[TowerTalk] SteppIR 40/30 etc.

[Jim Jarvis]

>From a marketing perspective, a loaded antenna would 
make more sense than a full sized one.  More of us are
fighting issues with turning radius and antenna appearance,
as population density increases.

While I grant you that many would like a full sized 40,
the reality is that I can't turn one here...and I couldn't
turn one in Vermont when I had three acres.  In fact, I spent
close to two grand removing trees so I could turn a CC 402CD.

Consequently, I'd suspect the SteppIR guys would see greater
return on their investment with a loaded antenna.  Possibly
2 elements for 40/30, on the same boom as 3 elements for 20-6.
That way, you'd have some reasonable element spacings. 

24' boom would be about right.  

And, in answer to N2TK's comments about  40/15 interaction...
there would be none, Tony.  Just retract what you're not using.
In VT, I kept all elements retracted whenever not in use, just
in case one of the trees got aggressive.  :)  It wasn't a burden.

There was one comment about band change time.  It IS true that
it takes a bit longer to switch bands than single band antennas
would.  In a fully automated environment, my rig and amp move and
tune in 1 second.  The antenna takes another 10-15 seconds, depending
on how big a frequency jump you make.    

Jim N2EA