Antennas

[Guest Stargater53]

I have Baofeng radios (5R/82HP) and I'd like to choose between the Nagoya 24J and the 320A. The latter is for a tri-band radio, but it's also the longest. 

Which antenna would be best in your view? 

One friend says I should buy one of those inexpensive antennas at Amazon. She says antennas aren't rocket science and that antenna length should be my primary concern. She's an electrical engineer, but the reviews for the cheap antennas make me shy away from the Luiton and TidRadio antennas. I also like the 24J, though I'd buy the 320A if it was the better antenna. 

Thanks for any help. I am curious about those cheap antennas, though, and I'm very new to this hobby. I have a 24J and I really am inclined to it as a good antenna.

Thanks!

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[Lscott]

For GMRS all you really need is a 1/4 wave antenna. That's about 6 inches long. The multi-band antenna won't do you much good unless you have a multi-band radio. The antenna is physically longer because it's likely designed to work on the VHF band where the frequency is lower and thus you need a longer antenna to be resonate. Stay away from the ultra short ones too, those seems to be around 3 to 4 inches long, and will defiantly be inferior to the normal 1/4 wave design. 

If you're the kind of person who likes to sit the radio upright on a table to monitor the longer antenna makes the radio more prone to falling over.

Be vary careful buying cheap antenna off sites like Amazon, eBay etc. They are full of counterfeit antennas with packaging that looks almost identical to the real deal. Nagoya antennas seem to be one of the favorite ones that get counterfeited.

 

[pcradio]

What specific frequencies are you interested in? For GMRS (462Mhz), I highly recommend the Nagoya NA-771G or the Nagoya NA-701G. Get them from buytwowayradios.com. The long variant does work well, I have tested it and confirmed this. I can't say which is better, because I've not been able to test them again each other, just again other antennas.

The 15" version is good, probably not so much from its electrical properties, but rather from its height. It is above your head, above other objects and just makes that last stretch of audio come in clearer, if you need it. You'll will much prefer the short 5.5" version, however. The 15" whip is just in the way except for all but the most extreme of situations.

Like I said, I can't say if the 15" is better than the 5.5". But I can say, they are both good antennas.

[pcradio]

Here someone did real world proof of the Nagoya antennas. Short story, buy 15" if you need the extra range, otherwise the 5.5" is preferred.