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[BabaYaga60]

Signalstuff 2/70cm signalstick OR Diamond SRJ77CA ?? What say you ?

 

[K4EET]

Signalstuff 2/70cm signalstick OR Diamond SRJ77CA ?? What say you ?

I use the Diamond SRJ77CA on my AnyTone AT-D878UVII+ HT and have done so for 4 or 5 years. It improved both talk-in and talk-out over the stock antenna and has held up well to a bunch of beatings. I have the Diamond SRH77CA on my Yaesu FT3D and the Diamond SRH320A on my Kenwood TH-D74 HTs. Really pleased with them all.

 

[AK9R]

In an unscientific comparison test between the OEM Yaesu antenna on my FT5D, a Diamond SRH77CA, an alleged Nagoya antenna, and a Signalstick, I found no appreciable difference.

And, if you find someone "testing" handheld antennas by sweeping them with a nanoVNA, just move on. There's more to antennas than SWR.

 

[BabaYaga60]

I use the Diamond SRJ77CA on my AnyTone AT-D878UVII+ HT and have done so for 4 or 5 years. It improved both talk-in and talk-out over the stock antenna and has held up well to a bunch of beatings. I have the Diamond SRH77CA on my Yaesu FT3D and the Diamond SRH320A on my Kenwood TH-D74 HTs. Really pleased with them all.

Thanks for your input !

 

[kh2]

Signal Stick for me - Awesome improvement over my stock Kenwood D74 antenna, tried it a few times on an IC-705 for local nets and VG results, and pretty close to indestructible.

 

[BabaYaga60]

Signal Stick for me - Awesome improvement over my stock Kenwood D74 antenna, tried it a few times on an IC-705 for local nets and VG results, and pretty close to indestructible.

Plus the Signalstick is ALL metal contruction all the way down to the base !

 

[MIMTBR]

In an unscientific comparison test between the OEM Yaesu antenna on my FT5D, a Diamond SRH77CA, an alleged Nagoya antenna, and a Signalstick, I found no appreciable difference.

I'll add to this notion as I have done a similar test but with my FT-60. I only tested receive, not transmission. My Nagoya is genuine however.
My results were the Signal Stick and Nagoya were both a little better than the factory rubber duck however hard to distinguish any difference otherwise. If I had to say I thought one did a little better than the other, I'd say the Nagoya may have had a slight edge but it would be so slight that I cannot say for sure. Too unscientific a test.
But what was clear for me is both were a little better than the factory duck.

 

[k6cpo]

Signalstuff 2/70cm signalstick OR Diamond SRJ77CA ?? What say you ?

Neither... I have one of the long Diamond antennas and I didn't see any noticeable increase in performance over the original rubber duck, or the 8 inch flexible antenna I settled on for HT use. I've come to view most of the after market antenna choices for HTs as window dressing. An HT at it's best is a collection of compromises and there's no way a longer antenna or a big fat aftermarket battery is going to turn it into a 50W mobile radio. It's akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

 

[devicelab]

Signalstuff 2/70cm signalstick OR Diamond SRJ77CA ?? What say you ?

You didn't say for which radio? That can make a difference in recommendation.

A tuned antenna is the way to go. The Diamond antennas are generally OK but some are hit or miss on certain bands. (In testing, they seem to do well on UHF but VHF is meh at best.)

 

[db_gain]

Dunno if tiger tails are still a thing but you might consider one, they go between the ant and tnc or bnc to give it a ground plane instance..

 

[KF0NYL]

It can also depend on the individual hand held radio too. While I have not tried any of the Signal Stick antennas, I have tried some of the longer authentic Nagoya antennas on different brands of radios. I have tested the Nagoya antennas to stock antennas on radios ranging from Icom, TYT, Baofeng, and Wouxun. The Nagoya was slightly better than the stock antenna on my Explorer QRZ-1 (TYT) than the stock antenna. I definitely saw an improvement with the Nagoya versus stock antenna on the different Baofeng radios. But the stock antennas actually did better than the Nagoya on the Icom and Wouxun radios.

 

[vagrant]

There is a guy on Youtube that tests various handheld antennas. He goes to a park and he has a receiver at home. I think his name is Kazz. He posts the audio and RX numbers.

As to using a counterpoise / tiger tail / rat tail, they definitely help. I do not constantly have one connected, but carry one in my radio bag when I am further out. I have done that testing myself and it improves TX and RX. Of course the best handheld antenna is a telescoping made for a particular band, at least in my testing. I do not walk around when those antennas are connected.

The *77CA variants all work the same in my testing. They also worked best on UHF, for obvious reasons. I use the *77CA over the Signal Stick after testing.

UPDATE: His name is Josh and he has other testing videos with antennas.

 

[vagrant]

* I should have noted that the Signal Stick definitely gets used when the environment is unfriendly. The SS flexibility is a factor. Ultimately, the right tool for the job is the best approach, at least for my use. Having multiple available choices is nice.

If I could have only have one rubber duck amateur radio antenna it would be the Diamond 320A. I have three or four that are used on handhelds as well as scanners.

 

[BabaYaga60]

* I should have noted that the Signal Stick definitely gets used when the environment is unfriendly. The SS flexibility is a factor. Ultimately, the right tool for the job is the best approach, at least for my use. Having multiple available choices is nice.

If I could have only have one rubber duck amateur radio antenna it would be the Diamond 320A. I have three or four that are used on handhelds as well as scanners.

The All metal construction of the Signal Stick, right down to the terminating connector, definitely makes it more robust in harsh conditions compared to Diamond, but not necessarily better.