Posted: 10/14/2016 9:21:25 PM EDT
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Bought a pair of UV5Rs. Range and performance were terrible. Read some advice and purchased the Nagoya 16" antennas. The radios are crisp and sparkling clear now under simplex testing.
Unfortunately the 16" antennas make the radio inconvenient to handle. Any recommendations for antennas that perform well with a smaller profile? 
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The stock 5R antenna is terrible on VHF, passable on UHF.
Best value for an antenna upgrade for the UV-5R is to just buy the Baofeng replacement antenna for the B5, last I looked they were like 4 or 5 dollars shipped on ebay. People have comparison tested them against the Nagoya of the same size and they're identical. ETA: example http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-BAOFENG-Dual-Band-Antenna-for-UV-B5-UVB6-UV82-UV8-D-UV-A52-BF-A58-UV5X-/261365792129 |
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I agree, I have both the 16' 771 and the shorter 701 Nagoya antennas and they perform almost the same. The longer one obviously allows you to get the antenna higher up which is key. I kept both, I use the shorter one when im mobile and when im stationary ill use the longer Nagoya or even my slim jim rollup |
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The antenna you seek is the A-V 85 antenna. It's what comes on many newer Baofengs such as the HPmodels and Igot a BF-F8+ (not HP)that had one as well. They perform as well as the NA-701 antennas and it's what I mostly use now on my HTs. It's not as floppy as the 701 which is a plus as well. They're cheaper as well.
AV ANTENNA |
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Thanks, everyone, for the responses.
Quoted:
The antenna you seek is the A-V 85 antenna. It's what comes on many newer Baofengs such as the HPmodels and Igot a BF-F8+ (not HP)that had one as well. They perform as well as the NA-701 antennas and it's what I mostly use now on my HTs. It's not as floppy as the 701 which is a plus as well. They're cheaper as well. AV ANTENNA Just ordered two of these to try. |
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Quoted:
Thanks, everyone, for the responses. Just ordered two of these to try. Quoted:
Thanks, everyone, for the responses. Quoted:
The antenna you seek is the A-V 85 antenna. It's what comes on many newer Baofengs such as the HPmodels and Igot a BF-F8+ (not HP)that had one as well. They perform as well as the NA-701 antennas and it's what I mostly use now on my HTs. It's not as floppy as the 701 which is a plus as well. They're cheaper as well. AV ANTENNA Just ordered two of these to try. They were less expensive in the link I sent 
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| Amazon has same day delivery for Prime members on that item depending on your location. 2 day if you don't live close to an Amazon warehouse. Or you can save 2 bucks and some change and have it shipped from the ebay seller, in China and hvae it come in, in a month.......ish. To me it's well worth the extra 2 bucks to get it same day or 2 day. |
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Check out this site.
http://www.km4fmk.com/NewAntTesting.html EDIT: When I had my UV-5X3 (before it stopped working) the Nagoya NA-320A and V-85 antennas were indistinguishable in real world performance. I was wondering why I spent the money on the Nagoya. By switching antennas in mid conversation from various locations I quickly found there was BARELY any difference and to see that difference I had to be in an extreme fringe area anyway. |
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A while back I did actual driving down the road tests of the stock OEM UV-5R antenna (which I understand has been much improved now), the Nagoya NA-701, the Puxing J0125A $3.79 antenna (and various other prices under $5 USD), and the NA-771.
The OP is wanting something better than stock, and I have not tested the current UV-5R antenna, so will skip talking about something I have no experience with. The Puxing J0125A $3.79 (etc) antenna is well made, and about 8" long, a handy length. Driving down the highway talking through the repeater to the repeater owner, I got almost twice the range with the Puxing antenna, which I seem to remember being about 7 or 8 miles. It was not only a great balance between length (about 4" for stock antenna, 8" Puxing) and performance, but price, too. Very flexible, too. At that price it was definitely the "best buy". https://hamgear.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/the-3-79-antenna-review/ http://www.ebay.com/itm/201057408083 The Nagoya NA-701 gave 1-2 miles more range, but a little more costly. It is also about 8" long, flexible, well made, handy size yet good range. http://www.ebay.com/itm/281348801197 The Nagoya NA-771 gives the greatest range, by another 3 miles or so over the 701. It is usually about the same price as the NA-701, but the drawback is that it is about 16" long. Hang it on your belt and it'll put your eye out. Sorry, your handi-talkie is no longer handy. My opinion. It does give the best range, however. http://www.ebay.com/itm/121601486079 For the price vs. range, the el cheapo Puxing antenna is the best buy, by far. You can buy two for the price of one NA-701. I've had these for at least five years now, and have not broken one yet. I also own some NA-701s, and can say the same for them, none broken. They are both ruggedly made. Nothing scientific, I did not use any test equipment, but tested a real radio over a real repeater driving a real vehicle down a real road. |
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Quoted:
They were less expensive in the link I sent Quoted:
Quoted:
Thanks, everyone, for the responses. Quoted:
The antenna you seek is the A-V 85 antenna. It's what comes on many newer Baofengs such as the HPmodels and Igot a BF-F8+ (not HP)that had one as well. They perform as well as the NA-701 antennas and it's what I mostly use now on my HTs. It's not as floppy as the 701 which is a plus as well. They're cheaper as well. AV ANTENNA Just ordered two of these to try. They were less expensive in the link I sent Yep. I absolutely saw that and chose to buy from Amazon for the reasons that jeepinbanditrider posted. We simplex on these daily so that the wife can get a hold of me while I'm out doing chores or projects. There are places on our plot where the 5R antennas couldn't get an intelligible signal. Now I've got the 16" 771 antenna on my belt every day. I find myself leaving the radio on my belt, keying it, and yelling at it, rather than handling it normally because the antenna length makes it a PITA to put back on my belt. When I do this, I sound pissed off, my wife thinks I'm mad at her and starts hen-pecking me about what my problem is  . It's especially frustrating if I'm wearing a tool belt and nail pouches.
Definitely worth the extra few dollars to get this squared away quickly. ... but absolutely, positively .... no sarcasm ... THANK YOU for contributing to the thread. I should have started the tread before I bought the 771's. |