Nagoya NA-771, Diamond SRH-771 | Identifying The Fakes

I have a couple of weeks off work so I might as well update as much as possible. I thought I'd discuss the Nagoya NA-771 and Diamond SRH-771 antennas, along with the fakes that are knocking about.

Nagoya NA-771 - Legitimate Versions.

This aerial is pretty good. The real ones range from around £5-£10 depending on the seller on eBay. I'm assuming the £1.99 ones with Nagoya written on are the cheap counterfeits. I'm unsure of the quality and specs of these antennas including SWR but I've been using a Nagoya model that I paid £7 for for some time now and it has not affected my Baofeng UV-5R and receives and carries transmission slightly better than the stock rubber duck antenna. These are quite solid and have a glossy black plastic outer.

Genuine Nagoya antennas are manufacured by REUEX Industrial Co., Ltd. in Taiwan. REUEX packages their antennas in a yellow slip case (similar to that used by genuine Diamond antennas) with a rectangular holographic trademark label (or labels) affixed. Product information lettering on the slip case shows the frequency etc white on red (e.g., "144/430 dual band hand held antenna). Gain, power capability, and dimensions are in black directly on the clear side of the slip case.

Diamond RH-771 - Fake Version.

These fake antennas come branded as RH-771. Genuine Diamond antennas use SRH-771 for an SMA connector so if you're buying one for the Chinese radios then any antenna with an SMA connector that has RH-771 on is a counterfeit Diamond product. A Diamond antenna with a BNC connector is the RH-771. The higher price of these and authorised sellers is an idication of their authenticity. I bought a couple of the SMA versions to try them out and they cost me about £1.20 each. The transmit and receive on these antennas is noticeably lesser than the Nagoya version and I dread to think what the SWR is on them.

The counterfeit antenna was packaged in a flimsy orange slip case of material about 1/2 the thickness of the genuine article and had a poor quality round holographic label stuck on it. Lettering on the slip case is blue with white outline. The antenna description is on a white background with white Chinese characters and English saying "Flexiable Spring Whip" (notice the spelling). Additional particulars are white characters on the clear portion of the slip case.

Diamond RH-771 / SRH-771 - Legitimate Versions.

As I said above, the higher price (£19 upwards) and authorised sellers is an indication of the authenticity of Diamond antennas. The signal and transmission quality of the genuine antennas is noticeably better than the counterfeit versions. The real RH-771 antenna with a BNC connector is pictured to the right.

The SMA version pictured below is the genuine Diamond antenna and as you can see it is completely different from the counterfeit SMA version. It has a longer spring section and is printed in orange lettering:

Packaging:

I've mentioned packaging briefly above and in my experience most of the genuine antennas come in a yellow sleeve and the counterfeits usually come in orange however this may not be the case 100% of the time. The various forms of packaging that these antennas come in is a give away of their authenticity. Some feature crudely made labels, spelling mistakes and incorrect specifications given for the antenna inside.

Another big giveaway is the Diamond Antenna logo. If you look below you'll see on the left the genuine logo and on the right the fake one. Can you see the difference? It is quite subtle but the genuine logo has a little diamond inside the 'E' on the word antenna. The counterfeit logo has a triangle instead:

  

I hope this helps you when trying to identify genuine antennas. I have bought some off of eBay advertised as Nagoya but when they arrive they have been Diamond counterfeits. With so many floating around it could be the case that the seller may not even know themselves that they are selling fake antennas. I contacted the seller and got a full refund back off them.

The info above is based purely on my own experiences with these antennas. Some info and detail has been sourced from other peoples reviews on the internet. As always, it is up to you to form your own conclusion on these antennas. Let me know your feedback by dropping me a comment or contacting me on the contact page.

As always, thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.
Manchester, UK.