HAM RADIO Hustler 4BTV HF 1KW Vertical Antenna for Small Gardens.
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2024
- The Hustler antenna range has been around for many years and has been the standard "go to”vertical antenna for those with small gardens looking for something that works, is well built and is easy to install. We take a look at the 4-band vertical from Hustler USA.
THE VERTICAL ANTENNA MYSTERY AND SALT WATER.
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Hustler 4BTV
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Very nice presentation. I operated a 5BTV in the early 1970s when I was in the US Air Force. I passed it on to a friend a few years later. Both of us mounted it elevated with wire radials rather than ground mounts, and had very good luck in both cases.
these antenna's are superb i have a 5btv with a large pole i have in the ground and a few radials. its been there over ten years . and still there with no guys still works fine on all bands a very sturdy antenna thank you peter highly reamended from me also i have worked zl on 20 with ten watts
I usually tape around the tube slits before putting jubilee clips in place, tune and then add the insulation tape over the joins. Great video, Thanks Pater.
👍 fibreglass pole snapped, wire antenna came down,
My Hustler antenna survived the storm like a trooper 👍
Thank you for a great presentation on one of the hobby's only manufacturer to not quadruple their product pricing! The Hustler verticals are not only stout and reliable, they're affordable. Enjoyed your usual no-nonsense episode! Keep up the good work OM!
Great quality radio antenna they have proven themselves thank you for sharing❤
I had a 5BTV (bought used) and used it on all HF bands but 160 meters. I used an MFJ tuner to operate on 12 and 15 meters. I only had room for 2 radials each on 10m and 15m I now have a 6BTV and use it with mt Xiegu G90. The excellent built-in tuner easily tunes 12m, 17m, and 60m. It is a very good antenna for those with limited space.
Yes its a great antenna. I still have a 4BTV.
Thank you for another great video Peter keep up the good work
I met a commercial radio tech that showed me a tip for wrapping the electrical tape around a connection, whether it's a coax to coax connection or the joints between the traps. The first wrap of tape, should go on with the sticky side out. then subsequent wraps of tape, go on with the sticky side in. In this way, the adhesive doesn't leave a sticky mess when it comes time for maintenance. A quick slice with a razor from top to bottom, will remove the seal tape and you can immediately disconnect the coax or joint with not adhesive to fight with. A small amount of the tape sticky side in overlaps the end of the tape with the sticky side out. He would do this on hardline and at the base of antennas on the commercial tower, because antennas don't last forever.... Thanks for your video!.
Applying Anti-Ox compound to the inner tubing (the contact area) will protect the surface of the metal tubing much better than tape. Available from big box stores in the electrical supplies department. Ron W4BIN
Great content. I have the 6-BTV with 300 meters of radials and after 7 years of Michigan weather its still doing great! I use paracord (4) and dog run stakes to keep it stable in high winds and ice.
An excellent presentation, very succinct and to the point.
The Hustler BTV series are exactly what one would expect from a trapped vertical. They have been around since the 1970s and continue to sell in 2022 because they work well when the user installs an adequate amount of ground radials. 73 de WB4DW
Based on your video and others, and the fact that these antennas are still around today and being sold, I landed on a 5BTV, and I'll also be adding radials.
It's a great antenna. it's still up and working fine. Mine is the older model, it didn't come with the capacity hat. I installed it over 15 years ago,
Fantastic n very very strong antenna .never had to move any of my traps BUT 80m only gives you about 60khz bandwidth BUT is a great antenna and a very good price !! Works dx brilliant 👏
Very balanced review and assessment of any antennas performance being affected by many variables unique to each installation.
I have the 4BTV and have added the 30m trap kit (bye bye capacity hat!). When I first installed it, I didn't like the way it was swaying in the breeze. The wall on the tubing is too thin. I talked to another ham who had his buckle in the wind. For that reason, I use 3 guy ropes attached above the 20m trap. My garden is small, but I have buried two sets of insulated and resonant wires at about 90 degrees to each other (with the antenna mounted in a corner of the garden). Performance is great!
Excellent presentation Peter, I think I’m going to try a Hustler although a little confused concerning radials. I will read and watch your video on ground radials. TNX 73’s.
Definitely alot easier with the tilt over they supply for these too 👍👍
I've had my Hustler 6BTV since around 2010. I put it up, tuned it initially, and did a re-tune a few days ago. The antenna still works great!
Many thabks. 73 Peter
Do you use radials?
@@johncahill612 I do. I use DX Engineerings tilt base with radial plate with around 25 radials of various sizes.
Great video. Have been wanting to get the 6BTV for a long while. Will bite the bullet when I have the $$$.
I was Gobsmacked when I found how far I could TX with the Chameleon MPAS 2.0 and CAP HAT and 4 radials on 20m especially, From Ireland can get to North, Central, South America with 100w SSB and even made it to Australia a few times from Ireland.
I was even more Gobsmacked when I hit the Middle East on 40m, that portable antenna surprises me to this day and I even set it up permanently on the front lawn and use it with the FT-891 in the sitting room, makes a real nice 2nd setup.
Can only imagine the 4 or 5BTV would be better because it uses traps to make it appear longer would most definitely help for 40m as it's not as good on 40m obviously as it is on 20,17,15m
It's really quiet on receive too.
I have the 5BTV for several years now. Mine is mounted at the apex point of steel garage port.
Very informative once again Peter 👍
Thanks 👍
I've had mine since 1978 the only repair I have ever done was to replace the 15 meter trap cove. Mine is now a 6 btv. It does need ground radial bu not a yard full, I presently have 6 at 33ft and 8 at 20 ft and I can work Europe and Africa and Australlia with it. It is almost bullet proof. 73 ki0ad/jim
I converted my 6BTV into a flagpole and I have had it up in my HOA for 7 years now. It's a flagpole now so they can't say anything about it. I have it on my YT channel under video Shorts if you want to take a look. It has handled 40+mph winds, I have the extra 10m tube for strength, but I usually take it down if I know 30+mph winds are predicted. A couple heavy duty zip ties on top and bottom on the flag to the top of the pole and it works amazing. Also, all 6 bands tuned to 1.7:1 or better. It is a great antenna for small space or HOA homes!! I'm considering adding the 17m or 60m now. Great video!
Sounds a great idea. Keep the flag flying for Ham Radio!
Some good points here. I have the 5BTV, ground mounted with about 30 radials of different lengths. Most definately not resonant on any band. But with this and 100w, I have managed to have 235 DXCC's. Only 1 thing I noticed is, when you talked about converting the 4BTV into the 5BTV, you appeared to have missed out on the little 3 blade spider assembly that fits just below the 80Mtr whip.
i use the 5 BTV with a few radials flickd over the tiled roof i believe the antenna was 20years old when i brought, but it had ben in a shed foe 17 years.
After cleaning and tuning it has been a great antenna , only issue is heavy rai the 80m goes out of tune until the rain stops.
i have had to replace the heat shrink on the Resonator , and that may be the issue, but overall a great antenna , by the way I'm in Australia and regularly talk to west coast and mid USA.
Great to hear. Take care. 73 Peter
I have another company's cheapo ali tube vert, (all I coud afford at the time) and greased the sections as I assembled it, then sealed the joins with self-amalg once it was 'right'. Came apart easily after 5 years.
The only problem there is conductivity. You need to make sure the grease is conductive. 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Yep Vaseline answers all your prayers😉
Great explaining the hustler antennas
Thanks.
Would like to see more on the ground radials/ground spikes on this please if you do a follow up
15m is great at the moment - hit St. Helena yesterday using 50w
i have the 6btv on a tilt mount, great for the high winds i just pop out abd lay it down. takes all of 2 mins.
Nice video. I's thinking of the 4BTV for my sight where I have an HOA. The fact that you can lift off the antenna is excellent. I can just use it at night!! Also, do you need radials for this antenna or not?
Thanks again for an informative video.
I use a BTV4 multitrap antenna with an 80 meter resonator at the top and a steel whip. Its bolted to a 4 foot steel pole with 3 feet of it deep in the ground. No ground wires because my garden is too small. Its 25 feet away from the house with 40 feet of RG213 fed into two of my radios (Yaesu ft920 & Kenwood ts570d). Works fantastic on all bands in the HF except 160m but i dont use that band anyway. Ive worked the world with it using voice and FT8. Superb antenna, would recommend to anyone who has a small garden. I three way guy roped mine just below the capacitance hat and its survived all weathers the past two years. The only problem i get is electronic interference from household appliances so i fitted a line isolator at the base. its reduced it but living in the middle of a big housing estate theres not much more in can do about it.Thanks for your video upload. I hope more people might consider buying one from you. They`ll love it. Andy M6OWP.
"I've worked the world" is an overused BS misleading statement. Until you have at a minimum 5 band DXCC or honor roll, you haven't "worked the world".
Excellent presentation. Couple of questions please. The section that went into the ground that you cemented in...did that section come with the kit or did you purchase it separately? 2nd, the spot I'm thinking about is about 10 feet from my (2 Story) house. Would it be issue being that close to the house and not extended past the roof line? I am leaning towards an Icom IC-718 for my 1st HT rig and it looks like this would be a great antenna for my first base station. I especially like that I can easily take it down if i need to.
Another awesome informative video
Glad you enjoyed it
ENLIGHTENMENT!
Are you using any radials? I have the 4BTV ground mounted. I have a 6 foot metal pipe cemented in the ground along with an 8 foot copper ground rod. The metal pipe and ground rod are connected together with two U clamps around the base of the antenna and the antenna works great with no additional ground radials. I live in a area where the ground is very hard with lots of rocks and no large bodies of water near by. Thank you for your videos, I am learning a lot and really enjoying them.
Great Job, I am getting the 6 BTV next month and I am wondering how to prepare the hole? How deep and what circumference diameter to fill with cement and what type of mast in length and diameter to fix in the ground and size to remain out for holding the 6BTV? Can you help please?
If you had a choice of putting it on the ground or 12 feet higher on a properly grounded very big aluminium handrail of a balcony, witch would you choose?
About your comments on DX... What if you mount one of these ABOVE the roof line? Would you HAVE to use elevated counterpoises/radials? or could you just run them down the tower to the ground? Or one HEAVY wire to the base and then separate wires under the ground? Or just attach to the tower, and run the wires attached to the base of the tower under the ground?
“Brand X”makes a nice tilt plate and ground plane kit. Start with 20 ground radials. I’m going to install that on my antenna when it arrives in June, here in northern Wyoming. Going to use 4 guy lines, dacron, for ease of guying. Just release one to tilt antenna down on 2 saw horses. 70 kmh winds not uncommon. My dipole is up on a 10 meter telescoping fibreglass pole that is easy to lower when wind gets up. Going to use plenty of copper anti seize paste and 3 M tape against water intrusion.
Nice one Peter, how many radials did you fit if any *** cheers Dave.
I’m thinking of the 4 BTV as I am only exploring voice at the moment. My question is would a earth rod or two be ok as I have children running around and wouldn’t want radials for them to trip over.
Nice...........................................................💝
Appreciate the video. What is your insight? I'm thinking of using a 5BTV for when I go camping and mounting it on the hitch area of my RV (I believe they are carriages in the UK). Is that realistic with this antenna? Or is assembly and/or having to retune it each assembly make that implausible?
It should not need to be adjusted if you make a make a note of the section lengths. You may have enough metalwork on the TV to provide an earth. Otherwise a few random length radials on the ground should work.
question. why don't the 6btv have the capacity hat lithe the other 2 have ?
Good information, Thank You.Have you ever ran 2 4BTV's as a rotatable dipole? I've been wondering about trying that.
73's mike - N4ONL
Great video, thank you.
With the recent changes to the licences conditions I'm considering upgrading a few things. I was first rempted to get an amplifier (RM Italy 150) for my little IC-705, but ive read so many horror stories about the "magic smoke" appearing, i don't fancy frying my transceiver due to operator error!!!...
So perhaps getting an IC-7300 would be the wise thing to do, to get 100W safely...
On the topic of your beautiful antenna, excuse the dumb question but can it be painted? My current MPAS is nice and green, I'm thinking of using a matte Krylon OD green paint on a 5 BTV, it's not a metallic paint, but would it affect the antenna?
In advance, many thanks for your time.
Best regards,
Manny / 2E0HJN / Basildon, Essex
Would there be any advantage if the 6btv was elevated and is there a radial kit for this .I had it up before we moved about 10ft of the ground with a few earth wires and seemed realy nice as I am only listening atm .we have moved house now and am going to put it back up in a couple of months to listen as want to do my 2mtr licence. Any advice would be realy helpful thanks
Will cover this in a future video. 73 Peter
Does it work wenn you put it on a e.g. 6m pole?
You make me want to order one 😆 73 W7ABO
How would one of these compare with my End fed 1/2 wave wire antenna for DX.
Che k out the new video on vertical antenns
Unfortunately a compact vertical can never touch a yagi 20m and up. I've had many antennas over the last 37 years to compare and never has a vertical come close. Even on the lower bands, compared to a dipole, 9 times out of 10 the wire wins. It's an antenna and if that is all you can put up it's great.
I read antennas with coils with no cap hat lose over 90% of your power thru the coil. Cap hat brings it to 85% loss. Is a covered coil any different?
Don't believe that nonsense. And no, covering a coil is not a good idea unless the purpose is to short out turns for resonance. 73 Peter.
I like how you removed the antenna for tuning from the base. But doesn't the base also affect the antenna's tuning by either lengthening or shortening the antenna?
Yes, you need to adjust length or the coil setting to compensate.
@@watersstantonThank you.
No Radials?
question. why do they take the capacity hat off on the 6BTV?
The extra loading on 40m is created by the 30m trap.
There is indeed a certain amount of smugness having very little investment in the sky during these storms. Of course I get the usual critics bemoaning amplifiers, let me reassure them that my amplifier is still sitting at the exact angle it was prior to the storms :--)
From my own perception low angle radiation from the likes of ground mounted quarterwaves on the upper HF bands is a problem in my small garden, I am going to try a 3/4 wave initially on 10m. Hopefully it will reduce the signal absorbed by fences, hedges and houses. 73
Many thanks for sharing. 73 Peter
mine works on 6 mrrts kg6mn
Very good information. How far is your antenna from your radio As a new ham I have so much to learn.
Its around 40m.
My property is almost totally metal buildings with metal roofs. I purchased the 6BTV.
I was thinking on mounting it in the biggest garage, my mancave measuring 35'x35'.
Will this work? Thank you.
Dead center of the roof. MB
I assume you are thinking of mounting it on one of the metal roofs? Yes it could work quite well.
Saw another video of this antenna and he used anti-seize compound in the joins.
Yes its an option
Great video hello to my countrymen from the USA😊❤
13:45 "...the water can't get in..." Oh, have you met water before? LOL. Being aluminium, the metal will cool down at night and (being cold) will then draw in condensation each morning when the dew rises. The water WILL get in, even through the smallest gap, unless 100% hermetically sealed (which is almost impossible). This isn't rain, but water vapour in humid air; and gravity (direction) is not a relevant consideration. This condensation process will repeat and repeat each daily cycle. It can result in gallons of water being brought in over a season. Those that are surprised at finding pooled water in unexpected locations may not have considered condensation, thinking only about rain falling from the sky. Condensation, especially on metal objects with some thermal inertia to stay cold until 10am explains a lot. 73.
Thanks for the warning. No problems so far!
Nice Legs Mate!!
Thanks!
Think I would go for a DX Commander lot better and lots cheaper Peter 😊
Don't they require guying though? If so then that's a very different antenna to the one discussed here.
@@pgroom Yes it does need guying but still very good however.I think if i had the hustler i think i may guy it also in a small garden
? 15 meters is probably the MOST open band right now
But not after darkness - roll on summer!
Thank you Peter, you've given me many great ideas through your videos, appreciate your efforts -n2qfk