Videos of P25RX

[sefrischling]

Are there any real videos of the P25RX in use? I have been trying to figure out if the P25RX will work for certain applications, as well as its practical in the field interface, and there are surprisingly few photos of videos of the P25RX in service in the field.

Anyone seen any good detailed ones , aside from the 11 posted by Blue Tail that really don't explain or demonstrate much?

 

[cmjonesinc]

What would you like to see? I can take a video.

 

[sefrischling]

What would you like to see? I can take a video.

I'd like to see how it actually operates. I am looking at it as a tool to connect with am incident command ToughBook. Nearly all state services have moved to 800 Phase II. We have not been issued Phase II radios, as we remain in VHF, and The Town will not be supplying new radios. I am looking for solutions to be able to more effectively monitor things, such as HazMat, Emergency Management, Fire Coordinator, that are all now 7-800 Phase II. I have played around with SDR to quickly monitor channels we do not have in our radios, since the ToughBook is already there and running ... but this seems like an effective tool. Does it have a screen of its own to see what is being broadcast, or does it require the laptop screen? How challenging is it to operate on the fly? Is it effective at monitoring two systems (Phase I and Phase II) at the same time? Or monitoring conventional analog and a trunked system? It just seems like a good tool, but I can't find enough hands-on info on it to see if it is really worth exploring.

 

[cmjonesinc]

Alright. I'll take a video when i get a sec. It will run completely standalone with just a Bluetooth speaker or wired amplified speaker. If you want to see the talkgroup and other info you can plug it in to a pc or other device. If you are plugged in to a pc you don't need to pair it with a speaker as the audio is carried over the USB connection and come through the pc speakers. Another user here @goldmyne99 has created an android app when you can power the p25rx from a tablet or phone and the tablet acts as the screen and allows for other things like "follow tg". I haven't had much time to play with the app yet but it seemed to function fine for me the little bit I have used it. The creator of the p25rx is currently working on a display that can be added. If I can find a second system within range of my area I'll give it a go. I'm sure some other folks can chime in on that.

 

[sefrischling]

Thanks, I appreciate the insights and info!

 

[epersson]

As part of playing and testing the latest version I’ve set it to roam through 6 systems. Broward County P2. Coral Springs P1, Fort Lauderdale P1, Palm Beach County P2, Boca Raton P1, and Boynton Beach P1. It works very well. It scans each system for 2 seconds and of no traffic moves on. As with any scanner if you are on any system you may miss a call on another system. Once a display is available you can see what system and TG it’s on without a laptop. I have an iPhone so the android app I can’t use.

should add. Todd has already said he is working to get roaming functionality better to enhance the switch between systems.

 

[sefrischling]

I am looking at this as a solution to be both free standing or connected to a ToughBook (primarily laptop based). There'd be no free roaming. It would be set up to be dialed into one system at a time, probably no more than 8 talk groups at a time ... unless The Town suddenly decides to fund multi-band radios that are Phase II capable (which seems unlikely) for Operations and Incident Command.

It may end up monitoring 2-3 analog conventional and a few T/G at once.

 

[epersson]

I am looking at this as a solution to be both free standing or connected to a ToughBook (primarily laptop based). There'd be no free roaming. It would be set up to be dialed into one system at a time, probably no more than 8 talk groups at a time ... unless The Town suddenly decides to fund multi-band radios that are Phase II capable (which seems unlikely) for Operations and Incident Command.

It may end up monitoring 2-3 analog conventional and a few T/G at once.

Yup, understand. the roaming is what it's called when more than one system is monitored. You enter a primary system CC, then additional systems are considered 'roaming'. You can turn the 'roaming' on or off with the PC connection only as of right now. It needs power USB-C so a battery pack or other source. As was said earlier, it can use a BT speaker or amplified, or laptop audio. It does not monitor conventional analog, just P25 trunked. The videos on the web site I think show much of this. the manual is available as well.

Additionally you can receive any TGID with a checkbox or specific TDIDs with a list where you specify system ID in order to monitor different TGIDs potentially on different systems. Hope that helps.

 

[IAmSixNine]

If your using this as a public safety application you are better off budgeting for 1 commercial grade device. Unication G4 or BK KNG radio will work. Heck even an SDS100 might be a better option.
I dont want to take away from this device. Its been on my radar for a few months now but im thinking right tool for the right job.
IF your using this in an official capacity there are other options.
If your using this as your hobby or buffing it would be ok to use.

 

[dcr_inc]

IAmSixNine.. do you own a P25RX?.. This unit will SMOKE any SDS and certainly run right next to the Unication Pagers. I own all 3 and can speak with certainty. This is a professional grade unit, hands down. Best part, Todd is adding and refining this unit DAILY. Unication and Uniden MIGHT update once a year.
sefrischling rest assured, this WILL do exactly what you want and its a couple hundred dollars less expensive.

And YES, I do own 2 of them.

 

[IAmSixNine]

i do not. I am basing my suggestion on a couple of factors.
1 he is going to be mobile. (so little easier to carry other devices vs having this tethered to a power supply)
2 he is going to want something with a display so he can see the various channels he is wanting to monitor then have the ability to hold on that channel.
3 If this is for public safety use why not go with a proven device. I have no doubts this device is nice and I will get one eventually (waiting for the unit to get a display) We all have our opinions. I was expressing mine and now have given the reasons why.

 

[dcr_inc]

10-4 on the opinion.
He stated its going to be in his vehicle hooked to a Toughbook. The app will run on his Toughbook so he will have TOTAL control of whats happening as well as seeing the active "channel". With the MASSIVE list of failures and shortcomings of the SDS product, how is it "Proven"?
Thats my educated, opinion

 

[IAmSixNine]

I have not had any failures on my SDS100.
Massive list of failures? lets both just let others continue to chime in.
I like the work that is being done with the P25rx and its continuing to improve. I dont want this thread to go off in a negative direction or unrelated direction.
If this is for a public safety use then he needs to be looking at those types of options or he may be putting lives at risk.
Unfortunately i felt like the P25rx is still in a growing phase and making huge strides. Great for hobby and for people who want scanner alternatives or maybe easier to use SDR content. But for someone in public safety perhaps not the best option, and i will agree the SDS is not the best option either for a public safety option but i based it on my device working for me. So ill go back to the G4 or KNG portable.
But i hope this works for his needs.

 

[Mike_G_D]

My suggestion - I won't entirely disagree with IAmSixNine and I think he has very valid points in terms of having something for professional use that is proven and reliable, the G4/G5 or BendixKing are great suggestions! BUT - having said that, I am an avid P25RX user going back to almost when it first was made available and, honestly, for the money, there is nothing else like it (to my knowledge).

If the OP wants to monitor only one system at a time and has a good laptop available, this is a great solution. It will work well with multiple systems but, because of the low cost, you could easily buy more than one and run them simultaneously with each dedicated to a particular system.

Unfortunately, while they can be set to monitor conventional analog they are very limited in this function - not really capable of scanning multiple analog (or P25) channels conventionally yet like a "regular" scanner.

So the OP needs to know this - good, heck, dang near excellent for P25 P1 or P2 trunking systems below 490MHz and in the 700/800MHz bands (they do not go beyond 490 MHz in the UHF bands until you get to the 700 Mhz region, unfortunately). But not (yet) very useful for analog or digital conventional scanning.

I'm just being honest - I love my P25RX and use the heck out of it BUT it has (like everthing else) some limitations that should be considered especially for an application like the OP's.

If I were the OP I would go ahead and purchase one P25RX and "play around with it"; its cost certainly won't "break the bank" and, worse comes to worst, even if it fails to meet the OP's more professional application needs, he still can use it as a very nice personal monitoring device without feeling like he lost a chunk of money in the experiment! If it fails the pro-need applications, I would strongly look at the Unication G4/G5 units or the BendixKing stuff as IAmSixNine suggested. But you would still have a neat device to experiment with and use for your own personal device that will keep growing in capability and usefulness as the firmware and software and external hardware add-ons develop.

Heck, I'll add that, if the OP were really wanting to not keep his P25RX after trying it out, if it is still working fine and in decent shape, I'll likely be a good candidate for him to sell it too so as to "take it off his hands", as it were! I am seriously considering adding at least one more to my setup anyway!

-Mike

 

[cmjonesinc]

2021-03-19_13-01-40.mp4

drive.google.com

Here's a short clip of it running on my pc. I added two sites from the same system as it's the only thing I'm in range of at home. But you can see from the top right of the program that it's switching between sites the same way it would between systems. I also use the command console to pause scanning and follow one particular talkgroup. You don't have to use the console to enter that command as you can also just press the button on the front of the P25RX. I also show it in 'monitor' mode (the smaller minimized view). That's typically how I usually use it. I have a vertical monitor dedicated to monitoring with the P25RX software full width at the top and unitrunker doing it's thing directly underneath. I keep the P25RX on my desktop, and when I want to pause on a talkgroup I just tap the button. I also have the computer paired with one of these bad boys ( https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Lossless-Computer-Controller-Adjuster/dp/B01MV411BR/ref=sr_1_1_sspa ) to make adjusting the volume quick and easy while monitoring.

 

[sefrischling]

If your using this as a public safety application you are better off budgeting for 1 commercial grade device. Unication G4 or BK KNG radio will work. Heck even an SDS100 might be a better option.

We have a Unication G5, it's mine, not issued. I also personally have a Harris XG-100, again mine, not issued, and it is programmed to what I need to hear, however that's not really a solution and not a solution for the department itself. The Town will not budget for any multiband radios, nor radios that will allow us to monitor the Phase II system the state has moved to, meaning we can no longer monitor the State Police, who handle law enforcement in the town, nor HazMat, nor Emergency Management nor the State Fire Coordinator. At under $300, I could possibly find a way to self fund this as a tool my fire company can use.

While I love my G5, it cannot be reprogrammed very easily on the fly, nor can it sit on one channel, such as if we only want to hear DEMHS InterOp, or DEEP HazMat, and no one else. I usually have a ToughBook on me, which is why as the radio person I started looking at this for a possible incident command solution.

 

[sefrischling]

So the OP needs to know this - good, heck, dang near excellent for P25 P1 or P2 trunking systems below 490MHz and in the 700/800MHz bands (they do not go beyond 490 MHz in the UHF bands until you get to the 700 Mhz region, unfortunately). But not (yet) very useful for analog or digital conventional scanning.

Thanks, good to know. I am not concerned about Low Band or VHF, our primary radios, mobile and portable are VHF. We have some low band, nearly all low band is cross banded to UHF. We have a few VHF, a number of us have purchased our own dual band Part 90 radios, out of simple convenience to talk to the next town over ... but the kicker is listening to the state system , which is 7-800 Phase II and one town south that went to 800 Phase I. We're totally deaf to them ... unless you're the one geek who has the technology to monitor them.

The goal is really to find something I can deploy, teach others to use and keep in a GoKit , so others can use it even I am not there, able to change between TGs as needed. We had a large fire not long ago, with a State Fire Coordinator handling the tanker shuttles, and no one in command able to monitor the fire coordinator at all. We had a patch of severe weather, with us unable to monitor the State's Emergency Management or EOC, which was giving out some updates over the air that would have been helpful.

If we could all decide on one band, instead of ... in our coverage area ... 33mhz, VHF, UHF , 700 conventional, 7-800 Phase II and 800 Phase I it would be much easier.

 

[sefrischling]

2021-03-19_13-01-40.mp4

drive.google.com

Thanks! I appreciate the video.

Looks like it may have a learning curve, but not a real steep learning curve. How physically large is the unit compared to a laptop?

 

[cmjonesinc]

It's way smaller than I had in mind when I bought my first one. The learning curve isn't bad really. If you can handle programming your unication or a Harris you'll do just fine. Here it is with a filthy cf19 for reference.

 

[sefrischling]

It's way smaller than I had in mind when I bought my first one. The learning curve isn't bad really. If you can handle programming your unication or a Harris you'll do just fine. Here it is with a filthy cf19 for reference.

View attachment 100787

I use the same Toughbook. Hell, I think I could even Velcro that to the back of my CF-19.

Thanks