Signalstick Options for Mobile Radio

September 2026

I posted a photo from the truck today. A BTECH handheld, wired through a BNC quick-connect to an external antenna.

That post started up enough of a conversation in the replies, I figured it was worth folding into an article. Here’s the result of that thought …

The Signal Stick

The VHF/UHF antenna I use the most is the BNC version of the Signal Stick from SignalStuff. It’s small, tough, and it’s what I reach for when I want one antenna that can move between setups instead of being locked to a single radio. I actually have several of them lying around. First time I tried it was during post-holiday travel with a Baofeng handheld.

Here’s one with a 1 watt kv4p HT and a Motorola Android phone. It was enough to get into a repeater 16.8 miles away on the other side of Mobile Bay.

Here’s an ICOM IC-705 at 5 watts operating a Winlink Wednesday lunch check-in: VARA FM through a nearby VHF gateway.

It’s not magic. Same antenna, a different day with an ID-52 PLUS on D-STAR. I was trying to reach a repeater about 30 miles out and couldn’t get enough antenna to make it in. Could hear it fine, just couldn’t get through on transmit.

One connector, any radio: the BNC quick-connect

Most handhelds don’t share the same antenna connector. Baofeng and a lot of other HTs use RP-SMA. Some use SMA. So I standardized with a BNC female on each radio, using SignalStuff’s own SMA-F to BNC-F or SMA-M to BNC-F adapter depending on which connector the radio actually has. That way, the same Signal Stick or the same run of coax can disconnect from one radio and click onto the next one in seconds with no adapter hunting.

@shotgunmoose caught that in the replies:

Another point of standardizing on BNC. RP-SMA is fragile and inconsistent between brands. BNC is a real, quarter-turn, locking connector. Put one adapter or pigtail on each radio once, and the connector stops being something you have to think about.

Two ways to mount the Signal Stick

Once the antenna and the connector are sorted, the last piece is where it physically lives on the vehicle. I’ve tried two different versions of portable mobile mounts.

Window clip mount. N2MAK mentioned this one (affiliate link) to me and I tried it on a Winlink Wednesday lunch break.

It clips onto the glass. No magnets, no roof clearance needed. It’s usually my pick for a trip, too. It’s lighter and smaller to pack than the mag mount, and it doesn’t depend on the car having a metal roof to grab onto, which not every vehicle has.

Magnetic mount. SignalStuff’s own magnetic mount with a BNC connector is what’s under the Signal Stick in most of the posts above. It needs clean metal roof clearance to work as a ground plane, but it goes on and comes off in seconds and doesn’t touch the glass.

One that stays: the permanent glass mount

Not everything is meant to come off. For APRS I run a Tram dual-band glass-mount kit (affiliate link) permanently mounted to the small front passenger window. No clip, no magnet, it’s glued to the glass and stays there.

Here’s that setup messaging W4KRS from a parking lot at lunch, off a battery-backed Baofeng and Mobilinkd:

The reply below, answering KJ5AUC’s question about my VHF/UHF setup, also answers where today’s opening photo comes from: the antenna the BTECH was plugged into is a Comet CSB-790A, mounted to a BillieBars rack on the back of the truck for about two years. It’s rated high gain for a mobile whip, a 7/8-wave section on 2m and three stacked 5/8-wave sections on 440, which is what buys the gain, not any amplification. The reply also mentions a window mount for APRS and a Signalstick on a mag mount for D-STAR. This was before N2MAK pointed me to the window clip mount above, so the “window mount” here is the Tram glass mount, not the clip:

What actually works

A Signal Stick with a BNC quick-connect for whichever radio I’m running that day. A window clip or mag mount when I need something temporary. The Tram glass mount permanently on the window for APRS. The high-gain Comet CSB-790A on the BillieBars rack for the antenna that never comes off. Each one earns its spot for what it’s actually good at, not as a replacement for the others. I’m happy running all four, each in its own niche.

Hope this helps. 73!