Chris Regan

Hi Tim- I'm the RF Venue guy. Feel free to PM me if you'd like us to ship you some units to try out, we ship demo units all the time. Just a reminder when comparing antennas always compare at unity gain and with passive systems. Active antennas or in-line amplifiers will mess up the result. There are big differences in overall efficiency between designs that go way beyond gain specs, but in general, with helical-type designs like the CP Beam and the PWS 8089s, the tradeoff is between gain and beamwidth. Trying to reach the broadest range of applications, we shot for the best balance of gain and beamdwidth we could pull off in a foldable lightweight design. A lot of the live sound guys use them for IEMs and in stadiums for football ref microphones

Doc- there are a couple different classifications for fiber optic cables to consider... I think the ones best suited for the demands of production film / TV would be the 'tactical' and 'armored' types. The lowest cost fiber cables work really well for installed systems but don't hold up as well to multiple deployments because of the jacket construction. I know one field expert in fiber for wireless audio that has been using the same armored cable for years without any degradation. It's also just much easier to work with than stiff coax. Keep in mind there is also a wide ranging and frankly confusing variety of terminations for fiber optic cables, as well as many types of multimode cables for duplex applications or for remote video that are overkill for audio. We are working to simplify this platform and tailor them for the needs of wireless audio to make it highly cost/performance competitive with typical coax-based distributed antenna systems. We will be supplying tactical, armored, and plenum rated cables for this new product series, which we are also integrating directly onto the antennas themselves with a remote DC power + fiber composite cable option to avoid the need for local power at the antenna position. Demos should be available over the next few weeks for anyone interested in taking them for a spin. Chris Regan RF Venue

Hi- we manufacture this product for AKG on an OEM basis. It includes a special impedance match for compatibility with AKG IEM transmitters, although it will work with any wireless system. A fixed diameter helical like the PWS will typically have a slightly higher gain spec but a narrower beamwidth- the key to the design of the AKG Helical and the RF Venue CP Beam is portability. Once collapsed the unit fits easily into a bag or 2RU rack drawer. Chris Regan RF Venue Chris AT RFvenue DOT com

The US Marine Corps Antenna Handbook is also excellent: free download