The antenna I have is the Hustler 4BTV, and I have owned it for about four years. I had been noticing that after a couple of days of rain, the SWR on 15 meters would increase.As the weather warmed up, the problem disappeared. My suspicion was that water was making its way into the 15-meter trap and causing the SWR issues.

I waited for a forecast of a few nice, dry days before taking the antenna down for inspection. The first thing I noticed was that I had accidentally covered the drainage slots at the bottom of each trap with electrical tape. If water was getting into the traps, those slots were intended to let it drain out. My first course of action was to remove the tape from all three traps.

Tape removed from drainage slots

I started with the 20-meter trap, then moved on to the troublesome 15-meter trap. As soon as I removed the tape from the 15-meter trap, a small amount of water drained out. I then removed the tape from the 10-meter trap, and like the 20-meter trap, no water came out.

Each trap has a plastic cap at the top that helps keep water out while also insulating the trap tube from the center antenna element. This seemed like the most likely place for water to enter the trap, so I decided to disassemble the 15m trap for a closer inspection.

Before taking anything apart, I carefully marked the position of the tubing so I could reassemble it in nearly the exact same location. My hope was that this would keep the antenna's SWR very close to where they had been. See above drainage pic for position marking in red. 

After removing the 15-meter trap from the antenna, I took off the plastic cap and inspected it closely. I couldn't find any visible damage, but I know that water can find its way through even the smallest of gaps. That alone could have been enough to cause the SWR problems I was seeing.

Outer tubing showing water drops

With the cap removed, I looked inside the trap and found several small water droplets. I then removed the outer trap tubing so I could inspect the trap winding and all of the electrical connections.

Fortunately, everything inside the trap was in excellent condition. The winding and all of the connections looked perfect, which reinforced my belief that moisture—not corrosion or a failed connection—was the source of the problem.

After thoroughly drying all of the parts, I noticed the original bead of silicone that had been applied during manufacturing. When I first tuned the antenna after purchasing it, I had to slide the 15-meter trap's outer tube to adjust its resonant frequency. My guess is that this movement disturbed the original silicone seal. If so, it was probably only a matter of time before water found its way inside. I was actually surprised it took four years for the problem to appear.

15m trap condition

When I reassembled the 15-meter trap, I applied non-acetic, neutral-cure silicone around the plastic trap cap to restore the weather seal. While researching the best product to use, I learned that not all silicone sealants are the same. Silicone that smells like vinegar releases acetic acid while curing, which can promote corrosion on aluminum. I certainly didn't want to solve one problem only to create another.

The product I chose was GE Silicone II, which is a neutral-cure silicone and safe for use on aluminum. I happened to have an older tube on hand, but I noticed the silicone had turned yellow.  I never realized that silicone could age over time so I purchased a new tube of silicone.

With the trap reassembled, it was time to tape the joints where the antenna sections fit together. While I'm not an expert on silicone sealants, I am very familiar with electrical tape after spending my career as an electrician. Not all electrical tapes are created equal. For this project, I chose 3M Scotch Super 33+, a premium tape well known for its excellent UV resistance, flexibility, and long-term outdoor durability. Rather than list all of its specifications here, you can simply click HERE to learn more about it. 

With the antenna back in the air, I went inside to check its performance. The results on 40, 20, and 10 meters were exactly as expected. Unfortunately, I had created an entirely new problem on 15 meters!

I had solved one issue, only to create another. Fortunately, I have almost solved this new problem. In my next post, I'll explain what happened and how I fixed it.

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 219 is now available for download.

Field Day 2026 at Pearl River County Amateur Radio Club and W5AXC. Antennas, radios, and hams make for a fun weekend.
Mike’s SenseCAP K1100 and the Helium network.

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Episode Highlights:
In episode 219 of AmateurLogic.TV, the team reflects on their experiences at Field Day 2026 and explores various technical projects.
Pearl River County ARC: The team visited the Pearl River County Amateur Radio Club in Picayune, Mississippi, highlighting innovative setups like a multi-band dipole made from a chalk reel (3:12) and a vertical antenna construction (5:33).
W5AXC: George and Tommy shared their own station setups, discussing the use of the IC-7100, Icom IC-7760, and Yaesu FT-857D (11:15, 15:56), the challenges of getting antennas into trees, and the necessity of using antenna tuners and various battery solutions (12:33, 16:58, 25:00).
Technical Projects and News:
SenseCAP K1100: Mike demonstrates the Seeed Studio SenseCAP K1100 sensor prototype kit, discussing its integration with LoRaWAN and the Helium network to monitor greenhouse data (36:20, 41:40).
Mesh Networking: Emile discusses the Gulf Coast Mesh Network and the potential for experimenting with the 915 MHz ISM band (34:00, 56:59).
Homeowner Association (HOA) Solutions: Tommy shares an ARRL news story about a ham in California who successfully used a horizontal loop antenna around his fence (20:10).
Community Interaction: The episode concludes with viewer emails, including a discussion on troubleshooting an MFJ-949E tuner (47:47).

In this special episode, Martin Butler (M1MRB), Chris Howard (M0TCH) and Colin Butler (M6BOY) attended and bring you a flavour of the World Radiosport Team Championship 2026 taking place in the UK.

We would like to thank our and monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

Show Notes

Featured Topic

• Feedback from Jonathan Rhoades KD2HBV
  • I’m trying to figure out how to tune a homebrew dipole antenna using the swr readout on my qrp rig (zBitx).  Thought if I’m interested in this, perhaps others are, and maybe it would fit into your short topic list.
• What Is a Dipole?
  • A dipole is simply a wire antenna fed at its center, with two equal-length halves extending in opposite directions. It’s a balanced antenna — symmetrical around the feedpoint. To be resonant, it needs to be a half-wavelength long at its operating frequency. The formula: length (feet) = 468 ÷ frequency (MHz). That gives you sizes ranging from about 16 feet on 10 meters all the way to 260 feet on 160 meters.
  • Resonance matters because it puts the antenna’s impedance in a range compatible with common coax feed lines — but resonance isn’t strictly required; an antenna tuner can compensate for dipoles that are longer or shorter.
• What is SWR?
  • Standing Wave Ratio (SWR)
  • When RF power travels down a feed line toward an antenna, some of it gets radiated — but if the antenna’s impedance doesn’t match the feed line’s impedance, some power bounces back toward the transmitter. That reflected wave and the forward wave interact, creating a pattern of high and low voltage/current points along the feed line called standing waves.
  • SWR is simply the ratio of the peak voltage to the minimum voltage of that standing wave pattern. A perfect match = 1:1 SWR (no reflected power). Higher ratios mean more mismatch and more reflected power.
• What is zBitx?
  • The zBitx is a highly compact, all-mode, all-band Software Defined Radio (SDR) transceiver designed for portable and QRP (low-power) amateur radio. Very compact in size, it measures 5.5 inches x 3 inches x 1.25 inches, and weighs 250 gms/9 ounces!
  • It covers the 80M to 10M bands, and runs digital modes like FT8 natively.
  • The zBitx is built by HF Signals and powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero, running open-source sBitx software that allows for future software upgrades.

Announcements & Feedback:

• Announcements:
  • Support the show!  
    • Support us via Patreon, Paypal, Merch, Sharing the Podcast via Social Media, and Rating Us in your Podcast Application!
  • Taking a break from recording for a few weeks!
    • Due to Bill doing that whole Boy Scout Jamboree thing, we’re going to skip recording for a few weeks.  Mark your calendars - July 19th and 26th are definitely out, and likely August 2nd.  Don’t panic… we’re still around, and Bill will tell us about his Jamboree adventures on the next episode (which will be #124 - typically our “featured topic” episode) after he gets home!  NOTE:  Bill MAY decide to record a podcast from Jamboree… only time will tell.
  • Memorial Service for Russ, K5TUX
    • There will be a memorial service held for Russ at our home in Mt. Vernon, Missouri on November 1, 2026.  Everyone is welcome!  If you’d like to join us, please send an email to [email protected] and we’ll send you more info!
    • Facebook event page: https://lhs.fyi/mem
    • Comments, questions, etc: [email protected]
  • Special Note for this episode:
    • Bill will be gone for the next few weeks to the Scouting National Jamboree, and they are always needing folks to interact with the kids through the K2BSA.  They will be operating HF on 40M – 10M, D-Star on REF033A, EchoLink on JOTA-365, and more as time, conditions, and staffing allowed.  SO, if you hear them on the air… please take a minute to chat with the lucky camper!  Bill has posted a great list of questions to ask the campers on the K2BSA website https://lhs.fyi/M1
• Feedback:
  • Email from Ray Franz, WB0SMZ
  • I just listened to a podcast of yours from a few years ago.  Podcast 537 for Qlog ham logging software.  I have it installed on Linux Mint and enjoy the software a lot. But I have noticed an issue with my installation.  The time shown for a qso is incorrect and I cannot find a solution.  I have a digital clock in UTC on my desktop so I can reference UTC time at any time.  What I found is this example:
    • Linux local time in the lower right corner is 05:34.
    • UTC TIME on my digital clock is 00:34.
    • Qlog time for current qso is 12:35 AM
  • Would you have any ideas for how I could get Qlog to log qsos is UTC time? Windows programs like Genlog, Dxlog and others default to UTC. Otherwise I love Qlog for general purpose logging. I installed from Software app on Linux Mint.

Subscribers & Supporters:

• Facebook
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  • @[email protected]
• Live Show Participants
  • Mike, K6GTE
  • David, W4DPE
  • Don, KB2YSI
  • Ken, WA7WY

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and the episode's feature is a Taste of Ham Radio Friedrichshafen.

We would like to thank Frank Westphal (K6FW), Ken Delap (KX9U), Reggie Waller (G6YAJ) and Pete Weston (2E0DED) and our and monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

• Germany Likely to Get Full 4 Metres Band Back
• Eyeball-to-Eyeball Off-the-Air QSO Party
• Canada Reviewing Policy on Antennas, Towers
• Researchers Create Space 'Wall' to Weaken Solar Storms
• YOTA CAMP Region 1 - Austria July 2026
• RSGB Offers RFI Workshop Using SDRPlay at This Year's Convention
• OSCAR LOCATOR Web Generator Turns Live Elements Into Printable Tracking Sheets

Ham College episode 141 is now available for download.

General Exam Questions Part 2.
G1B – Antenna structure limitations, good engineering and good amateur practice, beacon operation, prohibited transmissions, retransmitting radio
https://hamcollege.tv

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Key Topics Covered:
Antenna Structure Limitations: Discussion of FAA/FCC registration requirements for towers, with a focus on height (3:40–6:00).
Beacon Operations: Explanation of beacon purposes, such as observing propagation (8:09–10:18), power limits (typically 100 watts PEP), and frequency allocations (e.g., 28.2–28.3 MHz on 10 meters) (22:48–26:48).
Transmission Rules: Rules regarding one-way transmissions, the prohibition of encryption (with specific exceptions for control signals), and the use of procedural signals like Q-codes (10:18–14:28, 18:57–20:00).
Legal & Operational Standards: Guidelines for state and local government regulation of antenna structures (15:26–16:56) and the definition of good engineering/amateur practice, which falls under FCC oversight (26:51–28:43).
International Communication: Rules regarding contacting amateurs outside of FCC jurisdiction (20:17–22:45).