Introduction RF engineers and design technicians often run into a familiar roadblock: clearance. A connector on a router, SDR board, or test instrument may sit too close to a heat sink or press against the enclosure wall. Push in a straight plug, and you risk bending the cable—or worse, stressing the port itself. In those situations, a sma right angle adapter becomes the small but critical fix, turning the connection cleanly without sacrificing reliability. The catch is that these little “elbows” aren’t as simple as they look. Details such as frequency rating, gender, and even the plating finish can decide whether the link works flawlessly or fails in the field. I’ve seen engineers lose hours because they grabbed an RP-SMA by mistake; the parts looked identical until they realized the pins didn’t match. A quick check beforehand would have saved the trouble.