Getting More From Your Signal: A Guide to Antenna Adapters | Iron Spear Outfitters

Iron Spear handheld antennas — Maximus, Guardian, and Minimus — screw on with a BNC connector. Your radio almost certainly doesn’t. That’s fine. You just need the right little adapter between them.

Start here: the live handheld radio adapter guide is the canonical chart (~163 radios). Search your brand or model there. This older post used to carry its own chart; that chart is retired because it got gender wrong on common Baofeng-class HTs.

Open the adapter guide · Shop ham radio antennas · Check SMA gender and clearance with the SMA Gender & Thin-Wall Checker

Quick visual check (then trust the guide)

Trick: ignore the writing on the rubber duck. Unscrew it and look at the jack on the radio.

• Bayonet tabs (BNC) — you’re done. No adapter. The Iron Spear antenna goes straight on.
• Pin sticking out — that’s SMA-male on the radio. Common on Baofeng-class HTs (and plenty of Anytone / Tidradio / some Yaesu). You generally need SMA-female → BNC-female. Some recessed SMA-male ports need the narrow-wall version of that same gender.
• Hole on the radio — that’s SMA-female. Common on Yaesu FT-60 / VX class, many Icom and Kenwood HTs. You generally need SMA-male → BNC-female. Recessed Yaesus often need a thin-wall on that male side — a different part than the Baofeng narrow-wall. Don’t mix them up.

If you’re unsure, stop guessing. Match the pin on the live adapter guide and order from there.

Why this post changed

An older version of this article listed common Baofeng models as SMA-female needing an SMA-male→BNC-female adapter. That framing conflicts with the live guide and with how most of those radios actually present at the jack (pin out = SMA-male).

We don’t leave wrong gender advice live. The searchable chart on the adapter guide page is the source of truth going forward.

Shop rules that save radios

• Hand-tighten only. Tools crack the jack.
• One adapter. Don’t stack them.
• Still unsure? Match the pin, then grab the band SKU you actually use.

Which antenna after the adapter?

• Maximus — BNC · 2m/70cm
• Guardian — BNC · 155/465 MHz
• Minimus — BNC · 440 MHz
• Full ham radio antenna collection

More shopping context: how to choose an HT antenna.