Unication G4, G5 for DFW area ?

[billpritjr]

It was recommended that I post this in the "Texas Forum"

Scanner user since 1985 here. Used them/had them all. Radio Shack, Bearcat, etc. Also Amateur Tech class holder, owned Alinco's and Yaesu's over the years. Not "my first hay ride" when it comes to radios.

With that said, I get fatigued pretty quickly trying to keep up with the recent trunking scanners. I like the home patrol but the purist in me says the radio in my palm should be field programmable, not require I be close to a USB port to listen to a frequency. And if I have no real choice, I want the radio to work as expected.

My "target" is Dallas-Ft Worth area public safety, mostly FIRE, because if it is "big" they will send a fire truck. I am not interested in listening to law enforcement prowler calls or gas drive-offs at 7-11, in between major incidents. My primary system will be Denton County (link: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8438), note the following disclaimer:

The new system uses P25 Phase II modulation, and requires a newer digital type of scanner that can decode radio traffic on this system. Currently, the following scanners can decodeP25 Phase II and Motorola X2-TDMA systems:

* GRE PSR-800
* Radio Shack Pro-668
* Uniden BCD436HP, BCD536HP, HomePatrol-2, BCD325P2, BCD996P2
* Whistler WS1080, WS1095

Thank you

 

[hiegtx]

It was recommended that I post this in the "Texas Forum"

Scanner user since 1985 here. Used them/had them all. Radio Shack, Bearcat, etc. Also Amateur Tech class holder, owned Alinco's and Yaesu's over the years. Not "my first hay ride" when it comes to radios.

With that said, I get fatigued pretty quickly trying to keep up with the recent trunking scanners. I like the home patrol but the purist in me says the radio in my palm should be field programmable, not require I be close to a USB port to listen to a frequency. And if I have no real choice, I want the radio to work as expected.

My "target" is Dallas-Ft Worth area public safety, mostly FIRE, because if it is "big" they will send a fire truck. I am not interested in listening to law enforcement prowler calls or gas drive-offs at 7-11, in between major incidents. My primary system will be Denton County (link: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8438), note the following disclaimer:




Thank you

The current Whistler models, capable of receiving P25 Phase II, include the WS1088 and WS1098, These are the followup models to the WS1080 & WS1095, which have been discontinued. The main difference is that the 1088 & 1098 have a numeric keypad. Whistler also has the TRX-1 & TRX-2.

I have the TRX-1, as well as Uniden's BCD536HP, BCD436HP (x2), BCD325P2, and Home Patrol-2. I also have Uniden's newest scanner, the SDS100.

I do not have either of the Unication units, but all reports seem to be that they work very well, including on the systems in the DFW metro area. However, these are not 'true' scanners, though they can be used as such in specific cases. More specifically, the G4 & G5 can only cover one system at a time, and there is a limit to the number of talkgroups it can monitor. (I don't know the limit, but suspect that, for just your Denton County area, it would be sufficient). These are designed with simulcast in mind, and apparently handle it well. I'll leave it to those who own one of these units to provide more information. Note that, as the G4 & G5 are limited to only one system at a time, you would be restricted to only Denton's P25 system. If you reprogrammed to switch to, say FWRRS, or PAWM (Plano's system), you would lose Denton.

Check this thread, and more specifically, the spreadsheet linked in the post. There, you'll see comparisons on how various scanners handled systems, including several entries specific to Denton. While I have not been up in Denton (the city) to try out reception, I did spend some time in northern Coppell, comparing reception on my 436HP, TRX-1, and SDS100. The SDS100 was receiving both the Lewisville & Denton simulcast sites well, and did not seem to be having any problems or missing calls, The 436HP was doing well, about an 8 out of 10(the SDS100 was 10). The TRX-1 was well behind both, at about a 4 out of 10. As time permits, I am planning to try other problem systems and areas to get additional information.

 

[BenScan]

The Unication G4/G5s are solid little radios. I use several of them, and prefer them over the Whistler and Uniden scanners that didn't work as advertised. I haven't tried the new Uniden SDS-100. It looks promising, but so did their previous models which ended up being disappointing. If you want to focus your scanning on a particular site on a P25 system, the Unications are an excellent choice. If you need more flexibility, I suggest giving an SDS-100 a chance, but keep the packaging and be prepared to return it, if it doesn't do as advertised. Keep in mind that the city of Denton is STILL analog, and will eventually switch to P25. The Unication doesn't do analog trunking systems, only P25, and only one site at a time. I'm able to monitor the Denton County site well from Bedford. I don't typically monitor the Lewisville site, but I can if necessary. I should note that I can use the Unication G4/G5s with their supplied antennas, and not have to mess with yagi antennas to monitor Denton.

 

[rvacs]

I use a G4 around the Austin, TX area and it is FABULOUS.
So yes it has no HOLD while scanning...so what do I do?
Scan all dispatch channels....if I hear something I like to listen to all of it "On going conversation" just turn to a scan bank that has just that channel.

IT is not a scanner...but it does what most of us want.
I still think the Uniden Scanners are great....and have owned a few.

Check out this Facebook Page: unication g-series voice pager users (g1 - g4 - g5)

Looks like there is a guy in Denton, TX - Frisco, TX and I am sure many others. Heck Unication and Uniden are in the Dallas area.

I still have an HP-2 for travel with GPS embedded. And I like the 536HP (and have owned) - but if simulcast or reception is an issue - Unication for sure...

 

[dough1590]

Unication G5

Bill, in reply to your post, I reside in Frisco and use my Unication G5 to monitor local and county police and fire channels. Clear as a bell for P25 Phase 1 and 2 systems. Denton city is still analog and is NOT received. Unication only does P25 and VHF signals. Dallas County and Dallas fire and police do come in but only if I'm south of the Bush Turnpike due to limited internal antenna. If you have any questions shoot me an email and I'll try to help.

 

[Jimco]

Note that, as the G4 & G5 are limited to only one system at a time, you would be restricted to only Denton's P25 system. If you reprogrammed to switch to, say FWRRS, or PAWM (Plano's system), you would lose Denton.

Not technically. You can create a zone for Denton County's system and another zone for another system such as FWRRS. You can switch between those zones and then monitor different sites on those zones using different knob positions.

The limitation of the Unication pagers is that you can only *monitor* one site in a system at a time. You can program the radio with multiple sites and multiple systems.

I have my pager configured so that each zone contains a different system and each knob position has a specific combination of TGIDs in that system. All of the TGIDs in a knob position need to be on the same site because once the radio locks onto a control channel, it won't switch to a different one.

 

[jasday]

I cannot comment on the G4/G5, and I don't know if you're in the market for a phase 2 capable scanner for the first time. But I can confirm that the Denton Co p25 Phase II system is monitorable with scanners. It does not suffer from simulcast distortion. I live 5 miles to the west of Ponder and have no issues with reception or distortion with a 325p2 at home or anywhere else within the expected coverage area of the system. The only system I have any issues with is the FWRRS layers 1 and 2. All other layers such as NE, Irving, Mansfield and Johnson Co have had no issues with this scanner.

The 325p2 is front key programmable and it's not hard to make changes on it once you're use to it. I was able to program initially and make changes to the Megahertz DMR system with out my computer.

 

[billpritjr]

Bill, in reply to your post, I reside in Frisco and use my Unication G5 to monitor local and county police and fire channels. Clear as a bell for P25 Phase 1 and 2 systems. Denton city is still analog and is NOT received. Unication only does P25 and VHF signals. Dallas County and Dallas fire and police do come in but only if I'm south of the Bush Turnpike due to limited internal antenna. If you have any questions shoot me an email and I'll try to help.

Thank you dough

 

[DMBFireman]

The Denton County P25 Phase II system does suffer from simulcast distortion....it just depends on where you live. I have the problem with my 436HP as well as a 996P2 scanner that I use to broadcast Denton County Fire Departments on Broadcastify. There are times where no audio comes across at all. In fact there was an early morning fire in Flower Mound and no traffic was caught on the broadcast. It was completely deaf.

I don't have personal experience with the Unications but they do work well however they are limited as "scanners" due to the issues described above. With Denton County you would only be able to listen to the Denton Co. site or Lewisville site at one time. Lewisville FD talkgroups are only on the Lewisville site but everything else seems to be carried on the Denton County site so you would be missing them unless listening to their site. I suspect when City of Denton comes onto the system they will also have their own site and their talkgroups will probably only be carried on that site.

Now, I did purchase the Uniden SDS-100 recently so I have personal experience with that new scanner. It has fixed simulcast issues for me. I hear so much more traffic now than before. I wish I had the money to buy another one to fix my broadcastify stream. I am considering taking that stream down because I cannot afford another $650 for that broadcast. An SDS-100 would definitely fix it though. There are minimal occasions where I cannot understand a transmission but the SDS-100 is a great scanner and continues to get better as newer firmware has been released.

If a scanner is what you are looking for with all the features of a scanner I would get the SDS-100. If you want a professional sounding quality radio but missing alot of the scanner features then the Unication pagers would be a good buy. For me I need the ability to scan multiple sites at once to keep up with Denton County so the SDS-100 came at just the right time and I highly recommend it.

Brandon