Hexbeam at 10 Feet vs Hustler 6BTV

[VE3FMC]

The trees are about 30 feet tall, and the distance between them is only 8 feet.
[/quote]

Which means you could get the end of a dipole up 30 feet in the air. Could you slope it down to your house? How high is the peak of the house?

Years ago I bought some very small diameter coax. That stuff was about the same size as 14 ga wire. Sure it would have a lot more loss than RG-213 but it would be stealthy 

Your vertical could be set up on a tilt mast so you could lay it down when not in use. Less likely to attract the HOA Cops. Or put it inside PVC and put a flag on top.

[W5WSS]

all horizontally oriented horizontally radiating antennas when so close to the Earth surface will radiate towards the zenith leaving only a very small remnant of radiation manifested at lower angles.

A vertical will manifest allot more radiation towards the horizon than as compared to a horizontal dipole and or a beam that is 10ft high used on 20m.

If closer skywave work is your goal than 10ft height and any horizontal oriented antenna is ok but the horizontal family of antenna suffers some ground attenuation when so close to the Earth to what extent depends on the ground surface content.

[N7SMI]

I easily worked several countries with my hexbeam sitting on a 5 gallon bucket 2 feet off the ground. It was more effective than my awful multi-band vertical at 20 feet. The same beam at 30 feet knocks the socks off anything I've seen or used. With that said, a properly installed ground mounted vertical with radials will be much more flexible and likely more effective all around than a too-low hexbeam.

[W1JKA]

Re: KC4MOP
                  Please clarify your statement"The hex beam will not work.30 feet high minimum"as to how or why you found this to be so.Myself and other hex beam users at our own particular qth have found this not to be so.    Jim

[W5WSS]

The pattern of any beam too close to earth such as a Hexbeam at 10ft operated on 20m will be horrible such as decayed front to back front to side and gain then additional ground losses occur simultaneously this is true for any horizontal antenna too close to earth.

Making contacts with other countries via skywave and the 10ft high hexbeam is relative only in the underlying question compared to what?

Rapid switching could reveal that a wire on the ground could have also accomplished the contacts.

[N8CMQ]

I am very partial to verticals, unless you can put up
a very tall tower with many monoband beams.
 
If you do go with the vertical, then, the better the radial
field, the better the vertical.
 
I know many people say many short, or a few long radials
'almost equals' a 120 1/4 wave radials at the lowest frequency
to be used, but, my experience has shown it isn't true.
 
You can settle for less, but you really do end up with less.
My current radial field is 125, 30 to 35 foot radials in a 60 foot
square. My new field is going to be 60 foot radials in a 120 foot
circle. The total number may be 200 or more when I finish!

[KC4MOP]

The pattern of any beam too close to earth such as a Hexbeam at 10ft operated on 20m will be horrible such as decayed front to back front to side and gain then additional ground losses occur simultaneously this is true for any horizontal antenna too close to earth.

Making contacts with other countries via skywave and the 10ft high hexbeam is relative only in the underlying question compared to what?

Rapid switching could reveal that a wire on the ground could have also accomplished the contacts.

Thanks W5WSS,
It will work sure,, at 10 feet. A dipole 1 foot off the ground will work too.
I was just saying 30 feet is a starting point. If the OP is having success using his HEX that way, then why post a question here?
The replies say that there would be little F/B and the attributes of a HEX or Yagi are wasted at 10 feet.

[W5WSS]

FB Fred, yeah 30 ft for a horizontal beam of any brand will radiate nicely 20m service places the antenna height about 1/2 wave above Earth.
 The  relative plots show good pattern development for a horizontally oriented horizontally radiating antenna at that height.