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Betso Sharkie active antenna


S Tejada

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We have have a pair in the shop - it seems very well built. With the move and construction, I haven't had a chance to test them, but I have high hopes. Here are the specs:

 

*BETSO SHARKIE* 
- 8dB of avarage gain (peak 9dB), cardioid directivity 
- excellent VSWR < 1.2 (absolute minimum power is reflected) 
- ultra low noise onboard amplifier with variable gain between -6 to 20dB 
(noise of LNA IC is less than 0.75dB!!!) 
- high IP3 (higher than 34dBm) 
- automatic LED display brightness setting (for optimal power 
consumption, for dark scenes, where higher brigntess could cause problems) 
- manual setting of brightness is available too (hold both buttons together 
for 2 seconds) 
- very durable design in comparison with competitors 
- water resistance (rain is absolutely no problem because of sealings) 
- low power consuption (in comparison with competitors needs 50% less 
power), powering through cable (from receivers) 5-20V DC 
 
$579/each
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I believe all "shark fin" (log periodic) type antennas operate in the general range of 400 to 800 MHz.

Yes true but there's some variation in manufacturer's spec.

I have some radio mics down to 500 Mhz and some as high as 862 Mhz hence my interest in bandwidth -

 

Lectrosonics ALP650ME LPDA Shark Fin Antenna = 537 to 768 MHz

Lectrosonics ALP500 = 450 to 862 MHz

Zaxcom’s BlueFin = 500 to 750 MHz

Audio Technica ATW-A49 = 440 to 900 MHz

Wisycom LBNA 470 to 870 MHz

RFVenue Diversity Fin 468 to 740 MHz

** added** Betso Sharkie bandwith is 470-850 MHz

 

Betso prices have been keen before, plus they're less wind prone and variable active gain.

Anyone seen or know a price for the Betso Sharkie?

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I believe all "shark fin" (log periodic) type antennas operate in the general range of 400 to 800 MHz.

Not necessarily true.

Well I should qualify that, the biggest demand is UHF (radios, terrestrial television), so that is what most are built for, but could be constructed for other out of band frequencies too.

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Hello guys,

 

European pricing is not right. pindrop accidently found our testing area for new BETSO web pages. There are only testing data there. It should be hidden for customers. Sorry for that. Pricing will be the same in Europe as well in the USA!

 

Price in EU is 479 EUR/pc tax excluded. Price in the USA 579 USD/pc. Worldwide Free delivery when ordering online at BETSO STORE. Ask you local distributor for demo of SHARKIE.

 

Our new web should be launched in 2 weeks.

 

Best regards,

 

Jan Zastera

BETSO ELECTRONICS s.r.o.

 

$579 USD at TrewAudio

€999 Euros at Betso Nexavision Czech republic

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you know, taxes in eu are so high because the money goes to all the european parliament members and workers.....we support the bureaucracy.

Was much more expensive and far more destructive to finance internal European military activities of the last millennia though......

 

I went to the Betso website easily publicly available, not hidden, to find a price, put it in my basket and went through the purchase procedure and saw VAT added.

But anyway 479 EUR is a much better price, thanks :)

 

Jan whilst you're here do you have figures for the bandwidth please?

Is the manual for Betso Sharkie available yet please?

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I know. You are right. Company which made this mistake will be punished.  :)

 

Sharkie bandwith is 470-850 MHz. There is a significant signal attenuation outside this range because of internal RF filters, which are great for avoid mobile/wifi/walkie-talkie interferences.. Graphs and measurements will be on our new pages. Manual will be ready soon. We are working on that.

 

Thank you for interest!

 

Was much more expensive and far more destructive to finance internal European military activities of the last millennia though......

 

I went to the Betso website easily publicly available, not hidden, to find a price, put it in my basket and went through the purchase procedure and saw VAT added.

But anyway 479 EUR is a much better price, thanks :)

 

Jan whilst you're here do you have figures for the bandwidth please?

Is the manual for Betso Sharkie available yet please?

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Thought I'd revive of this thread,  it's been about 18 months since last post,  anyone pick up a pair of these up and been using them regularly and have practical experience to share?   I have a couple Lectro Venue rack mount receivers that I want to change my jumper on to work with powered antennas for anticipated runs up to 200' But I also do a lot of short runs switching back and forth.  My concern is front end overload on shorter runs without easy access to jumper as I don't want to send power to a passive antenna as a work around or anything like that.  What I like most is that you can easily adjust gain right on the antenna without taking it apart to calculate appropriate gain make up, run your Venue 1 with phantom on all the time, and reduce to no gain for shorter runs.  Seems like the best of both worlds, what am I missing?

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Been using them about a year they work great no over loading issues and you can actually turn them down to -5 as well. I usually run the when on my cart at 4 which makes up for the loss on my 8ft run. I have been very happy with them too. They are also water proof which is nice I still put a bag it over them when I remote them out in very bad weather but don't have to worry about a quick summer shower or dew hurting them. If you have any more questions feel free to call  

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11 minutes ago, Michael Wynne said:

Thanks for the reply Whitney, have you done many long runs with them around 200' or so? , just curious what kind of practical performance your noticing on the longer lengths as well.

M

Longest I have gone is 125ft and they preformed the same or slightly better then the Lectrosonics powered version. I dial the gain to 13 to compensate for signal loss. The Sharkie go up to 18 power which is about what is needed for 200 ft with RG-8/X - Belden 9258.  I am sure you already know it is better to move closer if possible but I never worry about them when I do use them 

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HI MIchael- just an FYI-  Lectro can modify the Venue mainframes with a toggle switch that allows you to turn on or off the phantom power at will.  No more jumpers...  

 

5 hours ago, Michael Wynne said:

Thought I'd revive of this thread,  it's been about 18 months since last post,  anyone pick up a pair of these up and been using them regularly and have practical experience to share?   I have a couple Lectro Venue rack mount receivers that I want to change my jumper on to work with powered antennas for anticipated runs up to 200' But I also do a lot of short runs switching back and forth.  My concern is front end overload on shorter runs without easy access to jumper as I don't want to send power to a passive antenna as a work around or anything like that.  What I like most is that you can easily adjust gain right on the antenna without taking it apart to calculate appropriate gain make up, run your Venue 1 with phantom on all the time, and reduce to no gain for shorter runs.  Seems like the best of both worlds, what am I missing?

 

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  • 1 month later...

Ordered a pair last November. Jan himself handled the order really fast, was very friendly in his e-mails, and threw in a pouch too. Free shipping at least to EU!

Now after a few weeks using them, I'll say they've always given me great range, and setting the gain is easy as well as secure. They feed an Audio Ltd. RF-DA that splits to DX2 and SRb units. My old passive fins now transmit comteks when farther away from set.

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