Good Short-Range Antenna for Baofeng UV-5R V2+?

[Dave_D]

I purchased two Baofeng UV-5R V2+ radios with helmet kits for road rallying and discovered that the radios overheat when transmitting consistently, such as when a navigator shares a steady stream of road cues. I found several sources online that suggest it's the stock antenna causing the overheating issue. Can anyone recommend a good replacement?

We only need about 10' of range for rallying and we're using plain ol' GMRS frequencies (e.g., 467.725). The shorter the antenna, the better. Rules require we tuck these radios into a pocket or glove box, so a tiny antenna would be a plus. If that means using a different frequency for a particular antenna, these radios support 136-174 / 400-479.995 MHz.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[jwt873]

The current being dissipated in the final output components is causing the heat. The antenna will have no effect. Have you selected the "Low" power level? That will reduce the power output and the amount of heat generated.

 

[KC4RAF]

Not the antennas at fault. The baofeng's will not sustain long periods of transmission. They will over heat. That's why they have TOT in their menus.

http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/UV5R-MenuDef.php

check out # 9.

 

[cmdrwill]

"Not the antenna's fault" The wrong antenna DOES cause the excessive power dissipation, AKA overheating.

USE the LOW power setting. The radios may still overheat, even with a dummy load.

The 'low cost' construction" of the radio does not provide a very good heatsink for the transmitter.

 

[KC4RAF]

cmdrwill, you are correct. I wrote too fast. Antennas have been know to cause over heating. But the Baofengs are known for their overheating, (both of mine will when transmitting for greater than 3 minutes). In their circumstance, I improperly assumed they were long winded, (pardon my choice of words there please.)

 

[byndhlptom]

Short antenna

Dumb question.....

If you are both in the same vehicle, have you considered a wired intercom? That would have been my first thought before a radio.....

They make them for loads of vehicles (cars, Fire trucks, airplanes, Race scanner interfaces, etc), no RF to worry about, run off of vehicle power, etc.

Also look at motorcycle intercom systems (both wired and rf based).

$.02

 

[Dave_D]

Aha! Both radios were indeed on the HIGH power setting. Hopefully, with some experience, we can also get these helmet kits to be a bit less sensitive, so they're not transmitting so frequently.

We did look at intercoms but they're expensive and require a hard install. We're not pros and don't want to turn our daily drivers into full-time rally cars.

Most of the motorcycle intercoms I found are Bluetooth, which don't interface with other gear, like audio recorders. It's nice to have the in-car audio on any videos. And on that point, it's another reason we don't use an intercom - if we record audio from the scanner, we get race communications and in-car communications all at once. Here's a clip, if anyone's interested: https://youtu.be/hLJqTMYvVHU

Thanks, everyone, for your assistance! Huge help.

 

[luizzma]

We are a team of 16 people playing airsoft an we all use baofeng uv 5r and I can say all of them overheat

 

[byndhlptom]

Rally intercom

Radio shack at one time made a four person intercom for racing. It allowed for a scanner feed and intercom between the four headsets. It was a self contained system, carried in a small pouch.

Worth looking at/for....

$.02

 

[Hans13]

You might want to look at the WLN KD-C1 (Zastone ZT-X6) radio. They are small, have excellent battery life, have small fixed encased antennae, and we have never had one overheat. They put out about two watts and have 16 channels. Make sure you get the charging cradles with them. The price should be about $18 per radio kit. They use the same speaker microphone jack (Kenwood) as the uv-5r. They use the same programming cable. They can be programmed with chirp. The Nite Ize medium "Clip Cargo Case" fits the radio perfectly and has a sturdy, rotatable belt clip.

We use them everyday, all day and night.

 

[k6cpo]

Something that no one has mentioned is that the Baofeng UV-5R is not type certified for GMRS and therefore illegal to use on those frequencies...