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The Unication “G5” Dual Band receiver: Better digital decode on simulcast systems!
Scanner listeners have long been concerned with what we call “Simulcast Distortion”. When listening to a digital trunked radio system that uses multiple simulcast sites the scanner loses audio. Sometimes it is only an occasional nuisance but sometimes it is worse. There now is a solution if this is a serious issue for you.
The Unication G5 (UHF-D/7-800) is a dual band receiver designed specifically for the most popular trunking bands used across the USA and Canada. It covers both the UHF-D (450-512) and the 700/800 (763-776 and 851-870 MHz.) bands.
The Unication G5 and it’s related radios originally were designed as pagers that can be used on digital or analog, trunked or conventional systems. Since many agencies rely on alerting personnel to respond but don’t want to burden them with a large 2-way radio or pay the high cost to do so Unication came up with a device to handle that. In a package roughly the same size as common “fire pagers” like the Minitor series, the Unication allows the same paging methods but on digital or trunked systems. There are other technical reasons why paging is difficult on digital systems.
The scanner community quickly figured out that these could be used to monitor digital trunked systems. The Unication provides several benefits over consumer grade scanners from Uniden and Whistler. First and foremost is the better performance with digital simulcast systems. Scanners have difficulty with these systems due to the arrival at the radio of multiple signals on the same frequency but at ever so slightly different times. This causes reception difficulties commonly referred to as “Simulcast Distortion” or “Bit Error”.
The Unication G5 is built to much higher standards than scanners, similar to those used in two-way digital radios and has proven to be much better at dealing with the simulcast distortion issues. Since it operates much more like a two-way radio there is more involved in programming. Unlike a scanner it is not capable of field programming; it requires a Windows computer to do any programming. One needs to know many of the system parameters of the target system, such as control channels, System ID and Talkgroup ID’s. While much of this is freely available at websites like Radioreference.com, you may need to check with a System Manager for new systems or those systems where this data is not available.
When used as a scanning receiver one programs it for the target talkgroups used on the system, programs in Sites (frequencies) and the other technical parameters needed. In operation the radio works much like regular system radios, it finds the active control channel and locks in, if there is traffic on any of the programmed talkgroups the radio will hear it. Like system radios it will display the radio ID as well as the name programmed in for that channel. When scanning the radio will display the Site ID between radio calls.
Since the Unication G5 does not affiliate with the radio system it does not incur monthly fees from the system owner and does not require a System Key for programming. Since it is a receive-only device it does not activate or use any of the system resources and generally falls under the same rules and laws as a scanner would.
The Unication G5 receiver, when programmed to do so, will listen to up to 128 channels (conventional freqs or trunked talkgroups) on several Sites and Systems. The technical specifications are similar to those of the expensive two-way radios sold by the likes of Motorola and Harris but the price is much closer to what you might pay for a high-end scanner. Like a scanner, the Unication is a passive device so it does not show up on the radio system analytic systems and is not subject to fees from the system owner. It is wonderful for applications where a listen-only device is needed.
The Unication G5 is not just for trunked systems either. It can also be programmed for conventional (non-trunked) P25 or analog channels. It can be programmed with PL, DPL and NAC codes if needed and can also be used with a variety of paging formats, including Two-Tone, 5-Tone and P25.
The Unication line is programmable from a Windows computer; the software works in Windows 7, 8 and 10. The Unication comes with the USB Programming cable and the software is free, available from Unication’s website. These radios are more difficult to program than consumer scanners and you need the technical parameters for the trunking system. Most of this information is available from RadioReference.com, but you may need to obtain specific parameters from the system’s manager, especially if you plan to utilize paging features. These are serious radios, intended and built to stringent standards for durability and use. Properly programmed they will outperform any scanner and many two-way radios.
Industry First G45 Voice Pager
Supports:
-Analog 2-Tone
-P25 Trunking
-P25 Conventional
-Conventional
Features:
- Up to 128 Channels
- IP67 RATING Waterproof & Dustproof
- Submersible up to 3ft for 30 Minutes
- High Impact Resistant Color Screen
- Rugged Housing
- 2 Year Standard Warranty / 3 Year Additional Available
- Custom WAV File Alerts
- Out of Range Alert
- Text Messaging/Image Transfer
- Bluetooth
- 32 Minutes Voice Storage
- 32 Minutes Voice Memo
Key Features G4 Model includes:
- Accommodates Multiple P25 Trunked and P25 Conventional Systems
- Supports the 800MHz Analog Frequencies
- Supports Full Spectrum Scan for P25 Trunked System
- Supports Multiple TGIDs for Monitoring and Alerting
- Supports Priority TGID Scan
- Supports Multiselect for Efficient Use of Traffic Channels
- Supports 2-Tone on 800MHz Analog Frequencies
- Allows for Customized Alerts using WAV/MP3 Files
- Each Band Supports P25 Trunking, P25 Conventional, Conventional Channel Monitoring and 2-Tone Decoding
- Full 2-Tone Function Mode Support (Selective Call, Monitor, Scan Options)
- Supports Multiple 2-Tone Codes per Frequency
- Alerting Options based on Selector Knob Setting
Technical Specifications:
Sensitivity: -116dBm
Sensitivity/12dB SINAD: 6 uV/M
Frequency Stability: +1ppm
Adjacent Channel Selectivity: >60dB
Spurious: >70dB
Image Rejection: >70dB
Audio Output Linear: >300mW
Audio Distortion: <2%
Speech SPL (at 12 inches): 96dB +3dB/-2dB
Alert SPL (at 12 inches): 96dB +3dB/-2dB
Ingress Protection Rating: IP67-Waterproof/Dustproof
UL: Class I, Div. II
FCC: FCC Part 15
MIL-STD: 810E, Proc1 for Driving Rain
Channel Spacing: 25kHz/12.5KHz/6.25KHz
Battery: Lithium Polymer
Weight (w/ out Battery): <220g
Size (mm): 102x61x31.5
Temperature Range: -20C~+40C
G4 User Manual
G4/G5 Presentation
G4/G5 Quick Guide User Manual
G4/G5 FAQ
G4 Brochure
G4 White Papers Programming Tutorial 2016
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