Viviana RF Whip Antenna Savers

P

Paul F

Veteran
Like you, I'm curious about those Viviana RF whip antenna savers. We all have learned from Larry of Lectrosonics that when the whip antenna rests against the talent's skin, it affects RF performance. Along comes Viviana with a solution. But I've found nothing about it's performance. It helps, but how much? They don't say.

Now you all know that I am incredibly cheap. So, I decided to test the idea. But instead of spending $18 for a piece of rubber (or whatever it is). I happen to have some silicon tubing that was just the right size. So I cut a length and put it over the antenna. I put the transmitter under a tight fitting shirt and made sure the antenna was pressed up against my skin. The results are that the RF level improved at least 8db and maybe even 10db.

I'd do a side-by-side comparison with the Viviana product, but hey, $18 for a rubber tube....... maybe one of you has one and will mail it to me and I'll do a side-by-side comparison.

That got me thinking just now, what the results would be if the tubing wall thickness was thicker, to get the antenna further away from the skin. I'll report back when I get around to testing that.
 
Hey, Paul. Where are you based? I have several of these in my kit.

I’ve used all sorts of solutions in the past, but I do find that the Viviana design helps keep things in place while providing the needed space around the whip to improve performance. I use them on ankle/calf straps under tighter pant legs as well.
 
I guess it's pretty ridiculous to ask someone to send me an $18 item. But I would like to know the wall thickness of the Viviana tube; how far it gets the antenna off the skin.

I did a bit more testing. The RF loss starts to show up when the antenna is about 3/16" from the skin,. I'm going to do more testing to see if I can get some consistent results regarding how distance affects performance.

It's hard to do because the RF signal bounces up/down, so I stare at the marker readouts for about a minute and observe the lowest low and the highest high and go from there. I wish there was an averaging function on the analyzer.
 
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