[TowerTalk] LP v SteppIR

[Mike]

I know what you meant, that's why I put a smiley after my rumor comment.  I
was making clear that the Stepper motor is a reliable technology and
certainly not new and something to worry about. 

I am sure most failures attributed to Motor failure are tape snarls or
driver chips in the control unit.  The weak point causing many of the so
called motor failures is usually the control cable which gets damaged
through poor installation or animals eating through them causing a short and
blowing the driver chips and of course resulting in a "Motor Failure". 

One has to think carefully how to protect the control cable, just as you
would a Rotator control cable.  I don't want to get into the Owl thing, but
I had a problem with young Barn Owls chomping on my control cable that ran
along the boom.

Mike, K6BR

-----Original Message-----

I am not trying to start rumors, in fact I think that the adjustable element

is a fantastic idea.  Perhaps the motors itself did not actually fail in 
many cases, but there were other mechanical issues that prevented the 
elements from extending and retracting properly.  Here are some reviews 
addressing the issue: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3858 by GM4YSN 
KL7GS or IW0CMM.  The point of my post was that you should consider if you 
want a mechanically complex antenna if it is mounted in a location that is 
less accessible for possible repairs.  There are other factors to consider 
as well since the SteppIR may not work well using long cable runs.



To: "'Tower and HF antenna construction topics.'" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] LP v SteppIR
From: "Mike" <noddy1211 at sbcglobal.net>
Reply-to: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics." 
<towertalk at contesting.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:21:13 -0800

I have monitored the Steppir group from the beginning and can't remember one
Stepper Motor failure and personally know six people with Steppir antennas.
Stepper Motors are just about the most reliable motor around, they are used
in the packaging industry 24 hours a day and I have never seen a failure.
Many other parts around these motors may fail but not the Stepper motors.

I think you are starting rumors- :)

Steppir Antennas may have other problems like tape snarl up's or motor
driver chips, but not the Motors.

Mike, K6BR



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <john at kk9a.com>
To: <TOWERTALK at contesting.com>
Cc: <jimlux at earthlink.net>
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] LP v SteppIR


I have heard of a number of motor failures so I wonder how common this
problem is.  I suspect only the manufacturer knows this answer.  If the
antenna is mounted on a crankup tower repairing it may be somewhat easy,
however if it is mounted 100 to 200 feet high with other antennas on the
tower or  in an H-frame like K9LTN's problematic phased array, repairing the
antenna can be a lot of work and expense.  It is true that any antenna can
break and in choosing a product one should consider which one is built
stronger and less susceptible to failure, along with comparing the
electrical performance.




To: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics." <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] LP v SteppIR
From: jimlux <jimlux at earthlink.net>
Reply-to: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics."
<towertalk at contesting.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:08:03 -0800
List-post: <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>

<snip>

There are complaints of motor/mechanism failures, but they're fairly
infrequent, and, to be fair, you hear complaints about conventional
antennas with broken traps, incorrect hardware, etc.  And, because
they're new and novel, the "reporting rate" on SteppIR problems is
higher than for conventional antennas (e.g. you're more likely to find
an online comment about a SteppIR problem than about a missing set of
clamps in some other antenna) 

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