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Reviews For: Hustler 5BTV HF vertical

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Hustler 5BTV HF vertical
Reviews: 146MSRP: 211.99
Description:
Hustler 5BTV HF vertical antenna for 10,15,20,40 and 80 meters.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.new-tronics.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001464.6
KA4DQJ Rating: 2007-09-26
5-BTV Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my 5BTV for 20-25 years... I don't even remember when I got it! It has been installed at several different residences and is getting pretty ragged.

The base and the base insulators have corroded away, and the plastic trap caps have shrunken and split (I covered those with electrician's tape a long ago). Everything that is aluminum is corroded, and everything that is ferrous is completely rusted.

The six capacity hat "spokes" broke off a long time ago, and were replaced with TV antenna elements.

Yet, the vertical is still working, and is mounted on the double car port's grounded tin roof (a very effective counterpoise by the way). I've lost track of the stations I've worked over the decades with that old vertical.

How does it work? If you can get an effective counterpoise it will work fine. Probably the best one I had was in the early 90's when I laid down perhaps a half-acre of heavy gauge chickenwire mesh; taking the time to solder the "twists" in the mesh so that the electrical contact would be maintained. The job took three full days of heavy labor, but was worth the effort!

And, the 5BTV is still very low cost as antennas go... I can find it for $149.00 plus shipping. That's cheap!

I have found that the Hustler vertical will beat low dipoles everytime. With the proper grounding system, it will have a very low angle of radiation and will work distant places that the run-of-the-mill dipole/inverted vee can't hack. I have had just three problems with the Hustler vertical:

1. Setting it up is labor intensive. Ok, so you don't have to work 100' above ground, but anyone who has ever laid a proper counterpoise of radials for a vertical antenna will tell you the same thing.

2. Even though the vertical excels against the usual suspect wire antennas on distant stations, it does a very poor job of performing regional work. It was my last choice for checking into local nets... especially on 75 meters. If you have this vertical, you still need a wire for local work on the lower bands especially.

3. Although the vertical is still a solid performer in its old age on 20/15/10, it was never optimal for 40 and 80. Too many lossy traps and coils along the way. And, the bandwidth on 80 is atrocious due to the electrical shortening of the antenna. I'm quite certain that mono or dual-band verticals for 40/80 would perform much better in addition to having wider bandwidths.

Anyway, I've decided to replace the old worn-out 5BTV. To save money, I'm going to save the 80 meter resonator and tri-blade assembly (which is still in reasonable condition) to install on a new 4BTV instead. The 4BTV comes ready to expand to 80 meters, so why spend the extra money.

KI6JGH Rating: 2007-08-01
Who says you need a beam to work dx Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the best vertical you can buy with your money!Unlike some of the other reviews I found the directions to be quite easy to follow.Swr was great on all bands 2.1 or less except on 80m witch averaged at about 3.0.The dx is fantastic on this thing just got it,and worked the Marshall islands on 20m with a 5/5 signal report running 100 watts with 6 radials.Receive: Pretty much no qrm on 20m with 6 radials,listening to dx is fun,I can clearly hear ZL,VK,FW,...

73,
KI6JGH
W6NYG Rating: 2007-07-26
good results Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought a Hustler 5BTV. I am extremely limited on space. Roof mounting at this time is not an option.

I set up the antenna with ground mounted and radials measurements. I tried it without the radials. It is 4 inches off the desert floor. The antenna is three feet from the house. It clears the roof by ten feet I'd guess. We must have excellent ground conductivity.

I had no thoughts that it would tune up not alone work DX. The results are so far astonishing. I worked UA3TCJ in Russia last night on 20 SSB. I received an S 6. That is really a good report as my transceiver is a old FT 840 I bought six years ago. I use a Heil BM 5-5 headset with boom mic.

I checked in to a 75 meter net last night and the swr is well within operating range. The only problem I've had was the general instructions. The 80 meter halo and the trap seem to be an add on of the 4 BTV instructions.

The halo is shipped folded up. That threw me for a minute or two. Other then that I give the old standby Hustler antenna a clean bill of health.

I agree I might hear and work a few more DX stations if the antenna were on a twenty foot push up pole on the roof. That type of install requires radials plus a 8ga wire down to a ground rod at least six feet or more in the ground to bleed off static charges.

I put the 5BTV up when there was no wind. A few hours later a 20 mph wind started to bend the antenna. I took it down to be safe.

Hustler does not explain what size nylon rope to use as guy wires. I am using something that looks like clothes line. It is designed to with stand UV and being exposed to the elements.

If your really want top efficiency out of the 5BTV purchase a SGC Smartuner and follow their instructions. The price of a remote antenna coupler is not cheap. The results will be worth the dollars spent.
N7BFK Rating: 2007-07-20
Great vertical! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my 5btv because of the lack of space for a tower and recomendation from HRO. In the beginning I had it mounted on the ground with no radials and was not to impressed. I heard absolutely no DX and was lucky if I heard much stateside. I finally broke down and made some radials for 10, 20 & 40M and finally heard some real DX out there. My contacts were far and few between. What should I expect from a vertical in an HOA. One evening about 6 weeks ago I decided to install it on my roof at about 25 feet and added some more tuned radials. (I spray painted the stand and antenna to match the trees in the background so you don't notice it unless you really look for it. It took the XYL 3 weeks to notice it. Hi hi) Wha la... It works wonders. I hear tons of dx and work them too. In this last 6 weeks I have logged about 90 DX stations and have 43 states. Who says verticals don't work. If you are able to mount it on the roof with radial I'll give it a 5 on the ground a 3. 73, Thomas N7BFK Happy DX
K5LDW Rating: 2007-06-28
Great Vertical Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
It has held up in 75 mph winds , so far nothing but Good to be said ! Works 20 when my G5RV will not, 10 Meters is great along with 40 & 15 .However 80 meters is a stretch for the antenna but with a good tuner it works it! I would buy another, If for nothing else it takes up little room . If space is a Issue for you this is the antenna I would buy . Just my 2 cents.
K0RGR Rating: 2007-06-24
Good. But... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The BTV family is still my favorite set of affordable mltiband verticals.

They are lightweight, easy to assemble and fairly easy to use. I've seen them survive a lot of portable use.

But, the lightweight construction is also a problem in some areas - it is very easy to break the elements of the capacity hat. The trap construstion is also a bit fragile.

In fact, the way the capacity hat is constructed greatly weakens the lightweight tubing used there.

Tuning of the antenna can be fairly frustrating. An antenna analyzer is almost a must. If you are ground-mounting the vertical, you will almost certainly have to call for the instructions on adjusting the traps. I found it easy but absolutely necessary to do this. Adjusting the traps seems to further complicate the mechanical issues with the traps.

I broke one spoke of the tophat loading it into my car, so my suspicions were confirmed about that.

Nonetheless, it performs very well with enough ground radialas (20 or so - I made about 10 20-30 feet long and 6 50 feet long). It also works great roof mounted with tuned radials.

I also bought the DX Engineering tilt-over accessory - this item was problematic - it worked, but required a lot of fiddling, and it tended to bind up a lot when in use. I will try to improve on the design for next time - as is, it is marginally useful at best - you need to have help on hand in case it binds up.
KB3JGU Rating: 2007-05-26
GREAT Antenna, LOUSY Directions Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I can say nothing but good things about this antenna. I'm working a ton of DX on it, and I only have 9 radials out.. I'm sure with more I'd be doing better.

I've worked New Zealand and Israel on PSK, and Saudi Arabia on SSB on 20m with a 58 report. I'm easily breaking through European pileups on the second or third try. With an antenna tuner, I've even managed to use it as a 6 meter vertical with halfway decent results.

Now don't expect to be working everybody for this.. but for $150 from DX Engineering, this is hands down the best money I've spent in the hobby. It's fairly low profile keeps the fam happy too.

The directions are absolutely god awful. If you have no antenna building experience, GET HELP. That and some issues tuning on 15 prevent this getting a 5.

Hats off to Hustler tho for proving you don't need to spend $300+ for a good vertical...
WB9SFM Rating: 2007-05-25
Works Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this antenna for 2 years and the results speak for themselves. I have worked 40 Countries and 48 states. I wish my home was not in a deed restricted locale, I would raise the antenna. Listen to the Ham Op's, of whom used the DX Engineering Radial Plate as well as the tilt mount; it makes Ham Operating a breeze with the 5BTV. I am so happy I just ordered a 2nd Husler 5BTV, maybe one day I wish get an Hawaiian and Alaskan contact and earn my WAS, 73's.
VE3IAE Rating: 2007-05-05
Good enough Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just bought and installed one. A couple of bolts for the 40 m spider were missing but that's OK.
First tried it with no radials at 4 ft but with the poor rocky soil in Ottawa (actually pure rock as of 5 inch deepth on) it did not really work. The moment radials were added, it immediately turned to be a pretty good quality vertical.
Nothing special, as nothing special can be expected from a trap vertical, but exactly the what it should be. It's a not expensive easy-to-assemble one which is doing its humble job good enough. 5/5 for the money.
VE3FAL Rating: 2007-04-25
Great Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Put one up for a fellow ham who also has limited space. We mounted it on his roof and ran radials to the ground. We were pleasently surprised at the coverage and how fast it tunes on the bands, works well on 80 meters considering the very narrow bandwidth that it has. Only issue as well that I have seen in other posts is that we were missing the screws for the fan radials to mount them.