What's the best antenna to put on a dual band BAOFENG UV-5R amateur radio?

Question

I ordered the radio and am looking for the best antenna to purchase for it. The connection is different than a lot of the other HT radios. I've heard the Nagoya NA-701 antenna is ok. Would it be better and would it fit? Also, has anyone tried the software to program the radio with Vista? Any luck?

Answer 1

MFJ makes a nice antenna for it.



Alternatively you can buy a SMA female to female adaptor and then have many more antenna choices for it.

Answer 2

Baofeng Uv-5r Antenna

Answer 3

There's some antenna reviews at http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8601 and only the first guy doesn't like it. You could always get adventurous and build your own. http://www.iw5edi.com/ham-radio/?an-easy-dual-band-vhf-uhf-antenna,162 You'll need an SMA-F connector.



User groups tend to say forget the supplied software and use CHIRP instead http://trac.chirp.danplanet.com/chirp_daily/ as for using Vista, I wouldn't. If the computer is dedicated to programming the radio find a copy of XP or Windows 2000 and install that instead, or as well, you could always have a dual boot arrangement so you could keep Vista if you need to.