SteppIR comments?

[Vinnie]

Gotta put up a new beam, the 30 plus year old TH6 is about done for. Thinking seriously of a 4 el SteppIR, since it will likely be my 'last antenna' (if it lasts for 30 years). Anybody have any experience with that antenna???

[PA5COR]

30 years? electric motors moving bands of copper?

I hope it will last that long, but i heard of some problems with the motors and moving strips of (element) copper.
The idea is good, but make sure you can get to that antenna for repairs easy.

;)

[KU0DM]

Never owned one, however a close friend of mine who is now SK had a 4 element at 30 meters. It kicked major ass in pile-ups, and held it's own in contests. I can only speak for on-air performance, but I loved it with a passion.

[N9FE]

Hope you don't have ice storms. You won't like it if you do.

[W5GA]

I built and installed one for a local ham a couple years ago:
1. The 4 el is heavier than a dead horse, and correspondingly difficult to get in place on the tower. IIRC, 160 lbs. or so.
2. It's an erector set, held together by electrical tape (I kid you not).
3. The motors DO NOT have a good reputation. Read #1 again and think about trips up and down, up and down.
4. It will only outperform a fixed antenna on one frequency on any given band.
5. Gain suffers due to element spacing.
6. Front to back suffers due to element spacing.
7. Sure, it's got a flat swr...so what? You can do much the same thing with a multiple DE design.
8. Where the fiberglass poles attach to the boom, it uses plumbing boots (honest to god), hose clamps and tape to seal it all.

If you want longevity, look elsewhere. I'd recommend a TH-11.

[N8YX]

Ryan has a Steppir and IIRC had problems with one of the motor units, necessitating the lowering of the antenna and the removal and replacement of the defective unit. Not something I would want to do on a frequent basis. As Doug points out, the Steppir's inter-element spacing is optimized for only one range of frequencies. Alas, element positioning on the boom cannot be varied as with element "length".

My choices for an antenna would be (in order):

1) Mosley Pro - series (if you've got the coin, go with a Pro-96-S)
2) TH-11DX
3) Optibeam 5-bander

If low VSWR across a wide range of frequencies is your goal, consider a 6- or 10-30MHz LPDA. Gain and F/B ratio will be a bit less than that of a conventional multi-band or monoband yagi design but it's usable everywhere. Something to consider if you participate in MARS activities...

[Vinnie]

Interesting comments.
Putting up and down not that big a problem IF (if!) there are those kinds of problems. That's what the crane is for!
But, I also want to work the HF WARC bands. Hard to do with the usual yagi.
Anyhow, that plan is on the back burner for a few months,
I went and bought a K-3 a couple of days back, so the ham radio account has to be built back up to an acceptable level.......

[KJ3N]

1. The 4 el is heavier than a dead horse, and correspondingly difficult to get in place on the tower. IIRC, 160 lbs. or so.
2. It's an erector set, held together by electrical tape (I kid you not).
3. The motors DO NOT have a good reputation. Read #1 again and think about trips up and down, up and down.
4. It will only outperform a fixed antenna on one frequency on any given band.
5. Gain suffers due to element spacing.
6. Front to back suffers due to element spacing.
7. Sure, it's got a flat swr...so what? You can do much the same thing with a multiple DE design.
8. Where the fiberglass poles attach to the boom, it uses plumbing boots (honest to god), hose clamps and tape to seal it all.

If you want longevity, look elsewhere. I'd recommend a TH-11.

Geez, what a pain in the ass.

Since a tower isn't in my plans anyway, I'll stick with my wires. :yes:

E4X 30/05/2010 23:33 14Mhz 5/9 5/9 :rock: :dance: :giggity:



"Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong." :monkeydance:

[KG4CGC]

I've heard HIGH praise and FOUL cursing of these antennas since the time I learned of their existence and that wasn't really that long ago, 3 or 4 years maybe?
Sounds like a great idea that could have been better executed. It's like the friend you had in high school that wanted to put a jet motor on his car that could be actuated with the push of a button but would remain concealed until needed. Years go by and you're sitting at the breakfest table reading the paper when you stumble across a story about a guy who turned his car into a rocket while on an open highway and the story ends with the vehicle being extracted out of the side of a mountain and nothing is identifiable except for a piece of "Trans Am" logo in a broken tree a half mile back.

[N9FE]

99% Of the time everyone's on 20 meters. If i did alot of higher band work i would get a 20 meter monoband beam.

[W5GA]

Interesting comments.
Putting up and down not that big a problem IF (if!) there are those kinds of problems. That's what the crane is for!
But, I also want to work the HF WARC bands. Hard to do with the usual yagi.
Anyhow, that plan is on the back burner for a few months,
I went and bought a K-3 a couple of days back, so the ham radio account has to be built back up to an acceptable level.......
Vinnie, if you want WARC bands too, look at one of these:

http://www.texasantennas.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=38

[Vinnie]

I dunno,
3 feedlines and 15 elements on a 32 foot boom says says narrow bandwidth and critical tuning a problem to me.

[N8YX]

Log periodic.

Trade a bit of gain for a single feedline, ease of tuning and low SWR across its coverage range.

[n5moa]

Log periodic.

Trade a bit of gain for a single feedline, ease of tuning and low SWR across its coverage range.

What he said. Tennadyne T8.

[Vinnie]

Geez, we got a pair of those over at the Or. National Guard, one beamed on KL7 and one toward W3, up high too, and I think they are crappy performers. F/B is not good. Front to side not the best either, and the SWR goes all over the place. But, not used in the ham bands, now are they! Gain, of course, is very hard to judge without going to a fair amount of trouble.

[N8YX]

Geez, we got a pair of those over at the Or. National Guard, one beamed on KL7 and one toward W3, up high too, and I think they are crappy performers. F/B is not good. Front to side not the best either, and the SWR goes all over the place. But, not used in the ham bands, now are they! Gain, of course, is very hard to judge without going to a fair amount of trouble.
Which make and model?

All are not created equal...

[Vinnie]

Not a clue. Not mine, they belong to the Or Army Guard. Supposed to be used to talk to Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright in Alaska and 'the national command authority' in dc. However, the NG has no radios worthy of the name, so they are not used! I trying to get the one to establish an Army MARS link to Alaska.

[Vinnie]

As an aside. It's a hellufanote for a Navy vet to have to join Army MARS, but NAVY MARS has it's head in the sand so far as communications is concerned.

[W5IEI]

Vinnie,
Can't help with the Stepp-Ir,but I love my Mosley Ta 34 XL @ 65 feet.
Rotatable dipole on 12/17,4 elements on 10,15,20.
Anything I can hear,I can work,so far.
Mike

[Vinnie]

Well, having an antenna for only one band sure limits ur multi-band DXCC standing!
On top of which, DX'ing on 20 is more or less shooting fish in a barrel.....a friend of mine says that 'working DX on 20 only proves ur radio was turned on.'.....well, maybe not quite that bad, but 20 sure is the easiest band to find the most DX on.....

[KJ3N]

On top of which, DX'ing on 20 is more or less shooting fish in a barrel.....a friend of mine says that 'working DX on 20 only proves ur radio was turned on.'.....well, maybe not quite that bad, but 20 sure is the easiest band to find the most DX on.....

Try 75m ............... phone. ;)

[Vinnie]

KJ3N,
Well, us 'Left Coasters' think you guys have it easy on the low bands (unless u r after the Pacific area, of course).
I'm at 202 confirmed on 80, but by far the most of that is on CW. The 3800 window is a zoo. Antenna is a 4-square for that band. Life is tough, but DX'ing is great. The big challange now is 160. Just getting started on that band.

[Vinnie]

Oh, see that you have a K-3! How u like that radio? Just bought one. Picking it up Saturday.

[KJ3N]

KJ3N,
Well, us 'Left Coasters' think you guys have it easy on the low bands (unless u r after the Pacific area, of course).

Yep, making EU isn't a problem on most bands. My issues are with Indonesia, East Indies, parts of Asia, etc. I've worked Laos twice (once on 15m and once on 20m), Thialand once (20m), some JAs (75m, 15m, and 20m), and 1 or 2 BYs (20m). Most of the southwestern Pacific island nations are also a PITA. You probably work that stuff nearly every day.


I'm at 202 confirmed on 80, but by far the most of that is on CW. The 3800 window is a zoo. Antenna is a 4-square for that band.

I can only dream.....


Life is tough, but DX'ing is great. The big challange now is 160. Just getting started on that band.

All I can manage is one antenna for 160m. 65 feet tall with 2 top hat wires, 45 feet long each. The radial system needs a lot of work, unfortunately. I keep telling myself I'll get around to it, but it never seems to happen. I'm going to shoot for DXCC on that band, on phone. I figure it'll take several years, at least.


Oh, see that you have a K-3! How u like that radio? Just bought one. Picking it up Saturday.

Love mine. Coming up on 2 years old. IMO, no other radio offers this level of performance, while still being reasonably affordable. You might (and I stress MIGHT) out-perform it with an FTDX-9000, but that's not what I call an "affordable" radio.

[Vinnie]

Aha, same antenna I use on 160! Made of 40' of 4" irrigation pipe with 30' of 3" stuck in the top, t hen two wires for the hat. Put a couple of high voltage mica caps to ground to do impedence matching, and 70 odd radials laid out on the ground. In a year or so they disappeared into the grass, so my lawnmower has only 'eaten' a couple of them....gruesome.
So, when you work some rare stuff in Europe on 160 tell'um there's a K7 calling from the West Coast!

[W5GA]

I'm going to shoot for DXCC on that band, on phone. I figure it'll take several years, at least.
One of the nice things about living in the middle of the country...2 winters ago I put up a really low 160 vee (45'). I managed 89 countries on 160 that season. One of them (T33) was an all time new one.

[Vinnie]

Geez, the thing I remember most about trying to work DX 45 years ago in S. Dak was that we had to get through the guys on BOTH coasts! Had a Heathkit Apache and an SX-101 in those days, before running off to college and not being able to DX again for several years......