The first of my Hustler 6BTV HF Vertical antennas was purchased over 40 years ago. At present I am using two of these vertical antennas which cover the 80, 40, 30, 20, 15 and 10 metre amateur bands.
As can be seen, this Hustler vertical is ground mounted. The SWR is very low on all bands except 80mx.
This 6BTV is mounted on a 20 foot steel pole with 10 radials around the base of the antenna which also act as guy wires. The vertical itself is over 20 feet in length and also needs to be guyed.
The following two pictures show the vertical before dacron ropes were used to support it.
When we erected the antenna several years ago, we used long metal poles to push it into the vertical position while a third person took up the slack of the radials in front of us. Other radials (which also act as guy wires), were tied off to trees behind us so that the antenna did not keep falling over. This antenna is still in the air after 8 years of use. (Jan. 2017) 
After erecting the antenna, I soon realized that the vertical needed guying too. The antenna was taken down again and four dacron ropes were attached at 2 points along the length of the vertical to prevent excessive bending.
The antenna was erected once again - this time with dacron ropes supporting the 6BTV vertical. This works very well and the antenna has been in the air for nearly 8 years now. Unless ground mounted, I highly recommend that you do something similar. Dacron rope can be purchased from DX Engineering. Due to the rigorous guying of this antenna, a devastating mini cyclone which roared through this area in Nov. 2012 had little effect on the ground plane.
When installing the dacron ropes, it pays to use nonslip knots. Also, you need to melt the ends with a flame to prevent fraying.
Construction of the 6BTV is straight forward and it's fairly easy to erect. One person can raise the completed antenna well enough to mount the vertical on a stake in the ground but help will be needed to raise it if mounted on a long pole.
The traps consist of resonant coils of aluminium wire enclosed in aluminium weather shields as shown. TVI can be a problem with this type of antenna. Verticals and ground planes are known for their low angle radiation which means they work well as DX antennas.
The Hustler 6BTV ground plane antenna here works well and I am very happy with it. There are a variety of vertical antennas on the market nowadays and no doubt some have better characteristics than this antenna. Even so, I think the Hustler vertical with its ease of construction and installation would suit many people who are looking for a cost effective way to achieve omni directional and multiband operation. Information about these antennas can be found at DX Engineering. For wallpaper images of the 6BTV here - click here. If you would like to view or save this page without any of the links shown below, Click here.
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