Amplified charger base issues

[W4KRR]

Just received my GS Charger Amplifier from Ray's Pagers. Model number GS999CA-SXXXEN1X00UNI

First, is it supposed to come with a manual? Mine didn't. No big deal; I downloaded a copy from the net. The only issue is that the icons on the top front of my charger do not exactly match what is shown in the manual; they're a little different and in a different order. Charger must have had a slight redesign at some point.

But the main issue is that on some systems I monitor, inserting the pager into the charger base causes a loss of all signal strength bars and an "Out of Range" message after about 10 seconds. Once the pager is removed from the charger base, normal reception resumes. This occurs most often when I use an external 800MHz base antenna connected to the rear BNC connector on the charger. However if I connect the same external antenna to the pager's antenna jack (carefully!) using an SMA to BNC adapter, the reception is fine.

Also, in some cases, on some systems, the supplied wire whip antenna outperforms my external 800 MHz antenna when connected to the rear BNC antenna jack on the charger, but only on some of the systems I monitor. Some work better with an external antenna.

As a typical scenario:

Miami-Dade County 800 MHz trunked system
Inside my house with stock antenna on the pager: No reception
Inside my house with external mounted 800MHz band antenna connected to the pager's antenna jack: Reception with 2 to 3 signal bars
Inside my house with external mounted 800MHz band antenna connected to the rear BNC jack on the charger base: 3-4 bars for 10 seconds, then no bars and "Out of Range" message.

Anybody have a similar issue? Thoughts? Could it be a signal overload issue?

 

[hummin24]

G5 amp base uses external antenna for vhf and pager knobby antenna for 800. The amp base sucks. Dont expect much.

 

[bberns22]

Mine came with no instructions. Inserting the G5 into the base has no effect on signal as indicated by the RSSI meter in the menu. When using a dedicated 800mhz whip antenna on back of the base unit I gain 10dB of signal. Audio quality of the base is generally poor. I have an Icom SP23 speaker, with high pass filter engaged, connected to the speaker output of the base. This offers a tremendous improvement in audio quality...

 

[kruser]

G5 amp base uses external antenna for vhf and pager knobby antenna for 800. The amp base sucks. Dont expect much.

Not true. The amplified charging base does use the external antenna connector on the charging base for both bands.
I live inside steel lined exterior walls with not much signal. The amplified charging base is the only way I can use a G4 or G5 pager.
This has been confirmed by Unication reps here in this forum if you search the threads.

 

[W4KRR]

Thanks for the responses. I, too, am finding that I am not too impressed by the performance of the amplified charger.

In some cases it seems as though inserting the pager in the charger causes a reduction in signal strength.

The most puzzling aspect is why, when I connect an 800 MHz external yagi antenna to the pager using an antenna adapter, I get reception with 2 to 3 bars, but when I connect the same yagi antenna to the charger base and insert the pager in the charger, I loose all signal and get an "Out of range" indication. This defeats the purpose of the charger, for me.

 

[bberns22]

Thanks for the responses. I, too, am finding that I am not too impressed by the performance of the amplified charger.

In some cases it seems as though inserting the pager in the charger causes a reduction in signal strength.

The most puzzling aspect is why, when I connect an 800 MHz external yagi antenna to the pager using an antenna adapter, I get reception with 2 to 3 bars, but when I connect the same yagi antenna to the charger base and insert the pager in the charger, I loose all signal and get an "Out of range" indication. This defeats the purpose of the charger, for me.

How does the antenna perform when connected to a different radio -,monitoring the same system?

 

[W4KRR]

My G5 is the only receiver that I own that will receive this particular system from within my house (Miami-Dade County P25). None of my other scanners will receive this system with the yagi or any other antenna. The yagi antenna does work on the G5 if it's connected directly to the pager.