Tech Support:
www.steppir.com/support
Tel: 425.891.6134
Page 6
SteppIR - Why Compromise?
The SteppIR antenna was originally conceived to solve the problem of covering the six ham
bands (20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m and 6m) on one tower without the performance sacrifices
caused by interaction between all of the required antennas.
Yagi’s are available that cover 40 meters through 10 meters by using interlaced elements or
traps or log periodic techniques, but do so at the expense of significant performance reduction
in gain and front to back ratios. With the addition of the WARC bands on 30m, 17m and 12m,
the use of interlaced elements and traps has clearly been an exercise in diminishing returns.
Obviously, an antenna that is precisely adjustable in length while in the air would solve the fre-
quency problem, and in addition would have vastly improved performance over existing fixed
length Yagi’s. The ability to tune the antenna to a specific frequency, without regard for band-
width, results in excellent gain and front to back at every frequency.
The patented folded dipole loop elements on the DB36 allow for outstanding performance on
40m and 30m with element lengths that are 40% shorter than a full sized Yagi—at the expense
of only 0.3dB of gain!
The SteppIR design was made possible by the convergence of determination and high tech
materials. The availability of new lightweight glass fiber composites, Teflon blended thermo-
plastics, high conductivity copper-beryllium and extremely reliable stepper motors has allowed
the SteppIR to be a commercially feasible product.
The current and future SteppIR products should produce the most potent single tower antenna
systems ever seen in Amateur Radio! We thank you for using our SteppIR antenna for your
ham radio endeavors.
Warm Regards,
Mike Mertel
Michael (Mike) Mertel - K7IR
President
