Put up a Hustler 5BTV today

[Captain Kilowatt]

After being off the air for far, far too long I did something today I never thought I would ever do.I installed a trapped vertical antenna. ;P After having spent my entire radio life with rotary directional antennas I broke down and ordered a 5BTV to get me thru the winter. Desperate times calls for desperate actions I guess.The final straw came a week and a half ago when all I could do was listen when Bill, ZS6CCY, was thundering in on 40m about 20dB over 9. It went well as I had preassembled a few parts last night like the traps and a section of tubing, the base mast with the direct coax connection conversion and a home made radial plate. It tuned up fairly well with 40m being a little higher than I would have liked but still usable across the entire band. 80m is quite narrow and sharp but centered on/about 3785.10/15/20m are all great. I forgot to install the 17m add-on kit so that will come in the next couple days. So far I have 26 radials each 33 feet long and not exactly evenly spaced but there is more work to be done with them.




Newly installed Hustler 5BTV minus the 17m add-on kit. I forgot it initially and then ran short of time. It will be installed in the next day or three.

Antenna base and radial field. So far there are 26 radials each 33 feet long. More to come.

Antenna base with DX Engineering direct coax connection kit and tilt base.

Home made all stainless steel radial plate. All radials are crimped and soldered to lugs and attached using 10-24 stainless hardware.

 

[Robb]

Looks clean.

 

[543_Dallas]

Even though it is modest compared to some I am jealous of the radial field. I couldn't pull that off unless I put a vertical in the front yard....still couldn't pull that off.

 

[Riverman]

What effect does 2 feet of snow have on the performance of ground mounted verticals?

 

[Grogan]

I have been looking at the Hustler Line 4,5,6 BTV also. any reason for the 5 and not the others. Have the Alpha Delta DXCC But hear alot of good things about the BTV line.doesn't one of them use guide wires. Give us a report on how it works.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Even though it is modest compared to some I am jealous of the radial field. I couldn't pull that off unless I put a vertical in the front yard....still couldn't pull that off.

More radials are in the works. I ran out of time today.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

What effect does 2 feet of snow have on the performance of ground mounted verticals?

No idea yet. Generally it is not a big deal. The base is a low voltage point and snow should not be an issue. The feedline is sealed good and even if snow touches the antenna the first day of sun shining on it will melt it back.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I have been looking at the Hustler Line 4,5,6 BTV also. any reason for the 5 and not the others. Have the Alpha Delta DXCC But hear alot of good things about the BTV line.doesn't one of them use guide wires. Give us a report on how it works.

The 4BTV does not cover 80m and the 6BTV covers 30m which does not interest me at all hence the 5BTV. I also got the 17m add on kit and might consider the 12m kit next spring. The idea is to get on the air until next summer when the yagis FINALLY go up then use this vertical either as a spare if something happens to the yagis or as a temporary antenna while camping. It will also come in handy when I am too old to bother with tower mounted antennas.

 

[binrat]

The 4BTV does not cover 80m and the 6BTV covers 30m which does not interest me at all hence the 5BTV. I also got the 17m add on kit and might consider the 12m kit next spring. The idea is to get on the air until next summer when the yagis FINALLY go up then use this vertical either as a spare if something happens to the yagis or as a temporary antenna while camping. It will also come in handy when I am too old to bother with tower mounted antennas.

That's where a box or 2 of beer for the neighbour's kids comes in
Seriously, it gets you on the air so maybe we can meet up while I'm doing a SOTA this winter.

 

[w9cll]

Looks good CK!! Now we need to work you sometime.

 

[543_Dallas]

More radials are in the works. I ran out of time today.

I only have 4 at the moment. I intend to shunt feed the tower at some point so there will be more when that happens. Even though I was a little skeptical about the reflector under a nvis antenna I laid some down knowing I'd eventually need some kind of radial field for a vertical. I cant say for certain if they worked or not. I feel like they might have helped but you know how that goes. One day I'll make good use of them.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

That's where a box or 2 of beer for the neighbour's kids comes in
Seriously, it gets you on the air so maybe we can meet up while I'm doing a SOTA this winter.

Yeah but I'm picky when it comes to tower work. That's why the yagis are not up yet. I had an offer but the mast needs to be jacked up after each antenna gets mounted and the last thing I want is someone getting hurt on MY tower because they didn't understand the method required to jack it up or failed to rig it properly and the whole thing drops down. The mast and antennas will be about 200 pounds so that is a lot of weight to come crashing down.

 

[Riverman]

No idea yet. Generally it is not a big deal. The base is a low voltage point and snow should not be an issue. The feedline is sealed good and even if snow touches the antenna the first day of sun shining on it will melt it back.

Thanks. Always wondered about that.

 

[wavrider]

Nice vertical, looking forward to hearing you on the bands.

 

[fourstringburn]

Good job with the antenna! All this time you had no antennas?

If you get propagation towards the SW, maybe I'll be able to pick you up...I'll even give you a RPC signal report!