Baofeng antenna test results

[Mark G. Forbes]

I finally got the right adapters to check out the antenna supplied
standard with the Baofeng radio. It's a very good match at 145MHz,
but it is very "notchy"...it becomes a poor match as you move to the
edge of the ham band and beyond. That would explain its poor
performance, since the dominant factor is antenna efficiency. You
can get improved performance in-band with a small antenna, but the
trade-off is a steeper degradation away from the center frequency.

By comparison, a 5/8 wave telescoping whip antenna has a much broader
range where it's a good match, and the added benefit that you can
shorten it to be an even better match at 151MHz.

The Baofeng antenna, by its nature, is very sensitive to adjacent
objects and hand position. Having it up against your head de-tunes
it significantly. Just running a finger alongside the antenna causes
the SWR (standing wave ratio, a measure of antenna matching) to
vary dramatically. A 5/8 wave antenna is less susceptible to this.
For the Baofeng, I'd recommend something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/111166829737?lpid=82

If you buy one and want to have it marked for a good match at a
particular frequency, just let me know. I'll bring my
antenna analyzer to the club meeting and do it for you.

The radio itself puts out a solid 5 watts into a resistive load,
exactly as advertised. If you'd like to adapt to a different
antenna and need a fitting, www.showmecables.com has everything.

MGF

[gabe]

That antenna is over 4' long. I'm gonna need something smaller than that. I noticed today going car to car that the tiny 1.5w baofeng was able to TX clearly and the 4w baofeng could receive well, but he couldn't hear my TX. So either my antenna can RX but not TX or vice versa on his.

[Mark G. Forbes]

The antenna is telescopic...it retracts to a relatively small size, then can be expanded when you're on the ground. In the air, you have such a good line of sight to other stations that your range is not usually a problem. It's typically performance on the ground that's a problem.

For a really good setup, put a wire antenna on your harness and carry a 5/8 wave telescopic antenna in a harness pocket.

Antenna performance is symmetric, but receiver sensitivity varies. Also, your squelch setting matters; if you didn't check reception with the squelch disabled, then it may simply be a matter of having it set too high.

ma...@mgforbes.com
541-760-3231 (cell)
MGF iPad

On Jul 20, 2014, at 21:07, gabe <weownthe...@gmail.com> wrote:

> That antenna is over 4' long. I'm gonna need something smaller than that. I noticed today going car to car that the tiny 1.5w baofeng was able to TX clearly and the 4w baofeng could receive well, but he couldn't hear my TX. So either my antenna can RX but not TX or vice versa on his.
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[gabe]

Ah yes. I always forget squelch on these. Thanks. I would like a short rubber nub type antenna that works as well as the stocker. Any suggestion? I've tried the super thin whip ones HRO suggested, with good result but they are too fragile at their base and kink easily.

[Steve Forslund]

Yeah I hate a kinky whip

SF