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Reviews For: Nagoya NA-666

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

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Review Summary For : Nagoya NA-666
Reviews: 15MSRP: 20.00
Description:
Dual Band HT Antenna
Frequency 144 / 430 MHz Gain 2.15 dB Height 230 mm Weight 26 g
Connector BNC, SMA-Male, SMA-Female
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.nagoya.com.tw/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00154.3
N5OFQ Rating: 2014-02-28
Good on VHF, fair on UHF Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm comparing the Nagoya NA-666 with the Comet SMA-503 (which is the same length) and the stock whip from the Yaesu FT-60R.

The Yaesu stock duck is worse in all respects...nuff said.

Interestingly, comparing the Nagoya NA-666 and Comet SMA-503 running simplex transmissions to a fellow ham across town indicated the Nagoya was about 2 S-units better on VHF but about 3 S-units worse on UHF.

The Nagoya shines on VHF and the Comet shines on UHF. Receive S-meter readings are also in line with transmission results.

I give these a 4 for the price points (eBay - $9.79 and free shipping). Better UHF performance would have bumped them to a 5.
VE1GAT Rating: 2013-10-07
poor on VHF, fine for light use GMRS Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
updated review.
It has an odd resonance at 138Mhz, and poor SWR on HAM VHF.
I've taken the antenna apart and it is a simple wire with a base load coil that has 6 turns and about 25uH.
Use this antenna for GMRS and you'll get some gain over stock antenna which is lossy est -3dBi.
Keep an eye on Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/baofeng_uv5r/conversations/topics/34802
for test results on several antenna

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by VE1GAT on 2013-09-13

low cost replacement for stock multi-band lossy rubber ducks. Only use on it's tuned freqs or else your radio will overheat.

The devil is in the details ;-)
Here's a quick list of freqs and their wavelength

Antenna is 21cm so we check the list.

HAM 146
1/8 0.244 M
1/4 0.489 M
3/8 0.733 M
1/2 0.977 M

MURS 151.94
1/8 0.234 M
1/4 0.469 M
1/2 0.939 M
5/8 1.174 M

MURS 154.6
1/8 0.231 M 2.1dbi unity gain
1/4 0.461 M
3/8 0.686 M
1/2 0.923 M
5/8 1.153 M

GMRS 462.6
3/8 0.231 M 3dbi gain
1/2 0.308 M
5/8 0.385 M
3/4 0.463 M
1 0.617 M

It is also better than stock Beofeng antennas (~11cm) for weather and FM use.

Cons:
Fit is not quite there for UV5RA, and worse on UV5.
No traps
Light use only
YO3IDN Rating: 2011-09-06
Dessapointing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received yesterday two of these antennas and performed some tests. Side by side on two Baofeng UV-3R, the reception has been beter than the stock antenna on 446 MHz, worse on the 2 m band. On analizer, the rezonant point in 2 m band is around 165 MHz wich is way to far up for me.
Pros: very flexible, the whip is made from a threaded steel cable.
Cons: the construction quality is poor, the parts seem to be glued together with superglue and just about to fall apart. The rubber tip of the whip fell off on both from the first use.
KB2TRW Rating: 2011-06-30
Cheap and works Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got it for $10 on eBay including shipping. When it came in the mail, it was in a postcard sized envelope. When I opened it I thought oh no, but the antenna returned to its shape within five minutes! At first I was leery, but I tried it and hitting distant repeaters at 40+ km it seemed to work at least as well as the stock VHF and UHF antennas on my HT. Now I don't have to change antennas to save thread life. If my impressions changes over time, I will update. Otherwise, I'm happy.
VK2ILO Rating: 2011-02-27
Cute, flexible and works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this little antenna the other day at a local hamfest here in VK for $20. I am most impressed with its performance over the antenna that came with my little NKT-R3. I can hit the local UHF repeater anywhere in the house. I could not do that with the standard antenna. The flexibility of the whip is great - doesn't stick me in the ribs when on my belt. It seems to be a perfect match for the micro HT. Time will tell as to the longevity of the antenna but for now I am satisfied.
M0JMO Rating: 2011-01-31
Cheap and works well! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this antenna to replace the stock antenna on my NKT-R3 2w micro HT.

It works a lot better than the stock duck and is really flexible.

Dirt cheap too!!

This is what amateur radio should be about; affordable, good performing kit!
WX9MAN Rating: 2010-12-23
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is one of the best antennas I've had for my HT. It's much better than the Diamond SRH519 which is a piece of crap (I used to own one). This Nagoya is very flexible and not as stiff as the diamond which makes in nicer in my opinion. I believe it's coated with thick rubber and not hard plastic like the Diamond. I get 9/9 reports on the 2m and 70cm local repeaters, and full quieting on Rx of those repeaters. I also use this antenna to scan fire/med (155MHz) and police (800MHz). It's a little scratchy on 155MHz but defiantly readable, sounds like a 5/9, and on 800MHz its about 7/9 which is excellent! This antenna is so good it's....SATANIC (NA-666).
KJ4OBR Rating: 2010-10-20
Impressed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought a used Quansheng TG-UV to play with. Nice little dual band radio, but I found the stock antenna was having problems hitting VHF repeaters with 4W that my ancient Yaesu could hit with 2W. UHF performance was good.

The first Nagoya I tried was the NA-702. It is longer, stiffer and had better performance (slightly) on VHF. However it was not as good on UHF.

Then I ordered the NA-666 (the Satanic antenna to quote a previous post). This little antenna performs. I'm full quieting into the 2 problem VHF repeaters, and the signal reports are all outstanding on UHF.

I am a little concerned with the lightness of the construction of the antenna itself, but at $12 shipped I can always have another shipped via the slow boat from Hong Kong.
G0LGB Rating: 2010-04-18
An Excellent Little Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My first one of these I bought a couple of years ago for my old Alinco HT, I had heard their stock antenna was pretty deaf but it always seemed to do the job, but I switched it for this satanic little number and was amazed at the difference...many S point improvement!

Its small, very flexible and doesn't dig you in the ribs when you have your ht on your belt, sure it will bend but it is really easy to bend back into shape.

That particular one gets used, a lot, & is still going strong two years on.

I've bought one of these for all my hand-held's and won't be without them now.

They're great value too, cheap but definitely not cheap quality, super flexible and great on air performance.
9W2ARL Rating: 2010-01-08
Great antenna but not for heavy duty use Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
after testing this like antenna give good receive and transmit on my FT60R and other HT on 2M and 70CM.

It's even can hit the 2M repeater inside building that put Diamond RH775 hand down for this part. RH775 can only get S1 signal and unable to transmit at same location. With this NA-666 i can get S3-S4 and able to transmit with good Q4 signal.

This Antenna look ugly when compare with RH 519 or SMA-503.