— The Diversity Architectural™ Antenna has proven itself a versatile, high-performance, problem-solving wireless microphone antenna that disappears into its surroundings —
Ashland, MA, USA — In its first year on the market, the innovative RF Venue® Architectural Diversity™ Antenna has earned end-user acclaim as a high-performance, true diversity remote antenna for wireless microphone systems with a nearly invisible visual footprint. The Architectural Diversity Antenna design folds the patented cross-polarized characteristics of the widely adopted RF Venue Diversity Fin® Antenna into a compact, low-profile enclosure that can be ceiling- or wall-mounted and painted to blend with its surroundings. In installations where aesthetics matter, the Diversity Architectural Antenna is an unobtrusive, high-performance solution to the problems of wireless microphone signal dropouts, multipath interference and IMD issues that plague the use of separate paddle antenna pairs.
Houses of Worship are one user group lauding the Architectural Diversity Antenna. When the University Park United Methodist Church in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park, Texas, added two new classrooms, Clear ProAV, the church’s AV systems integration provider, chose four Diversity Architectural Antennas routed to wireless mic receivers through an RF Venue 4 ZONE™ active antenna combiner to cover the entire new construction area.
“More churches have become aware of a high-church aesthetic in design,” says Anthony Stowell, Director of Integrations at Clear ProAV. “They know that technology now has to have an architectural consideration as well as a practical one. That’s why the Diversity Architectural Antenna was such a great addition to our tool belt. It’s paintable, so we can make it fit any color scheme, and its slim design means it can fit anywhere.” The Diversity Architectural Antenna delivers on aesthetics, he says, “while also doing its core job of making sure that this new area of the church never has a wireless dropout.”
Congregation B’nai Israel, in Tustin, CA, had a problematic wireless microphone system with receivers located in a metal rack some 40 feet from their stage and behind a solid, six-inch-think wall. To eliminate regular and annoying wireless mic dropouts, the congregation’s integration partner, Mastermind Production Group, installed a Diversity Architectural Antenna.
“I’ve been using RF Venue’s Diversity Fin antennas for years on touring and rentals, and they’ve always performed perfectly,” says Chad Griswold, CEO at Mastermind. “Congregation B’nai Israel needed that kind of performance, but they also required that it be very low profile, as invisible as possible, to maintain the temple’s aesthetic appearance, so going with the new Diversity Architectural Antenna was the perfect solution for them.”
The Diversity Architectural Antenna has also found favor in commercial installations. The redeveloped O’Connells Pavilion at the Queenstown Mall, in the resort city of Queenstown on the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island, incorporates global retailer DFS Group’s “Resort Galleria” concept, which includes retail outlets and a 230-diner capacity food hall. “In relation to where the customer mostly wanted to use their wireless microphone system, the electronics cabinet is located in the opposite corner of the building, behind a concrete wall,” says Reuben Pearce, Director at AV systems integrator Strawberry Sound Queenstown. To avoid wireless microphone dropouts, a remote antenna was the appropriate solution, but that solution had to also fit in with the facility’s visual aesthetic. “We needed an architecturally appropriate product to use on an exposed ceiling,” Pearce explains.
A Diversity Architectural Antenna provided by RF Venue’s New Zealand distributor JPRO delivered “reliable wireless coverage from day one,” says Pearce, with exceptional RF connectivity and zero dropouts throughout the space. “RF Venue supplied a direct and reliable solution to what could have been a very real wireless problem.”
Schools are another class of customer embracing the Diversity Architectural Antenna. Its sleek, low-profile design and ability to fit snugly beneath a polycarbonate protective cover to make it safe and secure against errant basketballs was a factor in its selection for an install in the gym at the Lumberton Early Childhood Center in Lumberton, Texas. “It’s a very practical consideration,” says Joe Fertitta, CEO/President of CueBlue, the AVL systems design and integration company that has now installed the Diversity Architectural Antenna in additional facilities in the Lumberton Independent School District.
In the gym, says Feritta. “With the antennas needing to be located between 10 and 12 feet above the floor and near the basketball hoops, an antenna there will get hit. Using the Diversity Architectural Antenna, we know it’ll survive this environment nicely.” The D-Arc’s dual-feed antenna design also eliminated the need to run conduit between the two whip antennas that had been used in the past. Fertitta, who has been a fan of RF Venue’s products for years, says the Diversity Architectural Antenna offers “a new level of service for clients,” adding that the Diversity Architectural Antenna is also exceptionally adaptable when it comes to mounting on walls or ceilings. “But most importantly,” he concludes, “they work perfectly anywhere you put them.”
The Diversity Architectural Antenna has even had a novel application in portable use. The Caesar Rodney High School Rider Marching Band in Camden, Delaware, competes in numerous band competitions each year. Their setup deploys 12 channels of wireless microphones on a dozen horns to give the band’s show maximum impact. To address increased cell phone signal interference, the band’s rig now uses a pole-mounted Diversity Architectural Antenna to feed their RF Venue DISTRO4™ antenna distribution amplifier which in turn feeds the wireless microphone receivers.
“The D-ARC’s 150-degree flood-type pattern gave us the focused coverage we needed to keep all those channels of wireless audio clear,” says system provider Integrity Sound Solutions’ President John Nuzzo. The addition of the RF Venue 530-590 MHz Bandpass Filter to the assembly has “gone even further in keeping the signals clean, especially filtering out noise from stadium LED lighting,” Nuzzo continues. “We take all of this, along with our Audio-Technica 3000 Series wireless microphone system, to every competition we enter now. This combination of the D-ARC and the Bandpass Filters means we start every event with a very robust RF infrastructure. We’ve gone from having RF interference issues at 25 percent of our events to none at all this season.”
The Diversity Architectural Antenna is available at a MAP of $629. For complete wireless microphone system upgrades, the Diversity Architectural Antenna is available in turnkey RF Venue 4 and 9 Channel Wireless Microphone Upgrade Packs that include antenna, an RF Venue DISTRO4 or DISTRO9 antenna distribution amplifier and all cabling needed. RF Venue wireless audio essentials prevent dropouts with wireless mic systems of any brand or model, and ship from stock.
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Diversity Architectural Antenna
Photo caption: The Diversity Architectural Antenna installed in the Queenstown Mall in New Zealand delivered “reliable wireless coverage from day one” along with the neutral aesthetic desired.
