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VHF / UHF Antennas with an SWR of 1.8 or less (1 reply and 1 comment)
I'd take the advice in the instructions with a pinch of salt. 1.5 is 4% reflected and 1.8 is 8.2%. I'd say anything under 2 is fine and to be honest wandering about with it in your hand will probably send it all over the place anyway. Plus Baofengs are plentiful shall we say.....
Sorry about resurrecting an old thread but I wanted to add a few points.
The stock antenna for the baofeng is appalling, in certain conditions you can get further by shouting than by using the radio.
I agree with Paul M0MXT, using a handheld alters the SWR with stray capacitance just by holding it, add into the mix location and you have a SWR that can be much higher than originally thought.
I differ in what Paul has said when it comes to the "Baofengs are plentiful.."
For many new to Ham radio youngsters, the Baofeng is their introduction to the hobby. They are cheap enough to be considered "in the gift zone" for Xmas or birthdays.
It is in our best interests to help protect these radios rather than treating them as disposable
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Hi All,
Thought I would highlight a possible issue with the some of the VHF / UHF antennas out there as optional extras for hand held radios.
The SainSonic INF-661 36cm 144Mhz & 430Mhz optional antenna for the Baofeng series radios for example, quotes an SWR of 1.8 or less.
However the Baofeng hand held radios, such as the GT3 Mark 3 Tri Power (1/4/8 W) state in the included instruction / user manual (page 2) that and antenna with an SWR of 1.5:1 or less should be used, to prevent damage to the power amplifier final stage transistors.
This advice in the Baofeng GT3 Mark 3 Tri Power instruction / user manual therefore concurs with the general advice in the RSGB 'Advance' Manual (page 73) which states '...for transistors the maximum SWR is about 1.5:1.
I have concluded from this information that using an optional antenna such as the SainSonic INF-661 which states its SWR as less than 1.8, may cause damage to the radios that it is supposedly recommended for use with, such as the Baofeng GT3 Mark 3 Tri Power.
However having said that, I have used the SainSonic INF-661 optional antenna with the Baofeng GT3 Mark 3 Tri Power radios, so far without causing any noticeable damage to the radios power amplifier.
To be on the safe side though, it is probably best to stick to an antenna with an SWR of less than 1.5:1 - as per the Baofeng instruction / user manual (albeit in very small type admittedly!) and RSGB 'Advance' Licence Manual.
If anyone has any user experience with extended use of antennas with an SWR of 1.8 or less with hand held radios, please let me know...?