Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Baofeng UV-5R: Stock Antenna

I had only been listening to my UV-5R sporadically and, for the most part, I just left it on the desk. This afternoon I was showing it to a fellow ham and was holding it in my hand. There was an awful lot of noise/interference that I hadn't noticed earlier. I quickly realized that the problem only occurred while I was holding the radio. If I set it down, the problem went away. I don't get the best signal on any of my HTs inside my office, so I went outside and the problem still existed if I had it in my hand.

I was extremely disappointed by this discovery. What good is a handy talkie if you can't hold it?

I was comparing it to my Wouxun and my buddy suggested trying the antenna from the KG-UVD1P. Voila! Using the Wouxun antenna solved the problem. Even without any fancy equipment and testing, I'm thinking I may look for a replacement for the stock radio based on this problem alone.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like there's a cold solder or an outright open in the UV-5R stock antenna. If you open it up it may be repairable...

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    1. Thanks... I'll see if I can crack into it and find a problem.

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  2. "..Sounds like there's a cold solder or an outright open in the UV-5R stock antenna. If you open it up it may be repairable.."

    Agreed. Somebody on the Yahoo group just recently had a quality issue involving a connecton as well.

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  3. i bent mine
    it only works if i pull the top
    to the right 2 inches
    something clicks near its base

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  4. I bought three of the UV-5RA radios. Two developed loss of signal and noise. I found the center conductor of the connector became unsoldered from the drive wire in the antenna. Seems like a systemic problem to me.

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    1. Surprised that they are still having this problem. Maybe a bad process or new person on the manufacturing line?!?!

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