Carl,

I've had a 3 element up since early July. Not a long time to comment on
durability but I feel I can comment on performance.

I have it up about 50' on a tower. It replaced a Hygain TH3jr at the same
height. So far I would say it's far superior to the Hygain. Hard to make
comparisons since I took one down and replaced it with the SteppIR but I am
able to work just about anything I can hear, even at QRP levels. We have a
local net on 10M every week and there were always a few stations that were
in the noise at my location. Now they are weak but Q5 copy.

Add to that the ability to tune everywhere from 13.5 to 54 and it's a great
antenna. The signals on 17m are really exciting to hear. I have not tried
the antenna on 6M as yet so I can't comment on that band.

Plusses:
1. Covers every band with gain and good swr.
2. The ability to switch 180 degrees or bi-directional in a few seconds.
3. Good gain, not bad F/B

Minuses:
1. Heavy, at around 45# it's no lightweight!
2. Moving parts. Have to wait until we go through a typical New England
winter to really know how it stands up.
3. Expensive

I followed the newsgroups over the last year and from everything I would
expect it to survive our winters. Its not cheap, but a Force 12 five band
antenna is around $900 and a 10 element log is not much cheaper. I have it
interfaced with my rig and computer and it tracks the rig frequency just
fine. I have personally talked with the owners both at Boxboro and at
Dayton. They are committed to great service and producing a good product. I
would recommend them highly.

Feel free to drop me a note off line if you'd like more info.

See a few pictures at: http://webpages.charter.net/kk1w/photo.htm

'73...

Jim, KK1W

"Carl Walthall" wrote in message
news:ZzD_a.95775$cF.29132@rwcrnsc53...
Can anyone tell me what they think about the Steppir Antenna's? I have a
High Sierra and like the antenna alot but hate the manual tuning.

Thanks in Advance Carl

http://www.steppir.com/