Hustler 5BTV antenna Install with radials Ham Amateur Radio
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2022
- This is the install video of my new Hustler 5BTV ham radio antenna, including 32 radials. I'm very happy with the performance of this antenna. I purchased the antenna from DX Engineering and used their instructions.
www.dxengineering.com/parts/h... - Věda a technologie
i have owned a 5btv for over 10 yrs without doubt one of the finest antenna's out there thank you m3hnl uk
Thanks! I love it. It’s nice to be able to switch between it and my dipole.
I'm putting up a 6BTV myself. I have just sunk my mounting pole four feet down in the dirt. Drilling a hole thru my foundation for the coax and grounding tomorrow. Soon the radial field. I was thinking of making a video of my installation too.
Good luck on your install!
I like how you are using websdr as your pan adapter. at first, I was looking all over for your sdr hookup... and I realized. nice idea. K1QS .
SWEET! Thanks Dan. I have an older 4btv I got from a SK friend's widow. It needs some resto, but hope to have it up at the (soon to be) new QTH this summer. Oh and, nice bumper stickers 73
Great job on the radial plate. Sure beats the big klunker that DX Engineering sells. You should sell them
Thanks! That’s a good idea!
6:45 Nice touch!
I use a 5-BTV here and I have mine guyed just below the capacitance hat and that reduces the amount the vertical will move around in the wind.
I haven’t had any problems with mine, but I try not to look at it when it’s windy. Ha!
great job 73 from kb2uew
Thanks!
Great video Dan and thanks for all the helpful tips. I plan on purchasing a new new Hustler 5BTV this week. Walmart has the 4BTV version for $200. Quick question...Will it work up on a roof with radials stretched out on the roof?
Thanks,
Dee
Thanks! I’m not sure if the performance would be compromised by mounting it in a roof. I did see a video of a guy who mounted it on his trailer hitch for doing POTA. On your roof might work fine. Good luck on your install! I do suggest using the DX Engineering instructions for assembly, which you can find on their listing for the antenna.
How does it hold up in wind. Im in Southern California and have to deal with our Santa Ana winds but Im looking to do something like this.
I haven’t had any issues with wind. I believe they recommend support wires(rope) with the 5 over the 4 due to the coil on top, but with the fence post in 4 feet (2 in dirt and 2 in concrete) it ain’t going anywhere! I know the Santa Ana winds can be rough, so you may want to consider a guy wire in the direction (facing) of the wind. Good luck!
@@danedwards7597 thanks. I'm looking at the btv so no cap hat......maybe less wind load
Nice video. Thanks. I'm glad you were able to get good results with radials on the ground instead of raised. I think raised radials in a suburban yard is generally a non-starter if you ever want to be able to mow the lawn! Did you measure the SWR on all the bands?
Thanks! You know, I don’t think I have ever ran an SWR test on this antenna. It works so well, and when I hit the auto tune on my Kenwood TH450S (old radio) it tunes in about a second, so I’m sure it’s real close. You have given me another project!
@@danedwards7597 Yeah, I think it's possible to make adjustments to the antenna and the radials to tune it. These trapped antennas are supposed to be pretty narrow band, so optimizing the resonant frequency for where you want to operate on the band could improve performance. Tuners are great, but why introduce unnecessary loss? Anyway, I'll be curious to know how it all looks.
I’m planning to mount mine on a mast to get above the trees. What software were you running n the monitor?
It’s actually a website. Websdr.com on the main screen I scroll down to the one in San Francisco since it’s close and I figure if it can hear a signal I should too
just picked up a 5btv but the guy forgot the 6 leg spider hub. I like that easy fab using alum plate, doing something similar for cap hat. That sticker on the truck mite get u deported from California hi hi.
Ha! Good luck with yours. I love mine!
Btw good sticker!
I've had mine up since 1978 what does that say? Can't complain all i have ever had to do was to replace the 15 meter trap cover. This morning I worked JA1QJE in Japan with that antenna and my ft817 at 5 watts so they do work pretty good. I also have a ts 450 sat got mine in 1990. 73 from ki0ad/😮😅Jim
I really like this antenna! I think I’m going to add a 17 meter trap to it and see how it works.
How is your SWR?
Test the antenna with WSPR.
Unfortunately, that ground system is massive overkill and won't last very long. Insulated stranded wire is the worst thing to use for ground radials as the electric voltage combined with moisture corroded them very quickly, and using fasteners and terminals outdoors is also a poor choice.. Unfortunately, these poor antenna construction techniques have become popular among hams because they think it looks good..
A much better system is to make a small 10-inch loop from 3/8th in soft copper tubing and attach this to the base of the antenna mount with spokes also made from the same copper all soldered together..
For radials, you want to use 22AWG polyimide-coated magnet wire which costs about $22 for a 500-foot spool..
This is a solid core wire and will last decades even buried underground..
the polyimide coating is far more durable than the plastic coating and it effectively seals the wire,
I've dug up polyimide-coated antenna ground systems that were 60 years old and they still looked brand new..
The problem with stranded thnn type wire is that it wicks moisture in relatively quickly and the electric currents combined with the moisture quickly turn the wire to dust..
Anyhow rather than fasteners, simply scrape the polyamide coating off the end of the wire and wrap a few turns around the 3/8th in copper tubing and then solder it in place with a portable torch, when you are all done you can paint the tubing, and solder connections with some green paint, I guarantee you will have just built a ground system that will last 60 years or more
Thanks for the info! I’ll be taking this antenna down in 3 years when I move to Idaho, so I’ll take your advice on the next deployment.
@@danedwards7597 I actually really like these antennas. Even though I have several towers with beams, I still always keep one of these up..
They are extremely durable, and with a good radio system are decent antennas for DX.
Do yourself a favor, when you reinstall it just buy yourself a 500 ft spool of 22 gauge magnet wire. The normal enamel coated stuff works well enough but if you want something that'll last 50 years then get the premium polymide coated magnet wire..
The only problem with the polymide coating is that it's going to piss you off scraping off the coating to solder it..
I found that I need to use a Dremel tool with a grinding wheel to carefully grind off an inch of polymide coating..
The cheap enamel coated wire is easy enough, you can just use a razor blade to scrape away the enamel coating.
here's a trick that a friend showed me for burying the radios and it works like a champ.
Get yourself a cheap electric chainsaw. drill a 1/4 hole in the bar about 2 in from the end.
Get yourself about a 6-in piece of 1/4-in shredded rod, slide it through the hole and use two lock nuts to lock it in place. basically you're making a depth guide.
Don't use a good chainsaw for this because it pretty much wrecks them. I just use a cheap electric one.
anyhow you can use it to very quickly dig a 2-in deep trench to bury the radios, simply lay the chainsaw down on the ground and pull the trigger and drag it along, the shredded rod will act as a depth gauge so you get a nice perfect 2-in deep trench..
The next step requires two people. One person carefully pushes the radial into the trench another person follows behind them with a sledgehammer and just carefully drops the sledgehammer over the trench. No need to wail on the ground, you're just kind of like tapping the ground with a sledgehammer. let the hammer do the work..
this seals up the trench by basically collapsing the walls.
about 30 years ago I set up a 6B TV with 120, 22 gauge magnet wire radials this way And it worked beautifully.
about 20 of the radios were 18 gauge THNN wire.
That antenna and ground system was in place for over 30 years. When we finally moved I decided to pull up the radials so the new owner the property didn't have to deal with them.
I was stunned at the condition of the radials after 30 years in the ground.. The magnet wire radials looked as good as the day they went in. That enamel coating really protects them and since it's solid core moisture can't wicked its way up the wire.
On the other hand the 18 gauge THNN wires completely eroded, the only thing left was some plastic. The wire itself had been turned to dust. water wicks its way up the wire and the electric current destroys the wire, it acts like a big cathode.
Oh and don't be fooled, that 22 gauge magnet wire is much stronger than it looks. I managed to get about 60 of them out of the ground before I gave up..
wasting LOTS of RF power with radials!
Cut those worse than useless radisls and replace them with a large aluminum plate.
Will work much bettet.
.Realize two things about radials:
1. Very high losses into soil. Soil is a lossy dielectric at HF
2. Very narrow conductors, very small total surface area.
K8BYP, have you done this yourself? Were you able to measure the change in gain? Thank you.
How large a plate would you need?
Love your TRUMP sticker