On 16 Nov 2005 02:04:02 GMT, Steveo wrote:

Vinnie S. wrote:
On 15 Nov 2005 23:07:05 GMT, Steveo wrote:

Cool, are you going to ground mount that hustler or elevate it?
Radials? I've always been curious as to how well those things work
when they are so close to the ground.

Hey Enzo, did you get it all hooked up yet?

Mounting (ground mount with 3 radials on 20-40-80M) the antenna was easy.
Tuning is was a bitch. I missed the portion of the directions on tuning
the antenna, because it was poorly placed. Almost hidden-like. Anyway, I
tuned it backwards 80M and down. I got it pretty close. Then the next
day, I tuned it 10M and up. All was fine except for 20M, which was about
2.0 across the band. So I called up Hustler-Newtronics, and the tech
immediately sent me a 20M calibration sheet. Worked like a charm. I have
all the bands well under 2, and 80M is 1.2 at the center General
frequency, and I get about 80Khz bandwidth before my SWR goes to 3.0.
That is excellent for 80M.

Also, for the price of $170, the construction is rock solid. If I were to
build my own antenna like this, it just wouldn't come out as good.

Vinnie S.

Thanks, does it listen and talk too?

No problem on 40 and 80. I made one 20M contact. I haven't tried it that much on
20, because I only go the SWR down yesterday. Based on construction and
hardware, I don't think you can beat this. Similar verticals are $500-600. And
as far as the people on this site that advocate building your own, I don't think
you can do it for that same price, and with that quality. I know I can't,
because I don't have a collection of metal machining tools. I can send you the
instructions, in case you want to buy one. Theyrecommend 3 mounts:

1. Best - elevated mount on a roof ot tower with radials

2. Good - ground mount with radials

3. Least desireable - ground mount without radilas

Now, one thing I forgot to mention. I have 3 radials, they say use at least 2,
but more the merrier. I mounted it in a swamp, so the soil is always wet. I
think there is good conductivity, and that is helping the counterpoise.




Vinnie S.