| KB9YLU |
Rating:  |
2004-10-17 | |
| super antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| i was scared to get a vertical,i heard so many bad things. well i have one and its great! ez to install i dont even have radials and its one contact after another.the price is great the perfomance is wonderful 80m is tight thats about all i can say thats wrong. hustler has done a great job i will buy more antennas from them if they are half as good as this one thanks again hustler!!!!!! 73's |
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| KD7I |
Rating: |
2004-09-09 | |
| Serious DX and CC&R friendly |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
You've read all the other reviews with details concerning installation and performance. I will wholeheartedly second them all and add my 2-cents worth. This antenna is a winner in every way.
I have had mine ground-mounted in the back yard for nearly two years. I have 32 radials, each 25 feet long, buried two inches deep. It has survived 70mph winds with no guy wires.
I live in an area where CC&R's specifically say that no external antenna may be visible from any ajoining lots. I solved the problem by slipping a white PVC pipe over the antenna with a pulley and rope to hoist a flag to the top. It makes a great flag pole and I'm in strict compliance with the CC&R's. No one can actually see my antenna. They can only see a white flag pole.
The 6BTV has performed well through all four seasons including a long winter with the mounting bracket completely covered in snow. Through those winter months I participated in many contests and am completely satisfied. I have enjoyed QSOs from all over the globe running a TS-570S at 100 watts.
Yes, I would love to put up a beam with legal-limit power. Since that will never happen at this QTH, I will recommend the 6BTV to everyone who finds themselves with similar restrictions. At 100 watts, this antenna may not be the strongest voice in the pile-ups, but make no mistake, it is a serious DX antenna. |
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| N9VO |
Rating: |
2004-06-22 | |
| 5btv works for me |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I know this is the 6btv and I have the 5btv but I couldn't resist since the last reviewer gave it a 0 and doesn't even have one. Hey if you don't like a product fine, but how can you review and give a 0 when you don't even have the product. Complain in another area or whatever but please keep the reviews to actual product use. I do have a hustler vertical (albeit a 5btv) and it works great. I do/did realize that it works much better with radials, the more the merrier. It should be a requirement to actually own or at least be using a product before reviewing. |
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| W0CP |
Rating: |
2004-06-22 | |
| Excellent Value |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have an antenna farm with several yagis, quads, verticals, etc. I wanted something to use as a reference antenna and to take on FD and trips. I have owned multi-band verticals from other manufacturers, including trapless designs. This antenna impresses me with the quality of construction, simplicity (ease of adjustment, assembly), and relative performance. Its performance is comparable to any vertical I've owned but it's better made and cheaper. Good radials are a must for optimum performance. Mine is ground mounted and I use "gutter guard" aluminum chicken wire strips attached to the ground with yard staples. The grass grows up through them and they disappear after a while. |
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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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| W4SK |
Rating: |
2004-02-28 | |
| Good Value |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I wanted a simple (read "cheap") antenna for use at my office. After reading all the reviews I could find, and considering the initial cost factor, I got the 6BTV. It is installed in the ground mount configuration. This is not a 'quick and easy' deal if done right, owing to the guying, radials, and balun at the feedpoint. I installed mine with the DX Engineering base, and sixteen 50' radials buried 2" deep. I wound my own balun (ten turns, 6") inside of a 6" PVC joint connector (any decent hardware store), which provides a nice form AND protection for the coil. Yes, the bandwidth is narrow on 80m. No, this thing will not perform like a tower and beam. Yes, the construction is excellent. No, you wont be Top Dawg in the pileups. However, I have been very pleased with my 6BTV. No additional adjustments were necessary - NONE - following original assembly using the supplied measurements. Performance wise, it is quite superior to the multi-band dipole and G5RV which it has replaced. I like it, and would buy again. |
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| KD5QEF |
Rating: |
2004-02-01 | |
| good antenna |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I give this antenna a "5" because it's sturdy (reasonably well made), and it works pretty well for the money *IF* you tune it. I've had the antenna for 6 months or so, but only recently had the chance to use an AEA VIA-HF Analyzer to tune it. What a difference that makes! Now, the SWR on 40m and 20m is 1.5 to 1.2 in the CW bands. I have four radials for for 40 meters (I use this antenna primarily on 40m and 20m), and it's ground mounted on a 4' pipe buried in a hole I dug in the ground with about 19 inches protruding above the soil. The bottom U-bolt of the mounting bracket is six inches above the soil. I worked Kiribati Island with the 6BTV on 40meters *before* I tuned it. I live in a subdivision with covenants, and I put the antenna up when in use and lay it on the ground when not in use with a piece of 3" black PVC with a yogurt cup on top to cover the mounting post (which I've coated with NoAlox). I've tuned the antenna such that I slide the bottom section all the way down on the mount. So, for an antenna that's easy-up/easy-down, sturdy and works multiple bands for under $200, this is a good deal. |
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| 5H3AA |
Rating: |
2004-01-18 | |
| Performs a classic vertical if properly done. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Just installed a new one. I am going to publish a detailed story about my 6BTV setup on http://www.ek6do.com/
To be briefly, here are the main hints:
- Never install it without radials even if ground mounted;
- Tuning sizes, listed in the manual are true when you have at least 4 radials for each band;
- No need to tune antenna by changing lengths of elements. Cutting couple of inches from radials will do a wide-range and sharp tuning;
- Water-proof sealing is significant especially for areas, where humidity is high.
73!, Arik 5H3AA (ex. EK6DO)
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| WX2KEN |
Rating: |
2003-12-14 | |
| For a Vertical it Works Fine |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
My situation being, the total dimensions for my property is 150ft x 50ft with the house at the mid point of the property, thus leaving me a workable back yard of about 40ft x 50ft, not to mention the large 75ft Black Oak tree in the eastern corner of the yard. As to dipoles, I tried them, however the Black Oak (though it is trimmed every few years) had the habit of dropping dead branch limbs (especially after an ice storm) on to any dipole stretched too close to it, thus further limiting my choices for HF antennas.
About 3 weeks ago I installed the 6 BTV in southwestern corner of my yard. Ground mounted and tuned it to factory specifications. NO RADIALS (I did run a 15ft counterpoise wire (8 gauge) from the ground mount post to the chain link fence post. I thank Gary C of Hustler customer services who was very helpful in answering my questions BEFORE I obtained the antenna and giving me the counterpoise suggestion.
SWR on all bands is very good, less than 1.4 to 1. Except that I had to do some adjusting to the 80-meter tip rod to get the SWR down on the portion of the band I wanted to use.
However, one thing I did not expect that the 6BTV must be guyed either ground or elevated mount, that is what it states in the assembly instructions. After seeing a friend’s 5BTV un-guyed before I obtained the 6 BTV, the guying issue through me off. With non-conductive nylon rope the antenna was guyed and made sturdy. This does make a difference on those windy and stormy days.
The antenna gets out quite well with 100 watts or less with my ICOM 751 A and / or ICOM 706 MK II. I have worked stations through out North, Central and South America and one station in South Africa. Usually, if I can hear them I can work them.
One thing I would strongly advise my fellow amateurs when installing a vertical antenna. In the many documents and antenna manuals that I have read so far, the issue of radials vs. no radials always comes up. However, also dependent on the radial factor is a term known as ground conductivity. Here is the link to find your ground conductivity: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/m3 Better ground conductivity would indicate perhaps less a need for radials. Perhaps some time in the future I will add them.
All in all the 6BTV is working very well and I am satisfied. No I not “big gun” but at least I am heard and that is what counts.
Ken Nieglos / WX2KEN
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| W5GNB |
Rating: |
2003-11-12 | |
| Good Design/Poor Constion |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This antenna is very well designed but the construction during the production process needs some real attention. After reading many other reviews, I found that the problems I experienced were very similar.
I first set the antenna up without ground radials. After adding Four resonate radials Per Band, I found that antenna tuning did not really change much.
The antenna does not tune up well right out of the box. Having 40-Plus years professional experience in antenna design and building really helped get this antenna up and running HIHIHI....
In my case, the antenna was way off on 15-meters (1-MHZ Low) and on 30 meters it was 500-KHZ high. The other bands were within useable specs even though the SWR was high on all but 10 meters. To correct the problems, I finally had to actually CUT the inner connecting tubes between the traps to obtain resonance. My other option was to break into the traps and add or remove wire but I opted not to do that at this point.
Once I got things into resonance, the antenna performs very well. I think if these folks could get past the unstable production problems that seem to be inbedded, they would have a superior product.
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