G5 so far

[surfacemount]

Are you trying to monitor one site, or multiple? Just because it's on site "A" doesn't mean the talkgroups you have in you list are carried on site "A." Some may be on site "B" and the others are "A." This is not a fault of the Pager, but this is how the system was set-up. Not all talkgroups are carried on all sites, as that would use up a lot of resources.

I am using it sitting next to a legit set of subscriber units, so i am dragging the talk groups with me whereever I go. Potentially they are all landing onto different sites (there really aren't many to choose from (Roane/Loudon/West Knox TN), and I generally move enough they all have to hand off fairly frequently and consistently). I have a RFSS button on the mobile, but honestly, at this point not interested in testing much more.

I put it on a dedicated mobile antenna. This slightly improved the dead spots, but it still is much worse than the mobile and portable. I still am not sure how I am misprogramming it, sometimes it will sort of work, and other times, without resetting or power cycling... it will not open up on the same talk groups I am scanning on the mobile. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

The new stubby antenna still does not pick up as well as the legit portable. It is hypersensitive to location and orientation in the vehicle, the portable... way less so.

I would not trust it as a pager or a substitute for a receive only portable unit where I am with the probably malformed program I have in it.

I have not tried to load keys into it to see how it decodes. I wanted to reduce variables.

I no longer have any handheld scanners handy to reference against, and I kind of believe using a legit subscriber unit is kind of unfair to the thing.

Also, there are talkgroups I wish to listen to, that are not in any of my legit radios, so, even if this thing was hitting on all cylinders, it still won't drag a group if it is not on the tower or the site is a... home (I forget the term for if the site just carries the TG) site (for like statewide or pursuit or other districts that would be, I suspect, geofenced to conserve site resources).

I do think this particular unit would be an excellent home / stationary scanner. Unfortunately, I am not home 24/7 like I was the last few years.

I don't know how to solve my particular problem as the grownups aren't really interested in the problem, but I don't think this is the answer. Suppose I will look at a BK or Harris next.

Thought I would follow up for others in the future (reading old stuff has been a huge help to me).

 

[richardbritt]

Hi, welcome to the site. I am in NC so I can't specifically talk about the system in TN but users in the Tennessee state group can comment on your statewide system. But keep in mind that a radio approved for use on a trunk system affiliates with sites because it communicates with the individual sites and affiliates to any site in the system depending on how the system is programmed. The G5 is a passive receiver that's a pager, it has no ability to affiliate. It does receive very well and you have the ability to program it to neighboring sites but I would ask for recommendations about the statewide system on the Tennessee state forum group. I'll give you an example of what the pager will do as far as following a specific talkgroup I monitor 24/7. I am on a regional state hazmat team covering 25 counties in NC. NC VIPER has some talkgroups set up as statewide, some regional only and most to local for not tying up the resources. I have all the site control frequencies for the 25 counties in my G5 using the statewide talkgroups. The pager tracks perfectly and automatically changes sites according to signal strength as I travel inside the 25 counties. For local county fire departments, I have it programmed for the main site nearest the department, and also have included 1 neighboring site. I did that for each county we respond to so I can monitor the local fire department when we respond there. You can also program the pager to scan for example the highest and lowest frequency of the system, and add some statewide talkgroup or several, and it will scan for the first site controller on your system it finds (not necessarily the particular one you desire). It's a pretty smart device.

Hope this helps you

 

[bobruzzo]

I have had my G5 for over a year and I like it. I use it both at work and at home and on the road. The only thing I don't like is the audio. You have to crank it to about 65-70 to hear in the car. And it wont connect to any vehicles sound system via bluetooth. I tried it on all 3 of our cars and 2 work vehicles. No go. Other than that I set it for the 4 state simulcast sites and can hear them all from my house. I have the DMR option but find its only good if you are close to the transmitters. In the long run I have better luck listening to ham/commercial DMR with my ham radio HT. I find the G5 best suited for P25 systems. WAY better reception than ANY scanner. Not bothered by the fact you can only monitor 1 system at a time. I normally leave it on our states North site. But if I get outta range depending where I am I just pick another knob position for the closest system.

 

[CollinsURG]

My G5 with the stock antenna clipped to the sun visor receives better than my SDS100 connected to a tuned antenna on the front fender groove. I tried other antennas on the G5. Nothing worked better than the stock antenna. I bought another 768-870 G5 stock antenna to use on the SDS100, which improved reception a little bit, and it receives very well sitting in the console cup holder. The G5 antenna on the BCD325P2 makes it a very compact scanner if you only want 768-870.

The G5 roams multiple sites on NC Viper better than I thought it would. I think once the original site level starts dropping while I am mobile, soon I will hit a dead spot and it switches to the stronger local site. I don't think I am missing much traffic roaming. Adjacent sites usually carry the same traffic near me.

At home with stock antennas, the G5 can receive distant sites the SDS100 and BCD325P2 don't.

The G5 receives VHF with the internal antenna far better than I expected. It receives weather channels better than the SDS100 and nearly as well as the BCD325P2 with each using their stock antenna. When in the mountains, there is always at least one of eight repeaters it can receive the Blue Ridge Parkway P25 conventional system on frequencies in the 172 Mhz region.

As far as programming. Initially it is a challenge because it is very foreign to what most are used to programming scanners. Most commercial gear are a challenge to understand. However, once I learned the software, it made sense and has become a routine process.

I have played around with what I program for different knob positions and found what works for me. I still have been tweaking it as I use it more traveling in the western part of NC.

I don't find the limited number of TGs an issue. Most of my knob positions are not full. You can only monitor so much without missing what you really want to monitor.

The G5 has become my primary receiver. The BCD325P2 is secondary for non LSM and conventional analog and digital. I am trying to work the SDS100 back into the mix as more LSM is popping up on NC Viper. Viper in Iredell county recently became simulcast. If the entire Viper system went LSM, it could make roaming with the G5 better.

 

[CollinsURG]

The only thing I don't like is the audio. You have to crank it to about 65-70 to hear in the car. And it wont connect to any vehicles sound system via bluetooth.

I get plenty of audio in my usage, but the Bluetooth is terrible. There are many things it cannot connect to, and some of us have found a few Bluetooth earbuds that work. Many earbuds will pair, but most are not loud enough. Dissappointing this was not fixed in the + models. They should have used G5 C for USB C instead of +. USB C is not much plus.

I have tried to pair it with a couple of Bluetooth receivers and Bluetooth speakers. None paired so far. And neither car pairs.

 

[blackbelter]

Per my previous posts and respect to the current thread , my disappointments with my ever challenging paired BT ear buds ranged from hissing and other annoying sounds next to my ear to distortion. I enjoy the native audio from my G5 , however in more noisy environments, the tiny clip on / magnetic Noxgear 39g BT speaker handles the task rather well.

 

[surfacemount]

Tried this thing today. Put a radio in test mode, set the freescan to a few mhz above / below it, it would not pick it up, no antenna, new antenna, amplified base antenna distance one to ten feet. (shrugs) I dunno

Still locks onto the local site near the house, and serves the talkgroups I have loaded, overrides with priority just fine.