Baofeng Antenna advice

[Rennotstimpy]

Very new to this, I have a small Baofeng UV 3R with a 4 1/2“ antenna, I figured for emergency situations it would be best to have something larger, but as I said, I am green and have no idea what to look for. Attached is an image of the female connection on the antenna itself. I am located in the Asheville area, and experienced the hurricane, so any other info with regards to useful frequencies in those kinds of situations would also be much appreciated. Thank you! Edit: also how essential is it to update the firmware?

 

[ladn]

Welcome to RR.

Do you intend to use the radio as receive only or as a transmitter/receiver? If you plan on transmitting, know that the radio isn't certified for anything except ham radio use, and you will need at least a Technician class license to transmit. No license is required for receive only (in which case you'd be better off just getting a scanner).

Here's the Radio Reference page for North Carolina: RRDB | North Carolina Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference. You can use it to find frequencies in your area. Your radio is VHF/UHF. It will receive (about) 136-174 MHz VHF and (about) 400-512 MHz UHF, analog FM ONLY, no digital or trunked.

The specific answer to your question is your antenna is an SMA male. A better antenna would be a Nagoya SMA male VHF/UHF for handheld or a magnetic mount mobile VHF/UHF antenna with an SMA male connector if you want to use the radio in your car. I don't believe your radio's firmware can be updated.

 

[Rennotstimpy]

Welcome to RR.

Do you intend to use the radio as receive only or as a transmitter/receiver? If you plan on transmitting, know that the radio isn't certified for anything except ham radio use, and you will need at least a Technician class license to transmit. No license is required for receive only (in which case you'd be better off just getting a scanner).

Here's the Radio Reference page for North Carolina: RRDB | North Carolina Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference. You can use it to find frequencies in your area. Your radio is VHF/UHF. It will receive (about) 136-174 MHz VHF and (about) 400-512 MHz UHF, analog FM ONLY, no digital or trunked.

The specific answer to your question is your antenna is an SMA male. A better antenna would be a Nagoya SMA male VHF/UHF for handheld or a magnetic mount mobile VHF/UHF antenna with an SMA male connector if you want to use the radio in your car. I don't believe your radio's firmware can be updated.

Thanks a lot for this. I wasn’t aware of the legal angle, so very grateful for that info too. Appreciate it!