Tag Archives: Bonito

DXpedition antenna testing: the Bonito Boni whip and a 240 metre barbed wire fence

Hi there, a few days ago I posted some reception videos comparing the performance of the Boni whip with a 30 metre longwire antenna at home, with a further check against the performance of the H field Wellbrook ALA1530 active loop. The conclusion of those tests was essentially confirmation that E field antennas don’t usually perform very well under a blanket of ‘electrosmog’ and that only on Longwave, did the Boni whip prevailed over the longwire; otherwise there was no usable difference in performance between the two.

Sony ICF-SW55 receiver ‘Quiet’ location for Boni whip test

This prompted a number of my subscribers to ask when I would be taking the Boni whip on a DXpedition for an outdoor test against the Wellbrook and either a substantial longwire, or the 200 metre Beverage. Time is limited right now for a full test, however, I managed to throw together a kit of parts necessary to run a quick set of comparison tests with the whip, against the barbed wire fence I use for ad hoc DXing when out walking the dog! Over a period of an hour or so, I managed to copy a few stations on 31 and 49 metres and thus recorded signals using the Sony ICF-SW55 receiver with the Boni whip and barbed wire fence. Now previously, I have used that fence as an antenna for the excellent little Tecsun PL-310ET, with some nice results. However, after this series of tests, my views on the fence have changed a little. Obviously it might be somewhat directional and earthed along it’s length, neither of which I’ve checked, however, notwithstanding these performance-related factors, the performance of the whip which at home had been terrible, surprised me greatly. Text links to a set-up video and the reception videos on my Oxford Shortwave Log YouTube channel follow directly below, with embedded videos at the end of the post.

Finally, if you’re looking for a well performing, compact and portable active antenna for outdoor use in quiet environments and of course, DXpeditions, I would definitely recommend the Boni whip. Just bear in mind that the SNR it delivers at home might not be usable for anything more than casual listening.

Thanks for watching/listening/reading and I wish you all great DX!

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.

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Urban DXing: testing the Bonito Boni whip against a 30 metre longwire & the Wellbrook ALA15030

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Hi there, if like me, you live in an urban environment, chances are QRM is having a negative impact on the quality of the signals you’re receiving at home. The presence of electrical noise makes antenna choice very important, particuarly if you’re planning to spend more than a few £££s on something more sophisticated than a length of wire. Recently I was considering the the purchase of a second compact antenna, for use at home in my shack and out and about on DXpeditions. I already had the excellent Wellbrook ALA1530 H field antenna, but at more than £250, it’s very costly and thus it seemed rather extravagent to buy a second one, if I could find something with similar performance for less expense. Space is at a premium at home and of course I take much of my equipment out on DXpeditions, so the Bonito Boni whip active antenna appeared to be an ideal choice. A wideband active antenna (from 20 kHz to 300 MHz) operating from 12 to 15V DC, with a very compact form-factor definitely ticked all the boxes. Furthermore, with reasonable second and third order intercept points of +55 and +32.5 dBm respectively, the Boni whip, on paper at least, looked like a pretty good buy at around £100.

Now, clearly, an E field antenna such as the Boni whip is not going to match the SNR provided by the H field Wellbrook ALA1530 in a noisy, urban environment. I have uploaded a few reception videos to my YouTube channel to demonstrate this, making a direct comparison of the two. However, what about the performance of the whip versus a simple longwire in an urban environment? Is there a delta in performance? The value proposition of the whip is primarliy in it’s performance, coupled with portability I suppose, but that must be considered a secondary requirement. The whip might be 10 or 15 times more expensive than a reel of cheap equipment wire, but will the reception justify the cost delta?!

Text links follow directly below, with embedded videos thereafter; you will find 3 reception videos comparing the whip and a 30 metre longwire, on shortwave and one each for LW and MW. At the end of each video there’s a section with the Wellbrook loop, just to calibrate where the longwire and whip are in terms of a much more effective H field antenna. The result? Well, there’s not much to separate the longwire and Boni whip, except on LW, where the whip prevails. A friend told me recently, if reception is rubbish at home under a blanket of QRM, don’t blame the antenna, the noise is the real problem. He was right. So, the next tests are to be undertaken out in the field, where the whip has a real chance to shine. I’m rooting for it because to have an antenna that performs as well as, or close to my loop out in the woods, yet can be packed away into a small case would be brilliant. Thanks for reading/watching/listening.

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Why good antennas need to be fed with good coax

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Dennis Walter, of Bonito Radio in Germany, has just posted an excellent article on his blog regarding the importance of quality coaxial cable to fight local radio interference.

Click here to read his post, “Why even good antennas need good Coax cable.”

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Bonito’s new catalog in English

Portable power for active antennas

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CPI1000 mit Powerbank

Many thanks to Dennis at Bonito for sharing a link to an article he recently published on the Bonito blog:

Autonomous power supply of our active antennas via USB and power bank

It is getting to be more and more difficult to procure reasonably priced analogue external plug-in power supplies because just like old light bulbs they are no longer allowed to be produced due to power consumption restrictions. We are spending a lot of time to find and buy remaining stock so that we can offer our customers noise-free external power supplies. But for years, there has been an alternative.

Our MegaLoop ML200, ML052, the MegActiv MA305 as well as the GigActiv GA3005 can be operated internally with as little as 5V and so can be powered by the supplied CPI1000DP / CPI3000DP bias tee via a USB cable. In light of the annoying switching power supplies, PowerLAN and heightened mobility of listeners, this is a very practical alternative and offers much more flexibility for the customer. Unfortunately, this fact is not well known and that is why I would like to shed some light on this subject.[…]

Continue reading at the Bonito website.

Thanks, Dennis!

I should note that there are a multitude of 5 VDC powerblocks on the market. I have two made by Eton Corp (see above) that even have hand-crank power generation. I recently used one to power my Raspberry Pi (Raspberry Pirate!) for several hours.

As Dennis states, using a DC source certainly cuts down on interference from noisy power supplies.

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MegaLoop ML052: Bonito’s new portable mag loop antenna

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(Source: Bonito Press Release)

At the beginning of the model year 2016, there is good news in the range of our MegaLoop Active Loop Antennas:

New Model: MegaLoop ML052

The new Active Loop MegaLoop ML052, which is available end of February, is the successor to our MegaLoop 060. Based on the proven technology of theMegaLoop 200 platform, an additional low pass filter with an extra FM-band-stop was integrated. Thus, the ML052 is especially suitable for operation near strong FM-stations and higher frequencies , where, because of its broadband capacity, the ML200 could be overloaded by strong signals.

Frequency range:
Low Gain: 9kHz – 52 MHz
High Gain: 9 kHz – 36 MHz
Suppression on FM (88 – 108 MHz): max. 40 dB

Intercept Point
IP:3: typ. +40dBm
IP2: typ. +84 dBm

The effect of the integrated filter can be seen very good on these two images:

ML052 in High Gain Mode

ML052 in Low Gain Mode

Like the ML 200, the amplification of the ML052 can be changed internally with a jumper:
a) High Gain: 0-36MHz
b) Low Gain: 0-52 MHz (-7dB)
Suppression of the FM band: (88-108MHz): max. 40dB

Outstanding intermodulation surpression, with only 5 volts!

CPI1000 with a standard Powerbank

The MegaLoop ML052 achieved outstanding values regarding intermodulation suppression even at a low supply voltage from only 5V. It can be powered either by a conventional plug power supply or even via USB. Powering via USB has the advantage that no external power supply is needed and that the antenna can be used autonomously and noise-free with a separate USB power bank. A appropriate dual power input adapter (CPI1000) is already included in the standard package.

The MegaLoop ML052 can now be pre-ordered in our eShop underwww.hamradioshop.net. In the UK at Taylor Made RF.

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Bonito’s new high and low pass filters

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Dennis Walter at Bonito has just informed me about two new product’s they’re offering: high and low pass filters. From the Bonito blog:

LP060 Low Pass Filter

The elliptically-formed low pass filter LP060 from NTi suppresses all frequencies above 60 MHz. Highly effective antennas combined with near-by strong FM stations often overburden the input of the radio and cause interference and phantom signals.

The LP060 was developed aiming at the highest possible suppression in the 88MHz – 108 MHz FM band, whereas as the 6m amateur radio band at 50MHz is still totally within the pass band. For the greatest possible effectiveness, the low pass filter should be inserted directly before the receiver input.

Attenuation values (typ.):
52MHz: -1dB
60MHz: -3dB
80 MHz: -55dB
88-110 MHz: -90dB
110-150MHz: -75dB
150-200MHz: -70dB
200-400MHz: -65 dB

Dimension: 88mm x 31mm x 25mm (3,46 x 1,22 x 0,98 inch)

Input and output are DC-blocked (max. 50V DC)

Attention: Only suitable for reception, high HF (>10dbm) will cause permanent damage! When using end-fed active antennas: Because the filter is DC-blocked, it has to be inserted between the receiver input and the power inserter.

Successfully tested with: Elad FDM-S1 and FDM-S2, FiFi-SDR1.0 and 2.0, PM-SDR, Winradio Excalibur, RFSpace SDR-IQ

HP0020 High Pass Filter

The elliptically-formed high pass filter HP0020 suppresses all frequencies below 2 MHz. Strong or near-by transmitters in the long- or medium wave range can cause interferences and intermodulation in the shortwave range, which can effectively be suppressed with this filter. The HP0020 filter is very steep, so that signals in the upper medium wave range are already suppressed effectively. For the greatest possible effectiveness, the low pass filter should be inserted directly before the receiver input.

Attenuation values (typ.):
<0.50 MHz:-55dB
1.0MHz: -45dB
1.6 MHz:-35dB
2.0MHz: -3dB
>2.5 MHz: -1dB

Input and output are DC-blocked (max. 50V DC)

Dimensons: 88mmx31mmx25mm (3,46 x 1,22 x 0,98 inch)

Attention: Only suitable for reception, high HF (>10dbm) will cause permanent damage!
Because the filter is DC-blocked, it has to be inserted between the receiver input and the power inserter.