eorange
♦RF Enabled Member♦
Who the heck wants more frequency coverage? You buy a Unication because you want rock solid P25 decode and commercial quality which won't succumb to scores of inferior manufacturing defects.
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Unication refusing to repair devices older than 5 yrs old
- Thread starter Echo4Thirty
- Start date
- Status
Absolutely! Unication owners don't want or need to fiddle with filter settings just to have a decent listening experience. That, and the G series has benefited from scanner-like improvements such as the addition of block and hold functions, and the RR database importing feature all in just the 4 years I have been a user.
N1SQB
Member
I did not know that. You have any links to any specific ones? I’d like to check them out.
blackbelter
Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2004
- Messages
- 882
Not to mention that the supplied stubby antenna is incredible in receiving all the communications. Using this stubby antenna has allowed me full receptions in buildings , home ,beach, car and bike rides ..
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Because I’ve never looked at my Unication and seen a menu screen or held on some random channel and realized that’s why I haven’t heard anything for awhile. Speaking of, I can hear my Unication’ and never go over 85/100 when my Uniden’s can be at 15/15 but just can’t overcome background noise. Of course that’s when the Uniden’s actually pick up a tower or conventional frequency. With a Unication I can clip it on my belt and trust it’ll stay there. Sure, you can fix that with a case, but I don’t like them and don’t need one. Not to sound too much like a fanboy there are numerous things that could be fixed in my opinion. Volume at 0 should be 0, not a sound, and the ability to record in conventional scan would be a good start.
I searched thru tons of these cables like your link but I'm also looking for the same thing but with Mini USB as well as Micro and C types.
Any ideas?
Maybe the Mini size is simply to big or heavy to support a magnetic coupling for charging and data transfer.
I did find what appears to be Mini type at Ali Express and Alibaba but I won't purchase from either of them. I also saw a few slim pickings from other sites I'm not familiar with so they are out of the question also.
I guess the main reason the mini version may not exist is the fact these are primarily made for cell phones where the Mini size USB ports were phased out quite some time ago.
It would still be nice to have some for other devices like Uniden's scanners which still make use of the Mini USB jack on most of their current and past models.
If anyone has an Amazon or eBay link to a Mini USB version of the magnetic cables, please post it!
Thanks everyone.
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texas1313
Member
I just bought 3 sets of these.....buy 2, get one free. Ordered and arrived in just a few days.
540° Rotate Magnetic Phone Charger Charging Cable For Micro USB/Type C/ iPhone | eBay
Programmed my G5 perfectly. The only bad part is the small magnet that stays in the USB port sticks out, and you cannot close the rubber cover. Cell phone uses USB-C, so I can use the same cable to charge and connect.
540° Rotate Magnetic Phone Charger Charging Cable For Micro USB/Type C/ iPhone | eBay
Programmed my G5 perfectly. The only bad part is the small magnet that stays in the USB port sticks out, and you cannot close the rubber cover. Cell phone uses USB-C, so I can use the same cable to charge and connect.
N1SQB
Member
The stubby antenna does well enough around here. I think the quality of the system being monitored has more to do with it than the ability of the antenna.
@texas1313 is satisfied with performance and so am I, we aren't telling tales.
N1SQB
Member
I have to disagree in my case. Different strokes for different folks. I have a G3 and a G5. With the stock antennas, I get some reception depending on where I am. I did a test with Moto brand antennas with both pagers sitting in the same spot. The moto antennas gave me a night and day difference. I live in a heavily RF-saturated area. No issues with basic scanners on any system, and these pagers have much better filtering. On the G5, I completely lost signal on a trunked 700 Mhz. system that has a tower just a few miles from me. Again, switching antennas, I got like 4-5 bars from not getting any on the stock antenna. The G3 was the same on 400 Mhz. I found antennas that worked well, trimmed them, installed them and that's where they are today. No problems with reception anymore..
Ah, I spoke to Sum Yng Gai in engineering, who referred me to Won Hung Lo, who said they are working on all problems and issues!
texas1313
Member
One more note.....when the small magnet is plugged into the G5, besides not being able to close the rubber cover over the USB port, you cannot drop the G5 into the charger. The magnet sticks out too far. Also it's not easy to pull the magnet out of the USB port. Best to gently use needle-nose pliers to pull it out. I would think too much of that would damage the USB port. So not a great option for everyone, but an option.
texas1313
Member
Hmmmm.....I don't remember stating anything about the stubby antenna. Only mentioned the small magnetic USB charging cable.
I bought a Motorola 3 inch 700/800 antenna, which improves things a bit on 700/800 systems. The VHF antenna is internal, and while it works OK all things considered, it doesn't work as well as an external antenna would, and is not good out in the boonies. Most of the time I'm within RF line of sight of a trunking site or tower, so life is good.
My error, it was @blackbelter
The warranty is 2yr I think. They sell an extended warranty for $175 to add on 3yrs. But if you don’t buy and have issue in years 3-5, the OOW repair fee is $199. I think. I’m quoting all this from memory. But IMHO was shortsighted to stop repairing after 5yrs. Glad they’ve recently reversed course. Although wonder what the fee will be.
Which is bizarre. Partly because they market these as rugged. It’s like if CAT equipment wouldn’t fix a motor bc of a paint scratch. There are guys with functioning pagers beat to hell, which 2yr later have a reception issue, and that’s wholly unrelated to a beat up case.
In case you missed it, @bucket772 had a great tutorial on disassembly and USB port fix. Looks like it might come in handy for many of us now. Nothing to lose anymore.
Loose USB DIY repair
I hang my G4 on the visor of my car with a USB run up to it. Apparently the weight and excessive bouncing worked the crappy micro-USB loose. I'm not a radio repair guy by an stretch but decided to take a stab at it. The USB plug would just fall out so I figured the jack on the board was...forums.radioreference.com
Bob
Phenomenal write up! I think all would benefit from seeing. Makes you realize how easy a self-repair is…if only they allowed. Had this bookmarked for a bit, overall one of the best writeups in this forum.
I don’t think we’ll ever see a slim factor pager from them. They just don’t make “thin” stuff, from their U-line of portables to even coasters and alpha pagers. They’ve just never seemed to obsess around getting things “smaller”. Which was fine because they went after the “rugged” marketing angle. And now feels like they’re abandoning that with increasing odd repair policies.
Some magnetic plugs will charge + program + stick out maybe a millimeter or two. They fit in the desktop charger base. So you can use both. If you want.
I put all this info on the wiki page under “Accessories” section >> subsection Chargers
Unication Voice Pager Receivers - The RadioReference Wiki
This magnetic charger (link) is the one that program and charge, and also fits in desktop cradle (pic) and more pics here.
The hardware pinout is there. You actually can program from the bottom pins, they just don’t make a cradle to do it. But they are working on a program over Bluetooth feature. Which is pretty cool. But I dunno how far away it is.
yep! Wish more people knew this!
see wiki page, under Accessories
Unication Voice Pager Receivers - The RadioReference Wiki
You can remove the two screws below the rubber flap >> pull off small plastic piece >> rubber flap comes off >> replace plastic piece and screws. No flap in way. Easy to replace it. I just leave magnetic thing in. But if worried about water intrusion, some silicone will solve. That’s what I did. Later removed silicone and was also easy with some tweezers, came out with maybe 2mins of work.
just note depending on the USB cable you buy, it will fit almost flush. Fit in desktop charger. And be fairly trivial to remove when needed, but securely stays in for regular use.
I used this cable from our wiki (here) and here’s how flush it is and here’s it sitting in the desktop charger.
rubber usb flap easy to remove via the two small screws below it. Good luck!
There are enough contacts in the drop in charger, that if the contacts correspond somewhere on the board of the device, you could turn the drop in charger in to a programming charger. I only have one drop in so I don't want to experiment with it a whole lot, but I have 9 g4/g5 on the way with various issues that I would be willing so mess with and see what can be figured out with those repairs. I saw on another thread they are on a flex so trying to source that would be the biggest issue. If the flex is good, the actual port can be removed and a new one put on the flex. We do this all the time with cell phone and computer repairs. Ordered a bunch of broken ones to try and figure these things out to offer an independent repair service.
Anyone have any broken drop in chargers they want to get rid of to help in my experiments? I'd like to figure out a drop in vehicle charger. I would have to partner with someone for 3d printing the actual holder, but shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Keeping it at an affordable price point would be the issue.
RE: Mag USB. I love them. Yes, they make the drop in unusable, and they take away IP ratings. But they make it awesome for charging. I keep one stock that goes in the drop in, that is the most beat up one I have (and the one that is my daily carry), and the other ones are basically desk/car units that don't really need water/dust ratings.
Anyone have any broken drop in chargers they want to get rid of to help in my experiments? I'd like to figure out a drop in vehicle charger. I would have to partner with someone for 3d printing the actual holder, but shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Keeping it at an affordable price point would be the issue.
RE: Mag USB. I love them. Yes, they make the drop in unusable, and they take away IP ratings. But they make it awesome for charging. I keep one stock that goes in the drop in, that is the most beat up one I have (and the one that is my daily carry), and the other ones are basically desk/car units that don't really need water/dust ratings.
BITT211
Member
looks like motorola minitors will have a sales surge coming. the best thing motorola can do next pager built ;
widen the uhf band split to - 403-470 mhz
look at - 700 - 800 band split
digital p25 models
I would thing that someone would - third party take over fixing unications pagers .
widen the uhf band split to - 403-470 mhz
look at - 700 - 800 band split
digital p25 models
I would thing that someone would - third party take over fixing unications pagers .
It's a page back ( Unication refusing to repair devices older than 5 yrs old ), but Unication is working on a process to resume repairing older pagers. As per a conversation I had with them last week, they should have more details coming out shortly on the new program.
Uhhhh ... aren't these public safety devices? I use my G3 and G5 for the Fire Service. They both have scrapes all over them.
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