Shure UA720 Bodypack Antenna

The Shure UA720 is a replacement omnidirectional 1/4-wave whip antenna designed for Shure UHF wireless bodypack transmitters and portable receivers. It is tuned specifically to transmit and receive RF signals cleanly within the 578–698 MHz UHF spectrum.

It works with a wide variety of Shure SMA-equipped bodypacks and portable units operating in the 578–698 MHz range, including:

• Transmitters: UR1, UR1M, ULXD1, and QLXD1 bodypack transmitters.
• Receivers: P9R, P9RA, P9RA+, P10R, P10R+ in-ear personal monitor receivers, and the UR5 portable camera-mount receiver.

Shure color-codes the top tip caps on its UA700-series whip antennas so audio technicians can quickly match antennas to bodypack frequency bands without reading tiny print. The UA720 features a black top cap corresponding to the 578–698 MHz range (whereas other bands use yellow, grey, blue, or red caps).

The antenna uses a standard SMA Male threaded connector. It threads directly onto the SMA female antenna jack on the top of compatible Shure bodypack chassis, providing a secure mechanical connection that resists loosening during performer movement.

Using an antenna tuned for the wrong frequency band creates an impedance mismatch (high VSWR). This causes a noticeable drop in effective radiated RF power, significantly shorter wireless operating range, and increased audio dropouts, and on higher-power transmitters, it can generate excess heat in the RF output stage.

The UA720 is part of Shure's standard whip antenna lineup. Shure also offers updated reinforced whip models (such as the UA702 and UA703 series) that feature thicker, more flexible strain-relief construction and wider overlapping frequency coverage to better withstand bending and sweat in rigorous touring environments.

No, the standard UA720 is a passive 1/4-wave whip antenna without internal Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filtering. For high-RF-density environments where PSM in-ear receivers sit right next to active wireless mic transmitters, Shure offers specialized SAW-filtered whip variants (such as the UA720-SAW) to reject out-of-band front-end overload.

Because the human body absorbs UHF radio frequencies, the whip should never be tucked inside tight clothing, folded down against the battery door, or pressed directly against bare skin. Keeping the whip vertical and separated slightly from the body—or routing it along a costume seam—maximizes line-of-sight RF propagation.