Floureon FC200 - Walkie Talkies (PMR/FRS)

Model: FC200 (twin pack)
Manufacturer: Floureon
Price: £8 a pair with free postage
Channels: 16 channel PMR 446MHz  (also available in 22 channel variant for USA market)
Power: 0.5W (low) / 1W (high) selectable
Power supply: 3 x AA batteries with recharge circuit for using rechargables
Type Approved: Nope!
Source: Ebay
Shipped from: UK - 3 days

Introduction
The price of decent two way radios have come down dramatically in the last couple of years. It sort of started with cheap amateur radios such as the Baofeng 888s being sold for £5 a piece and now we move onto license free radios which operate on PMR in europe and FRS etc in the states.
How about two fully functioning 16 channel PMR radios for £8? Sounds unbelieveable?
Enter the Floureon FC200. A real bargain bucket radio which doesn't look like a child's toy.
The story used to be when you wanted a set of bubble pack radios you went to Argos or Maplin (in UK) and paid upwards of £30 for a set of Cobras or Binatones. And if you really felt rich that week a set of Motorolas which could cost over £100 in some cases. The inevitable result was that no matter how much you spent on a set of radios you always roughly got the same features and performance. The reason for this is because all PMR radios must have a fixed antenna and must only push out a maximum of 0.5W.  The strict limitations imposed on manufacturers severely reduce the radiated power of PMR radios making any differences between radio models minor.
These days the chinese are flooding the market with very cheap PMR rigs which in some cases deliver twice the power that is allowed and this Floureon FC200 is one such radio.

Features

• 16 Channel PMR
• 121 CTCSS tones
• 0.5W and 1W power
• Dual channel watch
• USB charging port for AA batteries
• One touch scan
• 10 call tones
• Lamp

Stand out feature
Selective scan - The ability to remove channel/s from the scan list on-the-fly.
Useful if the scan keeps sticking on unwanted channels.

Construction
When you pay £4 a radio you don't expect Motorola build quality so it was a surprise to see that the FC200 is quite well made. Not in the same league as a motorola but not a million miles behind either. The plastic housing is quite tough despite being made from cheap plastics and the antenna is stronger than it looks. The radio doesn't really feel cheap in the hand. It feels solid and sturdy, perhaps comparable to a more expensive binatone radio.
The FC200 has function buttons that are made from rubber which appear to be hard wearing and offer a small amount of water resistance. 
The antenna on this radio is semi-rigid and made from a coiled wire wrapped in a soft feeling plastic - it looks familar? maybe off a motorola?
Compared to other non-removable PMR antenns this one seems quite long. There may be an advantage in range if the coil inside is the same length.
Whilst the FC200 doesn't look like a professional radio it doesn't look like a toy either.
The menu system is very easy to use and features a nice green back lit display. The function buttons are the usual soft rubber type but don't feel cheap and nasty. The FC200 features a lamp which can be operated by pressing a button on the front of the radio. This feature can be operated if the radio is switched on or off making it very easy to activate the lamp when inside a pocket or bag. To avoid accidental battery drain it's best to remove the batteries when not in use.

Good Points

• Good build quality
• Bright back lit screen
• Sound quality
• Standard AA batteries or rechargeable AA
• Full 16 PMR channels
• One touch scan feature

Bad Points

• NOT type certified
• Lamp can be operated by mistake - Draining batteries

Testing
The sound quality of the speaker when recieving signals is very clear and quite loud in terms of volume.
It certainly isn't the most refined speaker out there but at this price point is more than adequate.
When it comes to transmissions the FC200 delivers a clean, crisp signal which is slighly under amplified if anything but above average compared to more expensive sets.
No long distance testing has been carried out at the time of this post but short distances have been very successful. When used in a built up area these radios perform more or less the same as the Baofeng UV-5R ham radio which runs at around 4 Watts on high power. This is not surprising as the extra power doesn't always equate to further range. Despite having the ability to run at 1 Watt full power, the FC200 radio are still limited by their fixed antennas. Longer aftermarket antennas are not an option here so range distances will always be the same.
The real distance test will be when used from altitude  - Hill top to hill top etc.
The extra half a Watt in power (over normal PMR radios) may be more noticeable when operating line of sight on a hill.

Embracing the New
The PMR 446Mhz band used to be limited to just 8 channels but as the band became increasingly more populated it was widened to 16 channels. This change happened a while ago and not many manufacturers have embraced the change and updated their radios. I suspect there are millions of old 8 channel radios to get rid of first. Thankfully though Floureon have made this radio 16 channel which is welcome news. The ability to now find a quiet channel is great. The new upper 8 channels are silent 24/7 probably because everyone else has an 8 channel radio. This state of affairs may not last long though!.

legal to use?
Believe it or not it isn't!. The reason is because it has the ability to transmit at a higher power than is allowed on the PMR446 band. The FC200 passes every requisite in being legal to use on the license free band except for the power aspect. Who really is legal to use this radio on the set PMR channels? A licensed HAM radio operator? No. Once again because the radio is not type approved then it is illegal for anyone to use this radio on PMR. Excatly the same as if using the Baofeng 888s  A minor detail! It doesn't stop people using them on the 446 band and because the license free band is not monitored by OFCOM (in the UK) they won't have anyone knocking at their door anytime soon. It's a matter of personal choice as to whether someone breaks the law or not.
Rather contradictory when the radio you buy cannot be legally used!?

Size comparison 

Conclusion
Legalities aside, these Radios are superb value for money. These FC200's appear to be the cheapest PMR walkie talkies anywhere! The build quality far outweighs the cost and the functionality rival many of the expensive models. Recommended definitely.

CS Tactical Blade Antenna - SMAF Dual Band

Model: AR-152A
Manufacturer: Unknown
Design: Flexible blade antenna
Type: Monopole Dual Band (2m/70cm) SMA female connection
Frequencies: 136Mhz - 520MHz
Length: 47cm / 18.3in
Weight: 82g
Gain: +2.5db
Price: £6.50 shipped
Source: Ebay seller
Shipped from: UK

A New Antenna For My Baofeng!?
When it comes to aftermarket antennas for chinese radios there is no getting away from the millions of fake Nagoya's or Diamond stubbies swamping ebay and amazon. Ocassionally something new comes along which looks a little different.
This new tactical blade antenna is certainly different from what we are usually presented with. First off is it's looks. Reminiscent of a tape measure some would say. It is quiet large compared to the NA-771 for instance. Flexible to be practical is the key word here with the blade having the ability to be folded in half and even into thirds when stowing away.
Apparently this design is based on a Harris PRC-152 flat flexi antenna used on military radios but it certainly isn't like one of those at all! Instead only the shortest part of the complete set up is supplied (The stump piece and blade) and the antenna extender is also missing but nevermind, it's a new Baofeng antenna!

Why a blade?
As well as looking a little daft, these type of blade antennas have some noteable qualities. One of which is the ability to act as an omni-directional monopole antenna acheiving good coverage over two different RF bands. This attempts to create a broader band antenna compared with a single wire monopole. An improvement on regular antennas seems to be the main selling point for this type but does that hold up when the logic is applied to a cheaply made chinese offering?
Another advantage to the blade is the ability for it to be folded down to a small size for storage. When attached to a soldiers webbing additional cable extenders can be used between the radio and the blade allowing free movement for the soldier when the antenna is on their back.

Build
This antenna comes as four separate parts.

• SMA connector piece  (Base piece)
• Blade section
• Velcro strap
• Spacer/washer

In terms of build quality the blade antenna is as good as any cheap aftermarket antenna.(not good)
The plastics used in the cover of the base piece is cheap and nasty. The metals used in the base piece are also below par. That's not a surprise really. The upper blade section is basically a trapezoidal shaped piece of alloy metal covered in a plastic heat shrink material. Not really high quality.
Considering the function of this antenna is to be bent in two over and over again one wonders how long the thin sheet metal blade will last before snapping?
Along with the two piece antenna is a spacer for fixing to the radio connector. A waste of time when all said and done and a magic velcro strap. This is actually quite good. It's like micro velcro, thin and very sticky for hog tying the antenna down.

Compatibility?
Don't expect this antenna to fit on every radio. The diameter of the antenna base is much bigger than most. Only radios which have a shallow antenna housing and space along the top will be able to use this. Forget the Baofeng GT-3 for instance.The GT-3 has a plastic lip around the antenna socket preventing the antenna screwing down at all. In testing the blade did fit the Baofeng UV-82, Baofeng 888s, Baofeng UV-5R and Pofung GT-1 at a pinch. The UV-82 had to have its flashlight reshaped with a knife just so the antenna would sit down nicely. It's not an ideal situation.

Good Points

• Sensitive
• Can be folded in half

Bad Points

• Very large and unwieldy
• Only fits on selected radios
• Top heavy 

Basic Testing
As I still don't own a power/SWR meter the tests were simple and non-scientific.
The blade antenna was tested against a Nagoya NA-771 and a Retevis elite RHD-771 on a Mistuta UV-82+ radio.
The test area was flat farmland at distances of around half a mile to a mile.
RX seems better on the new blade than on the NA-771 and The RHD-771 both of which are similar in length. The blade stands roughly 2-3ins higher than the others.
When it came to TX the blade seemed better than the NA-771 but similar to the RHD-771.
The blade overall seemed an improvement over the others which was a surprise. One wonders if the slightly longer length made a difference?
The tests were carried out with the antenna fully extended of course. Transmitting with the antenna folded in half might not be the best thing to do. Surely the SWR readings will be different? maybe not for the good. It is probably not advisable to TX at half mast. Listening only!.

WARNING!
Caution must be used when unstrapping the antenna. The blade is like a wound spring when it's doubled up and has a tendency to snap outwards. The antenna should be pointed away from the user when extending.

Conclusion:
To be honest the blade antenna is a mixed bag. Performance is better than the ebay favourite Nagoya Na-771 and it can be folded in half for storage purposes. However, It's heavy, long and has a habit of toppling the radio over. Worth buying for airsoft maybe or just because you don't have one already.

Baofeng UV-3R + Baofeng BF-U3 Transceivers

Baofeng UV-3R and Baofeng BF-U3 Transceivers 

UV-3R and the BF-U3

Time for another radio review and this time a pair of miniature Baofengs.
Originally released in back in 2011 the UV-3R and BF-U3 are essentially cut down versions of the ever popular Baofeng UV-5R and 888 handy talkies.
These radios can still be found on internet auction sites relatively easily but are in no way as popular as the larger Baofeng radios.
I bought both of these radios for just under £20 from ebay UK sellers.

In this post I decided to look at these radios together rather than separately as they are very similar in looks, dimensions and technicalities.

Virtually the same stuff in both radio kits

The UV-3R and BF-U3 both ship with the usual Baofeng bits and pieces. Lanyards, chargers, crappy ear pieces etc so nothing new really.
One minor difference between these two and the normal Baofeng radios is the ear piece connection. Rather than the standard Kenwood style two pin affair here we have a 3mm Jack instead. The other port is for the charging cable meaning you don't have to use a desk top charger when the battery runs down, just plug the cable directly into the radio. I consider this an advantage.
Another advantage to these radios is the ability to charge them up via USB making them truly universal and portable. This ability negates the need to take the docking station around with you for longer usage or weekend trips etc.

Baofeng UV-3R MK2 UHF/VHF Transceiver

Throughout it's seven year history, The UV-3R has seen three separate revision changes.
The MK1 model featured a single line display, the MK2 introduced a dual line display and dual band antenna and the MK3 had a new case, charging port, battery, antenna connection and comms port roughly speaking. Despite these changes the internals pretty much stayed the same throughout. This radio is the MK2.

Specifications:
To save time and effort the pic below outlines the UV-3Rs specs.

Its basically a 2W UHF/VHF dual band transceiver capable of storing up to 99 memory channels. It operates on VHF between 136MHz - 174MHz and on UHF between 400MHz - 470MHz the usual Baofeng dual band offering.
It also has the usual flashlight, FM radio and annoying personal attack alarm that Baofeng insists on sticking on their radios. Nothing new here.

In terms of size the UV-3R is tiny and is possibly the smallest dual bander I have ever come across. It's very light weight but also feels cheap and plasticy too. Not as well constructed as the UV-5R series of radios that's for sure.
Operating the radio is easy enough if you are familiar with the other Baofeng radios out there although there are a few annoying differences.  Despite there being no keypad to speak of you can program the radio from the handset however once a channel has been stored it cannot be deleted it would seem. The only way to really add and remove channels is via a programming cable and software. Chirp is a good program to do this with.
Another annoyance is the fact that it wont allow stored channels to be available on both A + B VFOs.  Other dual banders let you put your favourite channels on both so you can switch between the two but not so on the UV-3R. Instead the lower B VFO is strictly for frequency only VHF. The upshot being you have to manually find the frequency and can't use any of the stored 'favourites' on the lower VFO. Its a little strange if you are used to normal Baofeng dual banders.
In practice the UV-3R works quite well despite the crappy antenna (more on that later) and the majority of my local repeaters etc are reachable. The audio quality of the internal speaker is very clear and very loud but being a digital volume control doesn't go low enough when operating discreetly. There seems to be a bug in the software stopping it from going low?. The all knowing internet suggests opening the radio and adding a resistor to the main board to counter this problem but to be honest I don't think it's worth faffing about with.
Other issues include channel scanning which is tediously slow and a poor front end allowing break through from nearby strong signals. Those who already own a Baofeng will know all about the crappy front end on these cheap chinese radios but the little UV-3R is possibly the worst of them all. Expect some RF splatter if you venture near any kind of transmitter.

The UV-3R does have a few good points surprisingly. Firstly the ability to store FM radio stations in memory, the ability to use the flashlight without switching the radio on (big deal!) and the transmit and recieve audio is very good (even if you can't turn it down properly!)



Baofeng BF-U3 UHF Transciever

The BF-U3 is a single band, 2W pocket radio operating on the 440Mhz 70cm band.
The lack of a display and buttons is all that really that separates this from the 3R in terms of looks

Specifications:
Once again I have included a photo of the specs sheet as I can't be bothered listing everything

The BF-U3 has a 16 channel storage capacity, channel scan, flashlight and annoying attack alarm.

Programming channels is strictly by PC and cable only due to the lack of a keypad but this is to be expected. Adding channels in software such as chirp is easy enough if you use the right programming cable for it.  Unfortunately The UV-3R cable does not work with this radio which is odd considering they are virtually the same radio. A specific BF-U3 cable is required - good luck finding one!.
It suffers from the same crappy front end and subsequent phase noise/ break through problems from strong signals as the 3R does but that's to be expected also.
What's good about the radio is the sound quality and tiny size.
Transmitting and recieving is pretty awful mainly because of its sawn off antenna. Voice audio is clear if nothing else.


The Similarities
Looking at the photo below it's hard to tell these radios apart. Both radios have a power output is 2W, the batteries are both 1500mAh and the cases and buttons are pretty much the same. Battery life on both radios is surprisingly good considering the physical size of them. Both use a small Nokia style li-po cell which can last a couple of days depending on usage. Unlike some other Baofeng batteries these ones can be bought quite easily and cheaply if a spare is required.

Which is which? The cases and belt clips are identical

The Antennas
The antenna is where these radios go in different directions.
The BF-U3 uses a specific UHF cut antenna which is very small and probably not the best but gets away with it to a certain extent. It's probably best suited to close distance work rather than long distance.
The UV-3R MK2 uses a very short dual band cut antenna which is about 7ins long.  Again it's pretty useless (especially on 2m band) but somehow gets away with it. It is certainly better than the one supplied with the single band BF-U3.
Unlike the normal Baofeng radios which use an SMA-F (female) connection these two use the opposite SMA-M (male) connection.
So forget screwing on your spare UV-5R nagoya. Further purchases are required.

UV-3R on the left and a sawn off BF-U3 antenna on the right

Overall, these radios are OK for what they are. If nothing else they are novelty pocket radios, something to show your mates but really not suitable for serious radio use.
As a spare radio to use in an emergency then I suppose they would do but for the money it's better to buy a normal UV-5R which is about the same price and offers so much more.
Comparing both of these radios I would choose the UV-3R over the BF-U3  because of the extra memory slots and the capability of transmitting on two bands.
What let's both of these radios down is their crappy antennas. Switching to a better quality rubber duck or even a proper roof antenna would improve their performance ten fold.

Baofeng BF-888s - The disposable radio pt 2

Baofeng BF-888  - The disposable radio pt 2

Baofeng 888s twin pack

Manufacturer: Fujian Nan'an Baofeng Electronic Co Ltd
Model: BF-888s
Country of origin: China
Frequency: 400MHz - 470MHz UHF FM
Power: <5W. - often rated at 1-2W
Battery: 3.7V 1500mAh Li-ion
Price: £8.80 including postage
Type Certified: No
Shipped from: UK

This post serves as a follow up to an earlier post titled " Retevis H-777 - The disposable radio" . I once again return with another bargain radio deal which defies rational belief.

Click HERE for the original H-777 post.

So now a few months on from the first post I find myself staring across a table at a pair of original Baofeng 888s radios.
How did they get there?  Well being a sucker for a good deal I just had to make a purchase.
I wasn't actually looking to buy any more ham radio / PMR gear for the time being but the price I found these at made it rude not to.
I wondered how on earth can these guys make an profit?

The usual Baofeng bits and pieces

The seller on eBay who was peddling these radios had a very limited number available so without really thinking about it I pulled the trigger and paid the full £8.80 asking price.
That's TWO radios for £8.80!
If you break that down its £2.95 for each radio plus £2.90 postage. And they are not fakes or clones either!
I honestly thought that I wouldn't get better radio deal than that of the H-777 which only cost a fiver all told but I stand corrected.

Generally speaking the 888s model sells for around £10 each on eBay and quite often are sold in multiples which in itself is good value for money.
Considering the 888s capabilities compared to main stream PMR446 gear for instance, they really do offer great value for money. Who really wants to be paying £60 or £80 for a set of Motorola PMRs or £160 on a Yeasu handset which covers the amateur radio stuff? The 888s will work on both bands quite comfortably.

Although it sounds contradictory, these radios should NOT be used on the regular PMR 446mHz frequencies as it is illegal to do so in UK and probably the EU too. This is because all PMR type approved radios must have a fixed antenna and only pump out half a watt of radiated energy. (0.5W!) These Baofengs are up to x4 more powerful and can have larger antennas fitted allowing them to transmit over a much greater distance.
Technically speaking these Baofengs are only really legal for amateur radio use however for those wanting them for PMR use and are willing to break the law then these cheapo radios offer more power, channels and range than almost all of the commercially sold PMR446 walkie talkies.

Simple stuff but it works!

So is the Baofeng 888s another disposable radio?
Yes, disposable in the sense that once the battery has died for good you might as well chuck the whole lot in the bin and that includes the radio!
What would be the point of trying to buy replacement batteries for these? The complete kits are so cheap!
Even If you did manage to find someone selling spares then it's almost certain you would pay more for a battery on its own than buy a brand new radio kit.
It's seems a little crazy but these are the times we live in!
The 888s can also be described as disposable in the sense that if any accident or mishap should befall it, no one would really care! Just go and buy another one. Very cheap to replace.
You perhaps might not say that about a £200 Kenwood which accidentally slipped out of your hand and into the local lake.

 All the same underneath 

Style over substance?
Admittedly, the Baofeng BF-888 is an old radio now in terms of technology and very little has been done to upgrade the internal hardware since 2011.
When it comes to model updates Baofeng has a habit of only changing the style of the outer casings and tends to leave the electronics alone. This seems to happen across the whole product range and the UV-5R model is a prime example of this.
Despite its design age, the performance of the 888 family of radios is still good and offers great communication over short to medium distances.


CAUTION! 
I have to say this but anyone who buys a brand new Baofeng  888s MUST first wipe the channels which come on the radio.
The channels that were stored on the radio at the factory are not suitable to use in the UK and could cause interference to others Including some emergency services. The online sellers should make customers aware of this important aspect at the point of sale but NEVER do for some reason so the responsibility is with the customer in this case. It's illegal in the UK to use these radios as they are straight from the box.
Purchasing a UV-5R programming cable from eBay and download ing the software will sort this problem out.


Verdict
These are the disposable radios for the masses.
A decent pair of UHF transceivers for the price of a pack of cigarettes!
If they happen to break, chuck them away and buy another. Repairing a broken 888 is just not worth it considering the cost of labour and availability of spare parts.
Chucking these into landfill seems crazy and irresponsible from an environmental view point but no one seems to care these days.
Its definitely worth getting a few sets whilst they are at this low price point.

Retevis H-777 - The disposable Radio

Retevis H-777 UHF FM transceiver. - The disposable £5 Radio

Manufacturer: Retevis (Baofeng)
Model: H-777
Also known as: Baofeng 888
Band: UHF FM
Frequency: 400mHz - 470mHz UHF FM
Power: <5W
Price: £5.50 including shipping!
Vendor: can't remember?
Shipped From: UK

First impressions
To be honest I wasn't really looking for a new radio but somehow this radio found me.
I think the price had something to do with that!
£5 for a brand new transceiver? I've seen all this before from dodgy eBay sellers who never deliver on the deal....Been there, done​ that so i was a little reluctant to pull the trigger this time.
I decided to take a chance and see if the radio would actually show up this time.

I almost fell off my chair when a courier knocked on the front door this afternoon carrying a small baofeng style box.
They actually sent it?! It wasn't a scam after all.
This was great news but it also raised a few questions at the same time.
How on earth can this eBay seller send me one of these for a fiver and NOT charge anything for shipping? In the UK i suspect the postage cost would be at least £3 so where the hell is this guy's profit margin?
And assuming the postage was at least £3, where the hell is he getting these from for such a small price?  Stolen? Haha I hope not!
A big thank you to the seller for such an amazing deal......

The Retevis H-777 is by no means a new design, it's actually a Baofeng BF-888s for all pretence and purposes which has been knocking about for years. They normally sell for around £10 on eBay so getting one for a fiver seemed a bit of a triumph.
The Retevis H-777 arrived in a small compact cardboard box.  Much smaller than i had envisaged. It seems that Baofeng (Retevis) are finding ways of saving packaging and possible postage costs which isn't a bad thing.

Inside its all fairly standard Baofeng guff.
The crappy ear piece, cheapo charger, pointless lanyard etc etc. Everything you need to get going (except a programming cable) but crapply made.

Cheap enough to chuck it away...
The Retevis H-777 has undoubtedly been the cheapest 'new' radio i have ever bought.
It's a sad fact that many electronic goods these days have become 'disposable'.
It started with inkjet printers some years back and has slowly spread to other products which have been mass produced in China.
Whilst this is great for the consumer in terms of a low price, it's not very good for the environment when all this stuff ends up prematurely in land fill.
So rather than maintaining the product and keep it serviceable for a few years it's a whole lot easier to chuck it out and start again.
When it comes to this Retevis radio. The first thing to go will be the battery. - and when this does eventually fail it's much cheaper to get another radio!

The Radio
Anyone familiar with the Boafeng 888 etc will recognise this radio immediately.
It's your standard 16 channel, single band (UHF) Chinese radio.
No bells, no whistles, just a simple 2W transceiver capable of out performing any of your store bought walkie talkies such as the Binatones or motorola twin packs with ease.
It may not have quite the same build quality of the little Cobra microtalks but it's much more powerful and more functional.
When you compare the price of a set of Motorola TLKR 5 to a couple of these then it's easy to see how good these are for value and performance.

On the top
As well as the antenna socket there is a rotary channel selector and on/off volume knobs. The flashlight and coloured TX/RX LEDs are also found here.

Right side
One large strip of rubber covers the ear piece/mic socket much like every other Motorola ripped off. This socket also doubles as the programming port for connecting to a PC. -standard stuff

Left side
Here we have the usual Chinese radio button layout.
PTT button, then two seperate function buttons in the immediate vicinity. Usually for opening the squelch, operating the flashlight or activating the scan feature etc.
All of these side button are well made and perform well.

Antenna
I guess the Antenna is the only real weakness of this rig. Quite simply it's a pile of crap.
Ok maybe that's a little unfair. Its alright if you are communicating with people quite nearby, like in the same building but for using over any kind of distance its pretty pathetic. Testing it side by side with a standard rubber duck really highlights its flaws. It hardly picks up anything.
The best solution however is to switch it with another antenna and chuck it in the bin.

Antenna: Not good...

Overall it's a fantastic package for a fiver.

Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅ 5 out of 5       "Bargain of the Year 2017"
How on earth is it possible to get a half decent radio for a fiver?
It's an amazing deal which beggars belief. I'm still in shock.
The Retevis H-777 rightfully gets the "bargain of the year" accolade.
It works too!

Nagoya NA-701: Counterfeit Cock-up

Aphoristics World of Radio

Observations....

A Cock-up at the Factory?

Along with many fellow radio operators i buy the cheap NA-701 knock-off dual band walkie-talkie Antennas from China. They work out at roughly £1.70 each and tend to work quite well.

 Cheapo sub-£2 Antennas

It's no secret that these 'Nagoyas' are obvious fakes and i don't have a problem with that. Some quick research will reveal that the real NA-701 looks nothing like these ones. They share no similarities whatsoever, even the lettering on the side is wrong but that's not why i buy these. I don't care what they claim to be as much as how well they work. To this end they are great value.

However, my latest so called 701 is something else.  I hadn't ordered it myself, it came with a Wouxun radio i bought on eBay. The original antenna had gone missing and this was the replacement. 

When i first saw it i burst out laughing and thought the counterfeiters were really taking the piss with this one!

Enter my latest so called NA-701....

 Woh! What's going on there!?

Here on the fake Nagoya criminal line up its easy to pick out the tall one from the rest. 

Why the hell is it longer?  

Is it cut to an irregular length and not suitable for both 70cm and 2m bands?
Would the S.W.R. reading hit the roof and i run the risk of frying the radio?
Answer Yes. probably

 Should be 22cm - whatever!

Unfortunately I don't have an S.W.R. meter to see how badly this antenna performs. So on that basis I don't think it is wise to use the antenna for transmitting.  I have tested it on recieve and found it pretty diabolical. Much worse than the other fakes.

145/435MHz ?! What!

Talk about attention to detail. What the hell were these guys thinking when they tried to copy the logo and frequency ranges? Why on earth would this Nagoya range from 145 on VHF and 435 on UHF and not 144 and 430 like on every other fake nagoya twanger? Bizarre. 

The photo above highlights another issue with this antenna.

Check out the off center connector. It's out of line with the rest of the antenna. Subsequently it's very wonky when being screwed on to a radio. It doesn't quite sit right. It's bloody awful!

Conclusion

I suspect this 'NA-701' is actually a cut down NA-771 antenna for the simple reason that it doesn't move in the same way as the other 701's. It's much stiffer and doesn't take as long to regain it's shaped if you twang it.  All other NA-701's are softer by comparison. So this antenna is a hybrid length if you will. Totally pointless when all said and done.


It's a pile of shit which is more likely to poke your eye out than pluck a decent signal out of the ether!
It's the wheelie bin for you shit-whip!

DIY Fast Scan on Baofeng Radios

Aphoristic's World Of Radio

MY LATEST DISCOVERY

Baofeng radios are widely critised for being slow at scanning. 

This is indeed true but then these cheap little pocket radios are not purpose built for scanning.
They are dual band Transceivers first and foremost, however 

Scanning frequencies is a tedious affair and scanning the programmed channels is just as bad.
I just got used to it.....

Until now...maybe I found myself a way to at least speed up my preset channel scanning..??
(This doesn't work for fast scanning the frequency)

DIY Fast Channel Scan

By simple holding down either the up or down arrow buttons for more than a second causes the channels to scan through at a much faster rate!

Any confirmed hits flash the RX light - the only trouble is it doesn't stop, it just carries on. 

The trick is to be quick on the release of the button, if you are lucky you might just land a couple of channels either way of the hit.

It's not an exact science obviously but it can be really handy if you have loads of channels to monitor.

Practice makes perfect!

Which Baofengs?

This feature works on the GT-3 and the UV-82.
Sadly, it doesn't work on my UV-5RE - even though it has quite recent firmware inside (Bf297?)

It may very well work on other models - try it.

Aphoristic's World of Radio #1

Aphoristic's World of Radio

Update #1

Not much has happened in my radio-sphere since Christmas.
I have made a few new friends on the amateur radio bands and tested a few radios here and there.

Buying some new radios over the past month or so has not been as smooth a transition as I would have liked with more than one of my recent eBay purchases turning out to be bogus.
No matter, as eBay will happily refund the items but that doesn't stop me getting annoyed with the dodgy sellers who try and pull a fast one on you.
I'm already five radios down to unscrupulous far eastern sellers so I hoping to be a little more fortuitous in February.

The WLN KD-C1 leak

I don't know who let the cat out of the bag about the superb WLN slim radio? These little power houses were the best kept secret of last year. Someone ultimately stabbed us all in the back and caused the sellers to put their prices up.
It's outrageous. These little radios were available for as little as £8-10 before Christmas 2016 and now have sky rocketed to anywhere in the region of £15-£20 for a single handset and £30 for a pair. - not only that, these are from Hong Kong or mainland China and not from a domestic seller who would normally put a few quid on the price?!
Scandalous.
I was hoping to buy another WLN radio but they can forget it now!


Signals of interest

Scanning around the local frequencies can be interesting at times.
One such example was found on the UHF band - 446.500mHz to be exact.
It appeared to be coming from the nearby A.J. Bell Rugby stadium in Barton, Manchester.
After listening for a while it became obvious it was a television production crew.
Salford Red Devil's and Sale Sharks rugby teams share this stadium and it was wasn't obvious to me which team was playing or what event it was? A cup final or something? I'm not a rugby fan 😨

TV Production Crew doing the Rugby

In other news Tommy the pirate has appeared again on the GB3PZ repeater in Manchester following a long absence. 

*Pirate = An unlicensed radio operator. Illegal 

Ringway Manchester actually caught Tommy in the act and made a video on YouTube 

I heard him myself the other day (but didn't record it). It was definitely the same 'Steve' AKA Tommy. He was only on air for a short time with words like "1-2", "1-2", "testing?" etc etc. No call sign, no nothing. Clear piracy! lol

More news in the next update