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write your own review of the Nagoya NA-701 BNC Dual Band Antenna.
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KZ6D
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 1, 2011 00:43
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Excellent value in an dual band HT antenna!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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[first off, let me say that my review is for the model with the SMA connector. I suppose that once one gets past the connector itself, there's no difference between it and the model that sports a BNC]
I purchased a VX-5R way back in 2004 just before Vertex/Yaesu ceased production that model. I love the radio & it just so happens that I live in a pretty repeater-rich area, so it's really never occurred to me to use anything other than the stock antenna that came with the radio (it always seemed sufficient for what I wanted to do), but because of the radio's ultra-wide frequency range, it seems as though the the 'factory' antenna tries really hard too be "all things to all bands", so to speak.
As we all know, asking a roughly nine inch long antenna to cover every band from 6m up to 70cm is a pretty tall order. It seemed to me after some initial real-world experimentation & comparison with other duckies of various types that the stock Yaesu antenna didn't really excel on ANY band. This suspicion was recently borne out during a trip through the Arizona desert (where repeaters are few and far between): Two Meters sounded like some sort of radio vortex in which any trace of a viable signal was nowhere to be heard.
I decided that it was time for me to upgrade my HT's on board antenna; so
I went where I most always go in similar situations... ebay!
I looked to see what was available that fit my needs & carefully referenced each on the eham.net reviews section. There were a lot of choices; but this, the NAGOYA NA-701 seemed to get fairly universal praise from other amateurs. This coupled with the fact that I could have one for a paltry $12.00 (including shipping from China no less) & I was sold!
As I mentioned, I'd used the stock antenna for so long that I had a real intuitive feel for how it interacted with local repeaters & there were a couple of 70cm machines that were notorious for being really spotty here at the QTH. I slapped my new NA-701 on my HT & was quite astounded to work these machines with a clarity that I'd never before experienced from home.
This actually does seem to be a "true" dual band antenna considering that 2m performance is also appears to be positively impacted by it's presence. Also... I commonly use my VX-5R to listen to KFI 640 AM a lot of the time while I'm working at my desk. I figured that, because the NA-701 is physically shorter than the stock duck that I'd never be able to use it for MW.
That's what I get for making assumptions. Mediumwave signals come in as good if not slightly better with the new stick. I'm quite sure that this is nothing more than dumb-luck as such an antenna as this isn't built with anything at all to do with sub-1MHz signals in mind... but just the same, it works & that's all I care about.
So... if you need a compact, flexible, efficient & affordable dual-band antenna for your HT, just log onto eBay & search for the NA-701. They're everywhere, they're inexpensive & they WORK!
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LA3CTA
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Rating: 5/5
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May 6, 2011 10:28
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Great little antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Bought it along with my Yaesu VX-8GR, and going from the standard Yaesu antenna to the NA-701, I gained 1s on both VHF and UHF. But a much more steadier signal was achieved on the NA-701 than on the standard antenna while in movement. It is also a lot more flexible than the standard one. I can almost bend it 180 degrees without feeling I'm over stressing it. Now I don't even have to worry about the antenna while sitting down/bending over.
I highly recommend this antenna for anyone wanting more flexibility and performance, not to mention the small size of it. Only 21cm or 8,2 inches tall. For the price on a popular webshop in Hong Kong, you can't go wrong with this one.
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KH6TA
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 18, 2010 10:46
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A Good HT Antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Bought BNC model for Wouxun D/B HT's due to adapting SMA-F to BNC for mobile antenna use. This antenna works as well as the Wouxun rubber duck which actually works very well even on VHF MURS and GMRS UHF.
Hard to beat for the price, I give this one a "thumbs up" and a 5 rating.
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MM0IMC
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 2, 2009 13:32
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Better than a standard dual band antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought this for my Yaesu FT-60R because I didn't like the SMA connector and wanted to use a more robust BNC based antenna (via an adapter). This antenna gives me at least 1 S point more on both VHF/UHF as compared to the standard Yaesu dual band antenna.
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