No doubt that Steppir antennas are really nice, and they can be adjusted
for super low SWR on the line to the antenna, not just between a tuner
and the rig. That is really neat, and I'd love to have one myself.
However, it is not necessary to have a Steppir or other remotely tunable
system, or a multiple resonance antenna (such as one with traps or
resonant stubs or coils as with Gap or Butternut) in order to have high
efficiency on several bands. A plain vertical can be tuned (with a tuner
in the shack) to work efficiently over greater than an octave (like say
60, 40, 30 and 20 meters) .
You don't have to spend a lot of money to have an efficient antenna. In
fact the cheapest simplest homebrew antennas are often more efficient
than the expensive, ready built (some assembly required) ones that have
moving parts, coils and other do-dads on them.
N6KB
CATFISHTWO@aol.com wrote:
in a word... Steppir
I have a 3 ele steppir 6-20 m beam and I love it. it is a perfect antenna on
every frequency. no tuner needed. they make beams up to 40m and a couple of
verts up to 80 meters.
worth every penny tom N6AJR
==========================================================
In a message dated 8/7/2007 9:01:29 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
tentec-request@contesting.com writes:
Alan, absolutely a great post, and well said. You are right on the money!
Effective power is the key. An improved or efficient antenna is the lowest
cost route to effective radiated power.
A point was made in the QRP forum at the local ham convention Sat. Even if
you are using one of the shortened antennas, you still have to keep the high
voltage ends well away from conductors and screening foliage, or other
detriments to the high near field levels.
And the high current magnetic field concentration near the feed point should
also be protected from coupling to conductors.
A dipole can be shortened to 60 per cent of full length and maintain
efficiency in the greater than 90 per cent
value. You just have to have it in the clear of detractors from its field.
Low profile antennas like the Moxon rectangles can provide beam performance
in less than traditional Yagi dimensions. Use of low loss insulators,
conductors, and fasteners is key to small antenna use.
An easily elevated small beam may be the answer for aging hams. The masts
from Force 12 that were marketed for portable use come to mind. Motorizing
such an elevating cable for that mast might be fairly simple.
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