New Signal Stick for the FT5D

Just a day or two ago, I received a new antenna in the mail for my Yaesu FT5D: the ultra-flexible Signal Stick from Signal Stuff.

I try to check in nightly on my local repeater net. Normally, I have to leave the house just to reliably hit the repeater. The stock rubber duck that came with the radio has been more than sufficient for receiving, but the transmit side left a bit to be desired — which is what led me to purchase the Signal Stick.

I chose the version with a BNC Male connector. Naturally, this doesn’t fit directly on the FT5D, so I also picked up two adapters:

• SMA Male to BNC Female (for the FT5D)
• SMA Female to BNC Female (for my BTECH UV-5X3)

So far, I’m more than pleased with the Signal Stick’s performance. It may just be my imagination, but it feels like I’m getting less noise on receive. On transmit, though, there’s no doubt — this antenna is a big improvement over the stock rubber duck.

As I mentioned, I used to have to step outside and hunt for the “right spot” just to get into a repeater about 6.5 miles away. Now, with the Signal Stick, I can be fully lazy. Without telling anyone I’d changed anything in my setup, I received multiple unsolicited reports saying I was “coming in crystal clear” — something that apparently wasn’t the norm before.

In Summary

I don’t know of anything else you can buy for $25 that will improve your radio experience quite like this antenna.

73,
KZ4LC