Sherlock Investigates: Baofeng Rubber Duck Whip Failure

   Sherlock was “On the Air” today with his Baofeng UV-5R EX and noticed some clicking noises coming through on the received signal. Any slight movement of the stock Rubber Duck antenna would cause the clicking.  

   A spare Rubber Duck (SKU 28-020-113) was installed on the UV-5R, and the noises went away. This is a typical failure of a radio antenna connector but this time it was inside the Rubber Duck!  

   The Rubber Duck was sent down to the Failure Analysis Lab and quick dissection showed the cause of the failure. (How come Sherlock can find these failures so quickly?)

   The Photo shows that there was a “cold solder” joint at the base of the whip which caused an incomplete connection of the whip to the whip base connector. The whip shows no sign of mechanical damage, so it is hard to say how the internal wire got pulled out or loose.

   The antenna wire was resoldered, and the whip was repaired. A new whip would cost almost half the price of a new radio.

   A replacement whip was ordered, and it had the same markings “BAOFENG Antenna” on the side and “FM/136-174/400-520 MHz” on the base label. This whip had only a 400 MHz spring whip in it.

   Even though it was 8 inches long, the top 2.5 inches of the whip was empty. The whip would not resonate on 146 MHz with the RigExpert Antenna Analyzer. You can see if your whip contains a long enough spring by checking the SWR or hooking 110VAC on the center pin and checking the AC field with a Non- Contact Voltage Detector.

Sherlock