Ground Mounting Hustler Verticals

Hustler antennas work well at ground level. They can be mounted above ground, but this requires the addition of at least one quarter wave radial per band.

To install a Hustler vertical at ground level you need a short stub mast section cemented in the ground. Dig a hole around 1ft square and around 1.5 - 2ft deep. Ready mixed fence post cement is great as all you do is pour in water and the mix. Quick drying type is even quicker! You also need to drive a copper stake into the ground adjacent to the cement base.

A single copper rod as an earth works quite well and you will probably find that the VSWR is very reasonable. Something not well publicised is that the Hustler verticals can be easily tuned to any part of the band by removing the trap casing - other similar verticals cannot be so tuned.

So why do we get such a decent VSWR with such a simple earth? Well, to a certain extent, we are fooling ourselves by believing that a low VSWR means great performance. In actual fact the base impedance of a Hustler antenna is quite low - as are all similar verticals. The actual impedance varies from band to band, but is in the order of 20 Ohms or thereabouts. However, the typical earth loss from the use of just one earth stake appears as a series resistance and so raises the feed impedance to nearer 50 Ohms. This in turn produces a good VSWR! So whilst a single earth stake will work OK - and we have often used such a system - it is far better to try and add some ground radials.

Ground radials are easily added by cutting slits in the lawn and pressing the wire down a few inches. It is a job better done in the winter when the ground is soft. Alternatively leave the garden sprinkler on overnight! The length of the radials is not critical. The more wire the better. The idea that radials should be a quarter wave long is wrong in the sense that the resonant frequency is much lower when you lay or bury radials on the ground. And speaking of laying radials on the ground, this is a very useful method if the installation is temporary or it is not possible to bury radials.

Lastly, the myth that verticals cause more TV interference is largely wrong! The only reason interference may be a problem is if a vertical is closer to the problem piece of equipment than a horizontal antenna would be. Polarisation at such a close distance is not a factor affecting interference.

And as a final comment, vertical antennas naturally radiate low angles energy and so favour DX. So if you want to work DX from a small garden, a Hustler antenna could well be the answer.