[TowerTalk] 4el Steppir vs. OB-16-3

[Mike Fatchett]

A decent stack of just about anything will be better than the single antenna
alone.  You have another antenna to share in SO2R for one.  Stacking height
was not mentioned.  Someday 10 and 15 will be back and antennas above 70 ft
will work great at the low angle stuff but will fall off in performance when
the angle is higher.  At my location HFTA is telling me that I need to have
a lower antenna on 15 and 10 if I want to maximize my signal to certain
areas such as Europe.

SteppIR's have moving parts.  SteppIR's Break, so do all other antennas.  I
don't know if there is enough data to determine if SteppIR break anymore
frequently than XXX brand.

We should be happy that we have a number of excellent antennas to choose
from.

Mike W0MU  

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Thomspon
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 5:02 PM
To: 'Tadej Mezek, ve3/s51ta'; towertalk at contesting.com
Cc: 'Jay Terleski'
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] 4el Steppir vs. OB-16-3

Hi Guys,

I said I wouldn't get in this debate, but here I am.

I have a pair of OptiBeams, OB11-3's stacked with Array Solutions Stack
Match II. When I started my search for an antenna solution, money wasn't an
issue but reliability, survivability, and gain on 10, 15&20 Meters was (the
only bands I need now since I operate a vintage station). 

You see, I'm in South Florida, hurricanes and lighting is my real issue, so
I wanted the best constructed antenna and antenna materials that money could
buy, so hopefully I could avoid constant trips up the tower to replace
things (getting too old). 

I do believe the OptiBeam works best for me because of its outstanding
construction; you'll just have to see one up close to believe. Secondly,
other than separate mono band antennas, I believe the OB11-3's provide me
with outstanding gain that I wanted...thanks to new computer modeling
design, and properly spaced elements...three separate antennas on one boom!
They are almost bullet proof, no retuning required changing frequency, and
the element spacing is optimal all the time...and no moving parts! 

I think most all of the newer designed antennas are very good... it all
depends on what works best for your circumstances and pocketbook. Just put
up the biggest and stack the most antennas you can and you'll very happy
when it comes to contesting and DX. 

73's
Dan W4UH   

 

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Tadej Mezek,
ve3/s51ta
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 5:48 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] 4el Steppir vs. OB-16-3

 HI

I know this is an old many times overchewed question (hope it will not be
the same with answers :) ) but still.I've read all previous posts on this
thematic but can not see the whole picture yet. Many talks with no final
conclusions were made, not as clear as for 4el steppir vs. c31xr where we
know who te winner is (4el steppir). I think different presentation of
antenna data (as it was many words about tbhis) should not be the only
reason why conclusions were not made yet. Might be that the antennas are
practically working the same, so it all depends what you are looking for and
which design you like more?

So what are you suggesting? Stacking steppir's or stacking OB16-3?
OB's are hard to rotate on tower if one uses side mount (so ring roto is
must), but there is no mechanical issues regarding motor failiures...

>From what I've heard so far from people arround all except one (which 
>had a
4 el steppir stackw which did not play as he expected) would choose
steppir.....some had OB's B4.

So which antenna would you put on, or you have.

I am looking for arguments which could lead to a final decision!

Let's face opinions

Cheers,

Ted, ve3/s51ta
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