UT-72

Used this to connect to a Quansheng handheld. I used it to reach a local repeater with the antenna sitting on a table on my porch and was able to hit a 2 m repeater about 6 miles away. I had tried a number of other whip antennas on the unit and the report back was the signal was strong however the mic volume was still low. It is the radio and not the antenna. Bonus I was able to pick up a linked repeater on 70 cm that was 50 miles away. This will end up on my car however it performed well even without a ground plane. The adapter is a bonus as eventually I will use this with a regular mobile unit. The price point is excellent and proves you can get in ham radio without breaking the bank.

This is a review of the NMO-72 antenna--Amazon is lumping together reviews for various models. This is a great antenna. It's short enough not to be obtrusive when mounted on a car, yet it performs very well. It is, as advertised, very wideband in both its VHF and UHF ranges. In VHF, SWR and LogMag sweeps show it resonant in the 2 m ham band and all the way up to about 160 MHz, and at UHF, it's resonant in the 70 cm amateur band all the way up to the GMRS frequencies. Very versatile.

This is a key component of my poor man's mobile. I'm posting this same review for all the other accessories of the build, but not for the radio which I love and reviewed separately. Here's the build: BaoFeng BF-F8HP Nagoya UT-308UV 22-Inch Magnetic Mount VHF/UHF Antenna SMA-Female for AnyTone, BaoFeng, and Yaesu BaoFeng BL-5 12V Battery Eliminator for BF-F8HP and UV-5R Radios Baofeng BF-S112 Two Way Radio Speaker Regarding each part. Love the radio. The antenna is good and comes nicely packaged with all the needed parts. What is really nice is that the antenna, base, and feed lines are all separate pieces. Mix and match however you want. The base magnet is strong. The antenna and feed lines work well. The long feed line is about 10' which is plenty for me. The 12V adapter is also OK. It's a tight fit, but does fit. It's also pretty cheap - so modify it as you will to change connectors, move the input line, etc. Personally, I think feeding the wire gets in the way because it enters at the bottom of the radio. Such is life. Maybe I'll modify this thing to use a dedicated circuit instead of a cigarette lighter socket - and put on a longer power cord while I'm at it. The speaker thing. -hate- This thing almost kills the build. The first time I contacted someone they reported weak audio. I pulled the hand set and spoke directly into the radio and my audio improved. Also, the wire coil is too short and stiff. Wayyyy to short and stiff. You end up pulling the radio around by the wire. You might as well just hold the radio. But.... It turns out that wrapping the power cord of the 12V adapter and the antenna feed line is an OK solution. Anyways, this was a fun experiment but in the end it seems better to just use a handheld as a handheld and to get a real mobile for the car. Regardless, five stars for being a nice antenna kit

I ran the antenna through my antenna analyzer and found that the best SWR on the 2 meter band is just after the 2 meter band and it seems to be a pretty small area. The SWR is much better on the 70 cm band so I think I would call this more of a 70 cm antenna. With that being said, I do tend to get really good reception on the 70 cm band and that is mostly where I tend to transmit but I felt like the iffy 2 meter coverage warranted taking off one star. Overall, it is a good antenna.

I've used many different magnetic Mount antennas over the years for many different services, and this antenna has been the most impressive of all in terms of tunability and stability. For the 2 m and 70 cm ham bands, even at high power, the SWR is virtually flat. For UHF GMRS my SWR is around 1.3-1.5:1. Impressive! Good quality RG-58U coax, far better quality than the type of coax supplied by other manufacturers, keep signal loss to a minimum. The magnetic base is coated with a rubberized material and is extraordinarily strong, make certain that the surface you intend on placing it on is not made from aluminum. I've also used this antenna place on a large sheet pan for fixed base use, and the SWR is also very usable like that. Because I am extremely fussy about putting things on the surface of my paint, I would recommend that prior to placing the antenna, wipe off the surface of the paint with a wet clean cloth several times and then dry, and similarly do the same to the bottom of the antenna before placing it. If you remove the antenna, I place it in a clean plastic bag so there's no chance that the bottom of the antenna will pick up on magnetic particulate which could be transferred to the pain finish. This is a quality product that will deliver to the discriminating radio operator, I recommend it with confidence.

This antenna works good in both bands, plenty of coax, and has a good magnet. The rubber cover that goes over the magnet is good but it catches and holds water which will eventually rust the mount. I used an adhesive to seal the cover and make it entirely water proof. The SMA adapter fit Baofeng perfectly.

Works well. I checked SWR in VHF/UHF ham range and it was 1.03. GMRS was less than 1.1. It's no gain on VHF but does work just as well as my last 1/4 wave dual band.

The antenna had different thread spacing and would not attach to my NMO antenna mount. Disappointing.

Works well - allows me to transmit and receive on VHF, 220 and UHF up to 100KM or more.

The magnet has a soft cover so it should not bother your car roof paint - lift it straight up to remove. Transmit and receive are great - you don't need the little jumper wire they include. A good antenna for the price.

If you looking for a great antenna for your car, loook no further. Outstandingly good reception, especially for airband and will easily withstand legal road speeds without moving. Tested up to 120mph on private road with no issues. Connected to my TD-H3 handheld radio it performs brilliantly.

Easy to set up and SWR was insanely low at 147MHz (1.07 if I remember correctly). Tested the SWR while it was mounted on my car, so don't expect these results without a ground plane. Transmit and receive: Can now hit repeaters that I couldn't before with handheld antenna in the car.