UHF HT Antennas

Overview

I recently got my hands on a pair of Kenwood NX-5300-K6s and, out of curiosity, decided to sweep the antennas. Typically, commercial handheld antennas are tuned for the upper end of the UHF band (around 490MHz, the TX range for T-band), so I was expecting to see that. To my surprise, they showed poor performance across the entire 400-500MHz range! The dip started around 500MHz, and that sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole…

Test Equipment

All tests were performed using my GenComm CG747A, calibrated between 400-500MHz. The antenna was connected via an SMA-to-N adapter and positioned vertically. During testing, I kept about two feet of distance between myself (and any metal objects) and the analyzer/antenna to minimize interference. While this setup may not provide perfect accuracy, it’s suitable for my purposes here. The same four markers were used consistently across all tests. (I also tried some sweeps with my hand near the antennas, but since those results only varied slightly, I’ve left them out here.)

Image 1: Kenwood NX UHF Antenna KRA-27

Image 2: Motorola APX All-Band Antenna AN000342A01 (only looking at UHF)

Image 3: Motorola APX UHF Antenna PMAE4024 (eBay china knockoff)

Summary

If you're after a budget-friendly but solid UHF monoband HT antenna, these eBay options are a great choice. If the link ever stops working, just search eBay for "Motorola APX UHF Antenna." Most of these antennas are made in the same factory in China, so similar listings are essentially the same product. (Update 7/9/23: I bought five antennas from a different seller, and they look and perform the same on the sweep.)