I need help on what to get, Either Thales Liberty, or Unification G5.

[P25andstuff]

Ok I've been debating with myself for a few weeks, wondering should I get a Thales Liberty of G5. You might ask why. I need a radio that can transmit on VHF, UHF. Conventional/P25. I Could buy the Thales Liberty and use that but It does not do Phase 2 (Even though I would like to listen to State Police). With getting a G5 I could use that as my phase 2 receiver (For State Police) and use a more budget radio for VHF/UHF P25. I really need another opinion before I pull the trigger on one of these radios/pagers. I've heard mixed reviews on both and would like to know what you guys have to say before I make such an investment.

 

[mmckenna]

I trialed a Liberty at work many years ago and was not impressed.

Get the G5. Save the money, if you want a dual band P25 capable radio, there are better ones out there.

 

[P25andstuff]

I trialed a Liberty at work many years ago and was not impressed.

Get the G5. Save the money, if you want a dual band P25 capable radio, there are better ones out there.

Ok, Im not trying be annoying but what didn't you like about the liberty?

 

[mmckenna]

Ok, Im not trying be annoying but what didn't you like about the liberty?

At the time, the software was problematic, and we had a hard time getting support from Thales. We were trialing it for possible use by our officers, but when you are thinking of buying something expensive like that, you sort of expect the manufacturer to help with issues. They didn't seem helpful.

It's a big heavy radio. If you want a big heavy radio, that's the one. But if you plan on carrying something every day, you'll be happier with the G5. Your belt will thank you, too.

Looking at the prices on eBay, I think for what you'd pay for the Liberty, there are some better options out there for a bit more money.

 

[jack103]

You can’t protect
yourself with a G-5 but you can with a Thales Liberty.

 

[prcguy]

The Thales Liberty is end of life and there are no new batteries anywhere on the planet to be had. I actually got one in perfect shape with the side adapter that can use a USB cable for programming for $100. I was shocked when it arrived and worked fine. I could not find anyone to sell me programming software for any reasonable price and new batteries were non existent, so I put it back on Ebay and made a good profit.

With that out of the way I would recommend you look at the Harris XG-100P. Its all bands, easy to program and works very well and can do Phase II. Its been around awhile so prices are getting very reasonable, you should be able to get one with the features you need in maybe the $1,200 range. Software is floating around for these if you look hard enough.

 

[BigLebowski]

I have a Thales Liberty running the latest firmware. It's not a bad radio, but it also doesn't do anything really well. I have been using it for conventional stuff only and it works fine for that. Parts are either unobtainium or super expensive for it. Overall I can't recommend it.

The XG-100 is a much better radio overall. I have a minty loaded one for sale now over on Facebook. With the Unity you get 10 mission plans of 1250 channels each, Phase II, encryption, etc. Parts are not cheap but they aren't rare/ungodly expensive either.

My 3rd choice would be the APX8000.

The Unication works just fine if you don't need to talk on it.

 

[P25andstuff]

Ok thanks, Im also looking at a APX4000XH as it does phase 2 for the statewide system CT has, Have you experimented with the APX4000?

 

[BigLebowski]

Isn't the 4000XH 800/900 only and the CT system 700mhz?

If you mean the 4000XE.. good radio.

 

[P25andstuff]

Isn't the 4000XH 800/900 only and the CT system 700mhz?

If you mean the 4000XE.. good radio.

Well Most of the Troops and simulcasts that I want to listen to are in 800mhz, and yes I mean XH.

 

[n3obl]

Bad thing with the XH is you are limited to one battery. Also no 700mhz.
And that pesky creating a fake system key which could be interpreted as felony computer crimes. Stick with Unication or get an sds100/200

 

[mmckenna]

Ok thanks, Im also looking at a APX4000XH as it does phase 2 for the statewide system CT has, Have you experimented with the APX4000?

I gotta ask….
G5 <-> APX#### sort of apples and oranges.
What, exactly, is it you want to do with this setup? Is it just monitoring or do you have authorization to transmit? I understand that the commercial radios have better receivers, but there's a big jump in price between these two.

Just trying to understand what it is you are looking for.

 

[P25andstuff]

I gotta ask….
G5 <-> APX#### sort of apples and oranges.
What, exactly, is it you want to do with this setup? Is it just monitoring or do you have authorization to transmit? I understand that the commercial radios have better receivers, but there's a big jump in price between these two.

Just trying to understand what it is you are looking for.

Well I have authorization for some VHF channels and UHF channels. Some of these channels are P25. But When I am on scene, I would like to also listen to state police.

 

[P25andstuff]

Well I have authorization for some VHF channels and UHF channels. Some of these channels are P25. But When I am on scene, I would like to also listen to state police.

Im Looking for something that is small and can monitor all systems I need, but If I can get a radio that can monitor these systems and let me transmit on the ones i'm allowed to I would like to have a radio like that. But Id be fine with having two radios, one for listening on unauthorized systems and one for transmitting on authorized systems.

 

[mmckenna]

Well I have authorization for some VHF channels and UHF channels. Some of these channels are P25. But When I am on scene, I would like to also listen to state police.

Got it.
A p25 capable multiband radio would be nice. APX-8Ks are wayyy to expensive. The Harris models are cheaper, we're looking at the XL-200P and M's at work due to the substantial cost savings.
On the used market, the Harris 100's would probably be my choice.

Other option is an EFJohnson with VHF/UHF and get the pager for the 7-800 stuff.

 

[P25andstuff]

Got it.
A p25 capable multiband radio would be nice. APX-8Ks are wayyy to expensive. The Harris models are cheaper, we're looking at the XL-200P and M's at work due to the substantial cost savings.
On the used market, the Harris 100's would probably be my choice.

Other option is an EFJohnson with VHF/UHF and get the pager for the 7-800 stuff.

Ok thanks! I'll give an update when I make my final choice.

 

[Jay911]

I know the ship has sailed on the Liberty in this thread but I thought I'd add my two cents.

I bought a Liberty years ago, foolishly, before my province's P25 system was fully online; I anticipated using it on that, but Thales never supplied a candidate radio to the system admins for vetting onto the Permitted Radio List. I used the thing for a couple of years and I'm pretty sure it's on a shelf somewhere now, battery dead, antenna used on another radio that had the same/similar connector.

The biggest problem with me, beyond the colossal weight of the radio and the fact it never got authorized for my system, was that it had serious problems in cold extremes. Where I live, long stretches of the winter with -20° to -30° (C) are commonplace. The radio would routinely fail (IIRC the audio board would act as if it was no longer talking to the rest of the radio, so you could see that something was happening, but it was silent). On occasion a twist on the chassis - as in, grab opposite ends and act like you're wringing out a wash cloth - would revive it, but more often, it just had to go back into the truck to warm up for a while.

I have no all-band solution for portable radios on my department right now. We've almost completely run out of UHF channels to talk on, so we're now essentially carrying two Kenwood NX5000 series portables - one in 7/8, one in VHF - to do all we need. I have no way of justifying dropping between $8600 and $12000 (in my country's dollars) for APX8000s, per unit.

 

[mmckenna]

I have no way of justifying dropping between $8600 and $12000 (in my country's dollars) for APX8000s, per unit.

Yeah, that's what we are up against (even in my country's dollars). I looked at the APX-8000's and a few of our sister agencies are using them. But I'm pretty sure they don't have a radio guy on staff, so they buy whatever the sales guy pushes. To help our decision, the county we are in is doing the same thing, they trialed a few APX-8000's and the officers hated them. They tried the Harris (at almost half the price) and the officers like them. There's a benefit for the county and us having the same radios.

 

[P25andstuff]

Yeah, that's what we are up against (even in my country's dollars). I looked at the APX-8000's and a few of our sister agencies are using them. But I'm pretty sure they don't have a radio guy on staff, so they buy whatever the sales guy pushes. To help our decision, the county we are in is doing the same thing, they trialed a few APX-8000's and the officers hated them. They tried the Harris (at almost half the price) and the officers like them. There's a benefit for the county and us having the same radios.

I think im just gonna buy a VHF 700/800 MHZ G5. How is the programming on these as I need them for Phase 2 trunking, and some conventional channels. Can't I just import radio reference files to program this radio?