[TowerTalk] Please Help Me Decide on a Tribander or Monobanders

[Rick Stealey]

Let me clarify my statement, because Joe is right, there is no disagreement.
If you get a 3 element SteppIR and are serious about 6 meters, by all means go for the 
added element.  Even though the 3 original elements are on a 16 foot boom, the spacing 
is too great.  4 or 5 elements are needed to get very good performance on 6 meters with 
a 16 foot boom.  
I already had a 5 element M Squared 6 meter beam, so I didn't add the 6 meter 
DIRECTOR (sorry) to my SteppIR.  Whenever I did a comparison between the two 
antennas the 5 element monoband beam was noticeably better than the 3 element 
SteppIR, as you would expect.
Every antenna installation is a compromise.  In my case, with the separate 6 meter antenna, I have an additional feedline to deal with, taking an extra position on my antenna switch.  I get 
marginally better performance than four 6 meter elements on a SteppIR (probably).  On the 
other hand I can instantly switch to 6 meters and see if there is any activity, etc.  The cost is 
somewhat more, too (M Squared antennas aren't cheap).  

Rick  K2XT