios receive just as well as a Motorola subscriber radio (in terms of receive audio quality and range) on Phase I and Phase II simulcast systems, and have some features the Motorola APX doesn't even offer (like keypad front panel programming for conventional channels and priority scan lists that can be quickly edited from the keypad).

I've sold off all but one of my old "junky consumer-grade scanner toys". I wish I had bought a quality P25 radio a long time ago. Skipping the purchase of just 3 of my "toy" scanners (that occasionally pick up part of a garbled transmission here and there!!) would have financed the purchase of the Relm that picks up every transmission perfectly. Now that I've had these radios for close to a year, I can't imagine going back to the consumer hobbyist junk I spent so much money on and wasted so much time trying to make work (yagi antennas to overcome simulcast distortion and the like).

I ordered through a friend that is a Relm dealer after witnessing the power of these radios as scanners at IWCE last year (Relm was playing Las Vegas Metro PD phase II talkgroups on their demo radios at their booth - something Motorola couldn't have done without hacking their customer's system key).

Send me a PM and I will provide contact details.

Dan

 

[DanRollman]

I rather go with a harris....but Relm is we have out in the field and they are pretty good radios

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

Either way. I've heard Harris has a true RX Only mode option too, but the necessary software is a little harder to get than Relm. I'm not a brand loyalist. I just encourage all serious hobbyists to consider buying a high quality P25 receiver (Relm, Harris, Unication, etc.) so we can minimize the gripes about the terrible performance of Uniden and Whistler toy scanners on P25 systems while also minimizing any need for talk of hacking Motorola radios.

 

[Markb]

I don't know why it's so difficult for other manufacturers to add an RX only option. It would certainly cut down on some of the hackery.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[DanRollman]

I don't know why it's so difficult for other manufacturers to add an RX only option. It would certainly cut down on some of the hackery.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

It's not technically "difficult" at all. It's a business model decision. One particular manufacturer (the largest) has decided they don't want their radios used as scanners, even by professionals who'd like to be able to monitor surrounding P25 trunking systems for interoperability and safety reasons without the formality (and administrative hassle) of exchanging system keys and coordinating radio IDs.

 

[K4SVT]

Because they dont want scanner listeners on the channels listening to them..

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

 

[rrnewuser]

I am very interested in the G4/G5 pagers ... however, the county that I work in has a p25 system built on 482-490 mhz, and I see that both the G4 and G5 are specified for 700-800mhz - so I think these are not compatible with our local system.

However, I see that our local p25 system *also* has 7-800mhz frequencies listed as:

"interop p25 channels for use with incoming, non-local agencies"

What do I need to ask our systems operators to confirm or deny that these devices would or would not be useful on our system ?

Thanks.

 

[Markb]

The G5 is supposed to be dual band, according to the literature.
700/800+VHF or UHF

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[rrnewuser]

The G5 is supposed to be dual band, according to the literature.
700/800+VHF or UHF

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Oh - so that is the other band that it is "dual" with - it is 700-800, and then it is also *either* VHF *or *UHF*.

So in my case, I would get the UHF model, yes ?

 

[whisper16]

G5

Yes you would want the UHF. I would confirm that the UHF/700-800 covers the portion of the UHF band that you need meaning 482-490 as you stated.

 

[phirephoto]

So I have a G4 and the software is the same (apparently?) for the G5. According to the codeplugs I have, and the help file, There's the G5 UHF-D which will do 450-520. Is this final? No. Is this confirmed? No.