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Unication G4 Problems

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troymail

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Thanks everyone for your help. I live about 1/4 mile from the closest tower so I get a good solid signal. My confusion comes from ignorance of encrypted systems. I assumed that both parties need to be encrypt ON to have a conversation. I was just concerned that I had a bad radio, which seems not the case. My encryption noise only happens on the city PD zones and most often from the dispatch consoles. City Fire is always clear. That being said, I am ecstatic not to have any simulcast distortion anymore. And despite the naysayers this is a great little radio.

Yup - my only reason for getting a G4 - simulcast.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I just moved to an area that doesn't have simulcast issues (as far as I know) -- but it needs it. The system in my new area seems to be standalone towers along the highway intended for the highway patrol but used by my county. I still get lots of fade and other issues receiving it - even with the G4 - particularly inside the house. I'm guessing it was built for and is still only really designed for highway use vs. in-building coverage.....

Still, there are plenty of simulcast systems I hit in my travels - many Phase 2 - so I''m looking forward to that upgrade soon...

But a side bonus I found with the G4 - possibly related to the simulcast improvements it provides -- I can receive more distant systems with the G4 than I can with any other radio I have. Bonus points!
 

GTR8000

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My encryption noise only happens on the city PD zones and most often from the dispatch consoles. City Fire is always clear.

If you're only experiencing this on the police talkgroups, and primarily only when the dispatcher is transmitting, then it's almost certainly an encryption thing.

Yes, you can have a setup whereby some radios are in the clear and others are encrypted, on the very same talkgroup and talking to each other. Assuming the radios are programmed correctly, they could hear each other just fine.

A more detailed description of this scenario would be that the correct encryption key would need to be loaded into all radios, first and foremost. You can then decide whether a particular radio transmits on a given talkgroup in either Secure or Clear mode. This can be either selectable by using a switch/button on the radio, or "strapped" full time in either Secure or Clear mode per-talkgroup. On the receiving end of things, as long as the correct key is loaded in the radio, it'll decrypt the transmissions. Some radios such as the Motorola APX have an option "Ignore RX Clear Voice", which would also need to be disabled for this part-time or one-way encryption to work correctly.

As to what the point of only encrypting the dispatchers, but not the field units...who knows. It could be a slow rollout of full encryption, where the first stage was to load the key into all radios. That could take some time, so you'd want to make sure everyone was still transmitting in the clear until every radio had the key loaded. At that point, you could enable encryption for the dispatchers. You then go back and update all of the radios so that they transmit in secure mode. Eventually you wind up with full encryption on the talkgroup. If you're noticing some mobiles/portables that are also transmitting in secure mode, that's probably what is happening.
 

klokewd

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G4 Problems

Thanks for that detailed explanation, very helpful. Most PD zones have two dispatch consoles and I noticed that only one has the encryption noise. Only rarely have I heard a patrol car transmit with the noise. Police transparency is a hot topic here in KC so I'm guessing at this point they are using it for sensitive info. Only about 5% of the radio transmissions have the encryption noise. I've found that if I hit the Push-to-Listen button on the side of the radio it mutes the noise during that transmission.
 

GTR8000

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I'm not intimately familiar with the Unication G4/G5, but perhaps an "Ignore Encrypted Transmissions" option would be a welcome addition, assuming it's not currently available.
 

troymail

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I'm not intimately familiar with the Unication G4/G5, but perhaps an "Ignore Encrypted Transmissions" option would be a welcome addition, assuming it's not currently available.

Agree - as an option (as with any other radio). There is value is at least knowing someone is talking (i.e. show the radio ID, etc.) but others who are scanning multiple talkgroups might feel it's not worth stopping on a talkgroup if you aren't going to hear anything. It's different needs for different users.... hence "option(s)"
 
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