G5 so far

[surfacemount]

Thought I would post my thoughts for people like me that read these things before they dump cash.

The positives: It does track P25 phase II. It does DMR. It is a GREAT footprint, and is very, very tiny. It acts like it might be a little tough against bumps and lumps you would find with people that take scanners places and don't treat them like queens. The display is very readable in all weather conditions, in and out of a vehicle. You can make it highlight and emit a tone for things you really don't want to miss. The audio can be very, very adequate. It will record voice traffic. The drop in charger is handy. And, it looks... professional, if that's a thing that appeals to you (it does to me to a point). Updating software is straightforward, and squirting a mission plan into it is also fairly painless. It has a lot of options... a lot. So, if you enjoy a product customized to your particularities, you will appreciate this. It has a removable antenna so you can hook an external to it, or to its' base. And, if you have access to the keys, it will decrypt secured talkgroups / channels. It has several positions on the knob, and a lot of zones, so you can put a decent amount of things to monitor into it (if you can remember what went where lol)


Stuff I wish weren't so: It is essentially a one-trick pony. By that, I mean it is only good for listening to a single system. You cannot really get it to listen to a trunked system and to conventional channels. You cannot (as far as I can tell) alter the programming from the receiver, at all. What you loaded is what you get, warts and all. The programming software has a steep learning curve that is still rough even if you come from Harris military or Motorola RSS. (I can sort of explain their concept now). You have to accept this was designed as an overthought fire pager, and the fact it does some things beneficial to the rest of us is an afterthought. You can give up on any real written guides, and very few videos that really click. There isn't really much in the way of paid assistance or codeplug building for you. The external antenna is for one band only (you don't get to choose), the other is buried inside. You only get the choice of two bands, 800 and either V or U. The knobs on top are too close together for man hands, changing a knob position inevitably changes the volume. You have to be careful about the antenna port; some connectors with flat faces will push the center pin in and ruin the port. Service after the sale is iffy, they won't fix older units. The connector for programming and charging (if you didn't spring for a base) apparently doesn't suffer abuse much. There are few accessories for it. The older antenna for 7/800 is trash if you are borderline fringe area or mobile. Keyloading is... particular (all KVL's are, but this one likes to be extra). It does not like having a lot of talk groups to sift through on a single knob position.

Stuff that might be me, or where I live, or the system I monitor: Sometimes it just doesn't want to give me certain talk groups. I can change the knob one over, and it does just fine. Many times, you have to power cycle it. I haven't found an antenna that gives me adequate coverage for where I want to be when I am mobile. It's an older unit, perhaps it is tired. When it fails, you don't know you aren't listening anymore.

Overall, I am disappointed with it. It would make an excellent window or desk scanner on an external antenna. I would not trust it as a pager in the hills of Southeast TN though. I think I'm going to make one more antenna test, and if that doesn't do it, I am going to look at NAS harris radios and throw this one up for sale.

Again, because this is RR, this is one opinion based on things that aren't your things, with a used unit, on a particular system, in a mountainous terrain, and if they don't have an active radio dragged to that tower, you aren't probably going to hear it, and this is a fire pager, not a scanning monitor. I am not sure I have correctly programmed it, either.

So, if you need a plug and play monitor, this is very not for you. If you like to tinker, you may find fun here. IF you need assured receiving, and don't have a radio shop to issue this to you... mmmm I dunno. Others will tell you it's great, some will say it's garbage, I am mostly in the middle.

 

[steve9570]

Sorry you fell that way about the G5. I have had mine for 2 years and its on almost 24/7. I take it to work and listen to the town I work ins 800mz PD and its fine in doors. I have and have had MANY scanners and seeing its not a scanner it has made most of my other radios useless. I have a knob for my local FD and one for the Mass State PD and the rest for local PD and Fire. No problems with it so far. Just my rant... Steve

 

[Listener1440]

I have had mine since 2020. Had it programmed to my local opened agencies and it was my everyday carry for about three years and then every agency from local to state encrypted.

It was put up and thought of selling it . After 2 years I finally had the gumption to try to program it myself. Like the OP said it was a tall learning curve.

Now it’s working fine again with anything I could find to program into it. I personally had to realize what type of radio it was and try hard to make it work for my use.

You are correct in many of your observations and it’s up to you what works best for you.

 

[hill]

I haven't found an antenna that gives me adequate coverage for where I want to be when I am mobile.

The stock antenna on my G4 and G5 receives systems from two or three counties away. I have no need to even think of to want to upgrade the antenna. Plus with small form factor and small it's easy to carry.

They have best receive of any of monitoring gear.

Sometimes it just doesn't want to give me certain talk groups. I can change the knob one over, and it does just fine. Many times, you have to power cycle it.

No issues like that. It receives well on my knob positions with just one talkgroup to the knob positions with more than one talkgroup.

I learned a long time ago to only scan a few talkgroups at a time on each radio. Because of this fact my knob positions only have a maximum of 3-6 talkgroups.

 

[K9KLC]

I am not sure I have correctly programmed it, either.

This is the first thing I'd personally address, however you and only you know your monitoring needs and wants.

don't have a radio shop to issue this to you... mmmm I dunno.

I do, it took much trial and error to get my two set up at least close to the way I wanted them and even now, I make minor changes here and there. I looked it all as a learning experience plus there is asure lot of help here on RR to get it going the way you want.

Overall, I am disappointed with it. It would make an excellent window or desk scanner on an external antenna. I would not trust it as a pager in the hills of Southeast TN though. I think I'm going to make one more antenna test, and if that doesn't do it, I am going to look at NAS harris radios and throw this one up for sale.

Stuff I wish weren't so: It is essentially a one-trick pony. By that, I mean it is only good for listening to a single system. You cannot really get it to listen to a trunked system and to conventional channels. You cannot (as far as I can tell) alter the programming from the receiver, at all. What you loaded is what you get, warts and all.

The one site at a time is true and widely discussed here, and to some of us getting exactly what we loaded is what we want. I do have some "trunking monitor" zones in mine but it's getting more and more rare I use them but yes there are occasions yet.


Obviously we do not know exactly what you're trying to receive. I do not live where you live but have used mine in Colorado where there are some mountains, and frankly it exceeded my expectations last time I was out there. Prior to selling it, unless you actually deplore the thing and are tired of messing with it, perhaps provide us with some real information about what you are trying to monitor. Which G5 you have (what is the second band) and some other useful information that might help us help you.

Honestly most of your post has been widely discussed here at RR sometimes, to the point it's like beating a dead horse. If you'd like to see if it's still possible to make it work better for you, perhaps provide the info, and exactly what you're wanting to do and we can help. I understand everyone's needs are different and perhaps it just wasn't the device for you just like the SDS 100 wasn't the device for me.

Good luck with whatever you decide, if we can help, let us know.

 

[hill]

Programming from download from radio reference isn't too difficult.

 

[richardbritt]

You might not realize what type of things your G5 can do besides act as a 2 tone fire pager. Several examples are you can set it up to scan a section of a band of frequencies. Like the VHF marine subband, Railroad subband, or whatever you want it to search. I am on a regional state hazmat team covering 25 counties, and so I have mine programmed for several P25 talkgroups we use with the pager in site scan mode. It records everything it hears on our talkgroups and it changes radio tower sites no matter where I am in the state (NC VIPER is a statewide system). You can also program it to receive in monitor mode for 1 particular tower location, makes it easy to see unknown talkgroups or see who affiliates with that particular tower. Plus it does more.

 

[jgorman21]

I love mine. How much can you listen to at one time? It's a far better receiver than some of the scanners I have. Everyone is different. It has to fit your needs and work for you.

 

[sideshowjim]

I thoroughly enjoy my G5+!! I live in an area where many of the County PS systems are a mix of VHF conventional analog and P25, and VHF P25 Trunk systems. My G5+ works great with the simulcast systems too.

But the story doesn't end at home, I travel to large metro area for work weekly, my G5+ handles the 800mhz truck P25 simulcast with ease, I also have an SDS200 in my mobile too, and use it to compare, sometimes the G5+ picks up what the SDS200 misses.

I've learned, the G5+ will work as good as the programming! I admit, I made errors early on and learned from them... I'm confident with my programming skills now (even thoughI'mstill learning), and look forward to going to new areas and using my G5+ to see if I can hear what my intended tagets are.

Yes, it's a bit of a quirk, and I've learned the "work arounds" with its limitations... but all and all the G5 is rugged, compact size, Bad @$$ looks and it has great audio, I do use the Bluetooth feature with ear buds pretty often, sometimes due to noisy environments, other times for stealth.

If I could change one thing, I would like to have the option for an external VHF antenna, and the ability to switch between bands and related antennas. Additionally, the stock 800mhz antenna works phenomenally! If Unication offered a VHF model with an external antenna, I'd be the target audience!

I am not in anyway disappointed with my Unication G5+ purchased, and would recommend one only if you understand the limitations over a portable "scanner" or communications receiver...

 

[Solidjake]

As the others have stated, all depends on your needs. For me it's on every time I drive and does exceptionally well. I have it going to a 3db gain NMO mounted antenna.

 

[D31245]

Sorry it's not working out for you.

I'm very happy with mine (G5 UHF-D). It did take a while to wrap my head around the programming, but I have a good grasp of that now. It performs wonderfully - have programmed in-state and out-of-state P25 systems & conventional analog. Can pick up systems many miles from my location.

Recently had a hardware issue and it was taken care of quickly (under warranty).

 

[llzel]

Thought I would post my thoughts for people like me that read these things before they dump cash.

The positives: It does track P25 phase II. It does DMR. It is a GREAT footprint, and is very, very tiny. It acts like it might be a little tough against bumps and lumps you would find with people that take scanners places and don't treat them like queens. The display is very readable in all weather conditions, in and out of a vehicle. You can make it highlight and emit a tone for things you really don't want to miss. The audio can be very, very adequate. It will record voice traffic. The drop in charger is handy. And, it looks... professional, if that's a thing that appeals to you (it does to me to a point). Updating software is straightforward, and squirting a mission plan into it is also fairly painless. It has a lot of options... a lot. So, if you enjoy a product customized to your particularities, you will appreciate this. It has a removable antenna so you can hook an external to it, or to its' base. And, if you have access to the keys, it will decrypt secured talkgroups / channels. It has several positions on the knob, and a lot of zones, so you can put a decent amount of things to monitor into it (if you can remember what went where lol)


Stuff I wish weren't so: It is essentially a one-trick pony. By that, I mean it is only good for listening to a single system. You cannot really get it to listen to a trunked system and to conventional channels. You cannot (as far as I can tell) alter the programming from the receiver, at all. What you loaded is what you get, warts and all. The programming software has a steep learning curve that is still rough even if you come from Harris military or Motorola RSS. (I can sort of explain their concept now). You have to accept this was designed as an overthought fire pager, and the fact it does some things beneficial to the rest of us is an afterthought. You can give up on any real written guides, and very few videos that really click. There isn't really much in the way of paid assistance or codeplug building for you. The external antenna is for one band only (you don't get to choose), the other is buried inside. You only get the choice of two bands, 800 and either V or U. The knobs on top are too close together for man hands, changing a knob position inevitably changes the volume. You have to be careful about the antenna port; some connectors with flat faces will push the center pin in and ruin the port. Service after the sale is iffy, they won't fix older units. The connector for programming and charging (if you didn't spring for a base) apparently doesn't suffer abuse much. There are few accessories for it. The older antenna for 7/800 is trash if you are borderline fringe area or mobile. Keyloading is... particular (all KVL's are, but this one likes to be extra). It does not like having a lot of talk groups to sift through on a single knob position.

Stuff that might be me, or where I live, or the system I monitor: Sometimes it just doesn't want to give me certain talk groups. I can change the knob one over, and it does just fine. Many times, you have to power cycle it. I haven't found an antenna that gives me adequate coverage for where I want to be when I am mobile. It's an older unit, perhaps it is tired. When it fails, you don't know you aren't listening anymore.

Overall, I am disappointed with it. It would make an excellent window or desk scanner on an external antenna. I would not trust it as a pager in the hills of Southeast TN though. I think I'm going to make one more antenna test, and if that doesn't do it, I am going to look at NAS harris radios and throw this one up for sale.

Again, because this is RR, this is one opinion based on things that aren't your things, with a used unit, on a particular system, in a mountainous terrain, and if they don't have an active radio dragged to that tower, you aren't probably going to hear it, and this is a fire pager, not a scanning monitor. I am not sure I have correctly programmed it, either.

So, if you need a plug and play monitor, this is very not for you. If you like to tinker, you may find fun here. IF you need assured receiving, and don't have a radio shop to issue this to you... mmmm I dunno. Others will tell you it's great, some will say it's garbage, I am mostly in the middle.

If its VHF I'll buy it

 

[blackbelter]

I have had my G5 since 2019 and has truly made me rethink the monitoring on the go not to mention it’s amazing OEM stubby antenna. I wish not to monitor beyond my zip code P25P2 select talk groups , yet it has the outreach capabilities of copying several other systems many miles away from my QTH. For that reason, I enjoy my G5 better than any other monitoring devices I have owned .. although I cherish my SDS 200 for its other functions. It just works.
73,

 

[surfacemount]

The stock antenna on my G4 and G5 receives systems from two or three counties away. I have no need to even think of to want to upgrade the antenna. Plus with small form factor and small it's easy to carry.

They have best receive of any of monitoring gear.



No issues like that. It receives well on my knob positions with just one talkgroup to the knob positions with more than one talkgroup.

I learned a long time ago to only scan a few talkgroups at a time on each radio. Because of this fact my knob positions only have a maximum of 3-6 talkgroups.

I don't know how to split quotes like I do at arf, so:

In the issued vehicle and in all of my personally owned vehicles, my experience has not been the same. Also inside my home. The first antenna... was a dog. Bad. The second investment gave me a lot more reach, but I still have multiple dead zones that additionally have fluctuating dead zones. To the point I can't trust it. I am considering either one more kind of portable antenna, or... I had a really good external antenna, but 1 - I couldn't find it yesterday, and 2 - it would be parked next to a 35w transmitting antenna, and I had qualms about that.

I need more than 6 talk groups to scan through. I understood it to be a limitation, but I didn't think it would be limited that badly. I will try a knob position with just one or two and see how that does. If that in fact is why it is missing voice grants, out it goes.

This is the first thing I'd personally address, however you and only you know your monitoring needs and wants.

I do, it took much trial and error to get my two set up at least close to the way I wanted them and even now, I make minor changes here and there. I looked it all as a learning experience plus there is asure lot of help here on RR to get it going the way you want.




The one site at a time is true and widely discussed here, and to some of us getting exactly what we loaded is what we want. I do have some "trunking monitor" zones in mine but it's getting more and more rare I use them but yes there are occasions yet.


Obviously we do not know exactly what you're trying to receive. I do not live where you live but have used mine in Colorado where there are some mountains, and frankly it exceeded my expectations last time I was out there. Prior to selling it, unless you actually deplore the thing and are tired of messing with it, perhaps provide us with some real information about what you are trying to monitor. Which G5 you have (what is the second band) and some other useful information that might help us help you.

Honestly most of your post has been widely discussed here at RR sometimes, to the point it's like beating a dead horse. If you'd like to see if it's still possible to make it work better for you, perhaps provide the info, and exactly what you're wanting to do and we can help. I understand everyone's needs are different and perhaps it just wasn't the device for you just like the SDS 100 wasn't the device for me.

Good luck with whatever you decide, if we can help, let us know.

I feel like it's been pretty clear I am monitoring the Tennessee State system, sorry if that was unclear.

It is a very old G5 7/8 - VHF split. Has the older style USB. First thing that happened was the upper right button fell off. Think I got ripped, but oh well.

Yes, most of what I have written has been covered ad nauseum. It took me a long time of note collating to arrive at those observations, and now they are encapsulated in something fresh and hopefully easy to follow. (The horse deserves all the beatings it receives).

What I want it to do is monitor what I ask it to. On one knob position, I want a mix of Highway Patrol Districts and Talkgroups, and a couple of other mutual aid talkgroups. On another, I would like a county-centric mix of talkgroups. On another I would like federal talk groups. That's pretty much it. Plus the things discussed in the post below might be good.

Programming from download from radio reference isn't too difficult.

It was for me initially. Sifting through a thousand talk groups and tower sites and...

Finally I got the hang of it. Currently I have the entire state system as one download, and I am learning to pick and choose from it inside the zone programming. I hope that's the best practice there, open to learning more.

You might not realize what type of things your G5 can do besides act as a 2 tone fire pager. Several examples are you can set it up to scan a section of a band of frequencies. Like the VHF marine subband, Railroad subband, or whatever you want it to search. I am on a regional state hazmat team covering 25 counties, and so I have mine programmed for several P25 talkgroups we use with the pager in site scan mode. It records everything it hears on our talkgroups and it changes radio tower sites no matter where I am in the state (NC VIPER is a statewide system). You can also program it to receive in monitor mode for 1 particular tower location, makes it easy to see unknown talkgroups or see who affiliates with that particular tower. Plus it does more.

I like the idea of band scan tied to a knob position, I would love to learn more about that. Would you start a post explaining it?

I also have been trying to do the 'one site all talkgroups' trick, but not really getting it yet. These are things that keeps me from jumping ship.

I love mine. How much can you listen to at one time? It's a far better receiver than some of the scanners I have. Everyone is different. It has to fit your needs and work for you.

I guess it depends on what your interest is. I have seen wreckers with 4-5 scanners in them, and news vans with half a dozen actual radios. I have never trusted LMR channel scan, having been bit by missing traffic more than once, so I see the value.

For me, it depends on what kind of day I am having. There are days where monitoring 20 talkgroups would be a GREAT option, because there is nothing on 90% of them, but if one wakes up, I would like to know about it. Also, being able to have the radio man load keys into it puts it way past all the scanners I have looked at.

If its VHF I'll buy it

Mine has VHF for listening to Federal assets. I will keep you in mind.

 

[K9KLC]

I feel like it's been pretty clear I am monitoring the Tennessee State system, sorry if that was unclear.

This would be the equivalent of me saying I want to monitor StarCom 21 in IL. Yes I have a knob position for scanning the whole system with trunking monitor but I NEVER use that position for the counties around me. I set those up separately. If I turn it on in system scan, it locks on to the first site it gets a reliable signal on which oddly enough isn't the system closest to me. I have knob positions set up for the 4-5 separate counties around me and when traveling beyond those I use the system scan position.

Also I know once I switch from the Madison county simulcast to the St. Clair county simulcast I will not get all of the talk groups in one that I get in the other. Most of the state police yes and a lot of the county stuff yes but often not all of the individual cities I have in one vs the other.

It is a very old G5 7/8 - VHF split. Has the older style USB.

Both of mine are circa 2019, and both came with the old style antenna and yes that was not very good. The first thing I did was for each (both acquired WELL used) ordered the newer style Unication antenna and a new battery for each. I also have the drop in amplified charger for both use at home and occasionally while mobile especially in MO where they use VHF for some of their sites.

I guess it depends on what your interest is. I have seen wreckers with 4-5 scanners in them

That's because they've learned the more you listen to (on one single device) the more you usually miss. I have my G5s for primarily one purpose and that's p-25 simulcast here at home and near my area and in my state, and use other devices for anything else. Once in a great while if I get caught out I will use it for weather band during an approaching storm front or if I happen to have to go to the one city still using DMR in my area and didn't know about it ahead of time.

I need more than 6 talk groups to scan through

This I don't understand, you can assign up to 64 individual talk groups to each knob position and also assign that knob position to trunking monitor where it will receive everything it hears there. The caveat is you can only "label" up to 64 in that position, the rest will only appear as numbers. Honestly some days I end up locking out a few, when it gets busy the 58 I have in mine ends up being too much or, I will turn on the other G5 I have and use it for the locked out ones.

Again maybe it's just me but this "Tennessee State system" doesn't really help me to understand what you're trying to do. You cannot need to monitor the entire system all the time. Certain TG's only happen on "some" systems. (at least that's the way it usually is) and If you're having problems in the area you live in catching local stuff maybe your programming needs to be looked at.

All in all at the end, it's you that has to decide if the G5 is the right device for you. It's not for many people for a host of reasons and is a wonderful device to others (including me) for what we do. Yes I have other devices for monitoring other stuff especially at home but while mobile it's the G5 that leaves the house with me. Good luck.

 

[surfacemount]

This I don't understand, you can assign up to 64 individual talk groups to each knob position and also assign that knob position to trunking monitor where it will receive everything it hears there. The caveat is you can only "label" up to 64 in that position, the rest will only appear as numbers. Honestly some days I end up locking out a few, when it gets busy the 58 I have in mine ends up being too much or, I will turn on the other G5 I have and use it for the locked out ones.

The guy said he only does 3 or 6 or something upthread.

Again maybe it's just me but this "Tennessee State system" doesn't really help me to understand what you're trying to do. You cannot need to monitor the entire system all the time. Certain TG's only happen on "some" systems. (at least that's the way it usually is) and If you're having problems in the area you live in catching local stuff maybe your programming needs to be looked at.

guarantee my programming needs looked at.

I do not need to monitor the entire state at the same time.

Generally I travel among 6-7 counties daily, and need to monitor the same set of talkgroups (if they have been dragged to a tower I can receive). Then I would sometimes like to wildcard scan.

I too got the amplified base, and have strongly considered taking it for mobile use. Trying to wring the bugs out before I commit to that much cockpit space though. (Next person may not appreciate the extra holes lol)

 

[K9KLC]

The guy said he only does 3 or 6 or something upthread.

What I prefer or the man in the moon prefer is not important. It's what you want that matters. Fact remains it will scan up to 64 TGs per knob position if you choose to have that many in there. Also it will do trunking monitor where it will get all the TGs it hears on that site.

Generally I travel among 6-7 counties daily, and need to monitor the same set of talkgroups (if they have been dragged to a tower I can receive). Then I would sometimes like to wildcard scan.

This key part to this is if the TGs affiliate with the site you are on. If they do not then you'll not hear those TGs on any type of scanner coming off that site. We have no idea of the counties or distances but 6-7 counties away from the base site the TGs are on may be a stretch. If it was all centered around their "home" system that might be different.

I know nothing about the TACN system there but at a quick look it seems similar to things most places with p-25 trunking.

It's easy to set up a knob position with the groups you want on the home system then just do another knob position in trunking monitor, remembering you can only label 64 of those. The rest will just be the TG number.

It will take some time to get this set up in any kind of working order but some testing may be in order. I've had my G5s for over two years now and still make occasional changes. Obviously if I go to a different area then more changes need to be made.

 

[surfacemount]

What I prefer or the man in the moon prefer is not important. It's what you want that matters. Fact remains it will scan up to 64 TGs per knob position if you choose to have that many in there. Also it will do trunking monitor where it will get all the TGs it hears on that site.

This key part to this is if the TGs affiliate with the site you are on. If they do not then you'll not hear those TGs on any type of scanner coming off that site. We have no idea of the counties or distances but 6-7 counties away from the base site the TGs are on may be a stretch. If it was all centered around their "home" system that might be different.

i think i use priority scan (talkgroups in the upper and lower box)

Most of what I want to listen to are either state entities or statewide channels, so the odds of a state unit being on the tower I am on is probably pretty high.
One of the problems I am having is that one of the talkgroups my mobile radio is on, does not pick up consistently on one of the more populated knob positions on the g5. It does better on one that only has it and one other talkgroup.

 

[K9KLC]

i think i use priority scan (talkgroups in the upper and lower box)

Most of what I want to listen to are either state entities or statewide channels, so the odds of a state unit being on the tower I am on is probably pretty high.
One of the problems I am having is that one of the talkgroups my mobile radio is on, does not pick up consistently on one of the more populated knob positions on the g5. It does better on one that only has it and one other talkgroup.

Ok we can go back and forth here all day, the correct thing is just post up the PPS and let us see why that might be happening. Do you have same site programmed on both those knob positions? Are you sure the one that's not more populated is busier and you're not catching what you want due to it being stopped on another TG? We're grasping at straws here. I have no idea what you have in your pager. NO idea which sites you have in there or where you go or what you honestly need. Sorry man, I bid you good luck but without more information or posting up the PPS I'm pretty much out here. Again. good luck!

 

[ryolsen8]

Stuff that might be me, or where I live, or the system I monitor: Sometimes it just doesn't want to give me certain talk groups. I can change the knob one over, and it does just fine. Many times, you have to power cycle it. I haven't found an antenna that gives me adequate coverage for where I want to be when I am mobile. It's an older unit, perhaps it is tired. When it fails, you don't know you aren't listening anymore.

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.