[TowerTalk] steppIR

[Rob Frohne]

Hi Jim,

I'd like to disagree.  :)
On May 5, 2004, at 2:09 PM, Jim Jarvis wrote:

>
> Folks,
>
> In brainstorming how to 'make a steppIR cheaper'....you're
> misleading yourselves.
Maybe, maybe not.  You don't know until you've tried.
>
> First of all, the IDEA of the steppIR is not revolutionary.
> There's a design in one of my notebooks dated 1979.  And I'm
> sure I wasn't the first to think of it.
A lot of us have wanted a remotely adjustable antenna.  The closest I 
came to it was a remote S meter up my tower, and an adjustable 
capacitor and tuning stub on my two element quad.  Of course, in those 
days I was a teenager, and climbing the tower was nothing, and I had 
very little to spend on antennas and used pretty much what I was able 
to scrounge.  I used to be up and down the tower several times an 
evening adjusting things.

> The problem was availability of materials, and inexpensive
> microcontroller chipsets, allowing convenient programming.
Yes, but it isn't now.  One of the advantages of having a programmable 
adjustable antenna of my own design is that I can get in and tweak with 
the micro-controller code.  I once bought a  nifty little device from 
AEA for operating your station as a remote base.  For me, it was an 
exercise in frustration, because there were little things that it did 
(some would call them bugs) that I couldn't fix.  I tried to get AEA to 
fix them, to no avail.  An open source design would allow us to tinker 
to our hearts content.  (I must admit that I haven't played with the 
Steppir software or hardware, so I don't know if I'd have the same 
experience, but being a tinkerer, I suspect I would be using their 
antenna in a way they didn't anticipate, and then I'd be frustrated.)
>
> Fluidmotion buys in quantity, manufactures in batches, and
> has quality control.
I had some correspondence with them, and they admitted that their 
production was expensive because of all their custom machined parts.

They also were persuaded to sell me just parts (which turned out to be 
more expensive than I could justify).   I really appreciated their 
willingness though!
>
> The Experience Curve says you can't beat 'em at their own game.
Maybe, maybe not.  The total experience here on the list with antennas 
and things mechanical in general is pretty large.  Perhaps we could 
come up with a different and in some ways better idea to achieve the 
same goals.
>
> All you can do is create another prototype...and prototypes always
> cost more than manufactured equivalents, one way or another.

Usually, but often the cost is in terms of time, enjoyable time, 
perhaps for some of us more enjoyable time than that spent operating a 
brand new Steppir.   If nobody creates new prototypes, then the state 
of the art never advances.   It all depends on what you enjoy and what 
your goals are.  Some hams like operating, some like experimenting.
>
> Jim Jarvis, N2EA
> jimjarvis at ieee.org

Thanks for your comments.  Why don't you share with us your drawings 
from 1979?  Maybe they would spark some good discussion and ideas!

73,

Rob
--
Rob Frohne, Ph.D., P.E.
E.F. Cross School of Engineering
Walla Walla College
http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/