Just wanted to send a thanks your way. Your channel convinced me to get licensed a couple weeks ago. Today, I was able to respond to an emergency call on Mt Baker (Washington) from a hiker with a medical emergency and relay the info to SAR. They were over 10 miles away and I contacted them on a Baofeng UV-82C with a Nagoya 771. I was also able to make a contact on a repeater 25 miles away. So glad I got into the hobby, thanks again!

Thanks so much for doing this video. I was just in the market for finding a new antenna for my radio!

Hi from Greece! Love your content and keep up the good work!

Purchased BF-F8HP and NA-771 via your store along with an original UV-5R with the intent of disassembly and internal component inspection of both boards to see what the differences really are. Will take detailed photos in attempt to shed some light on what is different internally between the two. Your videos are awesome and have given me more information into the amateur radio scene than anything else thus far.

Enjoyed the stream (archive). Thanks

Built my own 19 inch whip antenna that is a male sma to F connector, F connector has a 19inch galvanized wire soldered to center conductor, and a 19 inch insulated stranded wire soldered as ground, hanging down (rattail). NanoVna says resonance around 146ish mhz with SWR below 1.8 along 144-147. People report good signal Its essentially a 2m dipole. Nanovna actually did say it was around 73ohms. Hence the 1.5 and higher swr.

Looking at the spreadsheet, 2m can have a noticeable improvement (+6db) by upgrading rubber antenna. But, 70cm would need a directional antenna (yagi, etc) to make a noticeable difference.

oh cool you mention the Signal Stick. I just ordered a white one for my Yaesu HT and I am going to try their new 1/4 wave NMo for my mobile.

Just recieved my new Diamond like you tested for my Yaesu Ft3d, OMG the difference. Thanks for the video. 73's K0MYK, Mike

Have been using the signal stick on all of my HTs now for approx 1 year. Thinking about trying out attaching a PL259 jumper between the radio and signal stick. Just looking for some additional versatility to keep in our emergency bags. The signal stick is really nice though.

Hi Josh, here's Jure from Slovenia. Well, I just wanted to purchase a radio to listen to weather reports&warnings for Adriatic coast on cca 156 - 165 MHz ( adequate to your NOAA only for Adriatic sea/Croatia ) for my kayaking & boating needs...but...after I watched some of your videos to educate myself at least about the basics... I got addicted. With your enthusiasm, you infected me totally for this hobby and will attend to ''A'' class licence. Her N is up to 100 W and A to 3.000 W also with more bands allocated to amateurs. Actually it's a strong memory for like 37 years back ( I'm 58 :) ) when I was a ''radioteleprinerist'' in ''old'' Yugoslaw army and at that time I actualy passed II. class with 100 alfanumeric signs / 5 in group separated by spacer / at sending and 120 receiving, so ''first love'' struck again :). So for ''water reistant'' needs, I've found Baofeng UV-9R Plus, 8 W or GT-3WP, 5 W, at first I was watchng Unidens ( marine but only VHF ) but then I thought, why not have dual band for a little fun along the way. So if you are familiar with UV-9R Plus or GT-3WP what would you say ? I watched your video saying an extra 3 Watts wuldn't bring mch but still ....on the sea it may make the difference ? My observation is : In favor of UV-9R Plus : - big battery 2800 mA - 8 Watts - bigger screen ( else I might need my 2,5 + reading glasses :) ) In favour GT-3WP : - nice, small and handy design with color buttons :):):) which both I would upgrade with Nagoya NA-771 or SainSonic dual band 36 cm SMA ( both with 2,15 db/2 m and 3,0 db / 70 cm ) I'm asking you, my dear teacher, UV or GT and Nagoya or SainSonic ? Thanks in advance, Jure or future S50xxx/M

Hi. Good video. I need an advice. Which mobile antenna should I buy for the best performance with less than €20 ?

Have you run similar tests on the Diamond SRH320A. If so, would you post a link?

I know you're not good with scanners, but how good is the RH77CA on the airband? I'm getting it for Christmas.

Hi there Josh, I have a Baofeng UV 9S and planning to use the radio for GMRS. What antenna do you recommend that will fit the Baofeng for GMRS use? Also I have the Midland MXT275, any recommendation for the little antenna that comes with it? Thank you!

If you live in a poor reception area, the RH77CA is great. Got one the other day and I can pick up repeaters while sitting on my couch that I couldn't pick up from anywhere outside my house before. Great for if you live in a mountainous area or at the bottom of a valley

Josh - what RF field strength meter did you use in this video? I know MFJ makes one, but I've also seen other make one as well.

I picked up that same field strength meter at a ham fest for $5 last year. It’s really fun to play with!

Was there a link somewhere on this site to get the spredsheet you cretted?

After watching this video a while back, I bought the new version of the Signal Stick. Since I don't have my license yet (test in April), I have not really tried it out except for reception and scanning. I like it but it is top heavy for sure. I would like something a little more compact for scanning the local repeaters and public works such as police and fire. I have the BF-F9V2+ HT. Which antenna would you recommend for that purpose? I was looking at the Nagoya 701 but I am not too sure of it now. Please respond and give me your opinion. Thanks.

Hi friend, thanks for your video. Do you know if the Protec PHD-771 is a good or at least an average antenna?

did you ever check the stock antenna on the ft2dr? catch you later

Passed my tech test Saturday but most of the time my MDUV 380 Gps will be sitting in the charger monitoring. How far can I pick up a DMR repeater if I buy a 42 inch antenna?

Good stream, but I couldn't watch the whole thing. What was your conclusion? Which antenna came out ahead? I'd like to buy a replacement for Ailunce HD1. 73 K2PDR.

I still have one of the Expert Power antennas. It’s basically a clone of the Nagoya NA-701. They perform identically.

So for short. Would you go na701 or xp669c?

Just so you know..... in my time in the USAF... we did not “calm “ our jets..... we COOL our jets..... and then we go to to the “O” club.....otherwise.... great vid ! Just got my license for a retired diversion.... now addicted to all things HAM. Thanks for all your great vids! 73 KI5NEK COL, USAF (ret)

Sometimes listening to Josh's long KZfaq videos is like reading a 10 chapter book with chapters 3, 5 and 7 missing!?

i have the UV82HP and i have the diamond SRJ77CA. i was wondering how diamond compared to the signal stick?

Finally got a chance to watch this vid. Great vid. Just bought a Signal Stick for my Baofeng 5REplus, I know, gotta get a better radio. Suggest a better one for a little more $?

Hi guy, I don't think you tried the ft2dr stock antenna. it seems on the s meter of my ft2dr that is works better then my diamond rch77a. the signal meter reads higher. Any chance you could tell me how the swr is for 2m and 70cm with the stock ft2dr rubber duck antenna. Thanks.

what was the the ft2dr swr for 2meter and 440 stock antenna? I didn't see you test that one less i missed it and would be very curious cause my ft2dr recieves better wtih stock antenna instead of the diamond rh77ca bnc i have for it. and field strength?

Is the expert power antenna good Overall antenna

Why would the bnc diamond have that much more fs than the sma version? Also, bummed there wasn't any Abbree in this. But I digress. What your saying is that size matters... 7:55

What kind of hookups did you use to connect the antenna and baofeng to the swr?

Do you take into account with SO 239 TYPE CONNECTOR like in elbows you have tons of loss? Also does the SMA connectors have those same issues?

Remember that the radiation angle changes with the length of the antenna. In flat, open areas, a 5/8 wave will work better as it radiates out toward the horizon. A quarter wave will work better in hilly country as it radiates more upward. Thanks for the demonstration of these antennas. I tend to use th NA701 most of the time. The NA771 works better in our RV, probably because the antenna sticks up farther above the belt line.

What would be the best antenna for the Baofeng Bff8hp??

The hair part was funny😂

So what’s the best antenna to buy?

OK, so I am new to all of this and I found this video interesting and informative but since you did not use a Baofeng radio, I just want to cut to the chase and ask you which of these antennas do you recommend I use on my forthcoming Baofeng BF-F9 V2+ when it arrives?

Last year I vna checked four "Nagoya" antennas. One came from a known good channel, tested pretty well. But the best one was an orange (which they don't make) counterfeit, and it outperformed the real thing in bandwidth SWR, not just one freq. The other two were junk and sent back. But I've also had OEM antennas, bought with new radios, crumble or fail internally over time. You can't tell how a new antenna will hold up, or how good the quality control from an unknown source will be.

You mentioned the statement by the ARRL about trying to get more young people involved. I'm 42 and have had my technician license since I was 20ish and the biggest impediment that I had to going deeper into the hobby was cost. I basically did nothing with my license for 20 years and now I'm trying to get the hobby going again and the biggest impediment to that is cost. I know I can get on the local repeater and talk till the cows come home for very little investment but thats not the interesting part of the hobby to me. I want to play with satellites and weak signal vhf and uhf and digital modes but. I've said all that to say this, no radio manufacture makes a full use technician class radio. I can buy FM radios of all shapes and sizes but to fully utilize a technician license I would have to buy a radio that would start at $1500 dollars. No one makes an all mode 6m thru 23cm radio and that would be the definition of a Technician class radio, which should be doable for less than $1500. I believe getting young people interested, and we have to face reality that the only young people that will be interested will be those with a science or engineering bent, will require the manufacturers to look at their offerings and start aiming those at younger generations. Ham radio is marketed heavily towards older generations. The ARRL could help with that but the online retailers need to look at their marketing too. Ham radio reminds me of church, we've never done it that way or why can't we do it the same way we've done it for that last 80 years... I really like your videos because the discussion is different than if I was listening to two guys that had been licensed for 50 years, there's good information there, but I don't think that they connect to those that have been licensed for 1 to 10years. Sorry, I think I rambled and this is long but I've been thinking about my barriers to re-entry which i feel share some similarities to those of younger people.

Wheres the filled out spreadsheet that is empty shown in 13th minute? Or am i missing out something here? Thanks!

Hi I'm Chris and I've been a long time CB user I'm studying to take my tech license test to become a HAM radio operator. I just acquired 4 Baofeng radios 2 UV-5R dual band and 2 UV-S9 tri band. I have watched other videos of yours and you had some good things to say about these cheap radios so I thought I'd give them a try. I was wondering what anntenas would be good for these for stock anntenas rarely are good. After watching this video I purchased 4 of the Nagoya NA-771. I have subscribe to your channel for I find all your videos I've watched thus far to be very informative. Thank you

I bought two Super-elastic Signal Stick antennas last month. They work so well that I just bought 5 more. I feel very sticky. 🤪

Do you still recommend the ExpertPower 669c antenna? If so it is available on Amazon.

very nice

Can you explain this.... I bought a 108CM Antenna! YES 108Cm!!! But..... my Nagoya 771 seems to work better? Even if I hold this ridiculously long antenna outside the window which basically goes past my roof, don’t pickup the frequency I always get. But there’s a catch. It does pickup the signal in a different spot. So say I’m at one end of the balcony it will pickup on the 108cm. But where I pick it up with the Nagoya it don’t all all??? So I guess I proved longer isn’t better? Also it seems that if I fold the antenna down so it’s in its smallest form. It receives better lol? I don’t get it I JUST want the BEST antenna for receiving on uv5r Don’t care about transmit as I don’t have license only use to listen. What’s the BEST radio and antenna for longest distance receiving signals? WANT HANDHELD Portable radio and antenna. Apart from that I don’t care how long the antenna is >:D as long as it’s portable as in I can attach and detach to my radio. Idk if radios make difference in signal but I have uv5r

Signalstuff is a good site but after ordering my signal stick I don’t like how I can’t track the order but it’s paid for and I hope it’s on the way, anyone else have the same issue and if you got the antenna about how long did it take

If antenna's aren't being swapped among different HT's, is there any advantage to the bnc over the sma?

It is my understanding that the signalstick is a 3/4 wavelength antenna on 70cm, and that there is no impedance matching. How can that antenna possibly work on 70cm?? Is a 3/4 lambda vertical now 50 ohms? Is there some type of impedance matching at the base???

Thanks for another great video! Just passed my Tech & General Tests last night. Now to get callsign and radios and antennas. Almost there!

anyone order from gigaparts?? how long does it take for them to actually ship? im getting very impatient for my ft3dr

with radio station WWV,WWVH , WWVB 2.5, 5,10,15,20 and 25 Mhz sometimes. to tell if USA is done in a Male voice ID . for WWVH Hawaii is done in a Female voice ID. WWVB is 60 Khz longwave. got a Nixie tube clock with WWVB loopstick antenna . works great and sync time. also a VFD clock. also the GPS satellite does time sync and auto time zone. also you can set radio dial to WWV. transmitter is right on channel. like with in 1Hz . every tone they transmit is a accurate one. 73's

Another excellent live stream. one question where did you get the black BNC adaptors

Omg you got and reviewed the Signal Stick I asked about ages ago! Woo, thanks Hoshnasi

A good real-like test is to go to a location where several repeaters are marginal and see which antennas can hit them and which cannot. Take care to place the radio in the same spot for each antenna test.

The connectors in your setup will not diminish your results at all

Kudos on pointing out that your body is part of an HT antenna system! (Humor me if I mentioned this in a comment on one of your prior videos...)

Quick question for "The Hosh".... did we ever have a antenna test to compare the ABBREE "Foldable" (tactical looking antenna) compared to the type that "Rolls Up"? I saw the great comparison across other antennae and HTs yet at that time the KZfaq video did Not cover the Roll Up kind. Reason I ask is the Roll Up style would seem to be more predictable with wear-ability. It would not incur creases and possibly be rolled out just enough without problems in the wind, yet also give maximum power output and therefore likely distance. thx--JP

Oh the spurious emissions! My aching diabedis!

Josh, thank you for all the great videos, I have been wanting to ask someone this question so you are it I have one of those mini Chinese radios, mine is the Btech UV 25x4 Mine works good and the 25 + - Watts is better than low watt HTs I have been wondering if there Is a good way to put an elbow type adapter or other adapter on the back of the radio and connect a HT rubber duck antenna to it . I was thinking there are times when I don't want a mobile antenna on my vehicle, so how would a High gain rubber duck antenna work for receiving "and Transmitting" I assume using low -- med power, Have you experimented with this sort of setup? Is it possible to transmit within acceptable standards? I might have use for a small compact radio with antenna in a Go Bag, emergency use situation.. It could be portable use to any vehicle, my motorcycle etc. or emergency/portable, no need for mag mount or a coax antenna to hang. Obviously it would not perform anywhere near a mag mount but does it have a place as a portable radio that gives more power options, Portability, etc. over a HT 5 watt radio I don't have test equipment to check swr, performance etc. or ability to compare it to a HT radio in a side by side test. Just my brain working overtime about something i know little about. Thank you Ron - KA7MUB

I like the expert power shorty 6"? and can hit 29 mile repeater in gmrs with 8 watt walkie talkie

HT's and IPA ..... What more do you need ?

Seems like the diamond stick rh77ca was the best bang for your buck on both 70cm and 2m, agreed?

And the Yaesu FT-70DR is the gateway drug to digital radios.......

Noooo! I been looking for a test on the BF-F8HP stock antenna. I hope you can do a short video in the future.

If I wanted the best range, clarity etc, for 2m, what should I buy?

I "think".....that when you extend your arm above your head, the antenna and your body are "looking" more like a true vertical dipole, therefore, more effective at radiating the signal....

Forgot 1 Antenna SATCOM PRT47 by Shurecom :)

What frequencies are UHF and what frequencies are VHF?

nice video,but keep in mind that different antennas have different radiation angle that may cause different F.S meter results and also the ht battery is getting low as you go on with your test setup which make the comparison harder. 73 de iran

Awesome! Best memes ever ;) #TeamReplay 🤜🏻👍🤛🏻♡♡♡

UV-5RV2+ or BF-F8HP. I can't decide.

It would be awesome if you did a condensed version of a lot of your videos, and hour to sit through for a review is a bit rough

It is a PL259. Have you ever gotten an RF BURN , OR STING FROM THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CONTACT ON A BAOFENG?

I'm late to the game ! Where's this at now ? Anyone w/o a frontal labotomy can see the angle on this !

T9/A05- Antenna Length is inversely related to frequency...

IPA looks good

Lol I've heard someone say 4-10 on a repeater, I was like wth?

If someone says a longer antenna is better than they didnt learn anything about RF. The antenna needs to be correct length for the frequency.

dude if you have to belch when your on the air have some class and excuse yourself I respect the work you do I have learned a lot and value your opinion maybe save the beer till after your done

Edward from new york

Try the knock off Nagoya I opened up a repeater up from 13.2 miles away on my UV 5 R Bingfu Dual Band VHF UHF 136-174MHz 400-470MHz this is a 20 w max anntenna

Show me your boat anchors 😂

I hope you broke that 717 because I just ordered one 😬

the best way to test these is FIELD !!!

Looking for a good rec only ant to fit my surecom sf 103 freq counter(bnc adapter)thats good for 10/11 m bands....Factory sucks dog poo

Nice prison shirt....

Seems awfully expensive. $6 Million for an auto transmit station? Thinking it could be done for less than $50k / year....

who disliked this?

Signal stick website sucks and it's rude what to go buy a hundred of those antennas no guarantees owner was a dick head so I went to the Nagoya 24 J 16.4 took your advice ain't got them from Amazon my radios are getting out bad ass thanks brother

That stubby Diamond 805 is a fake....

So tell me Josh are you encouraging people to just learn the answers to the question rather than the answers and why, i mean really learn the answers? I don't mean any harm to any one.

Yeah, lets drop the Ham Radio stuff, that never hurt anyone... And leave the ATF, who has a countless victim list!

Sad 😢 part of all it is that all the Antennas all suck. They all get out 144/440 or 520. But not one of them get out too over 2, 2 1/2 miles. When they make one that I can talk 5mils I'll be happy. 🎉 there all garbage

Wasted 10 minutes waiting for you to get to the point of the video. Finally gave up and moved on

This is one of the most _boring_ videos I've seen on KZfaq. Don't get me wrong, Josh, I'm really interested in antennas, but all through this video the antennas are subjected to tests, the numbers of which I and many new users have no clue about. Try beginning your videos by telling viewers what the numbers _mean_ instead of just reading the numbers. I mean, I have no idea whether the antenna is good, bad, okay or just plain horrible! Or whether the test is even valid. One problem with ham videos is that they seem to be too exclusive. People who are new (like me) often find themselves wondering what the hell is going on. It would be infinitely better if you'd say, "Okay, we've got a reading of 1.3, which isn't bad (or isn't great, whatever). It would be better if you'd say, "For people who are new to ham radios, the lower/higher the numbers we're looking at are generally better." It doesn't take much time to handhold in your videos. (It actually got to the point when I'd click on some of your videos, I'd say, "Oh, no, not that guy again!" Nothing personal, but it was because when I saw you, I knew instantly you'd be talking to an audience that didn't include me or anyone else that was new to ham. So pleeeease, fer heaven's sake, do a little handholding in your vids. With Co-Vid19, there are gonna be new people to this hobby. And we're going to want to know whether we got taken when we bought four whip antennas on Amazon for sixteen bucks (two for the radios and two for the 🐱)! So pretend you're speaking to low grade morons, would you? You'll get more subscribers Cheers!

To much talk, not enough real info!