TV Aerial Leads and Adaptors: PAL, F Type, BNC and RCA Explained

Posted by Console Mate on 24th Aug 2026

TV Aerial Leads and Adaptors: PAL, F Type, BNC and RCA Explained

An aerial lead is the one cable in the house that everybody owns and nobody can name. It goes from the plate on the wall to the back of the television, and as long as it reaches, nobody thinks about it again. Then the TV moves, or a set-top box arrives, or the outlet turns out to be the wrong shape — and suddenly there are four different connectors involved and no obvious way to tell which one you are holding.

This guide sorts that out. It covers the leads that run from the wall to the set, the extensions for when they will not reach, and the adaptors that join one connector family to another. Every product mentioned is in stock in Australia.

Start with the gender, not the name

Look for the pin. A plug is male — it has a centre pin sticking out. A socket is female — it has a centre hole for that pin to go into. That single check settles more aerial problems than knowing any of the connector names, because a plug only ever mates with a socket.

So before you order anything, name both ends of what you have and both ends of what you want to reach. Adaptors are not interchangeable by name alone: a “PAL to F Type” adaptor exists in two versions that do opposite jobs, and only one of them will fit. Every product title in this range states the gender at each end for exactly that reason.

The four connectors you will run into

  • PAL (Belling-Lee) — the ordinary push-fit Australian TV aerial connector. This is what almost every Australian TV, set-top box and PVR uses, and what the plate on your wall almost certainly is.
  • F Type — a threaded connector that screws on. It turns up on satellite dishes and LNBs, pay-TV and MATV outlets, splitters and cable modems.
  • BNC — the connector used by security cameras, DVRs, test leads, scanners and SDR dongles.
  • RCA (phono) — the familiar single round plug. Some FM and DAB tuners, hi-fi receivers and older VCRs take their antenna feed on an RCA socket rather than an aerial socket.

Wall plate to television: the standard flylead

If both ends of the run are ordinary aerial connections, you want a PAL male-to-male lead — a plug at each end, going into the socket on the wall and the socket on the set.

The TV Aerial Flylead 3 m is the straight version. It has a standard PAL plug on both ends, which is the connection almost every Australian TV, set-top box and PVR uses, and three metres is enough to cross a room, come down from a wall-mounted set, or reach an aerial point that ended up on the wrong side of the lounge. It is built on 75Ω RG6 quad-shield coaxial cable, which carries four layers of shielding rather than the single shield used on thin flyleads.

The Right Angle TV Antenna Flylead 1.8 m does the same job but turns the connection through 90° at the TV end, so a wall-mounted or cabinet-backed set can sit flat instead of being held off the wall by a lead sticking straight out. It carries a PAL male plug at both ends — one straight, one right angle — on 75Ω 3C-2V coax, and 1.8 m is the standard wall-plate-to-TV run.

When the lead will not reach

If you already have a working aerial lead and simply need more of it, you want an extension: male plug on one end, female socket on the other, so it plugs onto the cable you own rather than replacing it.

The TV Antenna Extension Lead 1.8 m adds 1.8 m — enough to move a TV to the other side of a cabinet, or to reach a wall plate that ended up behind the furniture. The TV Antenna Extension Lead 5 m adds five, which will cross a room or run through to the next one without a joiner. Both are PAL male plug to PAL female socket on 75Ω RG6 quad-shield coax.

When the lead leaves the wall at an awkward angle

Sometimes the lead is the right length and the problem is the direction it leaves the wall. The PAL Right-Angle Adaptor is a one-piece elbow with a PAL male plug on one arm and a PAL female socket on the other, so the aerial lead leaves the wall socket sideways instead of straight out. It is machined from solid nickel-plated brass with no plastic shell to flex or crack, and the socket end uses spring-finger contact for a firm grip on the mating plug. It is completely passive — no cable, nothing to power.

PAL and F Type: check which way round

This is the pair that catches people, because both adaptors get described as “PAL to F Type” and they do opposite jobs.

  • Use the PAL Male Plug to F Type Female Socket Adaptor when the cable is the F-type one. It has a PAL male plug on one end and an F-type female screw socket on the other, so coax that has been terminated with an F connector — satellite, pay-TV, MATV or any RG6 run — can feed a television, set-top box or wall plate that only takes the ordinary push-fit aerial plug, without cutting or re-terminating anything.
  • Use the F Type Male Plug to PAL Female Socket Adaptor when the outlet is the F-type one. It has an F-type male screw plug on one end and a PAL female socket on the other, so it screws into the F socket on a wall plate, splitter, dish or set-top box and then accepts the ordinary push-fit aerial plug on your TV lead.

The test is the same as always: look at what has the pin, and what has the hole.

PAL and RCA: the tuner problem

Some FM and DAB tuners, hi-fi receivers and older VCRs take their antenna feed on an RCA socket instead of an aerial socket. Again there are two directions.

  • The PAL Male Plug to RCA Female Socket Adaptor has a PAL male plug and an RCA female socket. The PAL end pushes into the aerial socket on a TV, wall plate, VCR or set-top box, and the RCA end accepts an ordinary phono plug — so an RCA-terminated lead can reach an aerial socket without being cut or re-terminated.
  • The RCA Male Plug to PAL Female Socket Adaptor is the mirror image: RCA male plug, PAL female socket. The RCA end pushes into an RCA socket and the PAL end accepts the plug on a TV aerial lead — the usual job on an FM or DAB tuner, hi-fi receiver or older VCR whose antenna input is an RCA jack.

If the outlet you need to reach is the threaded satellite or pay-TV kind rather than an aerial socket, the F Type Male Plug to RCA Female Socket Adaptor does the same job from the F-type side: an F-type male screw plug on one end and an RCA female socket on the other, for a satellite or pay-TV outlet, an RF splitter, a cable modem or a CCTV video run.

PAL and BNC: cameras, scanners and test gear

BNC shows up on security cameras, DVRs, test leads and radio equipment. Which adaptor you need depends on whether you are joining a lead to a socket, or two leads to each other.

  • The PAL Male Plug to BNC Female Socket Adaptor has a PAL male plug and a BNC female socket. The PAL end pushes into a TV aerial socket and the BNC end accepts a BNC male plug — the usual case being a security camera, DVR or test lead that ends in BNC and a television, set-top box or tuner that only has a PAL antenna socket. Radio and scanner owners use it the other way round, taking a BNC-terminated antenna lead onto a PAL socket on a tuner or SDR dongle.
  • The PAL Socket to BNC Socket Adaptor has sockets on both ends — PAL female one side, BNC female the other, with no plug and no pin anywhere on it. That makes it the piece that joins two male leads together: a coax run ending in an ordinary TV aerial plug, and a camera, DVR or antenna lead ending in a BNC plug.

Quick reference

Where to start

The whole range lives in TV Aerial & Antenna, and every product page states the gender at both ends so you can check it against what you are holding. If you are still not sure which end is which, tell us what you have and we will identify it for you.