[TowerTalk] 4el SteppIR at Dayton?

[Pete Smith]

At 02:28 PM 5/20/03 -0700, W6TKV wrote:
>Most of what I think I know about Yagi design came from spending time
>with the K6STI's Yagi Optimizer design program.  Clearly, any design is
>always a tug-of-war between front-to-back, forward gain and SWR.  I
>realize the Steppir optimizes SWR vs. frequency, but I wonder what the
>design parameters are for front-to-back and forward gain.
>
>Has anyone thought much about this ... or asked?


Sure -- it's a little like the old NASA line:  "faster, better, cheaper -- 
choose any two."  If you can vary element length, but not spacing, then you 
will sacrifice either gain or F/B, or maybe both, compared to an optimized 
fixed yagi (depending on which band you are on).  The same is true of 
trapped tribanders, though some of them have extra single-band 
elements.  Arguably, if it will hold up mechanically, the SteppIR is a 
better solution than any trapped tribander with compromise spacing, because 
it adjusts within bands, where normal yagis must be optimized somewhere in 
the band and not elsewhere.

A search of the Towertalk archive on contesting.com will turn up a useful 
series of messages about this.

73, Pete N4ZR
The World HF Contest Station Database was updated 9 May 03.
Are you current? www.pvrc.org/wcsd/wcsdsearch.htm