G5 file for Northern Illinois

[rtosby]

Does anyone have a G5 PPS programmed file that they are willing to share? I'm in McHenry county and have a G5 on order.
I would appreciate having a file I can use to get started... any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[JD21960]

SEE if this works using the IMPORT function in the Unication PPS when the Pager arrives. I've used the G5 in 9 or 10 counties. Works perfect. :0) I only put McHenry Starcom21 Freqs in on this one. I had NOAA for Crystal Lake and Rockford as a ZONE and a MONITOR wildcard ZONE in there too. ;0)

 

[rtosby]

Johnny - the file looks good, just the right stuff. This will help me get going for sure. Thanks!

Richard

 

[JD21960]

Johnny - the file looks good, just the right stuff. This will help me get going for sure. Thanks!

Richard

GOOD. I didn't have any Conventional analog added there due to the 193Kb LIMIT on attachment sizes in Radio Ref. I'm not sure even what's left out there in McHenry. I know Kane and Boone still have a lot of that. Things to remember:
You must have TONE (ON) for each talkgroup in the #4 controls and in the Zone box #5 you set up where there is a scroll down arrow. If not? you'll not get any sound. It's set up right the way I have it there. The little green/yellow man must be selected to be ON DUTY too or the same happens .... no sound.
Out of range* is rare, usually means the WACN, RFSS, SITE NUMBERS and System ID need to be rechecked vs the Radio REF database from SITES When making a new profile, people mess those up a lot until they get the hang of it. An Idea of this things range? I was getting the Kane County Starcom21 SITE 126 all the way over on the West side of Sandy Hollow Golf course in Rockford IL until the signal finally dropped.
Sometimes you have to turn the knobs one space, then back to FORCE it to rescan for the SITE you know you're coming into. The pager tends to hang on to that old SITE as you're leaving. It WILL change on it's own eventually.

 

[rtosby]

Hi Johnny- Thanks for your G5 file and the programming tips. I saw your YouTube on the AmpCharger. I had planned to order one, but after reading about the issues, I decided to wait. Your unit sounds very good. Would you recommend it or have you experienced problems? Any tips or advice are really appreciated. BTW, Rays shipped my G5 today.

 

[JD21960]

I like mine. Have had no problems. I think the issues came mostly from those using the amp/charger output for their Broadcastify feeds. There is an audible thump* when you're usings something like that and also for headphones with enhanced BASS. My headphones are Sony for 14$ from Bestbuy and some earbuds. You can't hear that thump barely at all with those kind of phones. The other problems were battery issues when sitting in the charger wrong. That had nothing to do with the Amp/charger. All they had to do is re-seat the unit properly or restart the pager using the 3 button method. My only gripe is the headphone output is a MONO signal. I'm sure they assumed we'd be like Ham guys with mono-headphones.
So I had to get a mono-stereo adapter to hear it in both sides. I have also never had an issue with OVERHEATING. Just ONE time I did where the back got hot, but I re-seated the pager, unplugged and restarted it. Never had anything since and that was 2016. So yeah, it's a little pricey but If you like to have it loud while doing things around the house it's better doing that than trying to blast the pager's audio at 100% When you get the Pager, there might be an issue with the MODEL number on the form you downloaded here. Mine is set up for a G5-Vhf freq-range. The model number can be changed though to one with UHF or G4 etc. If you need to change that model number so it jives with the frequency range of the pager you get, you can do it without making up a whole new Profile plug. Instructions are here on RRef

 

[rtosby]

Johnny- Received the G5 yesterday and after a change for the model number, I programmed it with the PSS file you sent. It all works 100%. Also noticed this model supports DMR. Now I will begin looking for other talkgroups in surrounding counties Kane, DuPage, and Cook. Not sure which other simulcast sites will be heard well in Huntley. Looked at the coverage maps, but I think I’ll just have to try listening to see how well I hear them. Thanks

 

[JD21960]

Great. YOU may be able to hear Boone County talkgroups I think. I was up in Northern Boone for Christmas and was hearing the Mchenry Starcom 21 SITE better than boone. I turned the audio squelch to high and Boone came in after that, McHenry went away. So you can always play with that in the settings when any other SITE might get in the way since these pagers have such great range. I have heard DeKalb Co Talkgroups and NIU from the Kane County Starcom21 SITE so a lot is out there. If you're close to the Tollway, I forgot to add ISP-15 to that profile. That's a must. Talk about crazy stuff .. you hear it all on those talkgroups. Mine doesn't get DMR. I tried all that stuff and I have either 66 or 64 model (2016) because loading any attempts with DMR profiles to the Pager I get the Stop sign. I'm awaiting the firmware update to enable DMR they announced on these threads this week. Have fun!

 

[rtosby]

I added D15 talk groups to the profile and don’t hear anything. Do I need to add Kane simulcast site to hear it? What’s the best way to add the Kane site? I have updated the control channels to include the 3 freqs. for Kane Simulcast... Do I need to add the Kane site to the sites list? It’s currently only showing the McHenry Simulcast site.

 

[rtosby]

Well, the D-15 talk groups were working good, I just wasn't patient enough. I ended up adding a P25 system for each county simulcast system for McHenry, Kane, and NWCD. I was able to assign a P25 system for each talk group entry. Seems to work well as long as I'm in range of the site. Now to check out other talk groups on Kane, DeKalb, and Rockford... Thanks for the help!