Jump to content

RF Venue 2.4 GHz CP Beam for Zaxnet


Max Dumesnil

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

I'm thinking about picking up one of these very soon. I was originally contemplating going down the L-Com 1 watt amplifier and antenna route, but my head was hurting with all of the FCC regulations, reverse polarity connectors, etc... This seems to be a much easier route. Right now I don't have a need for incredible zaxnet range, just enough for camera scratch track use and sending transmitter commands more reliably when not right on set. This may be enough for me for now.

 

Down the road however, does anyone know if this antenna could be used in conjunction with an L-com 1watt amplifier? Perhaps I could add one later to get even more range. I will check with RF Venue about this, but anyone here have any thoughts in the meantime?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much did people pay food the 2.4GHz CP Beam? I have contacted RF Venue in regards to pricing and where my nearest dealer is, but until they reply, i would appreciate it if someone wouldn't mind sharing the price. Thank you all who shared info. This seems to fit the bill for an upcoming job, if I haven't left it too late. If I have left it too late I am sure I will find a future job it will be useful on.

 

Cheers Nate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I have already decided this is a definite addition to my kit. 

I was just after a starting price point. Here in Australia we often pay an additional third of the price that you do in the US due to shipping and taxes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Down the road however, does anyone know if this antenna could be used in conjunction with an L-com 1watt amplifier? Perhaps I could add one later to get even more range. I will check with RF Venue about this, but anyone here have any thoughts in the meantime?

 

Just heard back from Chris at RF Venue about this:

 

"The 2.4 GHz CP Beam will certainly be compatible with your 1 watt amplifier and should deliver a pretty substantial range boost from a standard passive configuration.  

Keep in mind that in a lot of cases in the RF world, more power is not a good thing, and you want to ensure you aren't overloading any of your receivers or picking up lots of stray 2.4 radios out there resulting in a high noise floor."

 

So good news. Looks like it is possible to upgrade to a powered amplifier setup with this same antenna if extreme zaxnet range is needed. But at least for my uses, no amp at all will probably be the best setup for me. Simple setup, no power drain, and much less potential spray/desensing issues with my talent receivers and comteks.

 

Chris did follow up and warn that a 1watt amp added to the output power already coming from the Zaxnet transmitter would put you at or above the FCC limit, so this is something to keep in mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just now came across this thread, and the antenna looks great...

Just curious,  is anyone using a less directional, more "omni" version of external 2.4g antenna?

 

It would seem that I would be most concerned about a 200' radius from my cart for clients, actors and such...

and who knows what "direction" they would be at, from me...

 

MF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck getting a rental for that! :)

my 2.4ghz amp is cheap and works great. Thanks Jan.

Again I am very sceptical about an antenna with a long cable without an amp. The cable loss at 2.4ghz is so extreme that if there is no amp the antenna and a long cable will not work very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just now came across this thread, and the antenna looks great...

Just curious, is anyone using a less directional, more "omni" version of external 2.4g antenna?

It would seem that I would be most concerned about a 200' radius from my cart for clients, actors and such...

and who knows what "direction" they would be at, from me...

MF

Some people also use the corner reflector antenna. Directional, but less so than the CP Beam.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

I have it does help.

Sorry for bringing this thread back to life. Jack and others, I was wondering: have ever compared signal strengths with the RF Explorer or even just the readout on an ERX between setups with and without the CP Beam? Even just at relatively close distance and maybe one with CP Beam the other without any antenna? I'm finding it difficult to relate to what many wrote here reagarding the range improvement with this antenna, so I'd apprecciate said readout. I can compare that much more easily with my own setup and consider the value (or lack of) of getting this antenna.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
11 minutes ago, azw said:

Picking this up again. I'm on a football doc series and could definitely use more zaxnet range on game days. 

 

Is this still the best simple solution for now?

The same, L-Com, corner or CP Beam, best with some emitters and vote on

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've done tests with similar amp to above, 2W and 3W and compared them with my L com 1W both on walk test range with erx and rf explorer. The small 2/3W amps did give a little more range and gain but only slightly, where they were bad and the reason I no longer use them was the side band freq noise, they spewed out a lot more spurious RF around the center frequency which tends to get into other gear and also not a great thing when working on set with a lot of other gear on 2.4. Can't recommend the RF explorer enough when setting up and testing wireless systems, they are a wealth of info and shine a small torch into that black hole of wireless reception.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, cjh said:

I've done tests with similar amp to above, 2W and 3W and compared them with my L com 1W both on walk test range with erx and rf explorer. The small 2/3W amps did give a little more range and gain but only slightly, where they were bad and the reason I no longer use them was the side band freq noise, they spewed out a lot more spurious RF around the center frequency which tends to get into other gear and also not a great thing when working on set with a lot of other gear on 2.4. Can't recommend the RF explorer enough when setting up and testing wireless systems, they are a wealth of info and shine a small torch into that black hole of wireless reception.

Thanks for sharing. Have you come across any suitable amps that are a smaller alternative to the L com?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...