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The Hustler 4BTV is up and running!
11 July 2022 | by 
This past weekend the IARU world contest was in action and I planned to enter the CW category. The contest morning started just fine for me BUT in the corner of my radio room, a boxed Hustler 4BTV was calling my name. The weather outside was great, the mounting base was installed and the ground radials (all 30 of them) were also installed. As I was making CW contacts my mind at the same time was spinning. The weather here has been sunny and clear for very few days and the upcoming week looked once again rainy. The same little voice in my head was telling me " Mike a contest situation is great for testing a new antenna"
Well, a few hours into the contest I jumped off the operating chair and decided it was time to finish the 4BTV install! The little voice in my head had won out. Just the day before I had marked the antenna tubing with the rough measurements for length setup between sections. The only thing left was to put the section together and tighten things down with the provided screw clamps or as I call them hose clamps.
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| Copper paste |
I did purchase copper paste to use on the pipe-to-pipe connection for good connectivity and help stop corrosion. In no time the antenna was together and ready to be mounted on the ground pipe. I was delighted with how light this antenna is, making it easy to lift and install.
The initial SWR was somewhat close to what was written in the DX Engineering manual, there was just some fine-tuning that needed to be done. I wanted my configuration to be in the CW area of the bands. Thank goodness I have an antenna analyzer, this made very short work of fine-tuning the antenna. I will make another post regarding the details of the SWR and adjustments.
Once the antenna was set up SWR-wise in the area of the bands it was
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| Marking the antenna sections |
off to the contest again to see how it stacks up to the Endfed antenna I have been using for 2 1/2 years. Using the new antenna I started calling (CWing) "CQ CONTEST" and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Now having said that this was the first time using the antenna so a fair comparison would be over the course of a month or so with varying propagation conditions.
More to come regarding tuning, assembly and results.
8 Responses to “The Hustler 4BTV is up and running!”
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I just added 17 M ham stick off the side of mine and it works great. Clamped on a piece of angle iron amen installed the ham stick- got the idea from You Tube.
Very gud, I was wondering how you made out. Very well written and tunning to CW portion you can not go wrong.
Good morning Greg thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, very good idea and you already have a nice radial system it can use as well.
73,
Mike
VE9KK
Good morning Ken thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, I am very pleased with the results so far and have more posts to do regarding the tuning process and comparing the Endfed to the 4BTV.
73 and have a great week,
Mike
VE9KK
Hi Mike, I have recently set up my 6-BTV but I didn’t document it for the benefit of others. I will summarize what my install was for me. The assembly and install went fine. I used the copper paste as well. Messy! My problem came when I tried to reuse a DIY connector I had set up for my previous vertical antenna. I couldn’t get an accurate reading from my antenna analyzer. Also, when I saw how much my antenna swayed in the slightest breeze, I had to buy a guy ring with guy rope for safety. My previous loaded coil antenna wasn’t nearly as high and top heavy as this one. Once I figured out the connector was the problem, I opted to buy a connector made specifically for the hustler verticals. I also made an interesting “copper ring” (octagon) for my radials that seems to work well and looks cool. Once I could finally get to the tuning stage, it went without a hitch. I haven’t had much time since the installation to get a feel for how well it works on the air but I plan to use it for a long time, so no rush. Congrats on your install Mike. 73 Mark
I have a couple of photos:
6-BTV with guys: https://i.imgur.com/f0AuL2K.jpg
Closeup of base with radial ring: https://i.imgur.com/nWGnDeN.jpg?1
Good morning Mark very nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment along with the pics. Very nice shots of the 6BTV and nice to read that you solved the tuning issue. By the looks of the ground in the pictures, the setting of the radials would have been fun? For the 6BTV version of the antenna they to recommend guys as you said once that coil goes up there it is top-heavy. I have just a bit of time to compare my 4BTV to my Endfed and up to this point, I am very pleased with the performance of the vertical antenna.
Thanks for the comment Mark and have a good week.
73,
Mike
VE9KK
Hi Mike (also sent to the July 9 post)
I put up a similar HyGain DX-88 that served me well for 13 years (and still does!). I put down 32 radials and a PVC conduit for feed line before our yard was landscaped. The antenna is not guyed. The only complaint is on receive it is a “real noise catcher” in a suburban neighbourhood (an inherent vertical characteristic). My solution to that is an external noise canceler, an MFJ-1026 that works well most of the time.
My antenna was assembled with Ox-Gard aluminum conductor paste but after 13 years of shaking in the wind occasional intermittents occurred. I solved that problem by bridging the slip joints with flexible Al strips.
The antenna works well and I often run full legal power. It is a good alternative on a small city lot, but I do miss the tribander and tower that I had at the old house.
Regards,
Gordon
VE7OW
Good evening Gordon, I am very pleased with the antenna and it’s the first vertical I have used. As for it being noisy, I live in a rural area and I a not having any issues with noise. I have 32 radials as well and I was thinking about adding more but I am going to see how this amount works for me. I have the MFJ 1026 where I used to live there were noise issues and that device worked great!
73,
Mike
VE9KK