This weekend we re-installed my Hustler 6BTV at the new place. We found the best location to be approximately in the middle of the yard.  With the help of a Black and Decker Edgehog we laid out 28 radials with an approximate length of 50 feet. The plan was to install 32, but we ran out of wire. I still plan to install the remaining 4 radials but I doubt that will have any effect on performance other than possibly balancing the radiation pattern.

The idea of using the Edgehog came from AE1Z’s install blog of his BigIR. I used it for yard trenching, which cuts a 1.5-2″ notch in the ground to lay the radial in. I also used it to bury my RG8X for a clean installation. The radials are terminated to a DX Engineering Radial plate. In the shot below, the antenna is slightly leaning to the right. The mast wasn’t perfectly level, but after guying, it was close.

View at Picasa

View at Picasa

…and I’m exhausted. Today Laurie (KB3SIK) and I finished burying the remainder of the radials on the 6BTV vertical. In addition we buried the RF choke coil and the feedline. I’m quite happy with the results.

Wide view of the buried radials.

Radials and RG-8x feedline buried

For the last few days I’ve really been stretching the legs of the 6BTV out a little. Well, as much as 100 watts will stretch it out. My most recent QSO’s have been mainly on 20 meter and some countries I’ve worked: Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Lithuania being my furthest (4400 miles). I can say I’m very pleased with the antenna. After brewing over which one to go with and realizing how important radials are in a vertical scenario I feel I’ve made the correct decision.

As of today I finished a more permanent installation of the RF choke utilizing RG-8x and terminating the transmission line to the DX Engineering radial plate and installing a 1ft jumper between the radial plate bulkhead and antenna socket.

Also to note, when I did all this, my SWR’s dropped even further on all bands except 80, of which shot up from 1.1 to 1.5 as the lowest in the band. 40 meter is still a little high for my liking 1.7:1 to 2.5:1 for my band permissions. With a little more tuning and possibly chopping 2 inches off of the 40m section, I should be able to swing it into a 1.2:1 or so.