For more than two decades, the hams at DX Engineering have invested a great deal of time and brainpower toward enhancing the performance of Hustler BTV Series 4-, 5-, and 6-Band Vertical Antennas. This commitment has resulted in a slew of complementary DX Engineering-produced Hustler antenna products coupled with smart advice about installing ground radials for optimal results.
This combination of add-ons and operational wisdom continues to result in spectacular results for hams around the world. Here’s just one of many favorable opinions:
Five Stars (4BTV 4-Band HF Vertical Antenna): This antenna performs above and beyond what I expected! I hadn’t made any DX contacts in a very long time on the voice portion of the HF bands. After installing this per instructions and laying down 24 ground radials of various lengths due to confined space I easily made a contact into Germany through a pileup first try! Got a good 5-7 report with great audio! I also added the 17M add-on kit which performs flawlessly! Best antenna I have purchased!! Highly recommend this antenna if you are limited on space!
Ronald, DX Engineering Customer
Hustler BTV upgrades available at DXEngineering.com include the DX Engineering Direct Coax Feed Add-On Kit; BTV Series Antenna Packages, which come with OMNI-TILT™ Base, DX Engineering patented Radial Plate, clamps, and hardware; DX Engineering Vertical Antenna Matching Network; and the 64-page instruction manual, which one customer called “the most important part of my antenna package.”
OnAllBands plans to cover all of the above in later posts, but first we’re checking out customer reviews of Hustler BTV Series add-on kits. In part one of this series, we explored the 17M add-on kit.
Today, we’ll be heading to the low bands for a look at the 80M add-on for the Hustler 4-BTV antenna (40/20/15/10M).
The 80M add-on is tunable for operating across a small segment of the 75/80m band with an SWR of 1.5:1 or less. Larger frequency excursions are easily made by lowering the antenna and adjusting the length of the top rod. A DX Engineering DXE-TB-3P Tilt Base Antenna Mounting System (sold separately) makes this a simple job. A good SWR meter or antenna analyzer will allow you to check the overall performance of the antenna while making final adjustments.
The DX Engineering 80M add-on kit requires no disassembly of your existing antenna. Simply add one of these kits to the top of the existing installation, make some minimal tuning adjustments, and enjoy getting on the air with an additional band. These kits come complete with Hustler RM75/80 resonator with large corona ball whip; Allen wrench for the two Allen set screws on the 80M resonator; and three-bladed spider assembly (above).
What Does the Customer Say About the 80M Add-On Kit?
Five Stars: Excellent! Simple to install and tune. Best reports ever with locals. Then worked Puerto Rico first night.
James, DX Engineering Customer
***
Five Stars: Easy to install and tune. And nice to get all the needed parts in one kit with good instructions.
Aaron, DX Engineering Customer
***
Five Stars: Easy to install, especially if you have the Omni-Tilt base on your 4BTV. Tuning was simple, took about three tries to get it centered on the frequency I wanted using the MFJ-223 analyzer. Performance with 32 radials is not bad. Expect about 45-50KHZ of usable 2:1 SWR bandwidth.
Samuel, DX Engineering Customer
***
Arrived quickly, well packed. 80M resonator and whip in one box, three-leg spider in second box shipped separately. Easy to install on my 5+ year old 4BTV. Required a bit of retuning the vertical, mostly 40M (top section was shortened a bit). SWR about 1.5:1 80-40-20M and 1.2:1 15-10M with my 36 radials. Have had a few 80M QRP QSOs so far. Signal reports about one S unit weaker than my full length 80M dipole—not bad for a shortened radiator. QRO probably better.
Paul, DX Engineering Customer
