| ZL1WDC |
Rating:  |
2004-10-18 | |
| Go Hustler! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
It was very easy to setup and can easily be handled by one person. It does what it says and i have reas good SWR on 5 bands. The only one thing that bugs me is the narrow bandwidth of 80M. I hate using tuners and it would be nice if this was better. For a vertical, its great and i have worked the world on this thing ground mounted with only a few radials.
One reviewer down the page talks about a comparison with a Solarcon A99: You have to comparing apples with apples, the Solarcon is a two band antenna (10m & 17m)and has a 3+db gain over the 5BTV because it operates at a longer wavelength. Secondly a 20 or 30 mile test is not an adequate review for a DX aerial.Dont listen to this garbage review. Why would someone slam a perfectly well designed multiband aerial? Maybe because they dont know what they are talking about! Go Hustler. |
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| AB0TA |
Rating: |
2004-08-24 | |
| Great construction - A real performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have put up all kinds of wire beams and dipoles , resonant and non-resonant, all usually up at 35 to 40 feet. This vertical has strangely outperformed them all. I usually work RTTY and one day I snagged 3B9FR on 20 meters at RODRIGUEZ ISLAND, as well as KH8/DF2SS on American Somoa with just 100 watts and my Hustler.
Recieved signal strengths are typically three S-units better on the vertical, with only a one S-unit higher noise level when compared to a horizontal antenna. All my comparisons are real A/B antenna switch comparisons.
The secret to the Hustler may be that it is a resonant antenna, plus I have 42 radials, 35 feet long each, 14 gauge wire, laced into the grass. The radials are insulated and are not buried, but laced right under the grass and on top of the dirt. Use a 6 foot whip antenna to pull the wire out from the mounting point through the grass. The wires will be there but you can't see them, trip on them, or hit them with the mower. I recommend green insulation by the way. The radial installation only takes about 8 hours, but worth it if you have the room.
You can't go wrong for the price. This thing is built to last and you will be pleasently surprised with it's performance if you spend a little time on the installation.
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| K4CMD |
Rating: |
2004-07-13 | |
| I've said goodbye to the @#$% wires! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Having lived in a covenant-restricted neighborhood for five years and learning that our neighborhood association is more an entity on paper than in real life, I've decided to stop messing with wires in my trees and go with a Hustler 5BTV vertical.
My backyard is full of trees, and for the last four years I've made do with a G5RV at about 35 feet. But my trees are only about 16 inches in diameter at the base, and 35 feet up they're about six inches wide. In other words, there's a lot of movement in anything greater than a gentle breeze. Despite my innovative efforts to keep slack in the line and absorb shock using pulleys, weights and even industrial-strength bungee cords, my G5RV had a knack for seeking its beloved Mother Earth (or Cousin Tree Limb) at every available opportunity. I just plain got tired of spending half a Saturday repairing my antenna every few months.
Having owned a Hustler vertical (same one I believe) back in the late 1980s, I purchased a 5BTV about a month ago. I was astounded to see that the price was virtually the same as it was 15 years ago. I wish I could say the same for the Butternut HF6V, which I also owned way back when. (I bought my brand-new HF6V for $125 back in 1983; it's over $300 now!!!)
Bringing the Hustler home, I was first impressed by the quality of materials used in this antenna. The 2-foot base mast, which is the part that bolts to the pipe you drive into the ground, is one of the thickest-wall pieces of mast I've ever seen. That metal's got to be close to 1/4-inch thick! The rest of the mast sections appear to be heavy-duty as well.
The antenna came with a very nice, lengthy instruction manual with six pages of diagrams and charts. This company definitely knows its antenna and makes every installation option clear and turn-key.
Having heaped all that praise on Hustler, I'm a little embarrassed to note that Hustler left the nuts for the U-clamps that attach the base to thie pipe out of my package. I could've sent an e-mail to which I'm sure they would've responded and made matters right, but I'm only three miles away from a Home Depot and I wanted to get my new antenna on the air! So off I went and was back with my parts supplement within the hour, and I think I was out about 96 cents.
The antenna went up without further incident. I followed the instructions for ground-mounting without radials (my lot's really not big enough for anything more than a couple on the higher bands, so I figured I'd try it out without radials at first and add some only if things were horrible compared to my old G5RV). The area of my property where I was placing the antenna serves as a runoff for rain from my property, and hence remains quite damp. So I figured I had at least a chance at a fair ground without radials.
The entire installation, including the recommended guys, took about two hours. I could've done it faster, but I took my time to make sure all measurements were right, and then took my time watching the neighborhood while I got it set up (there's a street behind my backyard and I didn't want to call too much attention to this dude hoisting a 25-foot pole up in his backyard!). I must admit it didn't appear the guys will ever be necessary unless we're visited by another hurricane like we were with Isabel last September. It's a robust antenna.
Speaking of robust, I was fairly amazed when I got back inside the house and took this thing for a tour of the HF bands. The internal tuner in my Mark-V FT-1000MP Field had no problem matching it anywhere, even across all of 80 and on the WARC bands, and my first two contacts were pileups in Europe that I got into after three calls each. What other reviewers have said about close-in 80-meter performance is true, but I don't play in the 80-meter playpen very much. On 20 this thing, even radial-less, gives my G5RV a run for the money. I've worked plenty of DX with this unassuming vertical in the past month from my QTH in Central Virginia.
All in all a very nice antenna, both physically and performance-wise. It's a little noisier than my G5RV was, but that's a trait of verticals in general and not the Hustler in particular. Besides, the DSP noise reduction in my Yaesu and its pair of noise blankers go a long way toward eliminating that noise, when it does exist (most of it's from a bad power pole insulator near my house that acts up when the lines are wet. I need to contact Virginia Power and see if they'll take care of it for me).
I'm pleased with my $149 purchase! |
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| KE4MOB |
Rating: |
2004-06-29 | |
| I'm surprised |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I'm not a big vertical fan, and have seen a few HF verticals that were more akin to dummy loads (Antron 99) than real antennas. When our club decided to plunk the money down on a 5BTV, I expected to be disappointed again.
Field Day was the big debut for this antenna. Me and another club member started assembling the antenna right out of the shipping box. After wading thru a lot of stuff in the instructions (that we really didn't need) for about 10 minutes, we finally got to the meat of the matter: the chart showing the critical dimensions. 15 minutes after deciding what mounting we would use (ground level w/no radials), the antenna was complete except for trimming the 80 meter stinger. We never did find the screw and nut to put on the spider hub, and one of the screws holding the radials on didn't have a slot cut in the head. Oh well, no biggie..it *is* Field Day. I guess we'll just have to make do...
Friday evening we drove about a 30 inch pipe in the ground about 15 inches and mounted the base about 8 to 10 inches above the ground. We stood back and admired our work...it sure did look nice!
Saturday morning, about 30 minutes before the start I actually hooked up a radio. The ground was soppy wet from 1/2 inch of rain from Friday. Much to my surprise it was flat on 10...and 15...and 20...and 40. It wasn't flat anywhere on 80--but then again, we didn't cut the stinger at all because we couldn't decide on where we wanted to operate. So I can't complain there.
So the SWR was acceptable---but so is a dummy load's. How did it perform? Pretty darn good, I'd say. We bagged SCV and CO off it on 40M early on. We also heard SJV, SF, and LAX as well, plus worked the usual Midwest, Northeast and Southwestern and Southeast stations as well.
I worked both CW and SSB using this antenna on 40, and used a doublet fed with twinlead for 80. I was using my TS450 at the start, and then moved over to a 746PRO when the power supply on my 450 went south. At no time did I feel that the 5BTV was holding me back from working what I wanted to.
While I still might have a touch of "dipole snobbery", I have to admit, this antenna has changed my opinion on HF verticals substantially.
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| AE4CC |
Rating: |
2004-06-29 | |
| Great Tech support |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Re my post on June 28, 2004. “Really a bad antenna”
Jo, the Sales Manager from New-Tronics contacted me about this review. Jo sent me the Trap Calibration Specs and that did the trick. Every thing depends on the 10 meter trap being correct. I found the factory had the calibration off 1/16”. When I changed this the antenna tuned fine.
So my thanks for the great support from Hustler/ New-Tronics.
Carl AE4CC |
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| K3GM |
Rating: |
2004-06-28 | |
| Nicely built. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I finished my installation of the 5BTV in time for 2004 Field Day and promptly worked dozens of stations with 1 watt on 20 meter phone and cw. Mine is ground mounted with an extensive radial field of 78 33' radials. I did have a problem with the antenna using this large number of wires. The feed point impedance dropped to around 23 ohms, and I couldn't get it to tune up on 40. I fashioned an inductor out of 12 AWG solid wire, 4 turns around a 2" form, and connected it from the base of the element to the grounded frame. That got it to tune up fine although the VSWR bandwidth is pretty narrow; less than 150kHz. The other bands aren't affected with this mod. I guess this is the price you pay for low radiation resistance. I gave it a 4 because of the tuning problems I had on 40. IMO, the antenna isn't designed to be ground mounted with an extensive ground plane. Considerable ground loses were calculated into the design of this antenna. However with my mod, it appears to be working great. |
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| V73NS |
Rating: |
2004-05-04 | |
| Needs hardware upgrade |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have used these in the past and they always perform well. I was given one when I was a Novice and wore that one out. Now I have another and have only one complaint about it... the hardware. This applies to the 4, 5 and 6BTV.
Half of the supplied hardware is either steel or low grade stainless. The steel washers and screws were easy to spot. The lock washers look like stainless, and are, but a very low grade of stainless and slightly magnetic. You should always check your hardware with a magnet. Toss em and hit the hardware store for real stainless hardware. They are not the first company to skimp on good hardware and not the last.
Take a magnet with you... you want the TOTALLY non-magnetic hardware!
I live in a harsh marine environment where things don't rust... they dissolve!
Time spent repairing something is time taken away from operating!
Neil
V73NS |
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| N0TJO |
Rating: |
2004-03-22 | |
| Outstanding |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Purchased from DX Engineering...arrived quick. Assembled in an hour...immediatley on air and all w/perfect SWR as stated in manual. Even w/o radials as suggested (will put up next w/e) Performance has been great thus far. Guying is necessary if you have 80mtrs, otherwise will probably bend easily in the wind. Owned Cushcraft AP8A and this is much better at 1/2 price. Purchased based on eham product reviews...You will not regret this purchase. |
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| N0XE |
Rating: |
2004-03-08 | |
| excellent antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This antenna it seems has been around since the dawn of time, ok maybe not that long but it is a true bargain in ham radio and made very well. It is a shame the prevous post had such a bad experience with customer service but any company can have people problems and many times it may also be misunderstandings or an employee having a bad day. I try to give the benefit of the doubt when possible, but I also understand the frustrations one can experience when they feel they are getting the run around. I have dealt with this company many times over the years and have had nothing but great service and the have owned the 4, 5 and 6BTV antenna. It is well made for the price and having a narrow bandwith on 80 is actually better with a trapped shorten Vertical as it usually indicates ground losses are under control I think 80 KCs is typical but anything between 50 to 80 is probably normal with a good couterpoise. There are too many variables with these antennas and most swr curves are not going to be exact as it depends on surrounding objects that may be coupling to your antenna, your ground conditions, counterpoise if you are using radials and of course good feed line and adequate weather proofing. I really don't see an issue with not using a female SO 239 connector on the antenna, it is much easiier to hook up with out that, no PL 259 needed on your coax and and you need to make sure it is all WX sealed anyway so really no big deal. You can always make a jumper with a connector on it if you plan to be hooking and unhooking from the vertical frequently. I have never had any problems with my Hustlers and still think they are a great value in ham radio with the cost of antennas being so high these days. Hopefully they will not let their customer service slip like so many companies these days have.
73 N0XE |
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| KD4MCA |
Rating: |
2004-03-08 | |
| Performs well, service poor |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have two issues to discuss in this review of the 5BTV, performance and customer service.
First on performance I rate the antenna a 4/5, it works great. The antenna bandwith is great on 10-40, no tuner needed. However on 80 the bandwith is only about 50kz, a far cry from the 100kz advertised. I have the antenna ground mounted with 2 radials per band and on 100w have been able to contact many stations running 1K. I know their antenna systems probably receive better than a simple vertical, but I am still impressed.
One question I must ask is Why no SO239? It would make feeding the antenna much easier.
My second issue with the antenna is customer service. About a week after installing the antenna I took it down in order to tune it a little closer to my operating habits. When I did this, the tuning rod fell out of the 80m resonator. So I called Newtronics and sent it back to them per their instructions. When I called 9 days later to make sure they received it I was told they had, and the gentleman was surprised I had not received my new resonator back. So I waited another week and when it had not arrived I called again. This time I was told it had "gone out yesterday". When I questioned him about our previous conversation he dismissed it as "I got busy and fell behind." Fine, but don't tell me you sent it and didn't.
To continue, about a week later I still had no resonator. I sent an email to Newtronics explaining my ordeal. Finally Jo called me at work first thing the next morning and sure enough the antenna had not been shipped. I must give her credit, she did get to the bottom of the problem and made sure one got out that day. I would have been happier with next day delivery after this ordeal, but it was not offered and I did not press the issue.
Therefore Newtronics customer service gets a 1/5, with Jo's effort being the only positive part of the experience. I was shocked by this ordeal after reading the other eham reviews, but such is life.
So in conclusion, the antenna performs great 10-40, is functional on 80 with a tuner, but pray it never ever breaks. If it does and they tell you the part has shipped, get the UPS tracking number.
73 de KD4MCA |
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