We have recently discovered a manufacturing issue which could affect any of our adapters sold since early 2025. It won’t impact you if you are only using a Signal Stick™ directly on the radio, but you should watch to be aware of the issue.
TL;DR (TL;DW?)
There is a non-conductive clear coat on all adapters we’ve had manufactured since sometime late 2024 which may interfere with conductivity on the shield of the adapters. It can be pretty easily fixed with some sandpaper, and, for those who prefer, we will be offering to replace adapters once we have unaffected parts in stock. We have made videos showing how to repair everything — see the repair videos.
Who Is Affected?
- Affected: Anyone who purchased adapters from us during 2025 through early 2026 (until we get replacement parts)
- NOT Affected: If you are only using a Signal Stick™ (without a BNC Mag Mount or Signal Strand™ System), this issue won’t affect you
The Problem
We discovered an issue with the manufacturing of our adapters. There appears to be a clear coat added on top of the black conductive coating, which can interfere with the conductivity on the shield of the adapters.
The Signal Strand™ adapters are a bit more important to fix, since the Signal Stick™ itself will work fine without this fix but the Signal Strand™ may not help much or at all unless you do this.
The Fix
The good news: it’s actually pretty easy to fix yourself with a little sandpaper! We’ve created videos showing how to repair each adapter type.
Individual Adapter Videos
Signal Strand™ Adapters:
- SMA-F to BNC-F Signal Strand™
- SMA-M to BNC-F Signal Strand™
- BNC-M to BNC-F Signal Strand™ — all known sold adapters of this type are likely affected
SMA to BNC Adapters:
BNC to SMA Adapters:
UHF to BNC Adapters:
- PL-259 to BNC-F — particularly tricky; some parts can’t be reached with sandpaper, so testing is recommended
- SO-239 to BNC-F — particularly important to fix; nearly anything you use it with will need shield conductivity
Barrel Adapters (likely not needed):
Because of how the threads on these adapters work, they tend to wear away the coating naturally. In our testing it was hard to tell which adapters did or didn’t have the issue.
- SMA-F to SMA-F Barrel
- SMA-M to SMA-M Barrel — we don’t believe we’ve sold any affected adapters of this type, but just in case
Replacement Option
We will be offering to replace adapters for those who prefer that option once we have unaffected parts in stock. If you’d rather wait for a replacement than do the DIY fix, please reach out to us.
Our Apology
Very sorry about that! We dropped the ball on this one and should have caught it sooner. Yes, we fully expect you to roast us in the comments.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support of SignalStuff!