Antenna upgrades for Chinese radios

[Meestor_X]

I've heard that some improvement to range can be achieved by replacing the antenna that comes with some of these radios with a better one.
I have a Baofeng UV-6 that is a VHF/UHF 5w/4w radio. The antenna has a female SMA (Thanks, Jon!)... I would use it more in the UHF range than VHF, but it would be good if an upgraded antenna worked for both.

I'm quite aware that these are very low-cost radios not worth much and have issues other than their antenna, however, I'm only looking for recommendations on upgraded antennas that don't break the bank. However, if you think that upgrading the antenna won't help these radios at all, then that'd be good to know!

Thank you for any suggestions on the antennas.

 

[jonwienke]

Baofengs use female SMA antennas, not TNC.

 

[Meestor_X]

Baofengs use female SMA antennas, not TNC.

Right you are. My newness is showing.

 

[mmckenna]

Back many years ago when I was more active on amateur radio, I used an antenna similar to one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Orig...908&sr=1-1&keywords=diamond+antenna+dual+band

It helps, but don't expect a huge improvement. There are additional limitations that still remain, like the small radio not providing enough counterpoise/ground plane for the antenna to work effectively, limited receiver sensitivity/overloading.

But, for the price, it's a good experiment. You can find them a bit cheaper, but be cautious. If you start scraping the bottom of the "Cheap Chinese Product barrel", you'll end up with poorly constructed antennas that are not resonate anywhere near where you need them.

Also, spending $25 on an antenna for what was probably a $35 radio might constitute "breaking the bank".

 

[jonwienke]

The Nagoya 701 or 771 are low-cost antennas that still perform significantly better than the stock antenna on VHF and UHF. The 771 is longer, but performs slightly better than the 701.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KBZLOHC/

 

[Meestor_X]

Thanks, everyone. The Nagoya looks like the right bang for the buck.

 

[KD4KZZ]

My Nagoya 701 is only marginally better(10-15%) than the stock uv5r+ antenna.

 

[lmrtek]

There are many better antennas than what comes on these Chinese hand helds, HOWEVER these radios already suffer from defense and interference and an antenna that makes signals stronger will in fact make things worse

 

[jonwienke]

Not necessarily.

 

[Meestor_X]

Darn. Just bought a whack of 701's hoping to improve the UV6 just a bit if possible. They were cheap enough though, so no huge loss if they don't make a difference.

 

[Chickenhawk56]

Check out the thread I started in this forum on my search for a decent handheld antenna at a practical (8") length. My search really opened my eyes.

We can't make a cheap Chinese radio (CCR) perform the same as our DTR radios, but I am actually pretty impressed at how well they do as far as range when one finds a good antenna. The catch, of course, is to find a good antenna. There are some great 15" antennas but there seem to be far fewer 8" ones.

Nothing of course can match the 100% readability of a digital DTR, but I now have six CCR radios and am learning very quickly.

Want to add a new forum to your professional radios site? As you know, I am not the type of person who just reads user reviews and buys stuff like radios and antennas - I want to know how they work in REAL conditions. Plus, of course, I have a two-way radio on my belt for 10 to 14 hours a day, every day.