Interested in a Unication G5

[D31245]

Another recently new and happy G5 owner here. I purchased mine with the UHF-D option (450-512MHz plus 700/800Mhz) as I want to monitor my local conventional public safety agencies which are still 100% analog conventional. Miss having access to the VHF/UHF ham bands and VHF for weather but I have other radios for that.

I was very confused about the programming at the beginning but doing more reading, watching YouTube videos, and asking folks questions here (who have been very helpful as you can see), I have it figured out on a basic level. I still don't understand about programming tones - or if I even need them for basic scanning and monitoring - but I'm still on the learning curve and managed to get various P25T systems programmed into my radio without them and seem to be doing fine - one system is about 25 miles away in another state. I also track our State Police on their P25C simulcast frequencies with no issues and my local analog conventional safety agencies.

One thing that was strongly suggested to me (and I can't remember if it has been suggested to you in previous posts) is to get a Radio Reference subscription so you can import various agencies and systems into the PPS. Huge time-saver and informational resource.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[steve9570]

I have a G5 and its great. all my other radios are collecting dust now. I use it at work and in the car. And get close to 10 hours on a charge.

 

[K9KLC]

One thing that was strongly suggested to me (and I can't remember if it has been suggested to you in previous posts) is to get a Radio Reference subscription so you can import various agencies and systems into the PPS. Huge time-saver and informational resource.

This, exactly this. Thanks for mentioning this. Because I already had the subscription, I didn't even think about it when I got my first G5 and you are correct it helps greatly!

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

Yes, a RadioReference Subscription is recommended when using PPS and an Unication G Series. It will save time. It will take awhile to get used to software. After multiple tweaks, my G5 is programmed as I like it without reprogramming and risking USB Port damage.

Background Colors, Alerts, and FTO's work as intended. Btw, the Alert Tone is very LOUD!

 

[CollinsURG]

Thanks everyone for all the great information. Very helpful.

To me the SDS100 internal speaker sounds tinny and hard to listen to at times. Some female voices with higher frequencies are fatiguing. My hearing is still good, but frequencies above 6K are greatly attenuated, so missing those harmonics may be part of the problem. Connected to an external amplified speaker it sounds good. The BCD325P2 does a much better job. I wish I knew of a better speaker that would fit in the SDS100. I would swap it out.


Do the Unication pagers reproduce voices much better?

 

[Enjoi19]

The speaker is pretty solid. Good quality sound. Pretty loud. No complaints. No problem hearing and understanding while driving with the radio on. I would say better sounding than the SDS, from my experience.

 

[CollinsURG]

The speaker is pretty solid. Good quality sound. Pretty loud. No complaints. No problem hearing and understanding while driving with the radio on. I would say better sounding than the SDS, from my experience.

Great!

 

[CollinsURG]

I have a G5 and its great. all my other radios are collecting dust now. I use it at work and in the car. And get close to 10 hours on a charge.

I anticipate using the G5 as primary, and BCD325P2 for analog and P25 single channel scanning.

 

[CollinsURG]

Well, PPS isn't complicated at all !!!

Please realize the sarcasm.

This will take some time, even for a retired Microsoft certified systems engineer.

Have not read the software manual yet, or looked at much of the built in help.

Youtube, here I come.

 

[K9KLC]

Do the Unication pagers reproduce voices much better?

If you're talking about between the Unication and SDS100, it's night and day or, at least it was on my system to my ears.

 

[CollinsURG]

If you're talking about between the Unication and SDS100, it's night and day or, at least it was on my system to my ears.

That's what I was asking, so thanks for the report.

I have handheld radios by Yaesu, Standard Horizon and Alinco that sound far better and have similar size speakers. So we must ask, why is the audio of the SDS100 so bad?

 

[K9KLC]

That's what I was asking, so thanks for the report.

I have handheld radios by Yaesu, Standard Horizon and Alinco that sound far better and have similar size speakers. So we must ask, why is the audio of the SDS100 so bad?

If you're comparing them with the SDS on p-25 and the others on FM that could explain some of that. However when on the NOAA weather channels (when the 100 would even receive one of them) even there on FM to me, the SDS audio just wasn't there compared to my TH-F6A kenwood or VX8 Yaesu or Motorola VHF HT. I cannot comment as to why.

 

[CollinsURG]

If you're comparing them with the SDS on p-25 and the others on FM that could explain some of that. However when on the NOAA weather channels (when the 100 would even receive one of them) even there on FM to me, the SDS audio just wasn't there compared to my TH-F6A kenwood or VX8 Yaesu or Motorola VHF HT. I cannot comment as to why.

Same thing I have experienced. With earbuds or external speaker. The SDS100 sounds very good. The internal speaker does not appear to be any smaller than what is in my other handheld radios that sound far better. Did they use a 5 cent speaker instead of a 50 cent speaker? Sarcasm of course, but I have always wondered if a better internal speaker that will fit would fix it.

 

[K9KLC]

Same thing I have experienced. With earbuds or external speaker. The SDS100 sounds very good. The internal speaker does not appear to be any smaller than what is in my other handheld radios that sound far better. Did they use a 5 cent speaker instead of a 50 cent speaker? Sarcasm of course, but I have always wondered if a better internal speaker that will fit would fix it.

If you get a Unication pager, see how that boggles your mind. Check it on the same system and same TG's then, take the 100 and put it on say one of the NOAA weather channels and do the same with the Unication (if you get the VHF one). I'm still. scratching my head on how that small Unication have the audio it has for such a small device. Of course here, I had problems getting the 100 to even receive the same weather Chanels I could get on the Unications built in antenna (which is how the second band happens on the pager itself) but we did test it in a better area where the signals were full quieting on both, and it simply blew me away the difference.

I realize the audio is supposed to be better on the SDS 150 so that might help even the playing field out a little bit, or hopefully so. Also it appeared to me at least the receive was quite a bit better on VHF as opposed to the SDS 100 in that one video that was posted. The SDS 150 is still a LONG LONG LONG way aways from me thinking about getting one and if I were to decide, I'd have to wait till it's out for "some time" but other than I could do VHF, UHF and 700/800 trunking on the same device I'd never ever even consider it. Frankly I'm considering a move perhaps in the next 18 months or so, so if that comes to pass, I may have to rethink the whole thing.

I really don't know why the audio sounds like it does on the 100, since it works ok with an external can't be the amplifier section I wouldn't think.

 

[CollinsURG]

If you get a Unication pager, see how that boggles your mind. Check it on the same system and same TG's then, take the 100 and put it on say one of the NOAA weather channels and do the same with the Unication (if you get the VHF one). I'm still. scratching my head on how that small Unication have the audio it has for such a small device. Of course here, I had problems getting the 100 to even receive the same weather Chanels I could get on the Unications built in antenna (which is how the second band happens on the pager itself) but we did test it in a better area where the signals were full quieting on both, and it simply blew me away the difference.

I realize the audio is supposed to be better on the SDS 150 so that might help even the playing field out a little bit, or hopefully so. Also it appeared to me at least the receive was quite a bit better on VHF as opposed to the SDS 100 in that one video that was posted. The SDS 150 is still a LONG LONG LONG way aways from me thinking about getting one and if I were to decide, I'd have to wait till it's out for "some time" but other than I could do VHF, UHF and 700/800 trunking on the same device I'd never ever even consider it. Frankly I'm considering a move perhaps in the next 18 months or so, so if that comes to pass, I may have to rethink the whole thing.

I really don't know why the audio sounds like it does on the 100, since it works ok with an external can't be the amplifier section I wouldn't think.

The uncertainty and price of the SDS150 caused me to have a wait and see approach to getting one. The RF gain adjustment at the bottom of page 59 of the manual made me back off for now. From all that I knew about the Unication G5, it made me reconsider it since there was an opportunity to take advantage of the PayPal 20% back offer.

What I have learned in this thread has encouraged me to get one. It sounds like it will fit well into how I monitor. I don't usually scan. With the SDS100, I sit on the local SO dispatch channel and switch to TAC channels, or possibly fire channels according to traffic on the SO channels. That system is simulcast. I may also switch to a nearby regional simulcast system that covers counties around mine, if traffic in my county moves into a bordering county.

I also use a BCD325P2 to monitor the NC Highway Patrol on the statewide Viper system. The Viper site near me is not simulcast. Out of 240 statewide sites, 3 are simulcast.

 

[K9KLC]

The uncertainty and price of the SDS150 caused me to have a wait and see approach to getting one. The RF gain adjustment at the bottom of page 59 of the manual made me back off for now. From all that I knew about the Unication G5, it made me reconsider it since there was an opportunity to take advantage of the PayPal 20% back offer.

What I have learned in this thread has encouraged me to get one. It sounds like it will fit well into how I monitor. I don't usually scan. With the SDS100, I sit on the local SO dispatch channel and switch to TAC channels, or possibly fire channels according to traffic on the SO channels. That system is simulcast. I may also switch to a nearby regional simulcast system that covers counties around mine, if traffic in my county moves into a bordering county.

I also use a BCD325P2 to monitor the NC Highway Patrol on the statewide Viper system. The Viper site near me is not simulcast. Out of 240 statewide sites, 3 are simulcast.

Doesn't sound like you're trying to monitor more one thing at a time now on the 100, so you wouldn't loose anything by going to the Unication. Like I said, if I lived in 99% of the other towns in this county, it would never even be an issue most of those are on the trunked system. I knew some of NC Viper was not simulcast (thinking of perhaps a move somewhere down that way) and I had done some checking but I didn't know actually how much was or was not, I hadn't gotten that far yet. We have 2 sites near me not simulcast and I still use one of my Unications most of the time if I want to listen there too, rather than my BCD 536. (which receives those systems just fine. Frankly the 536, the 436 when I had it, and the 996XT I got for my son worked fine on the simulcast stuff here also. I guess I was far enough out that I didn't have the problems some did. It was when I took the 436 out and about I had the problems, thus enter the first G5.

I was lucky, the first one I found close enough the seller was willing to meet in person and he actually put a starter plug in there with some of my counties stuff in it to get me going. After I had that a while it was game on to find the second one. (again used, I waited till I could find a fair priced one).

I will only say I've traveled to Colorado and back with it and with some "creative programming" and lots of help here at RR to make some of that happen I'll not look back. It worked enough we were able to monitor what was not encrypted between here and there on the trunking stuff, albeit we could not necessarily know which groups were who except by their conversations or looking them up. While not a perfect device, I've honestly never used anything quite like it for monitoring public service on P-25 trunking.

Don't be afraid of programing the thing, there's lots of help right here in these forums. Some of that is why I didn't get one some years ago. Sure I needed help, and watched videos read here and asked questions. Sure there's stuff I'd still maybe like to try I might need help with but there are a lot of guys here that will help and lots the searches can turn up.

 

[hill]

With the SDS100, I sit on the local SO dispatch channel and switch to TAC channels, or possibly fire channels according to traffic on the SO channels.

The Unication will work fine for this type of monitoring.

I have a lot of knob positions set up to just monitor one talk group. Stuff like fire dispatch, one police precinct or just one state police barrack

Also have other knob positions to scan a few talk groups.

Going forward there is no right or wrong way to setup these pagers. Everyonehas a different opinion how to setup and use them.

 

[K9KLC]

Everyonehas a different opinion how to setup and use them.

I couldn't agree more. Mine is constantly evolving it seems lately.