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We're just past 45 days. Thoughts on your G4/G5 Phase 2 unit?

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kinglou0

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May 12, 2003
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Title says it all. What are your thoughts & experiences? It can be the Phase 2 out of the box units or those that have been shipped back for the upgrade.

My thoughts:

The flakiness I complained about has largely disappeared. The only nagging issue is the inconsistent volume I get. It's most likely due to the radio on the system and not my pager. I wish there was a way to adjust DAC gain. My issue with channel bleedover has vanished. Very weird. I don't know if it'll come back but it's gone for now.

The only other thing I can think of is that I do a "reset" anytime I take my unit off the charger. I don't know if it helps but it doesn't seem to hurt either.

Durability has been exceptional. A drop on to asphalt from about 6 feet and a day of constant salt water immersion have been shrugged off.

Antenna wise, I've ditched the stubby that came with the unit. The Motorola NAR6595A does a slightly better job with all the foliage that has come back along with trips into areas with taller buildings.

I've got no regrets about the $660 spent and nothing beats being able to clearly receive simulcast traffic while doing 75+ MPH down the freeway or in the rugged foothills of Mt. Rainier. A DMR upgrade would push me towards another G5 but for now, I'll wait and see if the Uniden SDS is the same old crap or something revolutionary.
 

mike4nzix

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Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Messages
39
Location
Violet Township, Ohio
Pros: Absolutely love the G5 (400-470 UHF unit). No issues with anything I want to hear. Simulcast MARCS-IP system in Columbus, Ohio, from Fairfield County? No problem. UHF conventional Pickerington PD? Flawless. Conventional never sounded so good coming through hardware or Bluetooth. Conventional P25 (UHF) from Lancaster PD? Surgical precision, it seems. Literally handles everything I've thrown at it with no alterations to the unit, and returns reliable two-way traffic. Even works in the basement. I personally prefer the Unication programming software to that of Whistler's EZ Scan. Add site frequencies; add talkgroups; set your zones/knobs. Done. It just works, man.

Cons: Full co-sign on volume disparity from radio to talkgroup. It's a noticeable issue. Cannot lockout talkgroups on wildcard search. Encrypted traffic can dominate wildcard output at times, with no way to skip or suppress inaudible, nails-on-the-chalkboard-esque content. Would love to scan more than one site at a time, but it may be impossible as of May 2018. Although it's a sturdy and well-built unit, I've noticed that its vertical balance tends to tip more than you'd expect. Has fell from a table more than once due to slight instability that you would not expect to see from such a heavy piece of hardware.
 

JD21960

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ILL-annoyed
G4/G5 p2 ??

Sticking ONLY to the Phase 2 question and not 10 other things? .. Phase 2 is PERFECT on mine. Thanks Unication.
 
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APX8000

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I like to think of myself as one of the Unication OG’s when it’s popularity wasen’t as known and Unication didn’t even have its own thread ! Some of the issues that bother me from day one still exist (lack of talkgroup hold and nuisance delete, lack of encryption muting, inability to alpha tag RIDs, etc). Some issues that came from firmware updates (limiting zones to 32). HOWEVER, other than a commercial subscriber like my APX, I have not found ANY scanner that can provide me with the reception distance and LSM clarity that I get with my G5, period. I have UHF, 700 and 800 Phase I and II systems from Key West, FL to Massachusetts programmed in and use it everyday. I upgraded the unit to Phase II and the audio is damn near perfect. It would get a perfect score if that slight low volume hiss was gone. I’ve run it side by side with my APX portable and the reception range is about equal. I also like its carry ability...it’s a small package that clips to my belt or sits in my cup holder. After being spoiled with what it offers, you’ll cringe trying to monitor a trunked system on a scanner. I do hear great things about Uniden and their new software defined scanner....similar technology with some good beta testing...if they can master it and add the features that Unication lacks and users have been asking for, I see
the Unication popularity lessening, especially if Uniden offers a mobile and portable version of their SDS line. But I still like Unications portability.



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radio3353

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Jul 25, 2003
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My G4 does the job for me without any negatives.I bought it for the sole purpose of hearing my county's P25 Phase 2 simulcast system which no consumer scanner will reliably receive. I get 100% copy. I have not yet tried it on Philadelphia's simulcast system since I cannot pick that up from home, only when I am mobile near or in the city. I only get down there two or three times a year. I will be in the city in early July so I am anxious to test it then.

I got my G4 from Ray's when he had them on sale. Good buy for $565.
 

troymail

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Dec 19, 2002
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Supply (Lockwood Inlet area), NC
Tested my upgraded G5 on several Phase 2 systems in the last month - mostly 700/800 but also a 400 Mhz system. The Phase 2 quality was as good as the Phase 1 I've seen for more than a year now.

The only issue I encountered was a new county level Harris Phase 2 system.... signal dropouts and voice levels all over the place. In contrast, I listened to a state level Motorola system in the same county (actually every county site) and it sounded great - damn near perfect. I really suspect the issues I was seeing were in the Harris system itself.

And finally, at one point, I was even listening to both of these Phase 2 systems nearly 20 miles outside of the county borders - and the 400 system I was listening to (briefly) 30 miles away.
 

BigWonton

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Mar 22, 2017
Messages
106
Location
Cleveland, OH
There's only one Phase II system in my area and it sounds great with the Phase II update/upgrade. With regard to audio quality before/after upgrade, I'm not sure I hear much of a difference.

I tried using a Laird EXS-806-SF on the Unication but went back to the factory stubby. I'll have to take a look at the Motorola antenna
 

ThePhotoGuy

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Maryland
I am happy with how the Phase II works on my Statewide Phase II system.

I wish they would do more upgrades with the programming software. Ability to copy and paste talkgroups in the system instead of doing one at a time. The programming software is pretty slow when you are trying to add data too it.
 

BSchaner

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May 6, 2015
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Location
Michigan
I've had my unit for a few weeks now and love the better audio and better reception at lower signal bars. One thing I have noticed is that the recordings audio cuts off at the end a transmission causing there to be the last word or so to be cut off the recording. Other than that performance is great!
 

boatbod

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Mar 3, 2007
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Talbot Co, MD
My county is almost exclusively phase 2 and my G5 has performed well. As an active first responder I do wish there was a way to dual-watch the 700mhz trunked system at the same time as the vhf analog pager tones. As it is I have to remember to twist the knob back to vhf once I'm done listening to the tac channels.
 

mdsxfire

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Dec 24, 2005
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Uxbridge, north of the river Thames
got my g5 preordered from rays and love it. listen primarily to my counties harris phase 2 system with no issues, sounds awesome. the volume variable but i think that’s voice level of the individual user. second system is a moto phase 2 UHF and also sounds great no issues!


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6Paul21

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Jul 2, 2002
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Florida
Yes the sound does vary on certain TG's from Hillsborough County Florida and it is Harris. Pinellas County in Moto with no problems with audio.
Ed
 

GTO_04

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Noblesville, IN
Title says it all. What are your thoughts & experiences? It can be the Phase 2 out of the box units or those that have been shipped back for the upgrade.

A DMR upgrade would push me towards another G5 but for now, I'll wait and see if the Uniden SDS is the same old crap or something revolutionary.

The SDS 100 is very good. I got to see them in action at the Dayton Hamvention. It is almost as good as the Unication, so I am going to get an SDS and keep my G5. All my other scanners sound like garbage on my local P25 simulcast system by comparison. And I don't have my G5 back yet from the Phase II upgrade so my G5 is probably going to sound even better!

GTO_04
 

markjrenna

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Mar 29, 2006
Messages
404
Location
NJ
I could not listen to my town since they went to phase 2. Terrible LSM issues in my location.

I am in my glory with the G4!
 

kinglou0

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May 12, 2003
Messages
257
The SDS 100 is very good. I got to see them in action at the Dayton Hamvention. It is almost as good as the Unication, so I am going to get an SDS and keep my G5.

GTO_04

Good to hear. My first scanner was a Uniden BC60XLT and I've always had a soft spot for Uniden despite their shenanigans and empty promises.
 

GTO_04

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Good to hear. My first scanner was a Uniden BC60XLT and I've always had a soft spot for Uniden despite their shenanigans and empty promises.

Uniden has made a lot of progress and the hardware build quality is very good. My trusty old 396XT has suffered a lot of abuse being dropped etc and it's still kicking. But the digital is lacking compared to the SDS 100 and G5.

I just got an email from Unication saying that my G5 is updated and being sent back to me. That was fast! I just shipped it to Texas from Indiana Monday evening.

GTO_04
 

kinglou0

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Anyone else notice this kind of thing on Harris systems (Phase 1 or Phase 2)?

Our blended Phase 2 system out here in Pierce County is all Motorola and it has this issue. You can hear it whether you're on the County 700 MHz system or the South Sound/City of Tacoma 800 MHz system.

All of the low audio radios I hear have been on Sheriff Talkgroups. Even more perplexing is that radios from other agencies on the same talkgroup don't have this problem. In fact, even if I miss the "State xxx" callsign, I know when a WA State Patrol radio comes up on the local sheriff department talkgroups. Their radios have a very distinctive sound profile.

It probably boils down to the fact that we have multiple agency radio shops out here and some like to tweak audio settings and some don't.
 

IAmSixNine

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Dec 19, 2002
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Dallas, TX
You nailed it on the head.

APX radios can have profiles set up. You can reduce the audio and change a lot of parameters. I think thats is why some people hear louder transmissions.

Local fire dept i monitor has 1 engine company that has such low audio its extremely annoying. Its always the same engine no matter what shift is on.
Other units sound fine.
 

mdsxfire

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Dec 24, 2005
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Uxbridge, north of the river Thames
i’m pretty sure after our town went live on our counties harris system they were out a few times, seemed to be tweaking things possibly audio. My FD TGs don’t seem to have the volume issue that others i listen to do, the only strange things is they are all setup/managed by the same company.
Things that make u go hmmmmm!


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