Hustler 4BTV question

[KG5ODW]

Looking for some real world answers here. I know what DX Engineering says but I would like to hear from some hams that have used this antenna.

Just how close to a house can you ground mount a Hustler 4BTV antenna and still get good performance from it? I am only going to be using about 50 watts into this antenna and I will use about 60 radials. My problem is the only safe place due to power lines is about 6 feet out from one side of the house unless I put it in the middle of the front yard. Of course I do not see a problem with using the front yard but my wife does.

 

[davenlr]

Ive never used one with 60 radials. That would have to work good. I use a butternut 9 band mounted to a chain link fence that runs around my lot, about 10 feet from the house, and it works just fine (for a vertical), so I dont think the house interferes with it at all. With your planed radials, I think you will be fine.

You could always mount it in a tripod on the roof too, with the radials on the roof...if the wife would approve of that.

 

[n5sjs]

You may have rfi problems,being that close to your house-even with 5 watts. Just have to try it and see. With sixty radials.the bandwidth will be smaller,but it will be more efficient. I have a 4BTV and
have added a 30 meter trap,12 and 17 meters 1/4 wavelength wires. It have 51-25' radials. It works
great!
Good Luck, David

 

[doylejr]

have you ever thought about the house roof ?
I have run one with 20 roof mounted tune radials with good luck when I still lived in the city..
doylejr
wb7oxj

 

[K7MEM]

Looking for some real world answers here. I know what DX Engineering says but I would like to hear from some hams that have used this antenna.

Just how close to a house can you ground mount a Hustler 4BTV antenna and still get good performance from it? I am only going to be using about 50 watts into this antenna and I will use about 60 radials. My problem is the only safe place due to power lines is about 6 feet out from one side of the house unless I put it in the middle of the front yard. Of course I do not see a problem with using the front yard but my wife does.

The DX Engineering information is really pretty good. When DX Engineering bought out Hustler, they updated and expanded the installation manual.

The 4BTV is a good antenna and works pretty well in almost any situation. I have a 5BTV myself. I bought it used at a ham fest. Having 60 radials is really going to help any problems that the closeness if the house might cause. Probably the only effect will be reduced reception/transmission in the direction of the house. But that depends a lot on the house.

Does it have siding? Is the siding aluminum or vinyl? You may also have issues with radiation into any piece of electronics that are on the wall facing the antenna. But with only 50 watts, the interference should be bad.

"davenlr" suggested the roof. Elevated mounts are great. My 5BTV is mounted on a 18 foot length of 2 inch iron pipe. It's mounted at the corner of my cattle pen and hovers over a couple tons of manure. But when you elevate the antenna radial requirements change. Elevated installations require tuned radials, rather than random length radials. And the radials need to angle down from the feed point. I have four radials for each band that extend over the cattle and manure. They are high enough so I can get a tractor under them.

You might want to join the "Hustle-Antennas" Yahoo group at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hustler-antennas/conversations/topics. They have lots of information on the 4,5, and 6BTV, including how to add 12 and 17 meters. It's a good group.

 

[KG5ODW]

Thanks for the answers so far. I would put it on the the roof but I am handicapped and and I need something ground mounted with a tilt base. I had thought about putting it in the back yard but there is nowhere that is more that 12 feet from a low hanging electric service drop.
The house is a one story wood frame with vinyl siding. The only electronics on that side of the house will be the radio itself and a laptop. It will be about forty feet form the neighbors house. I am currently using a norcal doblet tacked to the roof-line of the house and I am running about 10 watts into 20 and 40 meters. I make contacts but just not many with that set up.

 

[davenlr]

If being handicapped is the only drawback for getting it on the roof, Ill bet your local ham club, or electronics group would be happy to help get er up there. You are a little to far away for me to get there to help, or I would volunteer.

Another option I have used before (but still requires someone on the roof one time to set up the radials) is to make the radials on the roof, and down the side of the house like a spider web, then mount the antenna on a ground mounted fold over pipe the same height as the roof. Swing the antenna up to the roof and clamp it with an eve mount, and clip the radial array to the pipe.

You should be ok though, with 60 radials on the ground, from your description.

 

[zz0468]

The general rule of thumb with ham antennas is to just do the best you can with what you have to work with. If the only place to put it at ground level is right next to the house, then put it right next to the house. If you can't put it on the roof, then don't put it on the roof. If you can get away with 60 radials, then put in 60 radials.

The point is, YOU know what the limitations are and why they are limitations. Get it as high and in the clear as possible and don't sweat it. It'll get out, and you'll make contacts. If you run into RFI problems in the house, then deal with them one at a time as they come up.

Anything less then up in the air with a bunch of radials is a compromise. Don't think about how much of a compromise it is if you can't do anything about it. Just put it up, and get on the air!

 

[KG5ODW]

Thanks, that is the best advice yet.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Got a 5BTV here with only 2 radials and ground mounted close to the house in the middle of a large lilac bush that has grown up around it. In other words, not a theoretically good installation. However, performance has been OK. SWR direct on 80 is 3:1, but is 1.1: 1 on 40, 1.4:1 on 15, and 1.8:1 on 10. With a tuner, it can be tuned to 1:1 on 80, 40, 15, and 10. Have made many CW contacts on 40 with the 5BTV but my dipole far outperforms this vertical on 10. Just a few comments based on my 30+yrs. experience with this antenna. Good luck with your antenna installation.