Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Yet another fake Diamond antenna

I ordered a Nagoya NA-771 antenna on eBay. I was impressed with the shorter NA-701 and wanted something with a bit more gain that was not poke-you-in-the-eye long. The NA-771 had mostly good reviews on eHam.

I ordered from an eBay seller that shipped from the UK. The price was £4.99. When it arrived, I found the packaging and the antenna itself claimed to be a Diamond RH-771 not a Nagoya NA-771.


But this is clearly another fake Diamond. The lettering is white whereas the real Diamond product is lettered in blue. The lettering also contains nonsense. It claims "144/430 MHz & VDE BAND HECEMNG COVERAGE JAPAN." Eh??? Perhaps it was supposed to say wide band general coverage? And the antenna is only 36cm long whereas the real RH-771 (and the NA-771) are supposed to be 39-40cm long.

None of this would matter if the antenna was any use, but in fact its resonant frequency is just below 120MHz. At 145MHz the SWR is more than 4 to 1 and it radiates a poorer signal than the shorter Nagoya NA-701 antenna.

Anyone want an air band antenna? Yours for a fiver. And can anyone recommend a seller that has the genuine Nagoya NA-771?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

409shop.com?

The one with no shadow said...

I bet that there could be a way to retune it to 145, but it would still behave like the 701.

Sucks to wait long for a fake.
I would have applied for an "Item not as described" request for refund immediately.

It is time for them to learn that either you do business or you end up in ebay's trashcan.

M6EPW - Liz said...

Hi Julian.

I got Colin (2E0XSD)one from seller abcgooddeal. Definitely the genuine item and it works as it should.

Item number: 260769381188

Hope that helps.

Liz (M6EPW)

Unknown said...

That is exactly where I got mine from, Liz! Just my luck. :(

M6EPW - Liz said...

Hi Julian. Wrotten luck. Try e-mailing them stating item sent is not as ordered. I had a similar problem with a headset I bought for Colin from another seller and after sending photos etc to show they sent the wrong ones they replaced the item FOC. Didn't even bother to ask for the other item to be returned as it was not worth the expense or hassle and they valued their feedback and customer service.
All else fails you can log an "item not as described" dispute via E-bay/Paypal to try to get your money back.
Hope you get sorted. Liz.

Unknown said...

I got a full refund this morning. :)

Rupert Goodwins said...

Think that was supposed to be wide band receiving coverage... but that's probably as much fantasy as the rest!

R, G6HVY

Egsise said...

I bought my NA-771 from 409shop.com

Jani OH9FZU