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Installing the Hustler 6BTV - From Start to Finish

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by W5KV, Sep 1, 2017.

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  1. KN4FPY

    KN4FPY Ham Member QRZ Page

    Nice video. I am a new Ham interested in DXing and was thinking about buying a Hustler 6BTV. I have an interesting location I am considering which is on the bulkhead of a brackish river that leads to the Chesapeake. I would only be able to do 180 degrees of ground radials but I have heard that the saltwater can also work well for the counterpoise. Anyone else use verticals near the water? My one concern is that occasionally we get storm surge from Noreasters or Hurricanes and the water would cover my radial plate. Would I have any problems in this scenario? I would make sure the antenna is removed during the storm surge.
     
  2. W5KV

    W5KV XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    What I wouldn't do to put my vertical near salt water! Probably one of the best ground planes you can provide for the antenna. I've landed some pretty impressive DX at the beach before. My only concern would be to use the best hardware components to prevent corrosion & seal that baby up well! If water covers your radial plate, I'd really be worried about water ingress at the point where the coax attaches to the radial plate. I'd probably devise something different so that the coax attachment points weren't covered with water. 180 degrees of radials will work, of course 360 is optimal - it will change the pattern of your antenna.

    73
     
  3. N1EEK

    N1EEK Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    KN4FPY
    You may not need to worry about adding radials if you can install the antenna near the waterline. Dig a hole where you think you want to install the antenna as well as a few meters away and see what kind of soil you have (sandy, clay or rocks) and how far down the water table is. Then check to see if it is salty, throw your ohm meter probes into the water and see if there is a low resistance comparable to the brackish water in the river vs. fresh water. You may already have pretty good soil conditions if you are worried about storm surges on that piece of land, the water has been there a lot longer than you so the soil may be pretty well saturated with salt.
    Having installed mine over a salt water marsh I have some thoughts on how you can optimize your situation if you want to send me an email, check my profile for photos and address.
    73 Rob
     
    W5KV likes this.
  4. N8CMQ

    N8CMQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Nice install of a very fine antenna.

    Did you put weep holes in your conduit to drain any water that might get in to it?
    That seems to be the biggest fear some people have when you use conduit under ground.
    I used aluminum flex conduit when I installed my coax, as I have big rodents like ground hogs, so I wanted a bit more protection from chewing animals.

    I have been using a 4btv ground mounted many years now. I have even rebuilt the traps once as the plastic spacers failed due to age. For pictures, check my profile page. I have over 144 radials down for my vertical.
     
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  5. KH2BR

    KH2BR Ham Member QRZ Page

    That's strange, a properly tuned vertical will have a impedance around 30 ohms with out a
    matching network. On yours, 80m=51 ohms, 40m=60 ohms, 20m= 70 ohms, 10m=46 ohms.

    I installed my 6btv with 30 radials and the impedance on all bands came to 30 ohms with out
    a matching network of any sort. The radio is designed to work into a 50 ohm load. I am not
    a antenna expert, but from reading a lot I found that you need a matching network to change the impedance from 30 ohms to 50 ohms. DX engineering has that matching device which is a
    7 turn coil that connects from ground to the feed point. With that installed, my impedance was 50 ohms on all bands. They want a lot for that simple coil so I just made my own.
     
  6. KC8COM

    KC8COM Ham Member QRZ Page

    Verticals do better elevated and you need fewer radials the higher you get a vertical due to lower ground loss. Think about a 1/4 wave ground plane on 2 meters, you wouldn't think about mounting it on the ground and you would be silly to use more than 4 or 5 radials. On HF the verticals are bigger which makes them harder to mount up high and the longer wavelengths suffer less attenuation from foliage and buildings so you can get away with mounting them on the ground but it is still a big compromise and an expensive one at that.
     

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