Nagoya NA-666 Dual Band Antenna
The Bogus Packet isnt fooling anyone!
Manufacturer: Nagoya
Model: NA-666
Application: Handheld Radio Antenna VHF/UHF
Frequency Range: VHF 130-174MHz UHF 400-500MHz
Fitting: female SMA
Length: 210mm
S.W.R.: < 1.5
Gain: 2.15dB
Vendor: Seller
Shipped From: China
Looks like the real deal? Nar!
First Impressions
On the look out for a new short length antenna I saw this appear in the listings. I hadn't heard of the 666 so I thought it was worth a try.
It comes as no surprise that this antenna is a fake. Not only was it incredibly cheap, it's also comes in a fake packet and the base cone has a fake Nagoya sticker on it.. lol
Can you see the Sellotape that holds the label in place?
This style of Antenna is very flexible indeed and closely resembles the Sainsonic INF which comes with the Baofeng GT3 series.
Unlike the knock-off NA-771's, this antenna will return to its original shape after being bent over. And almost immediately I might add. A minor point maybe but important to me.
Your flexible friend..
Length-wise it's a little longer than the Nagoya NA-701 and the standard Baofeng A-85 which comes with the radio.
This extra length puts this antenna on the fringes of being too long for hanging from your belt loop. Thankfully the flexibility stops the antenna from poking you in the side.
Strapped to my Baofeng UV-5RE it doesn't look that big?
Testing
Without dedicated Power/signal/SWR Meters to hand it is difficult to measure the performance of this antenna. The Baofeng radio has a built in signal strength meter but it's not the most accurate. Instead as always I will compare this Antenna against my best performing antenna - The brilliant Baofeng A-85. Stock antennas are normally crap but this twig is optimised nicely for both 2m and 70cm bands.
Starting with VHF or the 2m amateur band and the 666 manages to lock on to the same signals as the A-85 although the strength according to the radio was 1 bar lower. More background hiss was noticed too.
Still no match for the celebrated A-85 standard duck
Performance on the UHF or 70cm amateur band is very similar to the A-85. Local repeaters are easy to hit. Signal strength virtually identical.
Definitely better tuned to UHF than VHF
Performance with commercial radio stations through the radio was good and the same as the A-85.
Overall then not too bad.
Dare I say better than the Nagoya NA-771 which everyone raves about. The extra length on some of these antennas makes no real difference in the real world.
Rating ✅✅✅✅ 4 out of 5
As a spare or replacement Antenna this 666 does the job quite well. Both transmit and receive signals are good. Still not as well rounded as the standard twig but worth the low low price. Handy to have one in the drawer for emergencies.
I'm wondering if the real NA-666 is any better? I'm not paying to find out!