Description
Please make sure you order the correct connector for your radio!
These are hand-made, ultra lightweight, and nearly indestructible antennas which outperform the stock antenna your handheld radio came with by a significant margin. Originally designed to use as a fundraiser for a youth group, sales from these remarkable antennas are now the primary source of funding for our free ham radio study website, https://hamstudy.org.
These antennas have changed many times over the years; the current versions have black 3D-printed covers over the connectors and clear / glow in the dark tips. Custom colors are available when ordering in groups of 50 or more at a discounted rate, email us for more information.
signalstuff2 (verified owner) –
I’m using this antenna on a TYT MD-390 radio. This antenna is significantly better than the stock radio, and has much less noise than my ExpertPower XP-771 (compare to Nagoya 771). This antenna connector plus SMA adapter is about half the length of the SMA to BNC adapter sets I got on ebay, making this antenna about the same installed length as the other two much shorter antennas.
I’m not going to abuse it like other have, so I expect it to last a very long time. Seems like a killer deal for a much better antenna than what the big companies make.
Jared (verified owner) –
I have one of these antennas on my Tait Orca handheld (VHF, 136-174MHz). Receive and transmit both are excellent, far better than the OEM duck! Will be equipping several of my other VHF and dual-band radios with these. Can’t beat them for the price, and you support others in the amateur community!
Darren Hain (verified owner) –
First off, I used hamstudy.org and it was very helpful in getting my General and Extra. I recently bought two of these signal sticks and tried them out on two different HTs. They really work great. Yes, you can coil it up and it pops right back in shape. The price is very reasonable and the shipping was fast.
echo790 (verified owner) –
Just received my 3rd antenna and the 2.0 version is really a step up. It has enough backbone to keep it from flopping around like the original version. Both versions have great results RX and TX but the new version really does seem more stable. I will probably end up getting another one or two because they really are that great.
Ben –
Purchased a Gen 2 antenna for my Wouxun HT. Out of the bag keyed up repeater 35miles away. Reports clear audio but low getting into machine. Cant wait to see how it does on simplex and UHF. Ive been recommending this antenna to others.
Bill Lamm (verified owner) –
Wonderful improvement. Probably didn’t need the spacer but it is rubber so acts as a soft lock washer..
kd7bbc –
It should! You need an SMA-M connector on the antenna.
Sean (verified owner) –
Got this for my Ft2D today, the difference is absolutely amazing over the stock antenna for receiving signals. Really pleased. One thing to note is that the Nitinol will have a bend easily in sub freezing temperatures but it became perfect again once I went inside. Again, really pleased.
kd7bbc –
Yeah, the way nitinol acts in really cold temperatures is a bit weird :-/ Glad it’s working well for you!
kd7bbc –
Unfortunately I’m uncertain about that; I don’t *think* so but I can’t say for sure.
Charlie (verified owner) –
Great Atenna, just be sure to add the rubber washer if you have a Yaesu or it won’t be water resistant. I didn’t understand what it was for and didn’t add one, now I’m searching for one.
kd7bbc –
Please note that the signal sticks are not (and were not designed to be) specifically water resistant and I absolutely would not count on it being water resistant even with a rubber washer.
Also note that with some Yaesu radios using a rubber washer may cause the antenna not to seat sufficiently to make a solid contact, where other Yaesu radios there will actually be a gap underneath.
It’s just not cut and dried =] If you do need to find your own washers, though, the ones we use are 1/4″ ID, 1/2″ OD, 1/16″ thick neoprene rubber washers.
Jairo –
Great antenna, can’t beat the price..
I am using it in my Yaesu Ft1xdr, receive and transmit both are excellent, far better than the OEM duck.
I have to put small rubber washer to make a “solid” contact.
Do you have in mind to design antennas for mobile aplication (PL-259 connector), 50w or more?
kd7bbc –
I actually have a working prototype but I’m having trouble finding a reliable place to get the parts. I can’t promise anything, but it’s possible I might be releasing something NMO mount this year (and you could use a UHF to NMO adapter to mount it on PL-259)
Mike (CM) (verified owner) –
Fantastic Antenna, HUGE upgrade from a rubber ducky!!! Highly recommended.
Joel Roberts –
Question: wattage capacity of this antenna?
kd7bbc –
The short answer is that they should be fine with at least 100 watts, likely more. That said, what you’re actually asking is if you can use it with a radio that puts out more power than that, and these antennas are designed for use with a HT radio which makes the specific SWR extremely unreliable — half of the dipole is your arm, after all. What that means in effect is that if you use it on a higher power radio the natural SWR variance will become more of an issue and if you mount it on something other than an HT we can’t guarantee performance.
All that said, you won’t damage the antenna and I’m unaware of any modern radio that won’t automatically reduce power if needed to prevent damage in the case of excessive SWR, just know that the further you get from our designed use case the more likely that performance will not stand up to expectations.
Brian (verified owner) –
Excellent build quality and very flexible without being floppy. I keep an HT on a backpack with the antenna threaded through the webbing and it’s ideal for me. Most other antennas would be bent permanently as a result but not the SignalStick.
Signal strength is outstanding – better than the Nagoya 771 that was on my HT previously.
I’ll be getting at least one of these for all my HTs.
NineInchNails (verified owner) –
Fantastic antenna! So much skinnier and surprisingly more flexible than my Nagoya antenna. It has the perfect ratio of rigidity to flexibility. The glow in the dark tip is a nice little feature which I appreciate. Well thought out. I am using this on a Baofeng radio and will buy more for my other radios. It arrived coiled in a loop and it sprung back perfectly straight. I will be recommending this antenna. Keep up the great work Signal Stuff ! ! !
Tom –
Question: Yaesu FT-60, do I need a rubber washer?
kd7bbc –
There is a gap under the antenna on the FT-60; however, a rubber washer only partly helps with it. The shape of the SMA mount on the FT-60 is just odd.
Some people like having it, some don’t. It’s not going to make a big difference from a functional perspective but some think it looks better.
Scott (verified owner) –
Just got one for my yaesu ft-60 and it is fantastic. Got it because it is a lot lighter than my diamond srh77ca. Now I’ll need to order one for my daughters baofeng. Thank you!
Jeffrey Cooper (verified owner) –
I ordered two for my BTECH MURS-V1 radios and asked for the tips not to be glued on so I could trim the antennas slightly for 151.880 MHz and then glue them on myself. They seem to be a significant range boost over the pair of Nagoya 701c upgrades I was using previously. I should have ordered rubber spacers but luckily had the pair that came with the nagoyas which worked fine. I’m very impressed with the build quality and how indestructible the whip seems to be, returning to completely straight after spending a few days coiled up in a shipping envelope and then surviving a few falls on a mountain bike. Would definitely order again.
robertestx (verified owner) –
I have this antenna on every radio I own. From a PRC-152 to some 8W Baofengs. When guys ask me about getting a radio setup for their kit, this antenna is part and parcel of the package . It is an excellent product and so far surpasses the range and quality of previously purchased antennas. One last comment – I’m pretty flipping sure I wrote a rather long and thorough review I’d this product over a month ago, but my review never shows. I’m it asking a question, I’m simply stating that I’d you have a portable radio that had the capability wattage wise to reach out past 1 mile you owe it to yourself to pick up this antenna. It’s like a Viagra pill for your radio. Well except this antenna is super flexible. But hopefully you get the point.
kd7bbc –
Glad you like it =] I believe your other review / comment is on this page: https://signalstuff.com/rma/
73 and thanks for your support!
Daniel Cameron (verified owner) –
I have been using a different antenna on an HT and even a base antenna and been having limited results contacting my local repeater, which I have been able to get into for years. Received the Signal Stick today and reception was superb and was able to hit the repeater completely. What I heard about these antennas is true! Great antenna!!
josh –
Swapped out a diamond antenna for the signal stick dual band on my Yaesu vx-6r. Now I can hit a repeater 8 ish miles away on 0.3 watts that I had trouble hitting at 5 watts using the diamond, All from inside my house!! Reception has also improved greatly! You just gained a lifetime customer and an unpaid advertiser.
George (verified owner) –
I can clearly reach a repeater that was mostly static with the stock rubber duck on my Baofeng. It did it’s job.
I also want to support the people behind the site (hamstudy.org) that helped me pass the test to get into this hobby.
For both of those, it’s an easy 5/5.
—
George, KD2TMM
Mark Shreves (verified owner) –
Great antennas! Receives where others do not! Super flexible and easy to carry around. Works far better than any stock antenna! Well made!
I’ve bought three of these 220 and dual band.
Thanks for a great product!
73’s
N2HAM
Rob KE5YOW –
Didn’t see a number to call. I have two Kenwood TH-F6A HT’s. Will this antenna work on them?
kd7bbc –
I’m mostly a one man shop, so I don’t usually do phone calls. Emailing us at sales@signalstuff.com always works, and questions like this can be asked in comments just fine.
The SMA-M dual band signal stick should work great on that radio.
Lane Giard (verified owner) –
I was sceptic, I admit it. I decided to check the SWR on my HT antenna’s out of boredom one day and was shocked. Radio’s D74 and FT3. Stock antenna was 6+ SWR and Diamond SRH320A ($50.00 worth) was 8+. So I ordered the Signal stick. SWR is 1.2-1.4. Wow. I can hit repeaters on EL power that required med to high with other antenna’s.
Thanks for a Great product at a Great price.
kd7bbc –
Heh. Glad that it’s working well for you =] I have to tell you, though, that checking the SWR on a HT antenna is nearly always going to give you unreliable results because as soon as you connect a SWR meter or antenna analyzer you change the antenna system, so while I’m glad our antenna gave you a good reading it’s very likely that the SWR on the other antennas was actually just fine; in order to measure it reliably you need a way to isolate the measuring system from the antenna system, and it still ends up being a bit artificial.
If you had measured using different equipment it’s very likely that our antennas would have shown badly and those others may have worked well.
Just so you are aware =] The best measure of an HT antenna tends to be how well it works in practice, rather than any type of measurement, because the measurement methods available tend to be pretty unreliable.
73!
Richard
KD7BBC
mjklucik –
I am new to HAM radio. I am purchasing a BaoFeng UV-5R (Dual band) radio. What type of a setup do I need for the Super-Elastic Signal Stick. Specifically, what type of antenna base is required.
kd7bbc –
For a UV-5R you want a SMA-F dual band super-elastic signal stick
Jack (verified owner) –
Going to give it 5* for now. I’m a wanna be ham, so i can’t even key up yet (2 BF UV-5R’s & 1 FT-70DR). Going to take the test as soon as this Covid-19 calms down, so lot’s of time to study, lol.
I’m giving it 5* off the bat b/c it supports a good cause, free study material for licensing, & it’s gotten great reviews from others.
Eric –
I found this from listening to hoshnasi on a podcast and his recommendation on upgrading the antenna. I also am looking forward to studying and taking my test as I am new to this. Looking forward to purchasing a SMA-F when its back in stock
kd7bbc –
They are back in stock; just finished making more this evening =]
73,
Richard