Trying to compare the Carrier Class Sectors of Cambium and RF Elements
Whats more important?
What would You sacrifice to have more of & Why?
VSWR
FtB Ratio
Isolation Between Ports
Cross POL Isolation
Below are images of RF Elements advertising material.
I beleave the cambium sector ant’s are one in the same. Cambium uses rf elements carier class sectors. Correct me if im wrong…
Specs differ, but the Cambium 5GHz sector antennas we've always procured included the RF Elements "patent-pending Backshield", and look just like RF Elements CC Sectors.
I noticed before that the 20dB higher-gain RF Elements sector is NOT suitable for 5.1-5.2 use. (H is rated for 4-8dB in that band, while V is rated below 0dB) So only the 17dB model would be acceptable for us, given we use 5.1-5.2 at least as often as 5.7-5.8.
The Cambium specs do NOT match the RF Elements specs for gain, angle, nor physical dimensions of the antenna, however. So I suspect RF Elements is making custom antennas for Cambium, or providing Backshield components to another manufacturer doing the same.
j
Also note that the Cambium weight specs include the attached AP in that 12.1 lbs - they list 12.1 lbs mounted antenna weight including AP and brackets, and 6.8lbs antenna without brackets or radio.
j
The Cambium 5ghz sector is made by RF Elements, and the RF elements CC sectors are a similar design, but they are definitely not the same antenna.
the 20db RF Elements sector is completely uninteresting to me for reasons mentioned, but we have used quite a few of the 17db model, and I have been pretty happy with them. Looking at the specs, the biggest disadvantage of the RF elements over the Cambium appears to be slightly worse F/B ratio (>30db vs >32db) and the gain starts to drop pretty badly in 5.1ghz with the RF elements. The RF elements also have about a 10degree wider beam than the Cambium 90 degree. The reason the Cambium weighs more is pretty obvious if you compare them side by side - the Cambium sector is about 10" taller and has steel mounting brackets vs cast aluminum (or something of the sort) on the RF elements - but the mounts are exactly the same design and I think all the parts are interchangeable. You also need an extra adapter to attache an ePMP radio to the RF elements sector, which currently seems to be on backorder everywhere, but you can use a Cambium ePMP connectorized ePMP mounting bracket instead (the holes line up perfectly on the RF elements sector, so you can just swap the bracket).
