808Beachbum Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 I want to try my Diamond mag mount UHF/VHF antenna with a Baofeng UV 5R. It works great with my Icom ID 51 and 92 AD in the car or on a sheet pan. Looking at the adapters, it seems there are some with, and some without "RP" or a reverse polarity type of construction. I'm thinking the Boobrie SMA Male to SMA Female Connector RF SMA Coax Coaxial Cable Adapter brand item looks right and makes sense, but, I don't want to Bork the radio or my signal making the wrong choice. Or is the RFAdapter SMA Male to RP-SMA Female Adapter the proper type? It seems to be a higher quality construction, but who knows what is marketing hype and what actually contributes to performance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveShannon Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 3 hours ago, 808Beachbum said: I want to try my Diamond mag mount UHF/VHF antenna with a Baofeng UV 5R. It works great with my Icom ID 51 and 92 AD in the car or on a sheet pan. Looking at the adapters, it seems there are some with, and some without "RP" or a reverse polarity type of construction. I'm thinking the Boobrie SMA Male to SMA Female Connector RF SMA Coax Coaxial Cable Adapter brand item looks right and makes sense, but, I don't want to Bork the radio or my signal making the wrong choice. Or is the RFAdapter SMA Male to RP-SMA Female Adapter the proper type? It seems to be a higher quality construction, but who knows what is marketing hype and what actually contributes to performance... You wouldn’t bork your radio with the wrong adapter. It just wouldn’t fit. Just make sure it looks like what you’re adapting to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
808Beachbum Posted May 14 Author Report Share Posted May 14 13 hours ago, Sshannon said: You wouldn’t bork your radio with the wrong adapter. It just wouldn’t fit. Just make sure it looks like what you’re adapting to. The adapters I am looking at appear identical, yet, as noted, some brands mention "reverse polarity", which indicates to me that they are electrically different. Normally, in coax cable, the outer conductor, or "shield" is grounded, which is why I am asking... I know that with other "gadgets", some patch cords are straight, while some are reversed with respect to the pins, but I have not run across this particular term for just a straight male to female adapter with no cabling. Just being cautious...would hate to damage a $27 radio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveShannon Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 18 minutes ago, 808Beachbum said: The adapters I am looking at appear identical, yet, as noted, some brands mention "reverse polarity", which indicates to me that they are electrically different. Normally, in coax cable, the outer conductor, or "shield" is grounded, which is why I am asking... I know that with other "gadgets", some patch cords are straight, while some are reversed with respect to the pins, but I have not run across this particular term for just a straight male to female adapter with no cabling. Just being cautious...would hate to damage a $27 radio No, reverse polarity has nothing to do with electrical polarity. RF is AC. SMA connectors have an outer threaded sleeve and an inner pin/socket. Sometimes the SMA connector on the radio will have the male pin paired with the female threaded sleeve. The antenna will have the female center socket surrounded by a male threaded sleeve. But it’s possible to order SMA connectors that pair the male threaded sleeve and the male center pin. The matching connector will be the female sleeve and female center connector. So there are four permutations of the SMA. I don’t know which is considered Reverse Polarity. I just buy what looks right. Most of my radios have a female threaded socket and male center pin, but one has a male threaded sleeve and female center socket. Just be careful to exactly match the mechanical configuration. WRXB215 and WRUU653 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRQC527 Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 15 minutes ago, 808Beachbum said: The adapters I am looking at appear identical, yet, as noted, some brands mention "reverse polarity", which indicates to me that they are electrically different. Normally, in coax cable, the outer conductor, or "shield" is grounded, which is why I am asking... I know that with other "gadgets", some patch cords are straight, while some are reversed with respect to the pins, but I have not run across this particular term for just a straight male to female adapter with no cabling. Just being cautious...would hate to damage a $27 radio Picture = 1,000 words. SteveShannon and WRUU653 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRXB215 Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 It would have helped if they had chosen some other terminology besides "polarity." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
808Beachbum Posted May 14 Author Report Share Posted May 14 OK, thanks all, @WRQC527 your pic did help. Besides the "reverse polarity" terminology, the Baofeng has both internal and external threading, which, although I understand the external threads are for the retaining nut for the terminal, were still throwing me off. I have just been overthinking it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveShannon Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 35 minutes ago, WRXB215 said: It would have helped if they had chosen some other terminology besides "polarity." Gender? WRQC527, WRUU653 and WRXB215 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRQC527 Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 1 hour ago, Sshannon said: Gender? These days that's not such a sure thing. WRWE456 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRYZ926 Posted May 15 Report Share Posted May 15 Here are the SO239 to SMA adaptors I have used with my Baofeng UV-5R and GT-5R https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00COKNKS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRXB215 Posted May 15 Report Share Posted May 15 16 hours ago, WRQC527 said: 17 hours ago, Sshannon said: Gender? These days that's not such a sure thing. I was trying real hard not to go there. WRWE456 and WRQC527 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2877 Posted May 16 Report Share Posted May 16 Have you asked the radio what gender it identifies as? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Lscott 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxCar Posted May 16 Report Share Posted May 16 2 minutes ago, n2877 said: Have you asked the radio what gender it identifies as? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Non-binary n2877 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2877 Posted May 16 Report Share Posted May 16 I added an sma to bnc connector my radios to help save the life of the threads for the antenna Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk WRYZ926 and WRQC299 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lscott Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 8 hours ago, n2877 said: Have you asked the radio what gender it identifies as? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk SMABNCTNCPL259N+ maybe? SteveShannon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRQC299 Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 I added an sma to bnc connector my radios to help save the life of the threads for the antenna Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkAgreed- best BNC ones I’ve found come from the Signal Stick guys:https://signalstuff.com/products/#adaptersSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk n2877 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRQI663 Posted May 21 Report Share Posted May 21 This combination works for any of my antennas --- female sma to bnc and bnc to so239 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2877 Posted May 21 Report Share Posted May 21 1 hour ago, WRQI663 said: This combination works for any of my antennas --- female sma to bnc and bnc to so239 I almost got connectors that look just like that but sma to bnc on both. I just liked the black ones from signal stuff more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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