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Betso Bowtie


Trey LaCroix

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Seems pretty slick if you ask me.  I know there have been countless attempts at antennas for bags discussed here over the years but this seems to be the first commercially available setup that seems easy to deploy and not a DIY attempt.  I noticed Gotham Sound added it to their inventory so hopefully they'll do a video about it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
2 hours ago, codyman said:

How's the performance been on them?

 

Not enough of dynamic range of situations yet to be able to make definitive statements.  So far, in terms of range on my SRbs (with SMQV txs), about halfway between my SNA600a dipoles and the little whips.  Most valuable to me is just have a portable solution but getting those antenna out of the inside of the bag, which reaps all sorts of consistency benefits when using SRbs in switch mode.  I like that the bowties came not only with really good mounting clamps, but quality BNC-BNC and BNC-SMA cables.

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I’ve used mine recently for a basketball game doc. They are much easier to attach to the bag than the SNA. The provided hardware is a nice accessory and the cables have a good build quality to them. Performance wise they seem to be a little better at reception than the SNA. I also like the one piece design, I am forever losing the little adjuster screws for the various block settings for the SNA. The Betsos seem to stick out of the bag a little farther, so you have to pay a little more attention when walking through a crowded area. I think they are worth the money.

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1 hour ago, vitekcz said:

one big advantage is, bowtie is using multiple wavelength, so if you are using wider range of frequencies (ie wisycom) it will be better than sna600. 

 


it will be better, because it can receive all those frequencies without adjustments, but the filtering will be a lot worse. So that could impair reception quality 

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I have now tried the bowtie on various situations; all-in-all i`m not very happy. I have Audio ltd A10 in my bag for boom and 6 Wisycom tx. 8 tracks for my basic setup. All rx goes to sma rf multi. On "light" bag work i have used two wisycom whips that covers all tx with great range - on cart i have the wisycom passive sharkfins. The bowtie just doest match up with either my bag or cart setup in range. On the bag; the standard wide-band whips does cover my system to a much better degree and on my cart the wisy-sharkfins is still the total winner of covering for range. I was tempted when buying, but sorry to say; dosent work for me. Will get rid of them.

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On 5/27/2020 at 8:58 AM, VIndlyd said:

I have now tried the bowtie on various situations; all-in-all i`m not very happy. I have Audio ltd A10 in my bag for boom and 6 Wisycom tx. 8 tracks for my basic setup. All rx goes to sma rf multi. On "light" bag work i have used two wisycom whips that covers all tx with great range - on cart i have the wisycom passive sharkfins. The bowtie just doest match up with either my bag or cart setup in range. On the bag; the standard wide-band whips does cover my system to a much better degree and on my cart the wisy-sharkfins is still the total winner of covering for range. I was tempted when buying, but sorry to say; dosent work for me. Will get rid of them.

 

Hello VIndlyd,

can I ask you to send me photo of your rig? Do you use BOWTIEs in the right polarization and orientation? What frequency do you use? Sorry to ask, but almost all customers are very happy with them and give us good feedbacks. Or maybe isn't one of them faulty?

Of course, as a main antennas for the cart is better to use SHARKIE style antennas. Their gain is better and directivity as well.

We would like to make you happy, so waiting for your response.

Kind regards,

Jan Zastera
BETSO

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I used the Betso Bowtie for my first time in a very crowded RF environment a couple weeks ago.

 

Another mixer picked a frequency we could share. During live TV I received the talent signal just fine, while the other mixer was getting serious dropouts with standard 'Lectro whips, mounted on the receiver, at the same distance. I picked a new frequency to solve the problem for the rest of the shoot.

 

I found the Bowtie easy to deploy and easy to stow on my bag when not in use. I can also see how to mount the SNA 600a using the same hardware. I hope, one afternoon fairly soon, I'll get around to testing the SNA vs Bowtie vs whips here in my RF quiet neighborhood.

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12 hours ago, Tim Norris said:

I used the Betso Bowtie for my first time in a very crowded RF environment a couple weeks ago.

 

Another mixer picked a frequency we could share. During live TV I received the talent signal just fine, while the other mixer was getting serious dropouts with standard 'Lectro whips, mounted on the receiver, at the same distance. I picked a new frequency to solve the problem for the rest of the shoot.

 

I found the Bowtie easy to deploy and easy to stow on my bag when not in use. I can also see how to mount the SNA 600a using the same hardware. I hope, one afternoon fairly soon, I'll get around to testing the SNA vs Bowtie vs whips here in my RF quiet neighborhood.

 

Hello Tim,


thank you for your feedback and using of our products!

If you need anything, feel free to contact us anytime.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jan Zastera
BETSO

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  • 7 months later...

So I've only used my Bowties once so far and I paired them to my new PSC Four pack that has an SRc and SRb in it.  I was up on Mullholland Highway 100 feet from a cell phone tower and eye sight away from all those TV towers up by the Hollywood Sign.  I run my boom on a Lectro HM and I had two talents wired up so three wireless channels running.  For some reason, despite scanning for free frequencies, I just could not get a clean channel in Block 19 like I usually do.  I found some that were at least mostly free but even with talent 10 feet away from me I was getting drop outs.  Unplugged the Bowties and just went with whips on my SRc and SRb and then I was fine the rest of the day.

 

1) The PSC Four Pack is brand spanking new so maybe something is going on with it.  I need to test it with my RF Venue Antenna and see if that has different results.

2) Maybe I was just being bombarded by RF in that place and I need to test it somewhere else to see if I have the same problem.

3) Maybe the Bowties are just getting overpowered by my HM being so close to them.  I like having wireless boom when I'm a one man band as I can quickly put the boom down to adjust mics etc and not have to sit and fight with a coil cable.  Also makes it nice for when we quickly go into a sit down interview I can throw the boom on a stand quickly and not fuss with running wires etc.

 

So I have some homework and experimenting to do!  I do like how they mount to my bag though, that's for sure.

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The fact that the whips on the SRc's worked makes me believe something was going on with the PSC Four Pack. The Betso Bowties are just wideband dipoles and should act no differently than a whip that is  the correct length for the frequency. The Bowties won't overload in and of themselves. This leaves the cables and the PSC as possible problem areas. It may be the TV and cell towers with their strong RF signals were overloading the amp in the PSC. The problem with trying to analyze it later, is that the RF environment is probably absent. If you could get back to the same location, try the setup with and without the PSC along with your other tests.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

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5 minutes ago, LarryF said:

The fact that the whips on the SRc's worked makes me believe something was going on with the PSC Four Pack. The Betso Bowties are just wideband dipoles and should act no differently than a whip that is  the correct length for the frequency. The Bowties won't overload in and of themselves. This leaves the cables and the PSC as possible problem areas. It may be the TV and cell towers with their strong RF signals were overloading the amp in the PSC. The problem with trying to analyze it later, is that the RF environment is probably absent. If you could get back to the same location, try the setup with and without the PSC along with your other tests.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

Thanks Larry!  This morning I velcro'ed my Bowties to the front of my Stingray bag like RocketTree did above (I like how they are now flush against the bag rather than sticking out) and fired up the HM and two SM's here at home.  Seemed to be behaving properly here at home as I did a very unscientific walk test through a few walls etc.  I will be at a new outdoor location Monday for a walk and talk interview so I'll give them another spin and see what happens as that should put them through their paces again.  Hopefully it isn't the PSC given that it is new but then again I guess it hasn't been 100% proven yet given it's a new release (I'm really liking it though given it's abilities and price!).  I'm just glad that I know the whips work no matter what so at least if the PSC or Bowties act up again, at least I have a backup plan in a pinch!

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I own an old version Sixpack whose RF-design is far from perfect. The internal connections to the antenna jack's are just unshielded pcb traces  which therefore act as antennas themselves. Also the BPF filtering happens after the signal amplification. Nearby TV or LTE transmitters will easily overload the amplifier before they can be filtered out by the BPF.

I don't know if they fixed these design flaws in the new version Sixpack or the 4 or 12 pack.

I would be very interested in pictures of these products with the top lid removed.

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