Antenna Test

[WRKY933]

When I first started getting into GMRS I was told that I needed a dedicated GMRS antenna for my AR5RM radio BC the stock antennas that came with the radio are sh!t. I know the little rubber ducky antennas leave little to be desired. A knowledgeable person told me that I need a NAGOYA 771G antenna. I already had an ABBREE 771 GMRS antenna. That antenna cost me a whopping $8.00 in monies. The NAGOYA is $22.00 in monies, almost 3 times the price of the ABBREE antenna. I was told that the NAGOYA is a better antenna because it's made in Japan and the ABBREE is a Chinese knockoff. Total rubbish! The NAGOYA is made in Taiwan, not Japan. It has a Japanese name so people assume it's made in Japan. It comes in an identical wrapper as the ABBREE which is made in China. I did a side by side comparison of the 2 antennas Talking to a lady about 20 Fars (miles) away on a GMRS repeater. I was using the NAGOYA 771 G antenna and my signal was weak. She could barely hear me. Her signal wasn't so great either because it was transmitting back from the repeater into my sh!tty NAGOYA 771G antenna. So then I told her to stand by while I switched antennas. I installed the ABBREE 771 GMRS and it was as clear as a bell. It was like talking to someone next door. The elcheapo Chinese made ABBREE antenna was far better than the more expensive Japanese knockoff outsourced to Taiwan NAGOYA 771G antenna.

I recently bought another AR5RM radio. This one came with an ABBREE 771 UHF/VHF HAM antenna. So I did another antenna test. I made a contact about 40 miles away on a HAM repeater using the included ABBREE 771 UHF/VHF antenna. I then switched over to the ABBREE 771 GMRS antenna. The person I was talking to said he couldn't tell any difference between the 2 antennas. His transmission back to me was clear as well. Will the ABBREE 771 UHF/VHF work on GMRS? I don't know, I haven't tried it yet but but I suspect that it might. Anyways, that is my unscientific antenna test for whatever it's worth.

Jeff WRKY933 / K7JXB
 

[WRXB215]

1 hour ago, WRKY933 said:

Will the ABBREE 771 UHF/VHF work on GMRS?

Mine does. I have the U/V and the GMRS and they both work on GMRS.

[AdmiralCochrane]

Some Nagoyas are counterfeits made in China. If you got a genuine Nagoya that isn't superior, that is unusual.

Contacts made thru repeaters are often poor for comparisons because repeater antennas are often mounted much higher than is practical with HT or mobile units AND repeater receivers are dramatically better radios than HT's. 

A much better test is simplex HT to HT.

[WSDR948]

14 hours ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

Some Nagoyas are counterfeits made in China. If you got a genuine Nagoya that isn't superior, that is unusual.

Contacts made thru repeaters are often poor for comparisons because repeater antennas are often mounted much higher than is practical with HT or mobile units AND repeater receivers are dramatically better radios than HT's. 

A much better test is simplex HT to HT.

I have two questions here. How can one tell if they have a "genuine" Nagoya and where is a safe place to buy one?

To the OP, I just got my AR-5RM yesterday and love it!

[UncleYoda]

1 hour ago, WSDR948 said:

I have two questions here. How can one tell if they have a "genuine" Nagoya and where is a safe place to buy one?

To the OP, I just got my AR-5RM yesterday and love it!

https://www.kb6nu.com/fake-nagoya-antenna/

Authentic Nagoya NA-771G Handheld GMRS Antenna (15.3 Inch)

[WSDR948]

1 hour ago, UncleYoda said:

https://www.kb6nu.com/fake-nagoya-antenna/

Authentic Nagoya NA-771G Handheld GMRS Antenna (15.3 Inch)

Thanks! It looks like I got a couple of real ones.

[WRKY933]

On 12/18/2024 at 12:09 PM, WRXB215 said:

Mine does. I have the U/V and the GMRS and they both work on GMRS.

Again my unscientific test. The ABBREE 771 UHF/VHF antenna will work on the GMRS frequencies and ironically even marginally better than the ABBREE 771 GMRS antenna. I tested it on simplex and thru a repeater as well. As of recently, the Baofeng AR5RM has been coming with the ABBREE 771 UHF/VHF antenna included as standard equipment. No need to buy an additional GMRS antenna. 

[WRKY933]

On 12/19/2024 at 6:59 AM, WSDR948 said:

I have two questions here. How can one tell if they have a "genuine" Nagoya and where is a safe place to buy one?

To the OP, I just got my AR-5RM yesterday and love it!

I don't know how to tell if the NAGOYA is genuine or not or where to get one. I bought mine from Amazon and it was junk. It came in a green sleeve just like the ABBREE antenna and it said it was made in Taiwan. And it also had a BTECH logo on it. My antenna did in fact come from BTECH thru Amazon.

As for the AR5RM, it is a great little radio. There are a couple of very cool features in the menu options. One is the Scramble mode, menu 45. There are 3 tone scramble options there. Very cool if you want to have secure communications. And then to make it even more secure on top of that there is the frequency hop menu which scrambles the frequencies so if the powers that be want to listen it, it will make it even more difficult. That is menu number 41. Do 41 and 45 together and nobody will be able to decipher you. Well, I'm sure some alphabet agency might be able to but it would take some time. If you keep your transmissions short I'm sure you would be very secure.

[UncleYoda]

@WRKY933 I can't tell you any more about detecting fakes than what is at those links I posted (the Nagoya page is linked from the kb6nu page also).  If yours is junk (we can't tell from your lack of detail), then it's either a fake or a bad one due to the lack of sufficient quality control which the Chinese are famous for.

 

That other stuff you referred to is not allowed in USA under FCC regs regardless of if the radio is capable of it.  If you use that, people listening will be able to tell you're breaking the rules.  Your signal can still be tracked.

[SteveShannon]

13 hours ago, WRKY933 said:

I don't know how to tell if the NAGOYA is genuine or not or where to get one. I bought mine from Amazon and it was junk. It came in a green sleeve just like the ABBREE antenna and it said it was made in Taiwan. And it also had a BTECH logo on it. My antenna did in fact come from BTECH thru Amazon.

As for the AR5RM, it is a great little radio. There are a couple of very cool features in the menu options. One is the Scramble mode, menu 45. There are 3 tone scramble options there. Very cool if you want to have secure communications. And then to make it even more secure on top of that there is the frequency hop menu which scrambles the frequencies so if the powers that be want to listen it, it will make it even more difficult. That is menu number 41. Do 41 and 45 together and nobody will be able to decipher you. Well, I'm sure some alphabet agency might be able to but it would take some time. If you keep your transmissions short I'm sure you would be very secure.

The scrambling is extremely easy for anyone to unscramble. It’s just phase inversion.  Many cheap handhelds have that.  All you have to do is turn it on and play with the level.  As far as the frequency hopping, it depends on how it’s synchronized, but the statement the nobody will be able to decipher you is certainly not true and it doesn’t take one of the alphabet agencies, just someone with deep enough pockets to buy an AR5RM.

[AdmiralCochrane]

Frequency hopping is a lot more effective when you have an unlimited number to choose from. With the limited number of GMRS channelized frequencies, defeating it is even easier than "normal" frequency hopping chasing.

Frequency hopping is well within prescribed use.  Scrambling is not.

I'm sure equipment in the battle wagon that convoys along with the presidential motorcades has equipment that defeats both instantly.

[UncleYoda]

56 minutes ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

Frequency hopping is well within prescribed use.  Scrambling is not.

I think you're wrong.  Hopping will potentially cause interference (because you won't be able to listen before transmitting).  And it intentionally obscures the conversation.

[AdmiralCochrane]

True, if you don't listen before transmitting.  Far enough out in the sticks, you can be pretty certain.  Suburban environment, not so much.