G5 operating questions before i buy

[radio10-8]

I am in the market for a G5 for Project 25, phase II digital, before i purchase my questions are.

1. Once I hear the "channel" i want to monitor, let's say for the PD for my area, can I stop it on that "channel" and just listen to the entire conversation all day?
2. What can I expect as my battery usage? I would like to monitor a minimum or 4-5 hours straight.
3. How easy is changing the system I have programmed for when I am travelling?
4. Anything else the members of this forum might want me to know about?

I was thinking of SDS-100 but after my research, i think Unication is the way to go..

Thanks!

Radio 10-8

 

[pro106import]

I am in the market for a G5 for Project 25, phase II digital, before i purchase my questions are.

1. Once I hear the "channel" i want to monitor, let's say for the PD for my area, can I stop it on that "channel" and just listen to the entire conversation all day?
2. What can I expect as my battery usage? I would like to monitor a minimum or 4-5 hours straight.
3. How easy is changing the system I have programmed for when I am travelling?
4. Anything else the members of this forum might want me to know about?

I was thinking of SDS-100 but after my research, i think Unication is the way to go..

Thanks!

Radio 10-8

1. Yes there is talkgroup hold
2. I get 12-15 hours continuous
3. Just turn the top knob
4. Get it. It blows the sds100 away (I have SDS100 also)

 

[N6ML]

I am in the market for a G5 for Project 25, phase II digital, before i purchase my questions are.

1. Once I hear the "channel" i want to monitor, let's say for the PD for my area, can I stop it on that "channel" and just listen to the entire conversation all day?

Yes; the feature to hold on a talkgroup was added in recent firmware update.

1. What can I expect as my battery usage? I would like to monitor a minimum or 4-5 hours straight.

Probably depends a bit on how active the group that you're monitoring are, but you should get 12+ hours.

1. How easy is changing the system I have programmed for when I am travelling?

That's a bit subjective.... but programming a new profile with PPS is straightforward once you get your head around it.

1. Anything else the members of this forum might want me to know about?

I was thinking of SDS-100 but after my research, i think Unication is the way to go..

The main downsides vs. a SDS100 are that you can't pick and choose different subsets of talkgroups to listen to on the fly (has to all be preprogrammed), can't scan across multiple trunked systems, there's no headphone jack, and you're limited to one or two bands. Other than that, the Gx will blow the SDS100 away (I own both).

 

[mitbr]

Also to the OP..... if you don't need the second band the g4 is allot cheaper.
Tim

 

[jonwienke]

The SDS100 is a better option for travel, particularly with GPS. The Unication has better hardware, but its software is not designed for monitoring more than one system.

 

[firemun]

1. Yes there is talkgroup hold
2. I get 12-15 hours continuous
3. Just turn the top knob
4. Get it. It blows the sds100 away (I have SDS100 also)

What version updated to the talk group hold. I (wrongly) assumed that was just part of the beta scan update?

 

[Webodisk]

What version updated to the talk group hold. I (wrongly) assumed that was just part of the beta scan update?

1.31

 

[blackbelter]

How easy is changing the system I have programmed for when I am travelling?

Unication GXX are not easily field programable. I use my G5 to monitor one P25P2 @ 95% of the time. you can set up different zones to select from. Example: PD , FD etc in their own dedicated zone/selector.

 

[pro106import]

What version updated to the talk group hold. I (wrongly) assumed that was just part of the beta scan update?

1.30 added the TG hold, TG nuisance delete (Blok as they call it) options.
1.31 added the RadioReference download option using the corresponding PPS

 

[bob550]

How easy is changing the system I have programmed for when I am travelling?

You can program up to 64 zones with up to 8 knob positions, of up to 64 TG's, for each zone. Then just change zones and/or knob positions when traveling. If that doesn't provide you with enough flexibility for all your needs, you can always program a separate profile dedicated to traveling. But that would require you to reprogram the G5 with the alternate profile before leaving home.

 

[Hit_Factor]

How easy is changing the system I have programmed for when I am travelling?

I have complete statewide systems on one knob position. Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin. But you only get to define 64 talkgroups. On the other hand, you can enter a wildcard and hear every talkgroup. Then use the blok TG button to avoid traffic you are not interested in.

Unication has Full Spectrum scan, and that can help save time programming infrequently visited systems.

If use while traveling is any kind of priority, you should get a SDS100 with Jon's internal GPS mod. If you are more casual, then either will work.

 

[jonwienke]

With large statewide systems, the 64-talkgroup limit is a big issue. If you're traveling across the state, it's easy to max that out if you want to monitor county-level stuff on the way, especially if you're not familiar with which specific talkgroup(s) will be of interest. Worse, the PPS dumps all talkgroups from all systems into a single list, so picking the correct talkgroups from multiple systems is pointlessly unwieldy. Having WV-SIRN, VA-STARS, and MD-FIRST, each of which have hundreds of talkgroups, all in the same profile is sheer madness to try to program anything useful.

And manually switching zones and knob positions while driving is not very user-friendly or safe.

 

[whooey]

I have both SDS100 and the G5, they both have pro's and con's. Honestly if I had to choose one, hmmmmm. Lol.

 

[Hit_Factor]

I have both SDS100 and the G5, they both have pro's and con's. Honestly if I had to choose one, hmmmmm. Lol.

Tough choice. I had a couple SDS100s, sold those, didn't use most of it's abilities. Had two G5s, sold one, the other is going to get listed next week when my new G4 arrives. Just don't need the DMR or sub-band capabilities in a G5. I have a Bluetail Tech for monitoring P25 at home (my only scanning interest is Police). The G4 will be mounted in my truck for P25. Icom R-30 and ID-51 handles most everything else. If I need to snoop I have a RSPDuo with DSD fastlane.

Then there is all my amateur radio gear...

 

[Zippy734]

I have two G4's. The only issue is I use the record option and you must listen to your recordings in reverse. I record the local FD channel overnight. I hear the units on scene before the actual dispatch. Maybe this issue will be addressed in a future update?

 

[IAmSixNine]

@Zippy734 these are made for public safety in mind, not scanner guys. So the most recent recording is at top so you can grab your pager and quickly access the most recent message you may have missed. Which makes sense for public safety guys who might need an address or listen to a call note given over the air.
So not sure how they will fix something that is working like its supposed to.

 

[N6ML]

That does make sense as far as the operation of the play button for a typical pager user.

That said, I've often thought that it'd be nice if you could navigate to a point in the message box and then invoke a "play forward from here" action (could be a soft-button, perhaps). As it is, you have to play each message individually, which is a bit of a pain.

 

[Zippy734]

@Zippy734 these are made for public safety in mind, not scanner guys. So the most recent recording is at top so you can grab your pager and quickly access the most recent message you may have missed. Which makes sense for public safety guys who might need an address or listen to a call note given over the air.
So not sure how they will fix something that is working like its supposed to.

I understand that but the latest firmware updates are geared towards scanner users such as hold and lockout of talkgroups. You don't want your professional user accidentally locking out a talk group. That was put in for the consumer market.

 

[wa8pyr]

1.30 added the TG hold, TG nuisance delete (Blok as they call it) options.
1.31 added the RadioReference download option using the corresponding PPS

If you have the beta version in a G5, can you roll back to a "normal" version?

 

[firemun]

If you have the beta version in a G5, can you roll back to a "normal" version?

I did and no issues. Just make sure you have a pre beta profile saved somewhere to load back up.