Looking for a second scanner to monitor Wake County P25. I have a Uniden 536 scanner at home, looking to get a Uniden 436 for my son and I to listen to calls if we go to the scene. I don't like the SDS100 so thats out, but I was now wondering about the Unication. I have programmed every single Motorola Radio from Saber's to APX's, so I probably could learn the Unication programming. Any opinions on a Unication vs. the 436 to listen to Wake County P25......thanks.
Unication or 436 for Wake County P25?
- Thread starter OnYourSix
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blackbelter
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- Feb 1, 2004
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While 436 could be a good scanner in which its designed for , in my experience the Unication receivers with some limitations are far superior to any consumer grade scanners.They are professional grade pagers in which their processors quickly locks on TT and built to handle the elements and drops . Using your knowledge , experience as well as attention to details will make the programming fun !
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If you're going to use it in a mobile aspect, I'd go for the Unication over any Uniden scanner if you don't plan on searching for anything else (thankfully @N1GAW is doing ana amazing job at keeping the database current).
He can probably also assist with programming a g series pager but I can't speak for him
He can probably also assist with programming a g series pager but I can't speak for him
Based on comments from a number of local scanner users, with various brands, the simulcast issues are more noticeable on the new P25 system. That said, I am having decent performance at home with my TRX and WS1080, but my G4 out performs them and especially as I travel around the county.
Thanks for all of the recommendations @N1GAW @drayd48 @jake_Braker and @blackbelter. The other thing I thought of is being able to pull the unit out of a drop in charger and move on the fly; can't do that with the 436. I have an APX6000 work radio with all of Wake County in it, but at times its a pain in the neck to change zones, plus as of right now we cannot edit the scan list, so it might be easier to change "channels" on the Unication.
Plus since it is all now one radio system, I read somewhere that makes it easier in Unication to keep all the TG's in one place. I can change right from Wake County Fire Alerting to PS TAC xxx channel without having to change"zones". Plus the ability to have the radio muted until the tones for my Department opens it up would be great too.
Plus since it is all now one radio system, I read somewhere that makes it easier in Unication to keep all the TG's in one place. I can change right from Wake County Fire Alerting to PS TAC xxx channel without having to change"zones". Plus the ability to have the radio muted until the tones for my Department opens it up would be great too.
@OnYourSix would it be okay if I DM you a couple of questions?
of course!
Just looked at the Unication website. It looks like they integrated RR into the programming, and you can just choose what you want to add instead of having to add control channels.... looks pretty cool.
You can import from RR, however you still need to import the sites and CC/ALT. That said, there is the option to use wildcards rather than import.
reconrider8
Member
i ran my 436 up there just fine a few weeks back with no issues what so ever. the good thing about the 436 on the terms of battery if you just carry a set of batteries on the side and pop them in and bam no need to carry a drop in charger
Very true, however I have noticed my Unication battery will run circles around any of my previous and current portable scanners. If I was going to be searching for new talkgroups or something, then I'd choose a scanner, but since there's a lot of confirmed information on the database as of now, I don't think there'll be much of a need (plus you can run a search type feature on the Unication. I've never tested it out). I normally carry both on me if I have my backpack on so I can also run frequencies/systems that are in the V/UHF bands though.
Thanks for the info recon….. i guess another deciding factor is which one can my 12 year old turn on and operate easier. Is it easier to switch channels/talk groups on a Unication or on the 436??? I’m looking for him to be able to switch to the corresponding PSTAC channel to listen to operations. It’s easier to drop a 436 and break it vs. pulling the Unication out of the desk charger and riding his bike to a call. How cool that he’s chasing fire calls like I did when I was his age, but we only had to use an analog radio shack scanner and not a $500/$600 trunked P25 scanner. Remember also that I have an Department issued APX that I would be using, so the scanner is not really for my use as it is more his use.
Jake, how easy is it in the Unication to change TG’s? For example, I want to put in Wake County fire alerting, and put all of the PsTAC TG’s all in the same “group”…….I want my 12 year old son to be able to switch from the alerting TG to the corresponding PsTAC group that the department is operating on. I don’t want it to scan by default, 19 TAC channels could get a little busy.
For changing channels/zones, the Unication does lack in the speed department. The more stuff you have in the pager, the slower changing zones and knob positions are. Just a fair warning. One complaint a lot of users have
Do you mean one zone or one knob position? Let me grab my laptop and I'll show you how I have my area set up in the unit
Yes, since all of the TG's are in the same Wake County P25 system, they all "supposedly" can be in the same zone in the unification. Still have to do a lot of research before buying this $600 unit, but my son should just have to turn one knob and be able to get to the PSTAC channels.
For my Mecklenburg County/Charlotte zone, I have all the talkgroups for both county and city fire. So if I'm listening to a call from Charlotte that alarm gives out, I can hold my unit onto the ops channel they assign without having to move knob positions or worse, zones. It's much faster and easier to either block the talkgroups of ops channels you don't want to listen to or hold on the ops channel of the current call.
@jake_Braker this is probably how I would set it up as well. Wake County Alerting and the 19 Public Safety TAC TG's all in the same list (and I only need one list at the time, the rest will be monitored from my work portable). BUT, can you set the pager to be able to turn a knob and switch list members to the affected TAC Channel? I'm not looking to SCAN as much as I'm looking for it to stay on the Alerting Channel, add in the Quick Call Tones, and then move the radio to the affected PS TAC channel.
I wasn't looking to scan because I don't want to hear all of the active Tac Channels that may or may not be operating; I just want to listen to the assigned Tac channel like I do now in my portable.
I wasn't looking to scan because I don't want to hear all of the active Tac Channels that may or may not be operating; I just want to listen to the assigned Tac channel like I do now in my portable.
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