The Chinese made Wouxun and Baofang handheld radios have become quite popular with new and experienced hams alike. The price is right, around $125 for a dual band model, and they seem to work pretty well. From my experience fit and finish are a little lacking, but for an inexpensive handheld radio you can’t complain too much.

The rub with the Wouxun HTs is that their antenna connectors are reverse SMA. Unlike most amateur handhelds on the market, were the female end of the SMA is on the radio, Wouxun engineered their radios with the male end on the radio. This means that antennas and adaptors need to be reverse SMA if you want to connect an external antenna like the KB9VBR J-Pole antenna. [pq]Connecting an external antenna to a Wouxun radio is easy when you have the right adapter.[/pq]

Since you need an adaptor to use an external antenna, regardless of the model of radio, the important fact is that the adaptor needs to be the correct style. Powerwerx, a retailer of Wouxun radios, such at the KG-UVD3 sells the proper adaptors that will work with all Wouxun models including the KG-UV3D, KG-UVA1, KG-833 and more.

Tower Electronics, my other go-to place for adaptors and connectors also carries the SMA Female to SO-239 connector and the SMA Female to BNC connector. Although I prefer an adaptor that has a short pigtail to it to take the stress of connecting stiff coax cable to the small connection on the radio.

I’ve also found the Reverse SMA or SMA Female adaptor available at Radio Shack stores and online. But with the constantly reduced inventory that most Radio Shacks run with these days, your mileage may vary.

Good luck with your Wouxun portable radios, I see they make a 2 meter and 222 MHz version thay may need to invest in.

UPDATE: Since writing this article a couple of weeks ago, I’ve received some comments and tips from other Wouxun users. Apparently not all reverse SMA connectors are created equal and some models work better than others on the Wouxun handheld radios. The generic connectors tend to stick out a bit and loosen up when you are unscrewing the antennas. But the ones designed for the radio, available form Powerwerx, fit and work perfectly with the radio.

As you can see from the comparison photo, the Wouxun adaptor is on the right, both reverse SMA adaptors look and work about the same. But the one designed specifically for the radio does not stick out so high, giving it a more stable connection.

Thanks Brian for your comments and pictures.