I got a C5 which was a breeze to put together and the workmanship looked fine. Also got a 91XG which took a little more time to assemble; a few reflectors needed a little elbow grease to snap in- seemed like the pre-drilled holes were not correctly centered.

I just went to the AD site. This thing is pricy and not much gain for hi gain antenna.

I got a C5 which was a breeze to put together and the workmanship looked fine. Also got a 91XG which took a little more time to assemble; a few reflectors needed a little elbow grease to snap in- seemed like the pre-drilled holes were not correctly centered.
Funny, I noticed it as well. I also noticed that there were no instructions on how to figure out where to attach the mast to... but one call to the 800 number, and I got top notch service.

ADTech - care to PM me the retailer names? I see some models available on the Canadian site of an "amazing" large online retailer, but not the C2V.

[edit] nm, just noticed you have a Canadian reseller page. Interesting that same "amazing" retailer isn't listed. One of the listed resellers pages looks more like a spam site. There are more google ads on their pages than products for sale!

Good warranty and return policies are nice but AD products are not available locally. It would have cost $20-$30 in shipping costs to return it. Other than the issues mentioned, I am happy with the product.

Web guy got some of the stuff back online (he's still working on it). Ignoring the marketing department for a bit, take a peek at the Tech Data Sheets as put together by the design engineer.

http://www.antennasdirect.com/cmss_files/attachmentlibrary/DB2E-TDS.pdf
Note that on page 7, John did a comparison between the original and the new 2-bay antennas.

http://www.antennasdirect.com/cmss_files/attachmentlibrary/DB4E-TDS.pdf

On this one, he did a VSWR measurement comparison instead....

So how does the new DBE-4 compare to the DB-8 or 91XG?

The comparison is a bit difficult to make as our designer was never tasked with creating a formal tech data sheet for the DB8. Consequently, any data I have for it may be the result of older simulations with other software with different data points. I simply don't know. These DB8 values are my estimates based on older polar plots and charts and may or may not correlate with modelling done by members of the public.

I'll see what I can pull together this week.

The DB2e is now in stock and shipping as of today. The DB4e shipment is still about two weeks out.

Regarding the current DB8: We're still manufacturing them for the time being. Some folks, especially our distributors, are still asking for them so several thousand are in the production queue.

Legacy DB4s are virtually out of stock. We still have legacy DB2s on hand and will sell them in parallel with the DB2e until DB2 stock is depleted.

I'll be asking Canadian suppliers to get them for me. We'll see how they respond.

The new DB4e is a four-bay that hold out hope of performing at/near the calibre of a DB8.

Will this new DB4e provide that extra gain and yet have the wider beam width that 4-bays are known to have in comparison to 8-bays?

If so, this antenna could be what the doctor ordered for many Greater Toronto Area GTA OTAers.

Still waiting for the Canadian suppliers to stock the Clearstream 2-v. That sounds pretty good for the GTA too, with the VHF elements to snag CFTO and CHCH. Any plans for a Clearstream 4-v?

ADTech, Has there been any thought to selling a vertically stacked CS4? The big advantage of the CS2 is its wide beamwidth, but this gets lost when you horizontally stack it. I know you could just buy 2 CS2s and stack them yourself, but it would be nice to have it sold as a package.

I got a C5 which was a breeze to put together and the workmanship looked fine. Also got a 91XG which took a little more time to assemble; a few reflectors needed a little elbow grease to snap in- seemed like the pre-drilled holes were not correctly centered.
How is this set up working for You ?

roger1818,

Our design engineer actually likes that idea better than the current version exactly for the reason you gave. However, I doubt it will ever be done as a retail or distributor product.

Looks like I got the wrong info on the DB2e. They're here, but it will take a couple of days before they actually start going out. Some DB4e antennas have also arrived early.

Forum sponsor Save and Replay has placed an order for a fair number of each of the new bow-ties along with more DB8s. He also ordered ONE C2 Complete as a sample. Our salesman couldn't talk him into a full case... This shipment should go out by early next week, so he should have them in stock soon.

Any plans for a Clearstream 4-v

No plans, but I did put one together as an experiment for a customer in South San Jose, Ca.

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb390/AntDirect/C4%20with%20VHF%20Dipole/C4vLeftFront.jpg

I've been pitching an inexpensive "universal" add-on that can be bolted to the back of any of our panel antennas. The parts look like this:

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb390/AntDirect/C4%20with%20VHF%20Dipole/C4vPartsDetail.jpg

I have no idea if it will actually come about. It's pretty simple - just a dipole w/holder, a diplexer, a couple of cables, and some hardware. And, wouldn't you know, I missed compressing one of those fittings before I took the photo!

Dang, I need to resize those photos...

ADTech, for the "universal" add-on, may I suggest attaching it to the mast with a u-bolt instead of to the reflector? That way it could be combined with any UHF antenna and be pointed in any direction. Here in Ottawa the UHF broadcasts are from two different towers, so the UHF antenna should be aimed between the two, but the VHF ones are all from one tower so the add-on should be aimed directly towards it. Also, it should optimally be spaced a bit further from the UHF antenna.

ADTech, Has there been any thought to selling a vertically stacked CS4? The big advantage of the CS2 is its wide beamwidth, but this gets lost when you horizontally stack it. I know you could just buy 2 CS2s and stack them yourself, but it would be nice to have it sold as a package.

I've done this hack, and it does exhibit high gain with a rediculously wide beam. It works a little better with custom-made feed lines than it did with 2 baluns and a splitter.
But I have a feeling that the DB4e will probably be even better, so I doubt they will make one.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=880&pictureid=4657
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=880&pictureid=4610

Has anyone tried making a pseudo DB8e out of 2 - DB4e ? Is there a DB8e in the works ?
i currently have a attic installed DB8, most of my 22 stations come in at 80% - 90%. i have
2 stations around 60%, a DB8e sounds like it would be good for my situation (?) :)

Has anyone tried making a pseudo DB8e out of 2 - DB4e ?

Lol. The first units to customers are likely still in the UPS delivery system...

Is there a DB8e in the works ?

Which week is this?

a DB8e sounds like it would be good for my situation (?)

Hard to say. Just keep in mind how much larger a "DB8e" would be than a "DB8"..

Cheers!

Lol. The first units to customers are likely still in the UPS delivery system...



Which week is this?



Hard to say. Just keep in mind how much larger a "DB8e" would be than a "DB8"..

Cheers!
i guess i should have asked if anyone at AD has experimented making a pseudo DB8e out
of 2 - DB4e :P

i still have quite a bit of room to fit a bigger antenna in the attic, as long as the basic
pieces will fit through the ceiling opening to finish the assembly in the attic like the DB8. :)

How is this set up working for You ?
I have only tested the antennas indoors- only thing worth noting was that the C5 did a pretty good job of snagging several UHF Buffalo stations, but no WNGS (VHF). I'm also waiting on an AD pre-amp (PA-19) to see if that makes a difference..., then I will decide on tweaking/changing my tower set-up..