I am glad I only purchased 1 of these, was gonna use one on each a UHF and a VHF radio, had the same results with the SWR. I only use it on my UHF rig for GMRS and get a 1.5:1 on UHF...
The 'Deceit' doesn't surprise me. As one of the other comments has said it's probably good as a load on UHF. I can't believe that it's radiation pattern is any good as compared to your whip or even a UHF spike. Thanks for the report. You most likely saved someone some grief.
Just to put my two cents worth in, I purchased a Laird TRA4503 450-470MHz for $5. I was told by the seller that all I had to do was bend the small disc ceramic cap over to a 45* angle and it would work in the 70cm band. I thought he was BS'ing me but guess what! It brought it right into the band where the repeater inputs are with a SWR of around 1.3:1. I can hit a couple of repeaters at 10-15 miles away. Great video...thanks. 73 de KA5FZU
I too have been wondering how well these "inexpensive" little antennas actually work. I have ready many Amazon reviews, that stated they perform okay on UHF, terrible on VHF, but Great for GMRS frequencies! I guess if you want one that really works, you gotta pay extra for the good ones. But they cost $100.00 +/- ! Thanks for the review.
Thanks for posting this review. I was literally looking at this same antenna for my Xterra for the exact same reason. My gut told me what your test has now confirmed. LOL. Glad I stuck with my 5/8 wave antenna and a rain cap for car washes. Have you looked into the COMPACtenna? Same concept as the Bingfu, but a bit bigger. Unfortunately it's like 7x the price.
As a new Tesla owner and a fairly new Ham, I’d like to see or know what hurdles you had to overcome for installing a VHF/UHF rig in your Tesla. I’m only licensed as a Technician for now, but want to get a mobile rig in my Model 3.
The biggest headache is tearing apart the center console and drilling through plastic to get a clean look. The rear trunk area on the upper part of the trunk lid is the best antenna location and provides easy entry via rubber grommet to the trunk where you can route the coax under the rear seat and under the back floor mat. Look at a K400 NMO mount and test between no ground, the included ground plate. I’ve had minimal noise with the K400 ungrounded.
Can you test this with a better ground plane? I doubt it makes that much of a difference, but I imagine it was intended for center of trunk lid, not hanging out on a bracket.
The trunk is the only real ground plane available on my vehicle. It’s the primary steel panel on the car. While adjusting where on the car the antenna sits will adjust the radiation pattern I doubt it would substantially change the SWR. It would be the same size ground plane regardless of where it’s mounted.
Interesting. Normally there is a dip on VHF where the VSWR is usable. Unscrewing the plastic cap (Difficult, RTV on thread) reveals a tiny coil you can open or close to shift the VHF dip up and down in frequency. It's usable on a spot frequency but I wouldn't put more than about 10 watts into it. 73 de ZL1TAJ.
That is not my experience, now I need to dig out the analyzer. I do disaster communications and needed a catch all vhf uhf antenna for like car to car.
"Just because it resonates doesn't mean it radiates!" Aperture matters.
Always glad to see your videos pop up in my feed. Great review
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for your honest review! 73
No problem, Brad! 73
I am glad I only purchased 1 of these, was gonna use one on each a UHF and a VHF radio, had the same results with the SWR. I only use it on my UHF rig for GMRS and get a 1.5:1 on UHF...
You nailed it kg6mn
The 'Deceit' doesn't surprise me. As one of the other comments has said it's probably good as a load on UHF. I can't believe that it's radiation pattern is any good as compared to your whip or even a UHF spike. Thanks for the report. You most likely saved someone some grief.
Just to put my two cents worth in, I purchased a Laird TRA4503 450-470MHz for $5. I was told by the seller that all I had to do was bend the small disc ceramic cap over to a 45* angle and it would work in the 70cm band. I thought he was BS'ing me but guess what! It brought it right into the band where the repeater inputs are with a SWR of around 1.3:1. I can hit a couple of repeaters at 10-15 miles away. Great video...thanks. 73 de KA5FZU
I was waiting for this review, lol!
It’s arrived!
I too have been wondering how well these "inexpensive" little antennas actually work. I have ready many Amazon reviews, that stated they perform okay on UHF, terrible on VHF, but Great for GMRS frequencies!
I guess if you want one that really works, you gotta pay extra for the good ones. But they cost $100.00 +/- !
Thanks for the review.
Glad to help
Thanks for the review, I was hoping something like that would be a good parking garage antenna for trips into SF. Guess not.
Might be better off with a fold over, or something like a Comet SBB-1.
Makes a good scanner antenna
Thanks for posting this review. I was literally looking at this same antenna for my Xterra for the exact same reason. My gut told me what your test has now confirmed. LOL. Glad I stuck with my 5/8 wave antenna and a rain cap for car washes.
Have you looked into the COMPACtenna? Same concept as the Bingfu, but a bit bigger. Unfortunately it's like 7x the price.
I bought it it looks great BUT swr are high and no squelch I’m switching
Nice...........
Thanks for watching, Ali!
What is the db gain on each band?
As a new Tesla owner and a fairly new Ham, I’d like to see or know what hurdles you had to overcome for installing a VHF/UHF rig in your Tesla. I’m only licensed as a Technician for now, but want to get a mobile rig in my Model 3.
The biggest headache is tearing apart the center console and drilling through plastic to get a clean look. The rear trunk area on the upper part of the trunk lid is the best antenna location and provides easy entry via rubber grommet to the trunk where you can route the coax under the rear seat and under the back floor mat. Look at a K400 NMO mount and test between no ground, the included ground plate. I’ve had minimal noise with the K400 ungrounded.
Can you test this with a better ground plane? I doubt it makes that much of a difference, but I imagine it was intended for center of trunk lid, not hanging out on a bracket.
The trunk is the only real ground plane available on my vehicle. It’s the primary steel panel on the car. While adjusting where on the car the antenna sits will adjust the radiation pattern I doubt it would substantially change the SWR. It would be the same size ground plane regardless of where it’s mounted.
I tested mine on a NMO mount mounted on the roof of a 99 Toyota 4Runner and got about the same results. I only use that antenna for my UHF rig...
These stubby antennas actually perform better, mounted on a corner of the hood, trunk, or cab of a vehicle!
Interesting. Normally there is a dip on VHF where the VSWR is usable. Unscrewing the plastic cap (Difficult, RTV on thread) reveals a tiny coil you can open or close to shift the VHF dip up and down in frequency. It's usable on a spot frequency but I wouldn't put more than about 10 watts into it. 73 de ZL1TAJ.
I’ve heard from others that running a full 50 watts burns them up quickly.
@@K0LWC Yes, the coil is tiny. on VHF anything above 10W is running the Gauntlet.
That is not my experience, now I need to dig out the analyzer. I do disaster communications and needed a catch all vhf uhf antenna for like car to car.
Is it specifically a Bingfu?
Just saying you can have perfect swr across the 2 band.... just use a dummy load. Performance isn't only low swr.
It’s now $26 (2/5/2023)
I have to say that the fact it isn't a good antenna doesn't surprise me, Matt. It does surprise me that it isn't even a good dummy load!
Yeah. A bit of a let down! 😂
Those antennas on VHF are garbage. 😂 I tested the car and HT stubby ones.
I bought this and what a disappointment. Better to sit in my car with the antenna on my handheld.
Ha, what a joke video. Analyzing an antenna in your garage and standing next to it is proof you have no clue. Let’s see how long post stays around.
This year, next year, and the year after that.
can you check the SWR on FRS/GMRS for me please? 462- 467