[TowerTalk] Small Yagi Advice

[Joe Subich, K4IK]

John, 

> BTW, for those who compare the 3el SteppIR to monobanders, for 
> only $700 you can purchase the 10m, 15m, and 20m three element 
> Hy-Gain monobanders and have optimum element spacing, instant 
> band changes and SO2R.  You can have instant direction change if 
> you purchase another set : )

Have fun trying to make a stack of three monobanders work on a short 
mast.  I can almost guarantee that even the tree element HyGain 
monobanders will not work properly on 10 and 15 meters unless you 
have 16 feet or so of heavy duty mast to spread them out.  That 
mast will add another couple hundred dollars to your cost and 
probably a bit of "pucker factor" to the installation.  

Every antenna system represents a cost vs. benefit trade off and 
the SteppIR includes many pieces of a complex antenna system 
(six monobanders, large mast, tower mounted antenna switch, etc.).
It may not be the optimum solution for a contester who wants to 
do SO2R with instant bandswitching but for many "single tower" 
Dxers and space constrained contesters, it may make a lot of sense. 

73, 

   ... Joe, K4IK