Product Review
Nagoya NA-701G
GMRS
Antenna
SMA Female
John K3NXU
December 2021
What's is a Nagoya NA-701G
The Nagoya NA-701G is a single band
1/4 wave antenna designed specifically for GMRS transceivers.
The wrong antenna can decrease the performance of the
transceiver, and possibly cause damage.
A common misconception is that a VHF/UHF antenna is capable of
covering the entire spectrum when in fact they are tuned
to cover specific frequencies within that range.
To confirm the characteristics of the NA-701G, I used an analyzer to determine the
resonant frequency. The antenna 'sweet spot'
was at 462MHz and showed a respectable SWR of approximately 1.2:1
This is exactly what you need at GMRS frequencies.
Nagoya 701G
click to enlarge |
The analyzer also only one notch at 462MHz as this antenna is specific to GMRS.
Using a standard dual band ham antenna on
GMRS could cause undesirable results. The graph below
shows the resonant frequencies of a typical ham antenna.
Note that the ham antenna is tuned perfectly to 146 and
447MHz, however the SWR at 460MHz is above 8:1 and nearing infinity.
This could result in poor performance and possible radio
damage.
Typical dual band
ham antenna.
click to enlarge |
Over-the-Air Testing
I found the antenna that came with one of my GMRS handhelds was
a dual band. Changing to a GMRS specific antenna did
make a difference. This antenna is a bit shorter, very
flexible and performs well.
Very Important
When purchasing an antenna, quality and precision is
critical. Beware of counterfeit or 'fake' antennas on the
market. They look authentic but the appearance doesn't
make the antenna perform. For that reason Nagoya has
published a page on how to determine whether the antenna
is authentic. Here is a link to that article.
How to identify a Fake Nagoya antenna
Conclusion
This Nagoya NA-701G antenna is 5.75" long, comes with an SMA-female connector
and
a small rubber O-ring grommet to assure a snug fit if
necessary.
The over the air performance of this antenna was
excellent. I give this one
a two thumbs up on GMRS.
Note: If you are looking for an antenna with additional
gain, Nagoya has also introduced the
NA-771G gain
antenna for GMRS.
Available from
BTech
and Amazon
Note: This antenna was received for the purpose of a
fair and unbiased review. All findings are factual based
on the equipment I received. Any issues (if found) have
been reported both here and back to the seller or
manufacturer.
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