[Steve Katz] Very true, George. I wrote my comment hoping the originial party whose Grand Am became the guy anchor would read it and fall out of his chair laughing. He knows who he is, and I know he
[Steve Katz] Mark, I have to agree. Unless this antenna defies all the modeling programs, using a 16' boom and fixed element locations provided in the SteppIR manual, and modeling using NEC, if I ad
Three elements, the standard configuration. I realize there's a stationary 4th element available for the 6m configuration, but don't know where they put it...will try to find out. -WB2WIK/6
Roger that, Mike. But modeling indicates less than 15 dB F/B as best achievable on 10m, and about 12 dB on 12m; don't think the extra 6m element will help those, although possibly it does. Anybody h
[Steve Katz] Common problem, but it's not just "high SWR" that puts them out of service...most antennas, when covered with a lot of ice, stop working. If rotated and stopped too fast, the enormous a
[Steve Katz] I use a Craftsman Roto-Zip type saw (rotary blade, hand held tool, costs $49.95 with a million accessories), it zips right through plexiglass like butter and can cut a very straight lin
Hi Joe, I'm surely not trying to trash anything or anybody. I was just taking issue with someone's statement, way back in a thread that started last week, that the SteppIR was "optimized for all band
It's also possible that an asteroid will strike Earth on the opposite side of the planet, directly 180 degrees opposed to your tower base, and knock your tower and base clear out of the dirt, toward
Hi Joe, In the latest QST ad, which I just saw for the first time, the data appears very believable. Their on-line data sheet (last I looked, a week or so ago) states "20 to 50 dB" F/B on all bands,
What a well thought-out posting! I don't like BX-series towers at all. They are "rated" by Rohn for antennas having 10' maximum boom length, and I tend to follow that advice -- these non-welded tower
For sure, Bill. But the original post discussed a wire, and a step up to a tower and beam of any kind was a quantum leap. Going to stacked beams, especially ones that rotate individually, seems like
Craig, RG214 is oversized for standard PL-259's and the 2-piece N's which emulate the back end of a PL-259. The O.D. of the vinyl jacket is > .410", which is about all the standard connectors can acc
If you're thinking of the TX-455, which is their smallest 55' tower, the 2.75 yards of concrete would normally be enough, but only with the standard base embedded in a monolithic pour. Drilling for j
Re: K3BU's suggestion... I wouldn't do this, because unless I'm mistaken, I thought the original tower was aluminum, which means the original base legs are also aluminum and likely not up to the task
Jeff, can't you (maybe with a friend also belted on the tower) handle a 16' long aluminum mast? I've done this by myself, strapping on very high on the tower and hand-over-handing the pole up and the
This seems beaten to death now, but honestly, who can't support a 16' aluminum 2" mast by holding its lower four feet length, as anybody more than 5'6" tall could do, belted near the top of a tower?
The HD70, or even its smaller brother the LD70, from Tower Depot would handle this load very easily, self-supported. http://www.towerdepot.com WB2WIK/6 "If everything seems under control, you're just