COUNTERFEIT /\/\otorola Antennas (How to Spot Them)

Hightower · Post by **Hightower** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 10:32 pm

coun‧ter‧feit
–adjective 1. made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; not genuine; forged: counterfeit dollar bills.
2. pretended; unreal: counterfeit grief.
–noun 3. an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; forgery.

Here's how to spot counterfeit Motorola being sold as original OEM antennas.

The counterfeit antenna was given to me by a friend to replace one that was distroyed. This counterfeit antenna was purchased off the most populur auction site on the net. When this antenna was put on the radio, the reception was terrible compaired to a stubby UHF Motorola antenna. The stubby received a repeater full quieting, while the counterfeit "wide band" antenna could bairly hear the same repeater. Two identical antennas were purchased at the same time, and both received terrible. So I think we can rule out a defective antenna.....

Here is the actual auction photo of the counterfeit antenna I received. Notice the antenna clearly is turned so you do not see the fake Motorola Logo.

More fake antennas sold by this guy...

I tried this UHF counterfeit antenna in the VHF band (155.xxx & 162.450), the UHF band (444.450 & 460.025 & 470.3125), 800Mhz band (868.3500). In EVERY band, the reception was terrible compaired to a real OEM stubby antenna for the specific band. In the 800Mhz band, I can receive the TRS without any antenna (I live so close to it), when the counterfeit antenna was put on the radio, I lost the tower completely

I have no clue where this supposed UHF antenna is resonant.

Would you risk your $2000 XTS5K to this antenna?? I think not.

Just a heads up fellow labbers - buyer beware

MattSR · Post by **MattSR** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:06 pm

Thanks!

Sticky this

WB6NVH · Post by **WB6NVH** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:22 pm

I believe those are produced in China (naturally.) Since it doesn't work anyway, you might slice it open with a utility knife to see what's inside.

There's even a small factory in China making fake IC's marked with part numbers of rare and hard to find chips, such as obsolete CPU's. They are empty inside!

kb0nly · Post by **kb0nly** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:49 pm

Those pictures are from the auctions of KAWAMALL, he also has a website at http://www.kawamall.com and sells the same products there.

Those HT1000 antenna's may be bad, but other stuff i have bought from him was great, if not better than original. I bought some VHF antennas from him for some MT1000's and HT600's, they all worked better than the antennas they replaced.

He also sells a nice complete GP300 refurb kit for $24 that i know many have bought. Not all of his stuff is bad. And if i were you i would return those antennas or at least complain to him, you might find he is willing to work with you on a refund or replacement.

jwb8734 · Post by **jwb8734** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:44 am

Not all of his stuff is bad.

I will agree. I bough some stuff from him before and no problems with the product.

txshooter · Post by **txshooter** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:15 am

I wanted to confirm that I was correct before I posted this....

First, thanks for the heads up. It's great to heve this posted so that others don't get screwed by purchasing inferior merchandise.

Now here the catch on what has been posted, the most important thing to look for is the overall look of the antenna and the log itself. The Motorola logo is very difficult for the counterfitters to make (ie more expensive and takes more time to produce, but not impossible.) For this reason they usually do not bother.....They cut corners where they can and many will never notice the differences.......

While the length of the antenna could be a possible indicator, it should not be used soley to judge if the antenna you have is fake or not. Motorola has produced a ton of different UHF SMA Antennas and if you have several produced from different years you will see a slight difference in length, very similar to the picture that has been provided showing the counterfit.

Also, check out the base of the antenna pm the counterfits, it is usually somewhat different as they do not use the same molding or injection process as Motorola does.

These are pretty easy to determine when you have two antennas side by side, which one is the fake, but for the uneducated it is very easy to get taken.

Hey take your fake antenna, call Motorola and tell them where you bought it....I am sure the intellectual property guys would love to know. They probably already do as I bet they have already read this post...

As another side note, I have bought several items from this eBay seller and they have been high quality......

Hightower wrote:coun‧ter‧feit....

...

Bat2way · Post by **Bat2way** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:26 am

This is fueled by people's quest to buy "the cheapest" product. If the Communist Chinese couldn't sell this junk, it wouldn't be made. When they import their cars next, they'll sell out because they are so much "cheaper". So, those of you out there looking to put an extra $.25 cents in your pocket, this is what you get.

Tom in D.C. · Post by **Tom in D.C.** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:58 am

The "real" thing, be it from Motorola, Centurion, Radiall-
Larsen, etc. etc., is always available from TESSCO or
similar supply houses for
about the same price you'd pay for the foreign junk on
eBay, plus you get the peace of mind knowing that the supply
house antenna won't hurt your radio or its performance. If you
do manage to shave a few bucks by buying offshore it's
a false economy that will probably come back to bite you later.

Great post, and a real service to all of us. Thanks.

Post by **escomm** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:48 am

Bat2way wrote:This is fueled by people's quest to buy "the cheapest" product. If the Communist Chinese couldn't sell this junk, it wouldn't be made. When they import their cars next, they'll sell out because they are so much "cheaper". So, those of you out there looking to put an extra $.25 cents in your pocket, this is what you get.

It's interesting you raise this point. Here on the boards, /\/\ is regularly vilified because of their El Paxico repair depot.

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:21 am

Bat2way wrote:This is fueled by people's quest to buy "the cheapest" product. If the Communist Chinese couldn't sell this junk, it wouldn't be made. When they import their cars next, they'll sell out because they are so much "cheaper". So, those of you out there looking to put an extra $.25 cents in your pocket, this is what you get.

I believe in buyer be aware, but in this case though Motorola's name is being put on an item of unknown quality that would likely trick the untrained eye into thinking is a 'M' product. The side photo looks like the real deal, the only thing that gave it away to me was the red coded insulator and the fact that the seller seems to sell all knockoff stuff.

Post by **batdude** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:35 am

the circle M with the name motorola is what you CAN'T see in his auction pictures.

duh.

they're inferior chinese junk.

real M antennas for UHF are around $15.50 *RETAIL*.... and worth every penny.

doug

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:52 pm

Actually it looks like his ad photo is of an OEM antenna (but not the connector pic) Even though the antenna is turned it looks like
'Motorola UHF' on it. The one I assume was purchased and photo'd only has the bogus 'M' logo and Motorola on it not 'UHF'. Think the seller is a being a bit less than genuine ?

HLA · Post by **HLA** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:20 pm

i'm not positive where we get theese vhf stubbys from (part # RAD4194A) but they come in a factory sealed motorola package but don't say motorola on the part anywhere and the plastic color on the base is white. anyone know about theese?

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:27 am

I've bought those as well. I would have doubted that they were genuine
if I hadn't bought them directly from Motorola's AAD. Like you say not marked and the connectors on the ones I received were brightly chromed, something I had never seen on a Motorola OEM before.

videonerd · Post by **videonerd** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 9:37 am

All this can go along with other newer Motorola products.. my Radius SM50 doesn't have the batwing logo anywhere. The label reads "by Motorola" in sans-serif font, not even the Motorola logo font.

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:08 am

Let's see... they pack up and send their work to other countries to under cut the costs involved with American labor.

These foreign countries are now counterfeiting their products and flooding the market.

What do you expect when you send your design plans, tooling, and testing expertise to some s***hole 3rd world country?

...as the say...ain't that a b***h.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:14 am

Clearly, these things aren't being assembled using anything close to Motorola's specs. They're dummy loads.

Tom in D.C. · Post by **Tom in D.C.** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:42 am

Have any of you seen the latest Chinese portables being sold
on greedbay? A pair of 136-174 mHz handhelds, NIB, with
chargers, batteries, antennas, etc. etc. for $100 or even less.
Only thing missing from the mfrs. labels, as you might imagine,
is the FCC type acceptance number!

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:04 am

That's because when they go to the lab for type approval testing, the techs just laugh.

ffexpCP · Post by **ffexpCP** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 9:40 pm

He also seems to have another account by the name of kawacam.

No problems with the stuff I bought so far.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:46 am

Some of his stuff is pretty good, like his "military" surveillance kits etc.

firecomm · Post by **firecomm** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:28 am

I don't want to hijack the forum here, but along the lines of counterfeit Motorola, I have a Waris charger (HTN9000B) that is fake.

As Hightower had stated about the M logo and how obvious it was that it was a fake, the charger has the same type of logo. The warning sticker in the bottom of the cup is different than any other charger, ie. the font on the word WARNING is more of a bolder font when compared to the OEM ones.

And when opened up, the board inside is a fu#king joke. I have pics of them that I will post later when I get home from work.

Funny thing is, I called Motorola Canada thinking that maybe they might be interested in the fact that someone is ripping off their designs (IP Infringement) like they say they're so concered with, and they didn't really seem to be too concerned about it. They told me to call my local shop and see what they may be able to do for me.

I even went as far as to offer them the pictures that I took of the charger and it's internal board & components, and the person said, no that's okay.

Oh well! I tried!

Sorry again if I hijacked the thread.

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:43 am

I've got the same fake charger (along with a real HTN9000B) and altho on the fake one, there is NO /\/\ logo anywhere, and the only difference besides that is that the warning sticker on the inside of the cup is a slightly different font, but not hardly by much.

Some inside pics would be interesing.

EDIT: My "fake" charger is made by 'ABELL Technologies'

DES-AJ · Post by **DES-AJ** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 4:24 pm

Yep, "ABELL" make badge labeled/counterfit Kenwood radios as well.

Never bought one so I can't comment on their "quality" compared to a "genuine kenwood".

Some of his stuff is pretty good, like his "military" surveillance kits etc.

Yeah but it can't compare to a genuine Moto three wire surveillance kit.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:22 pm

Perhaps not, but I can buy six of them for the price of one from /\/\!

There is no part of it I can really complain about anyway.

Besides, I let my old man use it, and he said it sounds better than the /\/\ ones he used when he was a cop.

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:29 pm

I bought a couple of the throat mic systems. One for the VX7R and one for the saber. You can hear someone fart down the block using that thing. It's truly amazing.

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:54 pm

I've actually been thinking about getting a "Surveliance"/"CIA" stlye setup thing from them for my MT2000/other Jedi's.

Any reports on them at all?

firecomm · Post by **firecomm** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:57 am

Here are the pics I was talking about.

For those of you who have seen the inside of one of these chargers and the board inside, you'll notice the obvious difference.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133 ... rd-TOP.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133 ... BOTTOM.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133 ... utside.jpg

r0sie · Post by **r0sie** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:57 am

[quote="fire4117"]Here are the pics I was talking about.

For those of you who have seen the inside of one of these chargers and the board inside, you'll notice the obvious difference.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133 ... rd-TOP.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133 ... BOTTOM.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n133 ... utside.jpg[/quote]

Scott, there are alot of these chargers on ebay, and not very expensive either... Did you have any problems with that one?

firecomm · Post by **firecomm** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:15 am

It didn't seem to charge the battery properly and it got waaay too hot. That's when I took a closer look and opened it up and found what was inside.

DES-AJ · Post by **DES-AJ** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:04 pm

I've got a genuine Motorola tri chem cradle charger (NTN8831A) that I just use for sitting the radio in now, it started to blow up power supply units more often than I went to the bathroom so it was time to upgrade to an Impres.

Your charger does look slightly different than mine except for the label on the bottom which is almost identical apart from it missing out "Made in Mexico" and of cause the model number being slightly different and the overall design to accomadate the different radio series, believe it or not the board you have in that "counterfit" charger is almost identical to the crappy board in my genuine one.

No wonder it was blowing transformers up.

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:48 pm

Uhh..those pics you posted look exactly like the genuine one that I have - Mine says made in china, but it looks exactly the same?

My counterfiet one, on the other hand, is much more different.

Hightower · Post by **Hightower** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:31 am

OK guys, finally got a sharp utility knife to cut this counterfeit antenna open to see why. At first glance, it looked fine. Close inspection revealed the truth......

Remember a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one....

OK, lets open this antenna

The antenna out of it's plastic cover. Looks like a cheap antenna compaired to a real /\/\otorola inside. At first look though, it should at least receive something.....

Ahhhh I think we've discovered the problem.....

Problem is very poor construction, and lack of ANY quality control. Seeing as my friend ordered 2 of these antennas, and both are the same, I'd have to conclude that the whole batch (production run) is defective. They attemped to solder the coil, but the tension from the coil popped it right up - giving it a cold solder joint.

Did you know current /\/\otorola antennas are water proof? These counterfeit antennas are FAR from water proof. If water gets inside an antenna, it will eventually rot/rust.

Others have posted that they have had good luck with antennas from this guy. I believe you

However after looking at this antenna and the lack of quality, I have come to the conclusion that these antennas that work today might not work tomorrow because the soldering is so poor, a connection could break at any time. NOT A GOOD THING..... your chasing a perp, and drop your radio on its antenna, now your radio doesn't work..... NOT A GOOD THING TO HAPPEN.

If your public safety, EMS or anyone who relies on their radio for personal safety, please think twice before using aftermarket ANYTHING! Is it worth it?

bellersley · Post by **bellersley** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:37 am

People are always trying to save a buck. The only thing non-OEM that I have is a Honeywell battery for my Astro Saber. The only reason I have it is because my Motorola OEM battery is very old, and this one was given to me, and I haven't had a good enough excuse to get a Motorola OEM one.

You get what you pay for. If you pay cheap prices, you get cheap quality, that's all there is to it.

motorola_otaku · Post by **motorola_otaku** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:46 am

Hightower wrote:OK guys, finally got a sharp utility knife to cut this counterfeit antenna open to see why. At first glance, it looked fine. Close inspection revealed the truth......

I kinda half-expected to see a SMA connector terminated into rubber. At least they're just crap, and not garbage.

Bat2way · Post by **Bat2way** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:04 pm

Now, if all the people who unknowlingly bought this counterfeit stuff would get together on that radio "pimp", he would be seeing some serious charges and monetary damages on the federal level. The pictures sure tell the whole story.

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:41 pm

The genuine Motorola Jedi UHF antenna do not have the "loading" coil.
Also the Warrez, GP300, ect. UHF antenna does not have the "loading" coil either.

Rayjk110 · Post by **Rayjk110** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:37 pm

Will wrote:The genuine Motorola Jedi UHF antenna do not have the "loading" coil.
Also the Warrez, GP300, ect. UHF antenna does not have the "loading" coil either.

Ah...what do they have inside them? I've never opened a real /\/\ one before.

mr.syntrx · Post by **mr.syntrx** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:12 pm

Bat2way wrote:Now, if all the people who unknowlingly bought this counterfeit stuff would get together on that radio "pimp", he would be seeing some serious charges and monetary damages on the federal level. The pictures sure tell the whole story.

Nope, he's not in the USA. He operates out of Hong Kong, IIRC.

firefighter2000 · Post by **firefighter2000** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:42 pm

Speaking of counterfit... Check out this website especially for counterfiet stuff... Pretty big deal in the US & in the UK. Buyers beware.

http://www.counterfeitmini.com/

Thanks
Craig

WA3VJB · Post by **WA3VJB** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:22 am

Thanks for the research.

Seeing that loading coil in there reminded me of Shady O'Rack's "slo blo" glass cartridge fuses.

A series resistor.

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:06 pm

Rayjk110 wrote: Ah...what do they have inside them? I've never opened a real /\/\ one before.

Speedometer cable soldered to the connector center pin on the Jedi, and to the threaded bushing on the GP300 type. Injection molded over all.

apco25 · Post by **apco25** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:58 am

What do you expect from China?

Ship it all over seas for pennies on the dollar in worker salaries, make the CEO's even richer and then take it in the posterior when all your designed get copied.....poorly.

Such brilliant business sense....

NOT

Crimestopper · Post by **Crimestopper** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:41 am

When it comes to fakes, you also need to look at all the Speaker Microphones, batteries, and other accessories that are labeled with Motorola OEM stickers, and not just antennas. The end user does not care because they think they are saving a few bucks on something genuine. They only realize that they were ripped off when their accessory breaks after 2 weeks of use. The HMN9725 speaker microphones were canceled several years ago by Motorola, however it seems like sellers on Ebay are still able to find 1000's of new old stock. That is a total joke, look for date codes, poor imprints of the Motorola logo, and other signs to tell you that it is a fake. The biggest issue is that Motorola has only a few people to work on the counterfeit market. I'm sure Motorola share holders would be upset if Motorola was not taking an active stance to prohibit these fakes from coming in the country. Now the real dealers that want to make a fair buck on real product get shot in the foot because someone else is selling a fake or cheap knock off for half the price. I take pride in selling true OEM products and it shows in my feedback on eBay. In regards on the seller Kawacam or mall, he is in the US, and has a brother overseas. Also in regards to the charger I'm sure you bought it from emsdadtimbo who sells a ton of knock off stuff, including fake chargers and speaker mic's. This info was given to me from someone inside Motorola. They know what they are doing but they are not doing too much to stop them.

DES-AJ · Post by **DES-AJ** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:39 pm

It's also really sad when you put in an order with a dealer for OEM products and the dealer tries ever so hard to sell you aftermarket (This has happened to me twice) you've got to ask your self why are they so interested in selling crap... Perhaps... 1.) They are getting kickbacks for selling aftermarket or 2.) They get more profit by picking up aftermarket stuff cheap and selling it for a pretty penny. Needless to say I did not deal with either dealer as I smelt a rat, but IMHO any dealer that tries to pass off aftermarket equipment when you specifically ask/order ONLY OEM equipment should lose their ability to be a Motorola/Kenwood/etc dealer.

Luckily I've found a great dealer on this board for Motorola equipment (Escomm) and he has been a true gentlemen that has always delivered quality OEM products and great service.

If only all comms dealers were that way.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:05 am

I got taken on eBay just today.

I was looking to get an 800Mhz Stubby antenna, and paying Motorola the $23+ for OEM is ridiculous because the damn thing is so small and inherently crappy.

I got a counterfeit, but it seems to work on on my radio so I may keep it, but then again I may send it back. I still don't want to pay Motorola big money for OEM when for the same cost I could buy another VHF Wide-Band antenna or something else much more useful.

-Josh

COUNTERFEIT /\/\otorola Antennas (How to Spot Them)

COUNTERFEIT /\/\otorola Antennas (How to Spot Them)

Antenna Length

"Fake" antennas, etc.

...

The foreign "imitation radio" manufacturers, etc.

Poor Construction......

Re: Poor Construction......

Speaking of counterfeit...