| KA4HWX |
Rating:  |
2006-03-05 | |
| Still fighting it |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had my 6btv up for over a year now on a 20 foot pole because I can not ground mount due to the way the yard is, too many things in way, no free space.
What I can't understand is that the 6btv says to insulate the antenna from the mast. When I used a Cushcraft 6 band vertical it stated to mount it right to the mast. Why the diference?
Still fighting swr. This weekend I tried to make a contact on 20 meters only to find that the swr was now at 3-1. Just a couple of weeks ago it was 1.5.
Nothing has changed.
I do remember that last summer when I had taken the coax off and the bolt all the way out, water ran out of the antenna. Anyone else have this problem?
Still can't get the swr below 10-1 on 30 meters, but guess I just won't work there.
Beginning to think that the traps are shot on this antenna. I purchased it off a SK's wife and it had laid on the ground for a couple of years. Thinking the snow and ice build up while on the ground has ruined it.
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Earlier 3-star review posted by KA4HWX on 2005-03-31
I purchased an old one from a SK's wife and since putting it up it has been more trouble than pleasure. I even borrowed an analyzer and tried to tune it with that and it is still way out of band.
I can not get the SWR down on 30 meters below 10-1. The only band that is good is 10 meters, here it is 1.5 across the band. The others are all high. I have radials running off it but they too seem to help only a bit.
So, my vote is not a favorable one.
KA4HWX
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| DAVEL831 |
Rating: |
2006-03-05 | |
| Billiant |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Hi all
Firstly as a new ham i would like to thank everybody who helped me on this site with ideas on setting up my station.
Ok i installed this at the top of my garden about 20 ft from my house mainly for 2 reasons one to stop any emc to my neighbours who would have most fun killing me, and secondly to keep my xyl happy as she would kill me and didnt want it at all on the roof.
Setting up was easy i just followed the instructions, that came with the antenna.
I thought i had good soil where i put it but soon found out that i was not getting out a great dx? As i am a new licence holder as well and in the uk that means 10watts i really wanted to see how much further i could get with this antenna.
After much reading and speaking to guys on here i layed about 100meters of ground planes at different lengths buried about 1-3 inches under the soil, the ground planes where old copper wire i managed to get from a scrap yard dealer after passing some coins over his hand for it. {20pounds)
The results WOW on 10 watts east usa and canada.
I am really pleased and this antenna has stood up to 50mph winds as well and is still standing.
really happy Dave M3NCB
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| W8WLC |
Rating: |
2005-12-30 | |
| excellant price/service |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I had the first one of these antennas 12 years ago and have kicked myself for selling it since, so last october I purchased another one, very simple assembly, easy to tune and holds up well. Since installed this antenna has survived some 60 and 70 mph wind gusts and still stands erect ( I wish I could say the same for the gap I used to own). With the early winter ice and frost some detuning on 80/40 meters does occur but if you can show me another antenna whose resonance doesn't change under these conditions I will buy it! I see a few complaints from people trying to get this to play without or with a poor radial system, well like other verticals It won't work well without a good radial system installed. For the price buy one of these you will like it. |
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| G0VAX |
Rating: |
2005-07-08 | |
| Hustler 6-BTV,A good quality HF Vertical |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've owned my Hustler 6-BTV for some 11 years now, and now, after 11 years, the antenna is still performing.
I have it mounted in the corner of my back garden with radials (40 of them), cut for different bands,,(and some random length ones).
The SWR is as per the manual.
It is only now, that I have decided to take it down and clean it up and replace nuts and bolts with new stainless steel ones.
On observation, there was not much wrong with the antenna, just the usual wear and tear of living 1/2 mile away from the sea.
I have worked all around the world with this antenna, and, I hope after refurbing it, I'll get another 11 years use out of it.
The quality of build is brilliant, I don't say this likely as I am an engineer in my day to day job.
I've used other antennas, and after a few years they just fall to bits due to corrosion,,, the Hustler 6-BTV, is built to last.
If Newtronics brought out another version that covers 160 aswell, I'd opt for it when I come to replace my 6-BTV |
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| K3ZXY |
Rating: |
2005-04-10 | |
| Verticals 101 confirmed |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I recently purchased a 15 year old 6BTV. I cleaned up all the old aluminum, replaced the old trap caps and then reassembled everything using Penetrox on all aluminum joints and Never-Seeze on the hardware. I decided to ground mount the antenna and purchased the DX Engineering radial plate and tilt base. I constructed and laid down 50 insulated radials and buried 130 feet of coax to the shack. Yesterday was tuning day using an MFJ-259B. I had a bad start. After setting the dimensions per the instructions, every band was resonating way low. For example, 21 MHz was resonating at 19.4! On reading the instructions, it said that a good ground would require the antenna to be shortened and even possibly having to cut tubing. Well, I have 19 inches of scrap tubing from having to trim various areas of the antenna, but that is what it needed. The Verticals 101 review noted high SWR could be expected with a good ground and that in fact was my case. I was going to purchase the UNUN but DX Engineering had suggested adding a small coil of 5 turns or so at the base. On 40 I could not get better than 2:1 but with the coil I now get 1:1. As also stated in the Verticals 101 review my bandwidth is not nearly as good as what the company says it can be, but that seems consistent with my apparently good ground. On 40 my 2:1 points are only 125 kc apart. All of the higher bands are below 2:1 across the band. I will update my review after gaining some on the air experience with my old Ten-Tec Triton IV.
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| W5QOT |
Rating: |
2005-03-31 | |
| Cheap counterpoise |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have a 4BTV, the kid brother to the 6BTV. I ran radial after radial, tuned, retuned and checked with an analyzer. I fought high SWRs month after month at my new QTH until I got fed up. I went to my local home improvement center and purchased a 50' roll of 3' wide chicken wire. I cut it into 4 pieces, wired them together and clipped the 12'x12' grid to the ground mounted base. Ta Da. Not perfect, but a fairly close, acceptably low SWR. For $20 it works for me. Why not try it? |
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| K5YY |
Rating: |
2005-03-31 | |
| you gotta "play" with ALL verticals |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
a "5" based on cost, sturdiness and efficient coils. NO vertical is "plug and play". ALL verticals require playing with ground radials, above ground radials (raising the vertical a few feet) or some means of creating a counterpoise/ground plane to form the "other half" of the antenna. Anyone with unresolved SWR or resonant frequencies needs to look at all factors in the immediate vertical location and figure what grounding system you can put in your specific location. THEN, go about tuning the antenna by measurements given in the manual. If you seem to be way off, start over from scratch. Sometimes there is a burned trap, especially with proper measurements and 10:1 SWR! I have had over a dozen verticals over the years, mainly for low band or as a second antenna for a second station. The 6BTV is the overall best I have tried with the Butternut a close second. My comments do NOT pertain to a full sized vertical or vertical dipoles but mainly the trapped versions most have or 1/4 wave linear loaded stubbed verticals... Mine is flat on 7.0 and 10.110 and about 2:1 on 3505 with CW band measurements used.. Remember, you gotta work with those verticals, and wet ground does make a difference in most cases..
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Earlier 4-star review posted by K5YY on 2003-01-19
Will try to be brief. Takes a lot of "up and down" to get resonant points correct. 28MC was very hard to get near 2:1 and two dips were at 27.9 and 29.4. Got tired of trying to improve. I got this for 30m low angle and 80/40 CW work. Bottom of vertical is about 6 feet up with 2 radials each for 80 and 30m cut to 1/4 wave and running basically horizontal to ground close to each other. Put one 1/4 wave radial for 40m. These are NOT high radials and not on the ground but I think 5-6 feet up is enough isolation. SWRs smoothed out with the radials and each one added created about a 20KC movement in resonant freq. Be prepared to put some effort into getting it to play properly. Since I have a beam for 20-10 I use the vertical only on 80-30m, so the squirrely SWR picture on 28 is no big deal to me and 2:1 is OK for most bands below 30MC anyway. The vertical is 1 " S unit" stronger on 80 and 30M compared to 140 foot dipole fed with twin lead/balun that I also use with its apex at 38 feet. Perhaps higher dipoles would outperform this antenna but sometimes that is the EXACT reason we buy a vertical, can't get dipole "up there" at 60 feet!! Traps seem adequate and 2KW seems right, compared to 1500 w on other trap verticals I looked at. Overall, good alternative to all other trap verticals and limited dipole space. Price is right too.. Always good to have something like this for a "second antenna" position and your 2nd rig and to monitor in an "omnidirectional" pattern.. My 2 cents worth - - San K5YY |
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| K1DX |
Rating: |
2005-03-31 | |
| Excellent bang for the buck |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I primarily use this antenna on 80/40/30M CW to pick up band countries. However, during a "phone" contest, I do readjust it for that weekend then return it to CW use.
Overall, the antenna plays very well. I does have a fairly narrow bandwidth on 80M, but that's the nature of short, loaded verticals. I have about 30 radials, mostly about 2" below ground and some old radials laying in the sod.
The only complaint I'd have is the significant affect the wx has on the resonance. During a rainstorm, the resonance drops well below the band edge, but fortunately, the Quadra's tuner brings it in where it is usable.
This antenna compares favorably with several other multi-band verticals that I've tried. This one is the most cost-effective. And it's easy to tune in difficult situations. My aluminum sided house made it impossible to properly tune a GAP Challenger (which beat everything on 40M), but the 6BTV tuned up after some light pruning. |
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| N0XM |
Rating: |
2004-12-30 | |
| Very pleased |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I've owned, and have been using, a 6BTV for just over three years. It has served me well. I have it ground mounted with no radials. It has been pretty easy to achieve an extremely low SWR on all of the bands it is designed to operate. It has done well withg our strong Kansas winds, even with a load of ice on it. I'm pleased with its low angle of radiation. Have worked all continents on CW with this antenna running 100W to 800W. It, in my mind, is one of the best comprimise antennas available for the money. |
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| N0XE |
Rating: |
2004-12-21 | |
| The Standard |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I am always amazed at the reviews that want to attack this vertical. Fist this is not a full sized 1/4 wave antenna on the lower bands and it is not going to perform like a full size dipole at 60 feet, especially on close in contacts, it is a vertical and has a lower take off angle of radiation and DX is where it will work the best and only if properly installed. Yes radials are the key or elevate it and you can run fewer but tuned radials and it will perform even better. It seems a lot of hams want to buy a multi-band vertical and expect it to act just like their G5RV at 30 feet and expect increased S meter readings, ability to work the world on one antenna that will meet all their expectations and in the real world this is not going to happen, Verticals can be great antennas but you need to understand the theory behind them and do some good old fashion reading on the subject and not give a negative review based on emotion, SWR, less then optimum ground and soil conditions and especially radio conditions. There are way too many vairables in the formula to make quick judgements, this antenna has been around for decades, it is like any other shorten commercial vertical, it needs to be installed properly, lots of radials (if ground mounted especially) and should be considered a member of the antenna arsonal. There will be times when the dipole will always do better then the vertical, especially if the dipole is at low heights and you are working close in contacts and local nets, but there is also times when a properly mounted vertical will outperform the dipole, and at times even a beam. The Hustler is a good antenna, well made and covering a small portion of 80 is just what it should do , as being short it's efficiency is the key, not it's swr curve, in fact if the swr curve is too generous then you probably have a problem with ground loss and you need to add even more radials. This antenna is the best priced commercial vertical out there and hats off to Hustler for not going crazy on price like so many of the other companies have done in the last seveal years. This is a buy, but understand what you are getting when you buy it and what is can do and what it will not do. All hams should read ON4UN's book on low band DXing, it is the Bible and covers verticals so you can really understand what is going on and how to make them really play.
73 Jim N0XE
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Earlier 5-star review posted by N0XE on 2002-12-24
This antenna has been around for decades. It is pretty obvious the previous reviewer must have had a truly defective antenna and that is rare for Hustler. Their Quality Control is usually pretty good. Like all multiband shorten Vertical Antennas, there will be many factors that affect your individual exeperience and performance with this antenna. Hustler has made very rugged antennas for years, if the quality has gone down, it is definetly a sad day for ham radio.
I looked over all the reviews on this antenna and even those who have bought the recent model, most all say excellent, so hopefully Hustler is still making them like they should. You need radials or a good couterpoise period!! It is easy to blame poor performance on an antenna when many times there may be other reasons the antenna is not performing as expected.
A Short trapped Vertical is a compromised antenna, so don't expect miracles, it is not going to happen. If they are well designed and installed correctly they can do pretty well and thousands of hams have used these and the mobile models for years. I have owned 3 of them over the years and they always did a pretty good job considering their limitations. If you can put up a full size dipole for each band and get them up 50 to 60 feet them you will probably get better signal reports, especially on stateside contacts. The Vertical is a low angle radiator and needs a good radial system to really perform. DX signals may many times be better on the Vertical when stateside reports may be very poor. A good investment for all hams is to buy the ARRL antenna book, and actually read it, ON4UN's low band DX book is another must in my opinion. Happy Holidays to all and good DX.
73 N0XE |
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