Hustler 6BTV multiband HF vertical

My home HF station runs with a variety of HF antennas including the Hustler 6BTV.

• 6 Bands: 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 80m
• VSWR 1.6:1 or better 10-40m
• Bandwidth up to 100kHz 80m
• Power: 1kW
• Feed: 50 Ohms
• Solid 25.4mm traps
• Feed with any length 50 Ohm coax
• Heavy duty aluminium mounting bracket
• Solid 25.4mm (1in) fibreglass trap formers
• Use as ground mount with or without radials
• Use with radials on elevated mount
• Size: 7.3m (24ft)
• Weight: 7.5kg
• Brackets fit Max pole size: 45 mm  1- 3/4 inches.

A quality 6-band antenna from Hustler. Will easily handle full legal limit of power on SSB and CW. Built to last, uses thick walled heavy duty aluminium throughout its length and has an extra heavy duty aluminium bracket for mounting. Its uniquely designed traps offer the lowest loss possible and can be further fined tuned for best SWR if required. With a vertical height of only 7.3m it can be safely mounted where other verticals cannot. Radials are optional if antenna mounted at ground level, but are required if an elevated mount is used.

Multi-Band End Fed Antenna

I use a UK Antennas end fed antenna for 10MHz to 80MHz. This wire antenna has tuned coils to shorten the electrical length of the antenna.

• SWR <1:1.5 (no need for an ATU)
• Efficient 49:1 transformer using genuine FAIR-RITE core ( Ni/Zn Material )
• Power 400w PEP , please note that the power ratings are ICAS 3 minuets RX/TX
• 4mm aluminium mounting plate with 48mm clamp (galvanized)
• 22-23m long (approx) depending on the 80m tuned frequency
• Resonant on 80, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m bands
• Fully tunable on 80m, an ATU will be needed to cover 80m, 80m as a 100Khz bandwidth with a 2:1 SWR
• Full half wave on 40m band
• So239 socket
• Black coated copper wire for stealth installation
• Heavy duty end insulator
• Stainless steel fittings.

Common Mode Choke

To reduce interference and common mode current from entering my shack I have built several 1:1 chokes. These isolate the outside of the coax feeder and inner conductors, reducing transmission of current back into the radio. With chokes placed at both ends of the coax feeder (antenna and shack) I cover off all eventualities. Each choke is constructed of two Fair-rite FT240-43 cores with 11 twinned turns of 18AWG silver plated copper wire by Habia Cable. The minimum choking impedance is 2KΩ at 1.8MHz, and a maximum of above 10kΩ at 20~60MHz. The use of two FT240-43 cores offers a maximum power handling of 2Kw on CW and 3Kw on SSB. This is far in excess of the UK legal permitted transmitted power limit.

VHF/UHF/SHF Antennas

At home I have four main antennas covering 50MHz, 70Mhz, 144MHz, 433MHz and 1296MHz. All antennas are manufactured by Antennas-Amplifiers who are based in Serbia.

PA5070-7-3B - Dual band 6 metre 4 metre 7 element antenna

Electrical Specifications of 6m band

• Frequency Range: 50 – 50.5MHz
• Free Space Forward Gain: 7.7 dBi
• Front-to-Back Ratio: 22 dB
• -3 dB Horizontal Beamwidth: 66°
• Polarization: Horizontal
• SWR Across Entire Band: < 1.2
• Maximum Power Input: 800W
• Matching Method: Current balun

Electrical Specifications 4m band

• Frequency Range: 70 – 70.5MHz
• Free Space Forward Gain: 9.1 dBi
• Front-to-Back Ratio:  19 dB
• -3 dB Horizontal Beamwidth: 60°
• Polarization: Horizontal
• SWR Across Entire Band: < 1.2
• Maximum Power Input: 700W
• Matching Method: Current balun

PA144-8-3B - 2 metre 8 Element Wideband Antenna

• Frequency Range: 144 – 146MHz
• Free Space Forward Gain: 12.6 dBi
• Front-to-Back Ratio: 29 dB
• -3 dB Horizontal Beamwidth: 43°
• Polarization: Horizontal
• SWR Across Entire Band: < 1.2
• Maximum Power Input: 500W
• Matching Method: Direct feed through common mode choke (current balun)

PA432-14-3B - 70 centimetre 14 Element Wideband Antenna

• Frequency Range: 432 – 434MHz
• Free Space Forward Gain: 16.4dBi
• Front-to-Back Ratio: 27dB
• 3 dB Horizontal Beamwidth: 30.5°
• Polarization: Horizontal
• SWR Across Entire Band: <1.2
• Maximum Power Input: 850W
• Matching Method: Direct feed through RG142 common mode choke (current balun)

PA1296-18-1.5RB - 23 cm Rear Mount Yagi Antenna 18 Elements

• Frequency Range: 1290 – 1310 MHz
• Free Space Forward Gain: 17.3 dBi
• Front-to-Back Ratio: 29 dB
• -3 dB Horizontal Beamwidth: 24.4°
• Polarization: Horizontal
• SWR Across Entire Band: < 1.2
• Maximum Power Input: 100W
• Matching Method: 1:4 Voltage Balun RG-316 Teflon Cable

Diamond X-50N 2 metre & 70 centimetre Vertical

• Frequency Range: 144-148 MHz & 430-440 MHz
• Gain 4 & 7.2dB 
  
• Power 200W 
  
• Type 6/8 & 3x5/8
• Length 1.7m
• SWR Across Entire Band: < 1.5
  
•  Wind velocity 60m/sec 
  
•  Weight 0.9kg 
  

MVV1296VOX 23cms Masthead Preamplifier

• Frequency Range 1240-1300MHz
• 1.5dB NF
• 20dB Gain – adjustable
• 250W SSB/100W FM Handling
• RF or hard switching
• BiasT or direct feed
• N-Type female connectors
• Phono socket for separate power.
• Requires 13.5V at 200mA

These are excellent premplifiers combining good performance with tight bandpass filtering and are not overpriced. Being RF as well as hard switched makes them easy to install and difficult to kill! You can power them via a separate 13.8V line direct to the preamp or BiasT feed them up the coax as you prefer.

Yaesu G-1000DXC Medium To Heavy-Duty Rotator

The Yaesu G-1000DXC Medium - Heavy Duty Rotator is designed for robust performance. With a wind load capacity of 2.2m2 and a K-Factor of 230, it can handle challenging weather conditions. The rotator has a stationary torque of 6000kg/cm and a rotation torque of 1100~600 kg/cm. It can support a maximum vertical load of 200kg and an intermittent load of 800kg. The backlash is minimal at 1°, ensuring precise positioning. The rotator is compatible with mast sizes ranging from 38~63 Ø. It offers a rotation time of 43~93 seconds for a full 360° rotation. The dimensions of the rotator are 186 Ø x 300, and it weighs 3.5kg. The package includes a top clamp, rotator, and controller. 

DigiMaster GS232B Az Antenna Rotator PC Interface

PC control of my antenna rotator is achieved by the DigiMaster interface. Featuring a USB PC connection linked to my Logger32 logbook software I am able to click and rotate the antennas to the station in QSO. With automatic acceleration and deceleration the antennas have high accuracy (typically better than 1 degree).

Messi and Paoloni Extraflex Bury 10 coaxial cable

This coax cable that can be used simultaneously for outdoor use, burial, tight curves and rotor antennas. This makes it ideal for my station antennas. The excellent flexibility (thanks to 19 wires in the conductor) with a resistant tear-proof sheath makes for a strong and robust cable. To increase the cables robust qualities, a gelatinous layer of petrol jelly is applied to the braid that prevents oxidation and makes it waterproof. Messi and Paolon state that this cable has the best performance and attenuations for a 10mm corded core cable!

Alpha Delta Antenna Switch

All HF, VHF and UHF antennas switch using separate Alpha Delta Coax Switches. With a precision-machined switch shaft and quadrant mechanism, the Alpha Delta switch has a more accurate and stable switching performance.
 
These switches have a low-loss micro-strip cavity design, positive detent switching, master antenna ground function, a front panel removable arc-plug surge protection module, and excellent HF through UHF performance. The unselected antenna ports are grounded for protection and maximum isolation.

Additional features include:

* Higher strength, lower resistance sliver bearing solder
* Durable abrasion resistance with powder-coated finish
* Brass arc-plug housing for improved gas tube positioning

Diamond Antenna Lightning Arrestors - SP3000W

All antennas mounted at or above roof level into the shack via a lightning/static discharge arrestor. The choice of Diamond SP3000W is ideal for my station as I do not transmit above 200 Watts into those antennas

Specifications:

• Frequency: DC - 3,000 MHz
• SWR: less than 1.1
• Insertion Loss: less than 0.2 dB
• Max Power Rating: 200 Watts PEP
• Connector: Type N female – Type N female
• Impulse Wave Discharge Voltage: 1000 Volts
• Impulse Wave Discharge Capacity: 6000 Amps
• Impulse Wave Retention Discharge Capacity: DC 230 Volts ± 20%
• Insulating Resistance DC 100 Volts: Over 10,000 M Ohms

Maldol HF/VHF/UHF Antennas

While mobile I operate with the following choice of antennas:

Maldol HMC-4

• TYPE:1/4λ(29/50MHz),1/2λ( Non-radial (144MHz), 5/8λ×2Non-radial (430MHz)

• GAIN：2.15dBi(144MHz), 5.5dBi(430MHz)

• MAX.POWER INPUT：80Ｗ F3E(29/50MHz), 120Ｗ F3E(144/430MHz)

• OVER LENGTH：1190mm

• WEIGHT：390g

Maldol HFC-80L 

• TYPE:1/4λ(3.5MHz)

• MAX.POWER INPUT：120Ｗ J3E(3.5MHz)

• OVER LENGTH：2110mm

• WEIGHT：530g

Maldol HFC-40L

• TYPE:1/4λ (7MHz) 

• MAX.POWER INPUT：200Ｗ J3E(7MHz)

• OVER LENGTH：1870mm

• WEIGHT：330g

Maldol HFC-20L   

• TYPE:1/4λ (14MHz) 

• MAX.POWER INPUT：250Ｗ J3E(14MHz)

• OVER LENGTH：1515mm

• WEIGHT：275g

Maldol HFC-15L       

• TYPE:1/4λ (21MHz) 

• MAX.POWER INPUT：250Ｗ J3E(21MHz)

• OVER LENGTH：1515mm

• WEIGHT：250g

Arrow II VHF/UHF portable satellite antenna

For fun I like to go portable and work the SSB and FM satellites. Weighing about 20 ounces and measuring 37 ½ inches (94 cm) long the Arrow II is a compact solution for working amateur satellites. Made from ¾ inch square aluminium the boom is designed to split for easy transportation.

Both VHF and UHF driver elements are fed from the gamma match, via BNC connectors into a duplexer for single radio/split mode operation.

While no performance figures are given for the Arrow II, typically a 3 element VHF beam will give 5dB gain on 145MHz and a 7 element UHF beam will give 7dB gain on 434MHz.