Tested! ABBREE, TWAYRDIO, Smiley, MFJ Ham Radio Antennas & QuirkQRP ZipTenna!

Your comments were received! Here are *some* of your favorite handheld radio antennas TESTED!!

Antennas from the video in order of appearance (Note the connector!)
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Physical Mail.............►Josh Nass P.O Box 5101 Cerritos, CA 90703-5101

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[HamRadioCrashCourse]

Should I test your favorite antenna? What is it?

[timothydx]

Great video. Quick suggestion: use recorded audio for the test call. It would normalize the test for changes to distance from the mic and remove background noise including wind. Really appreciate these types of videos!! It would also be helpful to do a cw tone to measure signal strength instead of audio, maybe put your call in cw on the recorded audio?

[loctitems]

A comparison of a homemade quarter wave tiger tail vs the ZipTenna might prove interesting.

[notreallydaedalus]

Excellent work, Josh. Thanks for the contributions you make to the community!

[jamesraykenney]

A tip for the ABBREE... I have the 42.5" ABBREE and if (when at home) you store it unfolded it will lose the kinks and stop tending to fold up on you. I wish someone sold the actual military versions of these, as they were MUCH better built, but the ABBREE is a great antenna, IF you get a REAL one and avoid the counterfeit ones... They work great ran through the MOLLE straps on a pack.

[TitusandTesla]

Finally a good video that isn’t a hour long

[articjackal]

Awesome video man! Can't wait for a receive test as well.
.... can you add the Boefang in the test too. Because, you know everyone has one kicking around somewhere.
Appreciate it my man.

[pnowikow]

So many acronyms 😮. I'm learning more every time I listen

[CAphotos]

Other antenna testers have said adapters like the one you used on the THWAYRDIO RH770 are actually adding length to the antenna thereby changing the resonant characteristics of the antenna. The change may be so small that it's negligible in your test scenario, but could be critical if you were at the absolute limits of a repeater's coverage.

[John-kejm]

The data nerd in me loves the black and white objective numbers. Great video.

[thRangers]

Two not so common but powerful additions to any kit...Especially with regards to current Day situations..
Diamond RH789 Telescoping Handheld Antenna & Diamond SRH770S

[TwstedTV]

I like the Smiley antenna's, (to me) they sound much cleaner & understandable.
I purchased 2-ABBREE's 48-inch antennas, and yes, its annoying how they self fold, because they have been in the Amazon stock warehouse for a very long time.
I also purchased 2-Nagoya 771 antennas. for some odd reason I don't hear the difference. And yes, I made sure I purchased it from Nagoya Authentic.
My next purchase is going to be the entire set of HamSticks.

[Tailfeatherz]

The smileys are right there and they are practical. I've used them for 30 years. You have to try the smiley stubby 2m it rocks. Hro had it for 10 bucks.

[Sonicgott]

One antenna I didn’t see which is what I have is the TidRadio NA-771, which is what I use as a temporary replacement on my Baofeng UV-5RPro.

Some of those antennas like the Smiley and MFJ sound *really* good, and I’d love to try those.

[pale_]

I've got a couple 42" Abbree that I've use with a Baofeng HT and my IC-705. The BNC version for the 705 broke because it was folded and created weak points in the antenna. What was good about them was that they could be folded over just a couple of inches at the top and can lower the SWR on 2m next to nothing.

I do have a FT3D and use a few antennas with. I've used a 42" Abbree, Diamond SRH770S and RH77CA, along with a signal stick. The 42" Abbree picks up APRS beacons much better than any other antenna I've used. The SRH770S is a good, all around antenna for field and home use. If one does Wires-X/YSF or any other digital vioce mode with a hotspot, the Diamond RH77CA is hands down the best antenna for that purpose, with next to nothing SWR on UHF.

With what I've learned from the antennas I've used, each one has a different purpose. If one has an HT that does APRS and likes to go for hikes other outdoor activities, I recommend the Diamond SRH770S. It's a great antenna for the outdoors. It's flexible and will not fall over like a Abbree antenna will.

I've used a Abbree 42" foldable on a Baofeng while hunting. It wasn't pretty and was more if a hassle than anything else. They're great around the house for getting into a repeater if you're outside.

[franciscolopez]

I went with the 72cm (28 inch) Abbree just to try it, but before I bought one, I did some research and found out that the 48 inch does just almost the same performance so that is why I've got 28 inch so it's not too short and not too long. Beliveve it or not, the farthest contact Ive done with it at a height of more than 200 feet above sea level is 74km on simplex at 4 watts. Take note, I was just using a vintage Icom IC-02AT. It's a great and handy antenna for emergency purposes to carry around with for the "just in case" situations.

[williamokrasinski]

Thanks for your efforts to educate us, and your work in making videos. I'm surprised no test showing the Comet SMA 24. I've had this on my FT60 for several years. Even came with spare o-ring in case of gap between radio and Antenna.

[alanslade]

Thanks for letting us know, thanks for that very interesting thanks again, Alan from England 💯👍🇬🇧

[edzakaib]

That Signal Stick has worked pretty well.

[JaronActual]

I noticed a few years ago my Signal Stick didn't perform nearly as well as my Smiley 27000. I still like that's it's nearly indestructible, and I'm a fan of supporting local businesses. I use it when durability is more important than radio performance, but that's about it. I know the 1/4 wave 27000 doesn't perform as well as the 1/2 wave sticks, but it's a much more convenient size for daily use.