Unication *New* G4 and G5 pagers/ somewhat limited scanner

[cpetraglia]

My G4 just did a reboot with no user intervention. It stays connected to the power adapter, no battery issues. I have had it about 5-6 weeks and have never seen this before. I looked up and it was rebooting.
Everything came back just the way it was and is working fine.
I'm just putting this out there for Unication to know about. If you didn't see it happen, you wouldn't know it.

 

[JASII]

Unication *New* G4 And G5 Pagers/Somewhat Limited Scanner

One other thing I am considering is buying a mobile antenna of some sort and attaching it to the drop in charger. That way I should be able to hear 800 MHz trunked sites a bit farther away from me. I am sort of torn whether I should get strictly an 800 MHz antenna or if I should get a dual-band or multi-band antenna. My G5 is VHF/800 Mhz. Does anybody here have an suggestions for a good mobile antenna to be used inside? I do have some external antennas, but my feedline is old enough that there might actually be loss on 800 MHz by the time the signal gets to the G5! Alternately, I could just look for a higher gain rubber duck antenna with a BNC connector. Again, either 800 MHz only or dual-band/multi-band.

 

[cpetraglia]

Here is a suggestion. Pick up an old cell phone mag mount antenna. They are great for 800 Mhz. They have a few DB gain. Under $20 on eBay. They come with at least a 12 foot cable. You will need to replace or get an adapter for a BNC connector. If possible locate it in a window opening as high as you can. This will work OK but not great for VHF depending on distance to your transmitters. The small rubber duck antennas just don't do well indoors unless your transmitter is real close by.

 

[JASII]

Unication *New* G4 And G5 Pagers/Somewhat Limited Scanner

Does anybody happen to know if the 3.5 mm jack on the amplified charger for the G5 is mono or stereo?

 

[cpetraglia]

Does anybody happen to know if the 3.5 mm jack on the amplified charger for the G5 is mono or stereo?

This is the way I would understand it. If the documentation calls it a headphone jack, it should be stereo. If they call it an external speaker jack, it should be mono.
What happened to Unication Dave? He should be answering these questions.

 

[phirephoto]

This is the way I would understand it. If the documentation calls it a headphone jack, it should be stereo. If they call it an external speaker jack, it should be mono.
What happened to Unication Dave? He should be answering these questions.

The manual states "Audio out earphone jack." I don't have a 'headset' to try. I have a speaker, but that won't tell me if it's mono or stereo

And cut Dave some slack - as much as we all appreciate him being here, we don't know what he has on his plate. He may be in meetings or what not

 

[JASII]

Unication *New* G4 And G5 Pagers/Somewhat Limited Scanner

Post some pictures or video of the set up for us.

Here are some photographs of the Unication G5 in the amplified charger.

 

[cpetraglia]

Here are some photographs of the Unication G5 in the amplified charger.

If you don't mind, unscrew the stock antenna from the G5 and see if the rear antenna jack works. I am very curious as I had a charger and the rear port did nothing.

Thanks,

 

[ccfd7031]

Funny you mention that. I can take the stock antenna off my G5 and it picks up just as well without any antenna. I found that odd. I'll post more of my observations in a day or two when I get to my computer.

 

[phirephoto]

Funny you mention that. I can take the stock antenna off my G5 and it picks up just as well without any antenna. I found that odd. I'll post more of my observations in a day or two when I get to my computer.

Yeah - it depends on the system or repeater you're listening to. I have a few systems I monitor where that's true - and a few where that's DEFINITELY not true

 

[IAmSixNine]

Yup i think i need to get me one of them when i order my next pager.
Can anybody with a Vhf version comment on how well it receives. I know my G4 works great on 700/800

 

[phirephoto]

Yup i think i need to get me one of them when i order my next pager.
Can anybody with a Vhf version comment on how well it receives. I know my G4 works great on 700/800

It receives VERY well on all bands (well, haven't tried UHF since I don't have a UHF version), but I've tried the G1, G4 and G5.

 

[JASII]

Unication *New* G4 and G5 Pagers/Somewhat Limited Scanner

If you don't mind, unscrew the stock antenna from the G5 and see if the rear antenna jack works. I am very curious as I had a charger and the rear port did nothing.

Thanks,

I don't mind at all. I tried this and the charger antenna jack is definitely working. I was monitoring a system that I can't get without an antenna and when it is the charger it gets it solid.

That also motivated me to experiment some more with another antenna. I found a magnet NMO mount and attached a Larsen NMO150/450/800 that I bought a while back. It works very well, but I want to try some more distant 800 MHz sites to see how it compares to the rubber duck 800 MHz specific antenna.

 

[JASII]

Unication *New* G4 And G5 Pagers/Somewhat Limited Scanner

Does anybody happen to know if the 3.5 mm jack on the amplified charger for the G5 is mono or stereo?

I decided to test the jack this afternoon with a pair of stereo headphones. I only received audio through one side, so that means the output is monaural.

Now, with that in mind, I might be in the market for a nice communications speaker to attach to this. Can anybody recommend any? I did look at both the Yaesu MLS-100 and MLS-200 recently. They both have pretty good reviews at eHam.net

eHam.net Reviews - Speakers for communications use

 

[JASII]

Unication *New* G4 And G5 Pagers/Somewhat Limited Scanner

I did order three of the RAM High Strength Composite Cradles for Devices with Belt Clips. As I posted in the past, the Unication G5 has a wide belt clip. While the method of using a Panavise Clip Caddy and attaching a Nite Ize phone case was okay, it didn't look very good. I might also get a longer double socket arm to put the Unication G5 a little bit further away from the windshield.


RAM High Strength Composite Cradle for Devices with Belt Clips Unpackaged - RAM-HOL-BC1U | RAM Mounts

 

[ccfd7031]

I started having the speaker problems that others have discussed exactly a week after receiving my G5. I just couldn't find a pattern until recently. It seems I only get the 'tiny' audio when the pager gets hot/warm. Most of my problems occur after getting into a hot car or leaving the pager in the car while I run into a store or something. As the pager cools down the audio will usually recover but not always it seems. Can someone do a few tests and see if you can replicate the problem. I'm afraid it's a hardware issue, something firmware will not be able to fix.

 

[cpetraglia]

I started having the speaker problems that others have discussed exactly a week after receiving my G5. I just couldn't find a pattern until recently. It seems I only get the 'tiny' audio when the pager gets hot/warm. Most of my problems occur after getting into a hot car or leaving the pager in the car while I run into a store or something. As the pager cools down the audio will usually recover but not always it seems. Can someone do a few tests and see if you can replicate the problem. I'm afraid it's a hardware issue, something firmware will not be able to fix.

I have had the issues since day one and never had mine out of the house. It's doing it right now and sitting in the AC and not warm to the touch. I fully believe the volume differences are coming from the transmitting radios on a particular system. I assume that is the issue your talking about. Randomly different volumes?

 

[cpetraglia]

I have had the issues since day one and never had mine out of the house. It's doing it right now and sitting in the AC and not warm to the touch. I fully believe the volume differences are coming from the transmitting radios on a particular system. I assume that is the issue your talking about. Randomly different volumes?

I can also say that if I set in on my county fire dispatch, the volume is consistent for many, many hours. I believe that is because the same radio is being used for that dispatch shift. It also seems that my local county is the worst. My neighboring county has barley any difference in levels between users. I think this is a direct result of one of two things. The user not holding the mike close or the radios not being tweaked for transmit audio levels. I also listen to a close by PD system on an older 800 conventional system and here everything consistently. It is also possible that the APX 7000s or 8000s have a true AGC that really works.

 

[ccfd7031]

I have had the issues since day one and never had mine out of the house. It's doing it right now and sitting in the AC and not warm to the touch. I fully believe the volume differences are coming from the transmitting radios on a particular system. I assume that is the issue your talking about. Randomly different volumes?

Yea, I have that type of volume issues on one of the two main systems I listen to. That is indeed mostly due to different user habits and probably the lack of AGC being utilized on the subscriber radios. A lot of deputies in my area like to key up the mobiles and talk without even picking up the mic from the holder. Then dispatch comes on and blows your ears out. The other system I occasionally monitor sounds just find and I can typically monitor it with the G5 on 50-80 volume whereas my local system is usually 90-100 volume.

The issue I'm describing with the 'tiny' audio is different. It's defiantly a bug. It will just all the sudden go down. You turn the pager all the way up and can just barely hear it and it sounds like it's inside a tin can or underwater. Not sure how else to describe it.

 

[ccfd7031]

I can also say that if I set in on my county fire dispatch, the volume is consistent for many, many hours. I believe that is because the same radio is being used for that dispatch shift. It also seems that my local county is the worst. My neighboring county has barley any difference in levels between users. I think this is a direct result of one of two things. The user not holding the mike close or the radios not being tweaked for transmit audio levels. I also listen to a close by PD system on an older 800 analogue and here everything consistently. It is also possible that the APX 7000s or 8000s have a true AGC that really works.

You're exactly right. My local county system is using a mix of Kenwood, a few Harris, and a few odds and ins for subscriber radios. And it sounds like crap. If they have AGC available I seriously doubt they even enabled it. My statewide system uses only Motorola radios, and was probably programmed correctly to use the AGC features and it sounds perfect most of the time. You'll always have the occasional user that doesn't like to pick up the mic etc..