June 6, 2025
A loyal user for the past six years, Sacramento Production Services employs products from RF Venue®’s comprehensive line of wireless audio essentials, including the new CP Stage™ compact, circularly-polarized antenna for mic and IEM systems, the cross-polarized Diversity Fin® antenna, and the 4 ZONE™ active antenna combiner, to ensure their clients’ wireless systems perform flawlessly in dense RF environments
Walpole, MA, USA, June 5, 2025 – Sacramento Production Services, a premier provider of professional event production and rental services in Northern California for more than 35 years, has adopted RF Venue’s CP Stage compact, circularly-polarized antennas as a cornerstone of its recent wireless systems deployment at Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento River Cats and the temporary home of the Oakland A’s, as well as in support of wireless microphone and IEM systems it implements and rents.
For the Sutter Health Park installation, Sacramento Production Services deployed three CP Stage antennas—two paired with Shure ULXD handheld wireless systems and one with a Sennheiser G4 IEM system used by the A’s to support national anthem singers. The CP Stage’s outstanding IP weather resistance rating “was a must,” said Keith Wackford, Sales & Production Manager at Sacramento Production Services. “The pattern, gain and IP rating made CP Stage the logical choice for both wireless microphones and IEM systems at the park. We’re seeing performance beyond 400 feet on these antennas, the results have been a win for everyone involved.” RF Venue’s patented Diversity Fin antennas, allowing true diversity from co-mounted, cross-polarized LPDA (vertically oriented) and dipole (horizontally oriented) elements, were connected to the brand’s 4 ZONE active antenna combiner “to allow even more freedom for the MCs to roam from concourse to field.”
The unique compact size of the mic stand-mountable CP Stage antenna – its ruggedized housing is just 10" x 12" x 1" – has also proven invaluable in touring and rental applications. “Helicoidal antennas are big and bulky—they don’t pack well and often require extra road cases,” Wackford noted. “Being able to fit multiple CP Stage antennas and all cabling into a single 3RU drawer is awesome. That’s a huge win for efficiency and flexibility in the field.”
Sacramento Production Services recently added a good number of the new Shure WMAS digital IEM systems to its rental stock. “We knew as soon as we saw the new CP Stage antenna that we’d be adding it to our Shure Axient PSM system design,” said Wackford. “Axient PSM can be configured as a very complex IEM system that supports multiple antenna deployments, and the CP Stage antenna provides us with a compact, high-performance option that fits beautifully into our workflow.”
The antenna’s broad, circularly-polarized directional pattern has delivered consistent results for early adopters like Sacramento Production Services across varied environments. “The best an antenna can perform is to not be noticed at all—and that’s exactly how the CP Stage performed with the Shure Axient Digital PSM IEM system and Shure wireless mics at a recent show at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center,” Wackford shared. “We had eight handheld mics and eight IEMs working flawlessly right next to the downtown convention center. No dropouts, no problems—just a happy team and happy performers.”
The CP Stage’s hypercardiod polar pattern uniquely has a rear transmission lobe that monitor engineers have found valuable for their QC bodypack receivers. “It’s a drag to be behind the antennas and have to listen to dropouts while mixing monitors,” said Wackford. “It becomes very fatiguing. The benefit of the rear lobe was noticeable during the monitor system pre-build at the Arts Center show,” he added. “Zero dropouts for all IEM users including our monitor engineer.”
Sacramento Production Services has been using RF Venue gear for more than six years. Their previous projects include a notable installation at the Jacquelyn Project, a high-end art and social club in Sacramento. “We sell what we use and know works,” said Wackford, himself a near forty-year veteran whose resume encompasses touring and a specialization in corporate and political event production. He brought that history and some of his clients to Sacramento Production Services some 18 years ago. “It’s important that we pass our real-world experience on to our sales and installation clients.”
Looking ahead, the CP Stage will continue to play a major role in the company’s summer season, including a large two-day country music festival. “Wireless deployment can be tough—especially in a dense RF environment like Sacramento,” concluded Wackford. “The CP Stage gives us confidence heading into every event.”
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