I've read up on using IEM systems to get signal to remote speaker locations.
I have an event I'll be providing for which needs to have wireless distribution to 4 speaker locations. I intend to use my PSM300 system, but I'm not sure what antenna to use. I have a 1/2 Wave Dipole (UA8 omni) and PA805 LPDA to choose from. Since the 4 speaker locations are at up to +/- 90 degrees from FOH, I think I should use the OMNI rather than the LPDA. Is my assumption correct?
Most LPDA's have a roughly cardioid(-ish) dispersion pattern in the horizontal plane (assuming vertical polarization, that is). A true cardioid pattern would mean that 90° off-axis is -6 dB, but for real antennas (like real microphones) the actual polar plot is frequency-specific. Of course, LPDAs also tend to exhibit gain relative to a dipole, so often that -6 dB at 90° is still close to 0 dBd (which is to say that, most of the time, the signal strength coming off the front half of a LPDA should be at least as good as an omni).
From a practical standpoint, if your TX was in the middle of the room and you had RXs in the corners then an omni would be the way to go. Much beyond that, directional antennas become the better choice, since you'll be putting more energy where you want it and less energy where it will only be increasing the chance of multipath (which is a lot harder to counter in an IEM RX).
-Russ
