[TowerTalk] small yagi advice

[Jim Jarvis]

OK....I messaged Byron privately, but will contribute
publicly, given the intensity of feeling that I'm seeing
on this topic.

This decision is as much gated by cost as performance.
So let's address both.

An A3 won't kill you, nor will an A4....$425-525, roughly.
A T8 lpda is in the same price category, and performs as well,
but provides WARC coverage.

KT34a is a great tribander...although I've owned 4 of them, I
do not know the current market value, nor the price of the M2
replacement.

A 3 el SteppIR right now costs $1300.  I bought mine at the into
price...so it was a bargain then.  It out performs any
of the above mentioned antennas, except the kt34a, which it equals
on the operative bands.

Someone observed that you could buy a stack of HyGain monobanders
for $700 and get instant bandswitching.  In my experience, it took
no longer for the SteppIR to tune from 10 to 15 than it did for
my 756pro & PW1 amp.

The SteppIR at least equals these 3 el yagis...and as someone observed,
you could have TWO of each of the HyGain's, off-pointed, for almost the same
price.  This argument is strong.

Byron...my thinking is that if you've never tried the actively tuned
antenna, it will be a new experience.   You'll part with $$, but you'll
enjoy the experience.  If your toy budget is limited, you won't be hurt
by any of the standard triband designs...but it won't work as well as
a dedicated monobander, or a tuneable antenna like the SteppIR.

The SteppIR is the best small yagi I've owned, and I've had ALL of the
above, including the Hygain's.  So, it boils down to budget, in my view.
Shop for some used stuff, it won't kill you, and save up for a SteppIR.

And above all, have fun!

n2ea
jimjarvis at ieee.org