| N2EYE |
Rating:     |
2008-11-12 | |
| Roof Mounted Review |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Used 3 locations. New in late 1970's was ground mounted at sea level near Ocean east-L.I. with 6 radials-40-20-10. Antenna did not work well locally and poor DX. In NY City, atop a 5 story Bldg. with 2 radials, each 65' long. Had the 80 meter resonater until age killed it late 2007. On roof it worked great. With a Dentron GLT-1000, I could tune from 3.85 to 4.0 and higher through 10 meters. Antenna was stored for about 10 years. Still working it 20 to 40, seemed to lose 10 meters when removed 80 resonater. Often ran a KW+ through it. |
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| KE5SFK |
Rating:      |
2008-11-11 | |
| Maximizing the radials |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| The 5BTV works great for me. The tilt base for tuning and storm protection is well worth the money. My 25 ground radials sit on rocky hilltop land that has poor conduction. I overcame this by laying a 25x25 grid of chicken wire ontop of the ground radials. I then scattered 2 boxes of rock salt around to increase the salinity. Grass clippings on top of chicken wire hid it nicely and was soon incorporated into the soil. Long wire attatched in place of the 80m load coil makes a full functioning band. |
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| K2PJW |
Rating:      |
2008-11-09 | |
| Perfect for me |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have this antenna ground mounted with many ground radials. However, I used it without ground radials for a short time and had good results too. Out performs my 40 meter dipole on that band. In this lull of sunspot activity I have casually been working stations in africa, middle east, europe, and latin america. Only with this antenna and 100 watts. My location is not particularly good so this antenna works for my than one reason for me. There is a great article about how to hide it in a flag pole type set up.
After I bought mine I found out I could have gotten it for much less money through a different distributor, so do some research before you plunk down the cash. I would also suggest wb2wik's article about this antenna and radials. DX Engineering's website has several good articles also. This antenna is easy to mod for 12 and 17m, just google it and you will have hours and hours of good informative ideas.
In summary this antenna serves my needs well. I regularly qso with stations in all different directions so a beam would be a pain to turn constantly. It's light and the easiest antenna that I have ever put together. Tuning can sometimes take time, but take your time and do it right, and you'll be set for good. Even if you have other antennas add this one to the "farm." It's relatively inexpensive and it's always good to have a go-to omni directional antenna! 73. |
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| KI6KQJ |
Rating:     |
2008-11-02 | |
| all n all goog field day vert |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| at first fed with coax.just so so then tried 60'ladder line. it realy opend up,rx & tx. + gained upper part 160m.hustler realy should mention the use of ladder line. |
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| N8RGQ |
Rating:      |
2008-10-12 | |
| The Hustler 5BTV Four SQUARE |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I liked the first one soo much I decided to put up a Four SQUARE of them . I have them spaced at 33 ft on 1 inch thick ten foot long Stainless Steal ground rods . There is a old stainless steel refridgerator shelf under each Antenna with 10 ground rods on every Antenna . Speaking of stainless I can't "BELEAVE" no-one has mentioned in a 100 reviews that these 5BTV's are made out of "STAINLESS" ! Stainless has a life span of atleast 50+ years ! These Antennas will last for years and years ! Anywho mine sit over my LeachBed so they get plenty of mosture all the time to keep them well-grounded . I have another 10 ft ground rod at the center of it that is all tied in with OO wire all the way around and crossbridged to the center one . Four foot under the soil is 33 foot SQUARE of chicken wire with four 4 foot by 6 foot stainless steal sheets and 55 grounding rods . On top of that is 300 pounds of metal shavings and all the scrap metal that was around here . To top it off I put 3 truck loads of Horse and Donkey manure to make up my "POLITICAL CORRECT GROUNDING! system ! :) I ran OO grounding wire to my Station grounding rods bridge in back of my shack . This Antenna system is fed with "HELIAX LDF-1" coax . I have 103 ground rods in this system and a reading of .2 ohm not to bad for living on clay , sand and rock at my QTH. I have back to back compared this setup to Dipoles , Double Bazookas and my cushcraft X7 beam with the 40m add on kit all I can say is that " I HAVE LEFT THE WIRE FOR GOOD ! "This setup is so good I leave the PW-1 turned off 99 % of the time and never every turn it on when I run 40 m anymore ! These Antennas will run the DX lowband like nothing else I have evry seen ! When my budies around here are complaning about + 20 db noise I may at the most see a spike to a S-5 . These Antennas drain all that noise straight to my grounding system and that lets me work soo many stations that the rest can't here .
73,
Terry
N8RGQ
PS_ I wish I could give these Antennas a perfect 10 ! |
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| M0SAY |
Rating:     |
2008-10-05 | |
| well built |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
i like this antenna but hustler as let there self down i think for a good company witch do make good antennas
should put Jubilee Clips on to secure thick wall tubes is a joke
there just not strong to hold in bad whether they should have
had some thing like car exhaust pip clamps witch by the way i have put on
mine and hold it very secure indeed,other than the clips the antennas are made well
come on hustler put better clips in the box
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| KB2MBC |
Rating:      |
2008-09-01 | |
| Excellent Performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I was a dipole guy for many years but with space limitations here at my new QTH, I broke down and bought this vertical. All I can say is WOW! I've made plenty of DX contacts as far away as Taiwan, Tahiti & New Zealand on 20m. I've also worked 75m DX into Europe & Africa.
I put down roughly 12-14 radials, as long as I could make them. Originally I had put down 25 but as I reduced the quantity, I didn't see any degradation in performance.
I did have to trim roughly 18" off the bottom to get resonance higher up into the band. |
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| KD4ULB |
Rating:      |
2008-07-22 | |
| Great price, great performance, |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had this antenna in operation now for over a year and couldn't be more pleased, especially since I got it in a swap for next to nothing (I got the used antenna in need of a new base assembly, he got an EL rotor in need of repair). I placed a quick order to DX Engineering for a new base assembly (very nice folks), downloaded the assembly manual off the net and had the antenna adjusted to specs and up in an afternoon.
If you can get an analyzer and have the patience to take it down, adjust the trap distances, and put it back up repeatedly until it is close enough for your favorite part of each band, then you may not need a tuner later. And remember to have all your radials in place before you tune. Could this be easier? Sure but for the simplicity and low cost of this antenna, it’s worth the effort. If you have to use a tuner, a remote at the antenna base would be ideal but a standard tuner in the shack seems to work fine. The manual recommends you don't use a tuner with this antenna, but as you can see from previous posts, many do anyway. According to the manual, it just “tricks” the transmitter and doesn’t improve the radiation efficiency of the antenna.
Mounting: I procured a 6' steel 1.5" pipe, ran a garden hose with a jet nozzle down through the top and had all but 18" buried in less than 20 minutes. My soil is pretty sandy, your mileage may vary. Antenna mounts directly to the pipe, about 6” above ground.
Radials: This antenna can be configured ground mounted with or without radials, above ground with radials, or roof mounted with radials. Above ground or roof mounted the radials are critical and should be cut to resonance, at least 2 per band, more preferred. Their deployment angle is also critical to tuning. On the ground, it really depends on the conductivity and moisture content of your soil as to how well it will function without radials. The manual gives adjustment distances for several configurations, but it seems ground mounted with numerous radials is most efficient.
How many do you need and should they be cut to resonance is a point of argument for many. Lots of research and opinion has been posted on the net and some great data can be found in the ARRL Antenna Book, but the bottom line is, there is a point of diminishing returns. After X amount of radials, more appear to have no effect. Try 4 to 6 per band and see how it works for you. If you have the real estate and time, add more in pairs as you go. I currently have about 30 laid out in a 360 star pattern and can work just about anything barefoot that I hear. I started out cutting 2 per band to resonance and then later, after reading up on it, just added 20 more cut approximately for 80M. If you have a small lot they can be bent at various angles, even in a Z, as long as they don't cross one another.
Accessories:
- The optional radial plate ($55) is well made and makes the job of adding radials oh so much easier. Still, if you want to keep total outlay to a minimum, it’s not required for excellent performance.
- The coax pig tail ($17) and SO-239 bracket ($20) are very handy additions for the price, but can be easily homebrewed for much less (the latter needs some machining ability, plans are available on the web).
- The Tilt-Over Plate ($63) is a godsend when you are making initial adjustments, performing regular maintenance, or if you encounter frequent high winds. For me, it’s not used enough to justify the price.
- Guying Kit ($40): With the assembled antenna at 26’+ tall, it is always recommended to have a least some form of simple guying system to minimize the swaying. Kit includes 4 anchors and 200’ of rope, but a little imagination could provide a suitable guying system for less.
- Additional Bands: There are bolt-ons available commercially for 17M ($50) and 60M ($70), but a quick search for “add bands to the 5BTV” will bring up some ingenious ways to add 12M, 17M, and even 30M for a few bucks (an 8BTV?). Whatever bands you add, all will have to be retuned after. There is a Hustler 30M trap available but installation may require shortening of some of the tubes and the 6BTV from the factory (which includes 30M) is only about $25 more than the 5BTV.
- Feed Line Choke: Starting at $70, these are well made and perform a great function, but a few paragraphs in the Antenna Book or a search of some websites will explain the concept behind this choke and how to build one for a few $.
Conclusion: For under $200 new including some accessories and radials, it’s hard to beat this antenna on price. On performance, all I can say is it works great for me on SSB or Digital, and I’m running less than 100W from an old Kenwood. I consistently get great signal reports and have even made it through a few DX pileups (now if the bands would just open up!). There are way too many variables to say what works for me will work for you, and there are conditions where a horizontal wire will work better (I have a G5RV up for those times) but for price, simplicity, and solid performance, this one is a winner. If all the other vertical manufacturers want to send me sample antennas, I will be happy to do side-by-side comparisons and report back here. Till then, look for me on your waterfall… |
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| KI4RGD |
Rating:      |
2008-07-13 | |
| Great Vertical |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Purchased my 5BTV from DX-Engineering. They provided great technical assistance before and after the purchase (via email). Also purchased the radial plate, and the direct coax feed. I plan to purchase the 17m add on and the tilt-base later.
Assembly of the antenna itself took a few hours. All parts were accounted for. Additional instructions from DX engineering helped to clarify a few things I didn't understand from the manual.
I have not used an analyzer to fine tune the vertical - will do that later. My LDG AT-200 pro tuner handles the 5BTV with no problem. I placed 32 - thirty foot radials out. Earlier this spring, we had drought conditions in the south. The radials were easy to lay on the lawn with little grass. I used over 500 landscape staples to hold the wires down - it could still use a few more. It took a couple days to get all the wires down.
By the time the grass started to grow almost all of the wires were gone. I have to say, my lawnmower did find three of them and what a mess! Be sure to set your mower hieght - high the first few times you mow. I've also thought of using an old fashioned reel mower for the rest of the season - in this section of the yard.
As far as performance - it works great! I was using a homemade inverted V dipole (a cobra multiband dipole) before. That dipole works great! It takes up a lot of space though - with ladder line swaying in the breeze, etc. I decided to take my tower down along with the dipole and put up this vertical. This vertical sits in my side yard and is neat and clean. I have worked plenty of states and a few DX stations. I can hear tons of DX, but the bands could be open as well. I only run 100 watts but stations I talk too say I have a good signal. It's not a beam! I don't expect to hit France or Russia every time I get on the air. I made my first 10m and 15m QSO using this antenna.
All in all I am very plesaed with this antenna and would get another and recommend one to a friend. Good price ($149) and easy to put up. Get the radial plate and put down plenty of wires.
As for wire - I used 14g standed on 500 ft spools from Lowes, around $40 a roll. (I understand wire prices vary by location) I found ground staples at Walmart, 40 in a box for $3.80. You'll need alot of staples! Have fun with yor BTV and I hope to hear you on the air.
73,
KI4RGD
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| KD4VCU |
Rating:     |
2008-06-15 | |
| Good First Antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have a back and neck injury and love playing with antennas and such, but the trees had grown up around my 40' tower and I could not tilt it down anymore. So I gave the tower away to a friend and in doing so became interested in radio again. I decided to give the verticals a try.
This antenna is ground mounted and I could hear nothing originally, then I added tuned radials and was stil not satisfied. After adding 4 64ft radials and the antenna came alive, I now had over 500ft of radials and decided to make some contacts. First 'very weak" signal was a contact to Moscow on PSK-31 and the second was to Anchorage Alaska on 40watts from Alabama. I know, thats not a good indication as the bands were open some, but I am very pleased with this antenna.
I also opted for the radial plate, Pigtal and adapter as well as the title base, these items made installation a snap.
My installation has trees and a building close by so my SWR was very high. I have adjusted the traps but still can not get the resonance down to a nice number, however the SWR is fine and my TS-2000 can tune it in. Signal reports are all 599.
I may add another 500ft of radials (40 now probably 80) and see what happens. The interesting suprise is I can tune the antenna for 6M and other bands outside the original 5 bands. Having radials but at the 6M and other bands may have helped with that.
Now, the only problem is keeping all that wire down so I can mow the lawn:) |
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