Re: SMA to BNC adapter

>I have a IC-R2 and absolutely love it, although I wish it has ssb as
>well.  I am looking for a sma to bnc connector for it.  Does anyone know
>where I might get one, I should have ordered the thing when I bought the
>radio but didn't.  I would assume radio shack would not have or would
>they?  
>
I would suggest being very cautious about using BNC-mount antennas on 
the R2.  The SMA connector itself is physically rather small (6 mm/0.25 
inch in diameter), and mounts in the plastic R2 case using a small ring 
nut.  It can't handle a lot of side force.  Too much flexing could 
damage the case, or crack a solder joint between the antenna and RF 
circuit board.

The antenna supplied by Icom screws all the way down the SMA connector 
and rests against the rubber of the earphone cover.  If the end of the 
antenna is pressed sideways by something (e.g. your ribs), at least some 
of this side force is transferred to the radio case through the outer 
part of the antenna base which is 12 mm/half inch in diameter.  The 
antenna itself is also short and pretty flexible, which also limits the 
force applied through the antenna mount.

A standard SMA male to BNC female adapter screws onto the end portion of 
the radio's connector, so all side forces are transferred directly to 
the radio connector.  The adapter is usually most of an inch long and 
rigid, so it provides additional leverage for bending the connector, 
just like adding a piece of pipe to a pipe wrench handle.  And BNC 
antennas are often longer and heaver than SMA ones, too.  I have 
occasionally tried mounting a BNC antenna plus adapter on the R2, but I 
was too uncomfortable with the mechanics of it and ended up not using it.

I *do* sometimes use other SMA-base antennas that don't seat down onto 
the rubber, but they are the "rat tail" type that have very flexible 
whips and a very short rigid portion at the base, so they can't exert 
much side force on the SMA connector.  I also sometimes use a SMA-to-BNC 
connector to attach a BNC-end antenna cable for a remote antenna.  In 
this case, flexing of the cable limits the force on the radio's connector.

The SMA-to-BNC connector that someone occasionally offers on this group 
may work better; I don't have one.

    Dave


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