Anybody using a different antenna on the G5 or not necessary.
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Antenna
- Thread starter JohnGingras
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W
W4ZMJ
Guest
Depends i think vhf uhf antenna are inside of it the 800 antenna on top works well you in a fringe area a motorola half wave antenna will inprove it some
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See this thread: Better G5 Antenna.
I use a Motorola antenna on mine when I want to reach out, from zero bars to 4, it picks up sites that I cannot get with the blue one. One in particular is 17 miles away cannot be heard with the stock antenna in my little neighborhood pocket unless I go out into the street instead of my family room and with the discone on the roof it's even better.
Which "new Blue antenna" is that?
Is it any different from the antenna with the "purple" band that came with my G5?
I purchased one a few months ago, and find that it will increase the RSSI by 1 to 3 db.
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W4ZMJ
Guest
The blue antenna compared to a Motorola quarter wave stubby antenna are about equal
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W4ZMJ
Guest
But for convenience the little stub antenna with the blue band is ideal for most of my needs
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Yep, I get the same results with my G5 and the blue antenna next to an APX with the 7/800 stubby.
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I have tried a couple of different stubby antenna and I have gone back to the Unication antenna that it came with. Sorry somehow the color ring has vanished or I'd tell you which I have.
I've heard reports from people who say they've experienced much better results from the "blue" antenna in the vicinity of 850 MHz and little or no difference between the two at 760 MHz.
I thought I'd buy one of the "blue" antennas to see if it made any difference monitoring a 700 MHz system with 769.XXXX control channel frequencies.
If anything, it seems that the original "purple" antenna that came with my G5 was generally one signal-strength bar ahead of the "blue" antenna. This was an unscientific test I conducted by reading the G5's signal strength meter at a couple of locations. In view of this unscientific test, the "purple" antenna is back on the G5.
I'm not trying to monitor any 800 MHz systems here, but I'll keep the "blue" antenna if I find myself trying to do so in the future.
Thanks for listening!
-Johnnie
I thought I'd buy one of the "blue" antennas to see if it made any difference monitoring a 700 MHz system with 769.XXXX control channel frequencies.
If anything, it seems that the original "purple" antenna that came with my G5 was generally one signal-strength bar ahead of the "blue" antenna. This was an unscientific test I conducted by reading the G5's signal strength meter at a couple of locations. In view of this unscientific test, the "purple" antenna is back on the G5.
I'm not trying to monitor any 800 MHz systems here, but I'll keep the "blue" antenna if I find myself trying to do so in the future.
Thanks for listening!
-Johnnie
N6ML
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That was me, in comment #10 
You can get a "real-time" dBm reading by going to the Information page, from the main menu, then the following sequence (it takes a bit of practice to get it right):
* Click joystick thingy
* 224132 (red, red, white, blue, yellow, red)
* Click joystick thingy again
Just be careful to get the sequence right - there's another one that initiates self-destruct....
P.S. I'm kidding about the self-destruct part
You can get a "real-time" dBm reading by going to the Information page, from the main menu, then the following sequence (it takes a bit of practice to get it right):
* Click joystick thingy
* 224132 (red, red, white, blue, yellow, red)
* Click joystick thingy again
Just be careful to get the sequence right - there's another one that initiates self-destruct....
P.S. I'm kidding about the self-destruct part
Thanks, N6ML! Yes, I read your post, too.
A couple of my friends tried the same experiment and got the same results. I don't know why I thought my results would be any different, but I love comparing antennas, and it wasn't a very expensive experiment.
How did you come across that dBm sequence? I may give it a try some day.
Also, thanks again for your help programming my G5. It's been a terrific receiver for the 406-420 Mhz digital system I monitor, and I plan to demo it to management to see if they're interested in using it as a pager.
A couple of my friends tried the same experiment and got the same results. I don't know why I thought my results would be any different, but I love comparing antennas, and it wasn't a very expensive experiment.
How did you come across that dBm sequence? I may give it a try some day.
Also, thanks again for your help programming my G5. It's been a terrific receiver for the 406-420 Mhz digital system I monitor, and I plan to demo it to management to see if they're interested in using it as a pager.
N6ML
Member
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- Sep 26, 2008
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It was posted in this forum by a Unication employee, IIRC.
My again, N6ML . . . I forgot to ask you yesterday if you'd noticed (as I "think" I did) that the "purple" antenna was slightly more sensitive to 760 MHz signals than the "blue" antenna? It would seem to make sense that it might if the "blue" antenna was tuned to center more narrowly around 850 MHz, instead of spreading itself between 763 and 870 MHz.
Just curious . . . thanks!
-Johnnie
Maybe the blue antenna is tuned for 850 MHz, but it's clearly labeled as 763 to 870 MHz.
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