I obviously tempted fate posting that because even the new type of adapter failed on me today whilst activating a WOTA summit. I was calling CQ for a while and getting no replies so, as a check, I tried the local repeater but nought! On inspection I could see the SMA pin had broken off the adapter.
Fortunately (once bitten, twice shy) I always carry the rubber duck now. One chaser could just about hear me but I had to leave my comfy leeward shelter and walk back to the cold and wind at the summit cairn so that others could hear me.
Bit of a dilemma this. I like the Diamond RH770 ½-wave telescopic a lot - it’s high performance and very quick to deploy. A short flexible cable would help but I would have to hold the antenna. Think I will get another adapter. But I’ll also order another Chinese clone RH770. It might fall apart like my old one did (but at £10, what the hell) and they have a SMA-m connector (like the rubber duck) not a BNC and attach more firmly than with the added adapter.
I have seen various SMA to BNC adapters similar to your second one and have used a couple of them so far without an issues. However you might need to shop around an find one that fits you radio in the best way possible - i.e. one that fits snuggly on the SMA and down to the case of the radio. without being loose or having an gap between the base of the adaptor and the radio.
I think any time you have connector pins breaking it is a sign that high levels of force are present, created by using a large (non standard) antenna with a very small instrumentation connector, mounted on a plastic radio case and internally connected to a track on a pcb. It is fortunate that the adaptor broke as otherwise the connection to the pcb may have failed. And the stress may well have already stressed that connection. Continuing to tempt fate is a brave move.
SMA dont have the strength and brutality of the UHF connector series and I don’t think an sma connector on a plastic radio case can be expected to handle the forces of hand held operation with a long antenna.
A safer setup would be to mount the long antenna on a separate pole and connect that antenna via a cable (with a loop in it) to the radio. That would Isolate the radio mechanically and protect it from the leverage of the long stiff antenna and would allow you to connect a full size dipole to the radio, elevate the dipole somewhat and get better performance as a bonus.
Suitable poles are readily available via the auction websites As telescopic fishing poles and are cheap and light.
Hi Stu, this one does fit snugly on the case of the HT. The UK dealer even advertises it on a Yaesu HT on their website. See photo …
As I said earlier, some activators have used that adapter type for many years without problems – maybe their antennas are not so long nor so heavy as the RH770 or don’t use them as often as I do.
In any case, I’ve ordered a Chinese clone RH770 (which has a SMA-m connector) which will mean I don’t have to use an adapter with it. I can continue to use my current Diamond BNC-terminated RH770 with my 2m Mirage 35W portable power amplifier.
Hi Andrew, I’m not sure that’s going to be any / much quicker than deploying my roll-up J-pole on my telescopic pole (see my earlier comment at post 15 above). And as I explained in post 17 above I either use the J-pole (in marginal coverage / sitting in a wind shelter) OR the RH770 when I need a quick deployment / activation.
Yes I understand it won’t be quicker, probably won’t be as convenient as plugging in the bigger whip to the radio. The trade-offs between convenience, safety, price, performance and weight are always up to the individual operator.
edit: acknowledging your use of the jpole when you need better range.
Mount the bigger antenna on your rucksack and run a cable to the handy. Then your antenna can flex about (until it breaks) without straining the connector on the radio and breaking that. I’m happy to start a book on how long you can wave an RH770 about on a handy until the handy socket/pcb fails.
Someone used to sell a BNC female socket on a mount that used a big Bulldog clip to attach it to a wing mirror mount. Barry GM4TOE had one.
This with a BNC or SO239 socket could be attached to your ruck sack frame if it has one. Or the the fishing pole. You can have the antenna deployed and talk as you walk.
Pedestrian Mobile like Phil (G4OBK) does it. I can see the appeal if you’re doing a multiple-summit day and want to minimise your stay at any one summit or listen to the calling frequency en route [none of which I do].
Without getting into too much detail, I have three sizes of rucksack which I choose depending on type of activation. I really appreciate using the small or medium-sized ones. The big one is for wild camping (SOTA gear + tent + sleeping bag).
In summer (with no Bothy bag, over-trousers, gloves, hot flask, etc) it’s a joy to take the small rucksack and it’s not very practical to attach an antenna to it. I also like to be discrete when I’m out SOTAing (I’ve had groundsmen / factors ask me what that pole sticking out of my bag is for).
For Solution 1 [quick deployment / cold WX], I’ll take the risk that the Chinese clone RH770 with SMA-m leads to any long-term problem with my FT270 or FT1D.
Except, Barry, that link doesn’t seem to point to what Andy was describing (and I would buy if available). That product is a small 2m whip antenna mounted on a clippable bracket.
I want something that lets me use my RH770, i.e. the clippable bracket with BNC-f socket connected to about 50cm of coax terminated in a SMA-m. Unless someone can point to a supplier, I might investigate making one.
The bracket has the antenna, a helical counterpoise and a PL259 (ugh) socket output; the antenna elements unscrew. I run a coax from the antenna to my handheld via a BNC (or SMA connector) at the rig end.
If it wasn’t dark (and precipitating at biblical levels) I would pop out to the shack and put up a photo
That’s okay Barry, I wouldn’t want you to be washed away in the flood.
I’ll use a SMA Male to BNC Female Plug Adapter Antenna Pigtail Cable 13" cable. The 13" is a bit short for my liking but the BNC is a chassis-mounting type. So, my plan is to mount the BNC on an L-shaped bracket and bolt that to a big bulldog clip I have.
EDIT UPDATE:
I’ve thought of a better solution. I’ll use a chassis-mounting BNC-f to BNC-f adapter which I’ll mount on the L-shaped bracket. That way I can use a (longer) standard BNC-m to BNC-m coax cable between that adapter and the BNC-to-SMA adapter on the HT.
Andy, I want to build 2m and 6m Rollup-Jpoles soon! For 2m/70cm purchased I have had very good results with the N9TAX Rollup Jpole ($25) available on eBay I have used it on 50+ activations and it still looks new, it actually is proving to be better than my Diamond xt30a vertical ($70) from my home QTH. I don’t know if he ships overseas but if you are interested in one I’ll send you one of my spares.
Hi Erik, thanks for the offer but as I said in posting #10 above, I bought a US-made roll-up J-pole about a year ago, and since then I’ve used it on numerous activations with excellent signal reports. I carry the J-pole in the original padded jiffy bag in which it was shipped from the US and I’ve deployed this antenna so many times that I’ve had to sellotape [scotch-tape] the jiffy bag all over - the J-pole itself still looks and behaves like new.
