Tower mountain RWC issue with Unication G5

[ww7b]

Hello. The Unication G5 is doing a great job on the Phoenix RWC, but I am having issues with it syncing on the Towers site.



RFSS Site
1 (1) 011 (B) Towers Mountain High Yavapai 772.49375c 772.74375a 772.99375a 773.24375a 773.49375 773.74375 773.99375
774.24375 774.49375 774.74375

I am thinking that the RFSS and site hex numbers are wrong in the RR database. I can hear it on the BCD436HP with no problem, the Unication cannot see it. Any thoughts? Great radio for PHX. I have a pretty good database for the folks that are interested. Thx all!! All other Simul's are syncing fine

 

[918Dave]

Possibly your location. RR shows a radius of 35 miles from its location in Yavapai County. I'm in South Glendale and beyond its reach. I agree with you on your assessment of the G5. I recently had the opportunity to listen to PCWIN when in Tucson recently and it was awesome there too. While we are on the subject, do you know if you can manually choose a systems 'site' on the fly? I've been able to do this only by turning the unit on and off. Sometimes my site choice would have been better than the G5's first choice.

 

[DanRollman]

You listened to PCWIN on a G5? How? The G5 is Phase I P25 only and PCWIN is exclusively Phase II.

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[ww7b]

G5 RWC

Dave, thanks for the reply. The Tucson system is Phase II I don't think the software is enabled for that. I agree with the distance comment, but the BCD436 with my Austin antenna on the car pulls in White Tanks and Towers just fine and the G5 pulls in White Tanks too. I might have to drive up north to see. I am amazed that Simul A and B are strong here in south Tempe. Ray and Rural. None of my other radios come even close. I still think the RFSS and Site ID might be incorrect. I have each bank set to a specific Simul. The first one is a wild card with all the control channels as I travel around PHX I am still experimenting and it is a fine radio, but does have some limitations. Just glad it's here.

 

[n0doz]

Sorry to hijack, but I looked at the specs for the G5 and it wasn't that impressive IMHO. Are they better than, say, a 436 in person?

 

[DanRollman]

Sorry to hijack, but I looked at the specs for the G5 and it wasn't that impressive IMHO. Are they better than, say, a 436 in person?

Yes. For simulcast Phase I P25 monitoring, the G5 works well and the 436 often performs terribly (as do all consumer grade scanner toys).

If you find a consumer grade scanner performs well for what you like to monitor, then good for you, and no need to consider a G5. A G5 is mostly a solution for people who have been suffering from the terrible simulcast P25 performance of consumer scanners.

The features of a 436 make a 436 the superior device if it actually performs well for what you do.

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[918Dave]

I wasn't aware PCWIN was totally Phase II? RR states 'some' talk-groups. Anyway, the G5 is flawless here in Phoenix. It won't be too long before we have a Phase II upgrade.

A gentleman in the Unication forum suggested I program each site separately to accomplish a site override.

 

[DanRollman]

PCWIN is definitely Phase II only. They do not even allow talkgroups to automatically select based on whether a Phase I radio is active on the talkgroup at that moment. Phase I radios are not permitted on the system. It does not do any FDMA.

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[918Dave]

I stand corrected. It was most likely the TRX-1 that was with me I was definitely picking up the System from my post along Oracle Rd. Tucson was livelier after midnight than I imagined. Ok, back to separate site programming.

 

[918Dave]

Sorry to hijack, but I looked at the specs for the G5 and it wasn't that impressive IMHO. Are they better than, say, a 436 in person?

Specs don't impress me. What I can actually hear does. I'll put the G5 next to anything available and it is the clear winner when dealing with Phase I simulcast issues.

 

[InlandAZ]

Dave, thanks for the reply. The Tucson system is Phase II I don't think the software is enabled for that. I agree with the distance comment, but the BCD436 with my Austin antenna on the car pulls in White Tanks and Towers just fine and the G5 pulls in White Tanks too. I might have to drive up north to see. I am amazed that Simul A and B are strong here in south Tempe. Ray and Rural. None of my other radios come even close. I still think the RFSS and Site ID might be incorrect. I have each bank set to a specific Simul. The first one is a wild card with all the control channels as I travel around PHX I am still experimenting and it is a fine radio, but does have some limitations. Just glad it's here.

You're lucky, I'm 1 block south on Rural and Chandler - very little received on simulcast A here, and B is out of the question.

 

[DanRollman]

You're lucky, I'm 1 block south on Rural and Chandler - very little received on simulcast A here, and B is out of the question.

On a G5? Or on one of the consumer grade toy scanners?

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[KB7MIB]

You're lucky, I'm 1 block south on Rural and Chandler - very little received on simulcast A here, and B is out of the question.

The Simulcast A sites are co-located with the Simulcast B sites throughout the City of Phoenix.
They should be received equally welll, or equally poorly.

John
Peoria

 

[InlandAZ]

The Simulcast A sites are co-located with the Simulcast B sites throughout the City of Phoenix.
They should be received equally welll, or equally poorly.

John
Peoria

Yep, but the CC's show zero bars here. Someone here has a feed for Chandler which has PFD included, so I know it can be monitored nearby, just not from my house. One of these days I'll pop an external antenna up and try it again.

And no, it's not a G5 Dan -

 

[n0doz]

Yes. For simulcast Phase I P25 monitoring, the G5 works well and the 436 often performs terribly (as do all consumer grade scanner toys)

Jeez, Dan... condescend much?
It was just a question. I don't know a thing about the G5 other than what I read from their site.
I certainly hope you're more "patient" with your paying customers. Sheesh.

 

[KB7MIB]

Yep, but the CC's show zero bars here. Someone here has a feed for Chandler which has PFD included, so I know it can be monitored nearby, just not from my house. One of these days I'll pop an external antenna up and try it again.-

That feed provider may be using Simulcast C for both Chandler PD and Phoenix FD.

Simulcasts B, C, F, G, H, and J will all carry Phoenix FD K-decks.

John
Peoria

 

[InlandAZ]

That feed provider may be using Simulcast C for both Chandler PD and Phoenix FD.

Simulcasts B, C, F, G, H, and J will all carry Phoenix FD K-decks.

John
Peoria

Yeah, I use them as well - but I don't receive nearly as much traffic as the feed does.

 

[KB7MIB]

Yeah, I use them as well - but I don't receive nearly as much traffic as the feed does.

Either a directional antenna, a G4/G5, or a commercial grade radio set to non-affiliate scan may be needed.

If I had the money, I'd try a G4/G5 on Simulcast G for all the RWC West Valley stuff I want to listen to.

How many talkgroups can be programmed into one?
Disregard, it has 256 channel capability.

My next question though, is how are they divided up, if at all? Are they all in one bank/group/list/zone, or can they be divided up into different lists? Can they all be put into one list for general monitoring, then can you switch to a specific list if you hear something of interest, or if you want to listen to one or just a few specific TG's?
How does that all work?

John
Peoria

 

[sanyoman]

I live at Ray and Rural and can pull in Simul A & B. My 436 lies dead. I programmed into each click position Simul A, B, C, F, H, G, White Tanks and Towers and associated TG. Like Fire is on B etc.... The radio software is user friendly. You have to type everything in. I have a decent database that I will share. You cannot scan across the banks yet. It is truly and amazing piece and works well. I can sync up to Towers when I am in Queen Creek. Straight shot. I had the wrong sub id before. Working great now

 

[DanRollman]

Either a directional antenna, a G4/G5, or a commercial grade radio set to non-affiliate scan may be needed.

If I had the money, I'd try a G4/G5 on Simulcast G for all the RWC West Valley stuff I want to listen to.

How many talkgroups can be programmed into one?
Disregard, it has 256 channel capability.

My next question though, is how are they divided up, if at all? Are they all in one bank/group/list/zone, or can they be divided up into different lists? Can they all be put into one list for general monitoring, then can you switch to a specific list if you hear something of interest, or if you want to listen to one or just a few specific TG's?
How does that all work?

John
Peoria

On the G4/G5, the knob has 8 positions and those are better thought of as scan lists. Each knob position can include on talkgroup or can scan many. You can have many zones with 8 knob positions in each.

I don't think the 256 channel limit means what it sounds like. I have many more than that in my G5 if by channel we mean talkgroup. Maybe you're limited to 8 scan lists times 32 zones or something (I don't use that many), but since each scan list can have many talkgroups it's not as limiting as it sounds.

It does not have all the whiz-bang features of a 436. But it actually receives simulcast P25 transmissions clearly and consistently, without needing rabbit ear antennas and tin foil and to hold the radio "just so" while standing on one foot in order to occasionally maybe pick up a snippet of a conversation here and there. So there's that.


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