Dave K4SSU brought along his MFJ-259B HF/VHF Antenna/SWR/RF Analyzer and we plugged the antenna into it.

The results were nothing less than spectacular!  We tested every segment of every band the SteppIR controller handed to us.  Most SWR readings were 1:1 with the absolute worst being 1.8:1 at the high end of six meters!  Simply amazing!

So the passive test was great -- but does it WORK!?!?

Remember I've been off the air for ten years; you gotta cut me a little slack in what follows.  We tuned to 17 meters (a band that just barely existed when I was last on) and there was a chap from the UK at 20 over 9.  He was in QSO with a stateside ham and they were talking about -- you guessed it, the SteppIR antenna.

How cool would that be?  My first contact on 17 meters, my first contact in 10 years, my first on the SteppIR -- and a fellow SteppIR owner!  When he finished his QSO I clicked the mike button and said "W4GKF"

Nothing.

He got a call from someone else and talked for a while; when he finished, I tried again.  "W4GKF!"  Still nuttin'

And then Bill N4NX noticed that the ALC meter wasn't swinging when I transmitted.

Turns out the RF control on the ICOM 765 was turned all the way down.  No output.  Zippo.  Zero.  Nada.

By this time the chap had gone QRT so I moved around and found another really loud signal from the UK: GØMJS, Mike in Leeds.  When he finished his QSO I said "W4GKF" and he came right back.  Was most complimentary about the signal.  I told him he was my first contact in ten years and that I was using a SteppIR.  He knew all about it and asked how long I'd had it.  I told him "30 minutes"!

Of course he asked me to demonstrate the "instant" 180 degree direction shift.  (The SteppIR has a really nifty feature.  You push a button and 2.5 seconds later the director and reflector swap element lengths and you've effectively turned the antenna 180 degrees).

We tried it and the SteppIR has phenomenal front-to-back.  He said I was 20 over S9 aimed at him -- but disappeared completely off the back!  To me that says, great F/B ratio and excellent gain.  I couldn't be happier.

So that's it.  I've got a lot more to do now that I'm functional and active again (linear hookup, computer interface, etc.) As I get all that working I'll update this page.

So, in summary, what do we have?

The SteppIR folks build one heck of an antenna.  An infinite number of three-element mono-banders from six to twenty meters.  A well-constructed, extremely clever technology from a company that performed close to flawlessly for me.

Questions? Just click and I'll do my best to answer them.

73!