Starcom21, unication and scanners

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
So our county is ditching the old system and going Starcom21 in the next 18mos. Not sure if we are keeping the freqs (136-174) or going full digital 700-800. I have tons of data to gather and am starting the search for radios pagers etc (I'm my depts supply ofcr).
I have 3 basic questions of those really in the know (I expect @Jarred J. will have some answers)
1. Best/cheapest phase II scanner (looking at uniden 325p2 or 436 or sds100)
2. Best/cheapest compatible 2way (Something other than moto)
3. Unication pagers worth the 600-700 price? (Very little about them online for consumer use)
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
If your going digital those scanners are redonkulous in prices. A $1 -300 Chinese amateur radio can listen and transmit on them if your staying in current freq range.

If your going 700 mhz get a second mortgage for a radio. our state is going tacn slowly which is 900mhz and a trooper told.me his hand held is 21 grand

When it comes to pagers... Not my thing lol
 

nhfirefighter

Member
May 21, 2010
309
USA-New Hampshire
Something to consider when looking at other manufacturers for radios. Starcom is managed by Motorola. Will they allow other manufacturers on their network?

If they do take a look at Kenwood. Especially their VP line of radios. If your in the fire service the VP6000 is similar to the Apx6000xe. Not a one for one alternative, but pretty close and lower cost.

Many agencies retain VHF frequencies for paging when migrating to an area wide trunking system. See if this is an option for your agency. While Motorola is now capable of two tone paging over P25 you need a radio flashed with this feature. A simple VHF simulcast for tones and dispatching is a cheaper alternative. It allows you to retain pagers you may already own on a frequency you already are licensed for.

I’m sure Unication makes a decent product since they made the Minitor IV and V pagers for Motorola. However I haven’t had an opportunity to use their current product line. We still use Motorola Minitor VIs and are pleased with them. However, we page on an analog, VHF conventional system.

As for scanners I don’t have any info to help you there.

One last thing to consider is a third party radio over internet paging solution if you are going all in with Starcom. Something like edispatches. Sends an alert and audio to cell phone users and allows for streaming. There is a short lag time which needs to be accounted for. Plus users need a cell or data signal to receive the alert. We use it as a secondary alert and have it tied into our dispatch CAD so we can get a narrative pushed to our phones as well.
 

Jim1348

Member
May 12, 2017
31
Rosemount
...1. Best/cheapest phase II scanner (looking at uniden 325p2 or 436 or sds100)
2. Best/cheapest compatible 2way (Something other than moto)
3. Unication pagers worth the 600-700 price? (Very little about them online for consumer use)...


I had the Uniden BCD325P2, but I sold it and now have the Uniden SDS100. Starcom21 has some simulcast sites. The Uniden SDS100 handles simulcast sites better than the other two mentioned.

You mentioned best/cheapest, which do you want? The best is NOT the cheapest and the cheapest is NOT the best.

Unication G4 and G5 pagers are solid. I have the Unication G5. It works well on both VHF and 700/800.

 
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