Unication G-Series Voice Pager with Digital Trunked Scanner Feature

[DMSROX2]

Here are personal thoughts on the Unication scanning upgrade currently in testing. My take is that there are two main market segments for improved scanning on a Unication pager:

1. PROFESSIONAL USERS. First responders who are already served by the alerting capability of Unication pagers and want to scan and most importantly hold critical transmissions and lockout others.
2. CITIZEN LISTENERS. Media and the majority of civilian scanner enthusiasts.

The most often mentioned need seems to be the ability to temporarily hold on a transmission when it is relevant, and to temporarily lock it out when it is annoying. These features, which are built into the beta, are sufficient to turn Unication pagers into practical scanners for most owners and prospects. Ideally, these features could be activated with a single click in the PPS software, rather than having to page through several programming steps as required in the beta. Also, the beta has eliminated the ability to place more than one conventional frequency in a single knob position for scanning.

Another wish is the ability to scan across systems and sites, from analog to trunking. The Unication beta goes far in this direction. But it required contortions in the already counter-intuitive PPS software and pager firmware that probably exceeds the programming skill of many buyers. Also, cross-system scanning presents a couple of practical limitations. First is the added time the receiver needs to check on dozens or hundreds of sites and frequencies; this often results in missed transmissions with any brand radio. Second is the need to use tiny pager keys to step through many levels of soft buttons to access options and follow radio traffic.

None of my comments are meant to detract from Unication’s remarkable achievement bringing to market a P25 receiver that actually works-- even on complex trunking and especially simulcast systems-- and sells for a fraction of the cost of P25 two-way radios.

You may have come to take this success for granted If you own a Unication pager. However, other manufacturers have been trying to produce a trunking scanner product with similar features for 20 years, with what politely can be called mixed results.

Others may have quite different perspectives on the Unication pager as scanner and I look forward to all comments. I come to this discussion having monitored public safety radios since the mid 1960s, first with news media, later helping start a fire department, and more recently as a volunteer and disaster commission chair with local agencies.

I am new G5 owner but 50 year scanner owner. The G5 is a superb radio for sure! I wonder the logic behind eliminating the ability to put multiple frequencies in a button position to be able to scan?

 

[MrRadio]

So I've been following this and I'm planning to upgrade my G5 to the "scanner" firmware.

I have a few questions though.

#1 If I sign up to be a beta tester, will I need to upgrade my firmware at the time I download the new software?

#2 Will the new software run on Win 7 Pro? I'm assuming it will, as I have no problem running the regular PPS version but not sure if the new one will still run in Win 7 Pro.

#3 If someone doesn't want to be a beta tester, what is the expected time-frame the final scanner firmware be available and will there be a cost involved to download it?

Thanks guys... and BIG thanks to Unication for making this happen!

 

[kd8sru]

Hi Jordan, can we help at all with testing issues?

 

[picscan]

Hi Jordan, my G5 had some problems so I sent it in for repair, thanks for sending me another. I plugged it into the computer and downloaded my programs and all is well except it did not download the V1.4 beta that I had before so now my AirPods no longer work with bluetooth and I have no hold, freescan or DMR upgrade on there, any way to get it back? I tried downloading it again from the link you sent, it erased my latest programming and said my G5 was not an authorized serial number.

 

[Phillipsc84]

Any suggestions can post on here or FB

So I'm not sure how popular this idea will be but it seems the general consensus among radio manufacturers has been 16 channels per zone. I know this can't be done in firmware but maybe on the next models to come out they could fit 16 channels instead of 8 per zone. Then those who have radios also can match their pager to the radio's programming. And of course have as many zones as you can possibly fit. Seems like radios now are abundant with available channels from 1000 to 4000 to I think even as high as 10000. That's a little extreme but you get the idea.

The other thought I have is to add a headphone jack with a rubber cap like the USB port. This way if someone wants to use corded headphone or an earpiece they can. Keep USB of course as that's a great feature. But it dose have at times a habit of beeping at the beginning of conversations or worse yet, it likes to go to sleep to save battery which means you miss the beginning of the transmission sometimes. This could be headset specific though.

Obviously these aren't firmware fixable but thought I'd mention them. If you'd prefer a different channel to share them I can do that too. Thanks for all you're doing to ring more options to the scanning and professional radio world!

 

[rimedic]

can anyone tell me WHEN this is going to be released? There was a thread with a link to upload your profile and I believe that link said after uploading youd be redirected to a link to upload the new firmware. ……. This is the longest I have ever seen a company take to issue an update......anyone have it? know anything about it? I bought my G5 in anticipation of this update and its been a long time in the making.

 

[AdamHLG]

can anyone tell me WHEN this is going to be released? There was a thread with a link to upload your profile and I believe that link said after uploading youd be redirected to a link to upload the new firmware. ……. This is the longest I have ever seen a company take to issue an update......anyone have it? know anything about it? I bought my G5 in anticipation of this update and its been a long time in the making.

Is your G5 not working now?

 

[rimedic]

Is your G5 not working now?

It’s working but would be a lot more functional with the update. I’ve gone to the site and followed the instructions nothing....

 

[AdamHLG]

It’s working but would be a lot more functional with the update. I’ve gone to the site and followed the instructions nothing....

Right. I hear you. I’m in the same boat as you as are lots of us. But I haven’t missed any communication on the systems I monitor either. The upgrade is coming and my philosophy is that it’s something really exciting to look forward to. But in the meantime I love my G5 and, as is, it blows away anything else out there reception wise.

From what I can tell these guys don’t release updates more than once a year so I’m chill with them working out the bugs before we get the big update.

 

[minasha]

Right. I hear you. I’m in the same boat as you as are lots of us. But I haven’t missed any communication on the systems I monitor either. The upgrade is coming and my philosophy is that it’s something really exciting to look forward to. But in the meantime I love my G5 and, as is, it blows away anything else out there reception wise.

From what I can tell these guys don’t release updates more than once a year so I’m chill with them working out the bugs before we get the big update.

I agree it's worth the wait for the "Big" update but we are waiting for the "New Beta" release first, not the Big update
just another Beta and I agree with Rimedic when is this beta coming?????

 

[mdsxfire]

can anyone tell me WHEN this is going to be released? There was a thread with a link to upload your profile and I believe that link said after uploading youd be redirected to a link to upload the new firmware. ……. This is the longest I have ever seen a company take to issue an update......anyone have it? know anything about it? I bought my G5 in anticipation of this update and its been a long time in the making.

What ur waiting for is a beta not an official release so it’s not like they announced an update then missed the target, they are working on issues. Next it is a pager made for public safety not a scanner, while a lot of ppl use them as scanners and the new f/w will make that even better it’s original purpose was not for that. It never said u would be redirected after uploading ur profile it said you would get it emailed to you when ready, unication learned not to give solid dates mostly because of these forums and ppl complaining about it not coming out. I am on the list for the beta and can’t wait to use the features but would rather they all work correctly

 

[minasha]

I am very aware that these are pagers not scanners, Truth be told these unications work so well especially on LSM systems that many people are buying them for that reason. It does lack scanner features so when it was announced that the trunking freescan is being developed we scanner people were ecstatic, However I am wating for the new beta to see if I need all the new features or not.
It has been explained that the 1.3 firmware will have a TG hold, That alone would be a game changer for me, but the 1.4 will have all the other scanner like features with one drawback: If you load the 1.3 beta for testing and you don't like it you will be stuck with it until the next "normal" firmware comes out which can be a long time. That's why I and others want to test the beta so we can make that decision.
This is the reason I would like to see the new beta asap
Or Unication how about giving us the current beta right now to test? That would work for me.

 

[picscan]

Why would not they include Freescan in the update? It was great. I had 4 different sites and 64 different police talk groups in there, when it was slow I'd just set it there and hold on the busy group, without that you have to keep changing zones.

 

[cpetraglia]

I agree it's worth the wait for the "Big" update but we are waiting for the "New Beta" release first, not the Big update
just another Beta and I agree with Rimedic when is this beta coming?????

Just try and remember how long we waited for Phase II. Sometimes this stuff takes awhile.

 

[lsh1885]

Is there an update to the new beta firmware?

 

[Webodisk]

not yet

 

[dancrosoft]

I have 2 G5s and would like to help if you still need folks to test.

 

[dancrosoft]

So I've been following this and I'm planning to upgrade my G5 to the "scanner" firmware.

I have a few questions though.

#1 If I sign up to be a beta tester, will I need to upgrade my firmware at the time I download the new software?

#2 Will the new software run on Win 7 Pro? I'm assuming it will, as I have no problem running the regular PPS version but not sure if the new one will still run in Win 7 Pro.

#3 If someone doesn't want to be a beta tester, what is the expected time-frame the final scanner firmware be available and will there be a cost involved to download it?

Thanks guys... and BIG thanks to Unication for making this happen!

Windows 7 is EOL. You should upgrade

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

 

[amys17]

I can't wait either. Checking my email often. Hoping it rolls out before mid July as I'm traveling 3 states away and think what would be the best time for me to trial stuff better on the Freescan.

 

[bikepatroluni1]

Still haven’t gotten anything in my inbox from Unication.