SteppIR Antenna.

Below you'll find a few details about my latest antenna system, the SteppIR beam from Fluid Motion in the US.

For those not familiar with this antenna the basic principle is to adjust the length of the antenna elements to match the frequency of operation. Thus rather than using traps, coils or other loading effects to create a multi band antenna you've got one that's specifically matched to which ever band you fancy within the range covered. !!!!!

I won't try and explain everything here as the guys at Fluid Motion do a much better job so if you would like to find out more just click on their name to take a look at their site.

In my case I opted for the 2 element version primarily due to the relatively short boom as I didn't want to upset the neighbours too much. Even with 2 element though the performance is excellent and many claim it will rival a full size 3 element tribander at the same height. No way of knowing myself but one thing I am sure about is that it works extremely well and is probably 3 S point or more up on my previous mini beam installation.

As you will see below I have the antenna on top of a 2 section tennamast which when fully raised puts it around 45 feet above the ground, I use a Creative RC5 rotator to turn the antenna.

Back (click on the thumbnails to see the picture)

A close up of the antenna	View just down the road from my house with the antenna at full height.	At full height the antenna sits just over 45 feet from the ground	A shot over the bungalow where I live	The element housing unit (EHU), the business end of the antenna. The EHU contains the stepper motors and the spool of copper beryllium (BeCU) strip. This picture shows the passive element with the control wire connection.
This is the driven EHU. I feed the antenna via approx 40 meters of H100 coax. The driven elememnt has a built in balun.	Close up of the wiring with the mast tilted over. This shows the waterproof connectors that I've fitted as opposed to the standard chocolate block. All the wiring is there for the 3rd element (reflector) should I decide to upgrade at a later date.	The shack end of the antenna, the controller. I have this connected to my TS2000 / computer via the optional interface card / cable. This means that in auto the antenna tracks the frequency of the radio retuning every 50KHz.	This shows the Tennamast tilted over	Mast in it's upright position.
Another view of the antenna at full height