Looks for all the world like a contravention of the SteppIR patent,
although I haven't
researched it to be sure. There appear to be some mechanical
improvements over
the Mertel brothers' design, but an awful lot is simply a copy.
There is flattery, and then there is thievery. The question is
whether there's enough
money at stake for the Mertels to challenge this ripoff.
Curiously, I still have my engineering notebook from 1975, signed
and witnessed,
which describes this antenna. The moving elements were the easy
part. Control was
the economic block. It was the availability of PIC controllers
which made it
feasible as a commercial product.
I suppose if one could go to the trouble of creating a replica of a
dead sea scroll, or
the shroud of Turin, one could create an engineering notebook
documenting prior
design and protection under italian law. Or, maybe it really exists.
One certainty: At EU1600, I'm not buying one!
N2EA
Jim Jarvis, MBA
President-Executive Coach
The Morse Group, LLC
People-Process-Strategy
Achieving Results in a Changing World
www.themorsegroup.biz
coach@themorsegroup.biz
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