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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
W8DRS Rating: 2007-04-14
Excellent Tech Support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Installed a 5BTV in a deed restricted community in Florida, with limited yard space.

Contacted Newtronics , and after speaking with "Mike" was successful in obtaining acceptable SWR for 10m, 15m, 20m, 40m and 80m (narrow).

Bottom line, Mike at Newtronics provided the best customer suppport I have ever encountered.
N4CQD Rating: 2007-04-13
Very Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The antenna came from DX Engineering well packaged and was very easy to assemble. I highly recommend getting their Tilt Over Device and Radial Plate. The reason I give this antenna a 4 instead of a 5, is due to a somewhat labor intensive tuning procedure. After assembling the 5BTV exactly as the instructions suggest, the SWR on most bands was very disappointing, extremely high. I emailed New-Tronics Tech Support, and Mike was kind enough to call me on his day off, and walked me through several procedures that brought the Standing Wave on all bands to normal. I have it Ground Mounted on a 2" steel rod, 18" of which is out of the ground. I also placed 30 radials (12ga copper wire) of varying lengths in all directions.
KD5LDW Rating: 2007-03-10
GREAT ANTENNA Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have only used it only for 2 weeks. works great on all bands. I have it mounted 4" above the ground with NO radials . best vertical I have seen for the money.
QUINNY Rating: 2007-02-17
Wish I'd bought it earlier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After my experience with another vertical,which couldn't stand up to the recent severe winds at Christmas,I had the chance to buy a 2nd hand 5-BTV,and wish I had bought one earlier.

I decided to ground mount it on the 8ft pole that I used for my other vertical,which was located at the rear of my garage,and between my fence,but couldn't work out for the life in me,why I couldn't get the swr down on 10 & 15mtrs.

So I went back to the drawing board,and looked again at the instructions,and also read about it on the internet,and noticed that a smaller pole was used for ground mounting,and thought that this may be why my swr went haywire.

So I got hold of a 4 foot pole,and put it into the ground,with only about 18 inches above the surface,and re-mounted the antenna,about 4 inches from the soil,and re-checked the swr,and was amazed to find that on 10 & 15,it had dropped to 1.2 and 1.5 respectively!!!!!

So after checking the rest of the bands,and being satisfied with an average reading of 1.7,I found myself on 40 metres later on in the day,and worked Izmir in Turkey from the UK,with a 5/+20.Was I impressed!!!!!

I would have to say,that it is on a par with the Diamond CP-6 that a friend of mine has,but the downside to them both,is that the bandwidth on 80m,is so small.However,on the other bands,I would think that you would be hard pressed to find another vertical,that will perform like this.

So to sum up:

1)Read the instructions,and take notice of what they say,especially when ground mounting.And do take note of the measurements supplied.
2)Be aware that the bandwidth on 80m is small,so don't go expecting any miracles.
3)When mounting the antenna in what ever configuration suits your needs,as there is a lack of SO239 at the base of the antenna,and the feeder has to be hard wired,make sure that you apply a coat of Copper Slip,or any other type of grease,to stop corrosion of the terminals.

All in all,a superb vertical.
G0LCC Rating: 2007-01-17
great vertical Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
had mine 6 months now and only use as a tempory antenna
mounted into ground on a 4 ft pole 18" exposed as suggested I know this isn't the best but in my situation it works well
only gripe(s)
1. the screws and nuts were missing for the radials of the capatacence hat
2. the assembly for the 80mtr hat had a spot weld right on the point were the union clip band tightens against the element so made it a loose fitting part this had to be re-made.
3. 20 mtr and 15 mtr traps were not tuned to freq

however with a bit of adjustment and replacement hardware alls fine now and I'm pleased
swr <1:5 on all bands and added a 17 stub which works great all in all a good



KI7DG Rating: 2006-12-21
Good Ant for the price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had one for 5 years was a little difficult at first to get tuned in with my Swan 350 but did get the job done. Purchase a second one a year ago and use it with my travel trailer and when out camping set it up and work field day and what ever when camping. Using my ant tuner was a whole lot easier to turn in. The home set up has 2 radials on each of the bands and the Trailer one I only use 20 and 40m for now. It also sets up very fast . I can usually set it up in 10 minutes and be on the air. For the price its a workable ant when set up and should provide years of service.
KB9VRT Rating: 2006-12-21
Excellent for the money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Excellent antenna. I have it mounted on a 25 foot pole attached to the side of the house with above ground radials. Two for each band except 10m which has four. Because of my limited space for radials I could never have got it set up without my antenna analyzer. There are allot of variables with vertical antennas that affect SWR. I've found DXengineering to be the best place for purchasing or finding parts for this antenna. They also offer 17m and 30m add-on kits.

By the way if your worried about wind survival the antenna will amaze you. It about gave me a heart attack when we got some strong winds off of Lake Superior but it took it.
G6JTT Rating: 2006-12-19
expensive dummy load Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
couldn't load it on 10,15,20 & 80 but 40 loaded beautifuly. Spent 6 weeks trying to get a match, ending mounting at ground level squashed between buildings not where I wanted up at roof hieght and in the clear. even with radials it wouldn't load. it cost £195, as said before an expensive dummy load
KB0HAE Rating: 2006-12-11
Great antenna, Great Price! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my 5BTV from a local ham who wanted it out of his garage. I think his XYL was wanting him to get rid of any excess antennas and othet gear. I got the antenna for $50 in very good condition with no parts missing, and an extra 80m resonator. It sat around in my fathers's garage until I moved to my present location 5 years ago. This is a rented house with an extremely small yard, and with power lines on 2 sides (I didn't have much of a choice about location at the time). The antenna is mounted on 20 feet of heavy duty mast, and has 2 elevated radials each for 10 and 15 meters. It has worked very well for me in a location where I have no room or supports for anything but a vertical antenna. I can usually work any station I can hear and usually get them on the first or second call. I have never run more than 200 watts PEP (SSB)and no more than 30 watts for PSK31, and the antenna performs great! I will probably add radials for 20m, 40m, and maybe 80m if I can run them around the house and not have the ends overlap!

If i ever have to replace it I will get another 5BTV!!!
KO0I Rating: 2006-05-09
service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
picked up and used 5 bander, had a coule parts missing, after repeated calls to Hustler-to no avail- and email- on how to get needed parts - I've got no response...I though they were good!!!