Retevis Ailunce HD1 HD2 Walkie Talkie Antenna, 14.2IN SMA Female Antenna,Whip Antenna,136-174/400-480MHz Dual Band Antenna,for Retevis RT29 RT86 RA79,Compatible with Baofeng UV-5R BTECH Kenwood(1Pack)

Hey, the main problem with Ham radio is that nobody’s on the airwaves anymore! But this radio is fun to work with. A real joy.

The trouble with most 2-meter/440 VHF/UHF antennas over 7-8 inches long is they are too flexible along the entire length of the antenna, and in the field, you are likely to slap yourself or someone else in the eye with the "whip" end of the antenna. This one is different, it has a fairly thick and stiff lower section, and a flexible upper section and just feels more secure on your handheld transceiver. Here are the bonus points: it breaks down into two parts at the center bulge for storage. This prevents the antenna from getting deformed into a crooked or curved mess over time. If you store radios in a faraday bag so they are still useful after a solar storm event, the antenna breaks down into a manageable length to also go in the bag with the radio. This is now my favorite HT antenna for VHF/UHF radios for storm spotting and CERT public service use.

I actually picked this antenna up just to spend the $15 credit I had on a gift card. Figured why not. What I didn't expect was it to perform. Inside my home and surrounded by electronics I was able to hit a 200 ft repeater with my HT on low power, 0.5 watts, 8 miles away. The only other antenna I have that can do that is my Diamond SRH77CA. So that's that.

Like most new HAM operators I'm buying way too many antennas trying to get maximum range out of several HT radios. Till now my go to antenna was Retevis HD771 15" wip and it performed real well for range and clarity. I purchased two of the Ailunce Two Way Radio Antenna Dual Band SMA-F VHF UHF 136-174/400-480MHz antennas because of the positive reviews and because I'm always looking for something better. This antenna is definitely that. The swr readings were below 1.28 VHF and 1.06 UHF. This was .5 less swr reading across the board on RT29, RT6 and UV5R radios. The reception is much better and I'm able to hit repeaters 22 miles away (Southern California where everything is inside a valley Lol.) I could not do with the 771. On top of the performance the antenna is good 1/2 " shorter and about 1/2 the weight of the others. I ended up ordering four more to switch out on my other radios. Build seams on parr with other antennas in the HT class, time will tell but for now I'm very pleased with this purchase.Update: This was a short lived happy moment. The additional four antennas arrived and I was anxious to outfit my other HT radios. Once installed I no longer could hit same repeaters on 70cm. Upon troubleshooting found out the antennas were reading 1.58, 1.89, 2.21 and 2.42 swr! Farr off the 1.02 and 1.05 I get on the original two antennas I purchased. So with two out of six that are great the quality control is just not there. Left it at two stars only because the two work exceptional. The new four are going back for refund. It's a shame they were not even close in performance. At this point I would nor recommend buying these for obvious reason.

I'm not a fan of big antenna on a walkie talkie but with this antenna flexibility it makes it worth the buy.

It's too early to rate the performance of the antenna, as I just received the DMR/FM transceiver that it is designed to work with. The antenna arrived very quickly - a few days before the expected delivery date. My intent is to use the antenna to obtain better reception and coverage when I'm out in the field participating in public service events.

Definitely well worth the money. I still use my stock antenna when practical but when I need to reach out there I can screw this one on and it will definitely hit those repeaters I can’t hit with my rubber ducky.Tip: I keep some small rubber bands on the lower half when I want to unscrew the antenna and store it I’ll take the top half and join it with the lower for more compact storage in a bag, drawer, console, etc.

It is more 400-480 Mz , than 100 Mz antenna.