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New Baofeng doesn't like my yagi

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KK6VJT

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May 28, 2017
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I recently purchased a Baofeng UV-5RA and wanted to pair it with a 4 element yagi I bought from a guy last year. I hooked everything up with some SMA adapters I ordered with the radio; nothing. I thought maybe a bad cable, so I check continuity: nope, everything's good there. I check the adapter; everything seems okay there too. I can't figure it out; could something be wrong with the antenna itself? The radio works fine with the rubber duck it came with as well as the RD off my UV-3R+. Now it gets weird; I connect the 3R+ up to the Yagi; signal clear as a bell! Does anyone know what could cause this? Is there some setting in the 5R that limits the incoming signal?
 

N2SCV

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Is the beep turned on? Seriously.

I recently purchased a Baofeng UV-5RA and wanted to pair it with a 4 element yagi I bought from a guy last year. I hooked everything up with some SMA adapters I ordered with the radio; nothing. I thought maybe a bad cable, so I check continuity: nope, everything's good there. I check the adapter; everything seems okay there too. I can't figure it out; could something be wrong with the antenna itself? The radio works fine with the rubber duck it came with as well as the RD off my UV-3R+. Now it gets weird; I connect the 3R+ up to the Yagi; signal clear as a bell! Does anyone know what could cause this? Is there some setting in the 5R that limits the incoming signal?
 

nd5y

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If you receive good with the stock antenna but not with a better one it means the receiver, which is poorly designed, is being overloaded or desensed. There is nothing you can do about it.
 

KK6VJT

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Thanks for the quick reply friends. I've tried it now with the beep on and off, and still no reception with the Yagi on the UV-5. I remembered I had a mag mount in my truck and tried that one too. Both the UV-5 and the UV-3 work fine with that and the two rubber ducks I've tried. It seems strange that the UV-5 would be overloaded like nd5y suggested while the older UV-3 would work fine. I don't know much about desensing; I'll have to look into that.
If you receive good with the stock antenna but not with a better one it means the receiver, which is poorly designed, is being overloaded or desensed. There is nothing you can do about it.
 

khaytsus

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Nov 1, 2014
Messages
142
Thanks for the quick reply friends. I've tried it now with the beep on and off, and still no reception with the Yagi on the UV-5. I remembered I had a mag mount in my truck and tried that one too. Both the UV-5 and the UV-3 work fine with that and the two rubber ducks I've tried. It seems strange that the UV-5 would be overloaded like nd5y suggested while the older UV-3 would work fine. I don't know much about desensing; I'll have to look into that.

Actually that is NOT surprising. I have a UV-3R and a UV-3R+ which both work MUCH better in RF than a UV-B5. I don't have any 5R's but I've always heard the B5 is better for RF than they are.

The B5 goes COMPLETELY DEAF on a high gain antenna. The 3R's work fine. Better filtering I suppose.

Yes, you're simply seeing overload. If you have any filters you could try they might tone down the external noise, but honestly the SDR's just simply can't demodulate a single frequency when the RF noise is so high. It's like hearing a single voice in a crowd of screaming people.
 

wyShack

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I would suggest running the radio with its stock antenna-can it receive(might try the weather band ). I have had problems where the radio is set for tone squelch ect. Try to isolate the issue-is it just VHF or just UHF? If you are using a yagi, the antenna itself is somewhat 'narrow banded'.

My guess is one of many possible settings. Get it working with the stock antenna, then swap antennas and solve the rest of the problems -like overload.

Good luck.
 

lmrtek

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Feb 11, 2009
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They are easily desensed by any local transmitters

The bigger the antenna the worse the desense
 

kayleesdad

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Oct 22, 2007
Messages
663
Similar issue with a baofeng bf-f8hp on 2 meters. The yagi locks it on "standby mode" and it won't receive. Works fine on 70cm with a yagi. Works fine with the stock antenna on 2m and 70cm. Probably have to get a more expensive transceiver, some new models coming out this year, hopefully I can save up for one.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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Dec 22, 2013
Messages
6,845
If you receive good with the stock antenna but not with a better one it means the receiver, which is poorly designed, is being overloaded or desensed. There is nothing you can do about it.

Exactly. Baofeng is $29 worth of plastic and a 99c receiver. Yougetswhatyoupaidfor!
 

lmrtek

Active Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
534
The Baofeng has a lousy front end so it is likely being desensed by interference.
I tested a UV5-R against a cheap bubble pack FRS toy radio and the toy radio had a MUCH better front end.
 
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