G5 internal antenna help

[mdsxfire]

Has anyone found a way to boost the reception of the internal antenna, I don’t mean by opening the pager ,just using other methods, wire wrapped around it, coat hangar
Etc

 

[w2lie]

The amplified desktop charger allows you to use an external antenna.

 

[qc]

Hi, mdsfire if you use the G5 Amplified Charger you can boost the internal antenna reception here is link Unication G2, G3, G4 and G5 Amplified Charger - East Coast Pagers

 

[w2lie]

Thanks for posting the link. That’s my site btw

 

[mdsxfire]

So the external antenna on the amplified charger is used for the internal antenna on the pager?

 

[qc]

Thanks for posting the link. That’s my site btw

My pleasure I buy all my Unication from you, you have the best prices and excellent customer service

 

[w2lie]

So the external antenna on the amplified charger is used for the internal antenna on the pager?

Yes. And since the amp charger has a BNC connector you can either use the included whip antenna or an external antenna on the charger.

 

[blackbelter]

Using my amplified charger and an RS 800 antenna, I experience an additional bar of reception on my G5.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Using my amplified charger and an RS 800 antenna, I experience an additional bar of reception on my G5.

Extra bar of signal for the 700/800 part or the 400-470 (not sure which model G5 you have) Since there is just one BNC, you might think it's for the primary 700/800 only. Additionally, since it's also for the single band chargers, the BNC is definitely for the primary band on those pagers.

The Remtronics is really bad on 400-470, that's additional evidence that the rear BNC is for the primary band.

My standard charging base has a BNC antenna connector, apparently both charging bases have it.

This post with pin outs indicates a single antenna input. G5 pin out. Also indicates RX/TX, my G5 doesn't TX as far as I know.

Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[w2lie]

The antenna should be for both primary and sub bands on the pager. My amp charger is in the basement and I'm listening to UHF frequencies I can't hear inside my basement. So the antenna is definitely for VHF as well as UHF and 700/800.

Instead of looking at the bars on the pager, do an RF test and take a look at the RSSI on the control channel to see the improvement. If the bars are 10db each (for example, changing from -81 to -79 could be 1 bar. But.... -89 and in improvement to -71 would also be 1 bar in this example.

 

[rogress]

There has been some debate about that. I have experimented with the amplified charger, and I saw no difference with reception from the internal antenna and use of the amplified charge. (Tried both of my G5's, VHF/UHF and a 380Mhz/UHF). The amplified charge made no difference on the non-UHF bands. I think I'll do more testing - its been a while since I messed with it.

So the external antenna on the amplified charger is used for the internal antenna on the pager?

 

[mdsxfire]

so def not gonna spend $130 on the amplified charger not knowing if it actually helps the secondary band, anyone out there have any sucess with unconventional methods

 

[rogress]

I played with my amplified charger again last night, using both of my G5s (VHF/UHF, 380/UHF). It makes no difference on reception on the VHF and 380 bands. I don't know, maybe my amplified charger is fubar, but for me it doesn't help at all. I did many tests, including a simple one where I tuned in the weakest NOAA weather channel. Plugging my rooftop antenna into the amplified charger made no difference.

 

[kruser]

I played with my amplified charger again last night, using both of my G5s (VHF/UHF, 380/UHF). It makes no difference on reception on the VHF and 380 bands. I don't know, maybe my amplified charger is fubar, but for me it doesn't help at all. I did many tests, including a simple one where I tuned in the weakest NOAA weather channel. Plugging my rooftop antenna into the amplified charger made no difference.

This is odd.
My G5 (VHF, 800) is basically deaf inside my home. That's on both the primary and secondary bands. The walls here are a steel mesh so I'm basically living inside a Faraday cage.

As soon as I hookup an outdoor antenna into the BNC jack on the amplified charging base, my G5 comes to life for conventional and P25 signals on both bands it receives. Without the amplified charging base here, my G5 would be mostly useless when used indoors here at home.

I have no idea why some don't see any difference. There must be a flaw in something that does not exist in all.
I'd done some testing with my G5 and it seems there may be some automatic antenna switching that occurs when the G5 is getting a signal through the external antenna contacts on the bottom of the pager. My tests showed that the secondary (VHF for me) band seemed to always be hooked to the contacts on the pager bottom but the primary band was not switched over until it saw a good or better signal from the external source. I was never able to confirm the above from Unication but that's what my testing revealed.
Unication has confirmed the amplified charging base does indeed route the RF from an external antenna attached to the charging base to whatever G series model is sitting in the charge base for both bands in a dual band model. I'm pretty sure one of the Unication reps posted that info here in this forum some time ago as well.

I can also hook the same outdoor antenna up to the G5's SMA connector and give the Primary band the same full 800 MHz signal that it sees when it is getting a signal through the BNC jack on the amplified charging base.

Another situation, I have an 800 MHz system here that I don't normally monitor that I can receive indoors on my G5 with three signal bars showing using the stock G5 antenna. Remove the stock antenna and the G5 goes into no signal mode. Attach the outdoor antenna to the charging base and the G5 comes back with full signal. The same is seen with all VHF signals here where the G5 is mostly deaf indoors behind the steel mesh in the walls.

 

[KevinC]

Amp Charger vs G5 Internal and External Antennas

I keep hearing that the Amp charger does or does not work with the internal and external antennas. The Amp charger works for both internal and external antennas. Here is a test on DMR, CSQ, P25 700, P25 800.

forums.radioreference.com

 

[Uni1]

The amp charger boosts both bands. Has anyone tested the RSSI with and without the amp charger? What is picking up the VHF channel that the G5 isn't? Disconnect anything except the stock antenna that came with the amp charger and test.

 

[Synchro39]

yes working in both band

 

[Hit_Factor]

The amp charger boosts both bands. Has anyone tested the RSSI with and without the amp charger? What is picking up the VHF channel that the G5 isn't? Disconnect anything except the stock antenna that came with the amp charger and test.

How about the non-amp charger? What does the external BNC boost?

 

[Uni1]

How about the non-amp charger? What does the external BNC boost?

Only BNC is on the amp. No BNC on the desktop charger.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Hmm, maybe my charger is third party, or modified. I bought it second hand.