[TowerTalk] steppIR on the ice

[Jim Jarvis]

Just to reiterate my own positive experience with
my 3 el SteppIR through a VT winter...

I burned out the base rotor on the 70' tower, and relied
on the 180 degree flip mode, between US and EU. The only time 
I needed to armstrong the tower, was to point to Africa.  Wasn't 
that often, unfortunately, as I still need a few countries there.
Oh...and I needed to use snowshoes to GET to the tower, as there
was 4'+ of snow in the back yard.  The rotor wouldn't be SEEN til
spring!  

At one point, we had 1" of radial ice on the steppIR.  It sagged
a bit, but came through fine.  In fact, it seemed to shake off the
ice quickly, when a bit of wind came up.  Easier than with aluminum,
was my impression.  

I routinely kept my elements in retract mode, when not in use, just
in case a big pine decided to attack the array.  All I'd have to do
is replace some relatively cheap fiberglass poles.  

In short:  The steppIR works well, and certainly seems robust.  It passed
my test, in VT.  

N2EA