Nagoya TB-320A incorrectly wired?

[richk107]

I was trying to troubleshoot poor performance using my Nagoya TB-320A antenna. https://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Genuine-TB-320A-Fold-Over-Tri-band/dp/B01B8OXDJ6 After testing coax for shorts and swapping out the Nagoya with another antenna my signal quality improved. I took a closer look at Nagoya and I'm perplexed at what I found. I would expect that the ground should stop at the base while the center connection is the remaining part of the antenna. Ringing out the center using my meter finds that it is connected to nothing. The Base, however rings to the entire antenna except the center. My test antenna doesn't act this way. The center connects right to the length up to the tip.

Am I missing something here or do I have a bad antenna?

Rich
KD2KHK

 

[jonwienke]

The center connector should have a low resistance to the entire whip, and the outer shell of the connector should be floating. Unless there is some kind of matching network in the base of the antenna, in which case any reading could be correct, depending on the design of the matching network.

But in the absence of a matching network, your antenna is incorrectly wired.

 

[KC4RAF]

The Nagoya antennas have been counterfeited by an overseas country big time. There's a website, (don't remember the URL), that explains how you can spot the difference between the original Nagoya and the counterfeited ones.

Here's one URL:
http://www.nagoya.com.tw/s/2/news-3...to-identify-the-genuine-and-fake-antenna.html

and a video at utube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPxETN1pXdc

Not saying you have a counterfeited one...

 

[richk107]

Thanks for pointing out the websites.

I did verify that the antenna was authentic. All tests YouTube and the website provide work out. right down to the bad having rounded corners.

Does anyone here have the same antenna and can ring it out just to confirm?

Rich
KD2KHK