Thread: Hustler 5BTV finally

After what seems like forever I have my ham radio antenna up. I still have a few things to do, but the end is in sight. I need to add another bag of quickcrete and a ground rod to finish it up. So close I can taste it!

Great! Are you going to bury the ground radials?

73,
Paul

I haven’t made my mind up on that yet. I may use it as is until spring and make my mind up then based on its performance.

The radials will help a lot. Just use some landscape staples. If that is grass, cut it low, staple the wires down and the grass will hide the wires. You can mow right over the wires. After about a year you wont even know they are there. The grass will hide them. Lets plan on giving it a try. Send me a PM on a SUNDAY OR MONDAY and we will see if we can work each other.

That goes for all you HAMS. PM me and id be happy to work ya or try.

I’ll probably wind up having to set it down again. We hooked an analyzer to it and it was good on all bands, but after I connected to the radio the SWR for 75/80 meter portion was too high. Also I’ll wind up having to put down radials, at the moment it’s not hearing a thing. I’ll do a factory reset on my HF rig just to rule that out, but it shouldn’t have change from the old antenna.

I never did get 75/80 running at this house. I found it way too noisy and the band chatter sounded like 11M. Not what I wanted to hear. My SteppIR goes as low as 40m but it's just a rotating Dipole. No Gain.

Bet that comment will throw non-radio enthusiasts. Yes, 80m is lower than 40m.

BTW, When you used an analyzer, did you use a stub of coax, or the full length going to the shack? You know that is going to make a difference when you include the velocity factor, loss, and length. Always test at the shack. Full length. or close to it.

Full length. The first time we used the analyzer we used only the length of coax that was connected to the antenna, the next day after having issues, we connected to a jumper I had to use to get to the radio.

I did the factory reset on my rig and that helped somewhat. I was able to make a contact with a fellow in Ames, Iowa on 20 meters. I’ll still need to put down radials to get the most of the antenna, but at least it’s getting out.

So far I haven’t had any issues making contacts on 75/80 meters (in the past). As soon as we get that portion of the antenna tuned and some radials down I’ll see how that goes.

At least one 1/4-wave length radial per band will make a huge improvement
in performance, especially on 40/80. The more radials the better.

Don't expect much better than a 1.5:1 SWR at the base of the antenna. With
100ft of good coax, an SWR of 1:1 at the rig is possible. But don't be fooled
by that: a dummy load at the end of 100ft of coax also results in 1:1. It's best
to use the analyzer at the base of the antenna, in order to measure the actual
antenna itself, without the buffering of the coax. Anything less than 2:1 at the
feedpoint will work.

Tuning a trapped vertical can be tricky. I've had the best luck by first setting
each band section to a calculated length for the band segment you want to use.
Tune each band segment, beginning with the lowest frequency, and then "work up,"
tuning each segment along the way. Then check the analyzer results, and do the
whole process again. It's all very interactive.

Even if the antenna is perfectly tuned, the 2:1 bandwidth is pretty small on 80M,
so it's unlikely that you will be able to work both CW and SSB sub-bands successfully.
A matching network at the rig will compensate a little, but not much.

Other things to watch for mismatches are short jumpers and antenna switches
in the shack. And, of course, it's always wise to ground everything in the shack.
A common ground point is ideal.

I've used trap verticals, like the 5BTV, base-loaded verticals, ground mounted
full sized verticals, verticals with elevated radials, elevated verticals with sloping
radials, the whole array. They all work well if properly constructed, but the most
improvement is accomplished by using as good a ground and/or radial system as
possible.

Ideally, you want a full length 1/4 wave vertical, tuned to one specific frequency,
erected in a salt marsh, located on the top of a hill with a 30 degree down-slope,
and with 360 1/4 wave buried radials. Anything less is a compromise that we all
have to work with. Don't sweat it too much, but do as much as you can.

73 and good DX,
Paul

On the air, almost. Have radials buried, planning to addd more. Have all but 10 meters tuned this is my station, a Kenwood TS480 SAT with a Kenwood desk mic and Kenwood speaker and an Alinco DR635

Good start to a shack.
Many folks do it with much less so nice setup. We should plan a rag chew with the other Hams in the group. Look forward to catching you on the air.