2112 116TH AVE NE SUITE 1-5, BELLEVUE WA, 98004 WWW.STEPPIR.COM TEL: (425)-453-1910 FAX: (425)-462-4415
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To calibrate the antenna, press the
BAND
up or down button until “YES” is flashing, and then
press the select button. The screen will now say “Calibrate” with the second line saying
“Calibrating”. Notice that the
TUNING
red light will be flashing the entire time the antenna is
calibrating. When the controller is done calibrating the antenna, the LCD screen will then dis
play the last antenna segment the controller was on before the calibration. When the red
TUNING
light quits flashing, the controller leaves the calibrate mode and returns to the mode
previously set to.
CREATE, MODIFY
The factory default antennas that are programmed into your controller have been modeled
and field tested to provide very good gain, without sacrificing the front to rear performance.
The create, modify menu allows you to change the length of any of the SteppIR elements for
each master antenna segment. You can use this feature to try out your own antenna
designs, or to “tune out” potential objects that are causing interaction or SWR problems with
your antenna.
The driven element can be changed up to +/- 5% in length to obtain a better match with no
appreciable change in gain or front to back performance, so it is always best to just tune the
driven element to correct SWR problems. This feature is especially good for those of you
who experiment with modeling programs such as EZ-NEC or YO PRO.
When you have finished changing the respective lengths, you can save the new antenna to
memory, overriding the factory default antenna for any given ham band or frequency range. If
at any point you want to restore the factory default antennas, you can do so by going to the
“Factory Default” menu in setup which allows you to easily restore either a single ham band
or specific frequency range, or all of them at the same time if desired.
Computer modeling has dramatically simplified antenna design. With this technology (many
modeling programs are available on the internet) the average ham can create his/her own
antennas and have a very accurate idea as to what kind of performance to expect before the
antenna is built.
While the availability of antenna modeling software has been a giant leap forward in antenna
design to fully exploit it you need to be able to modify the elements length with the antenna
mounted in its operational position. We are able to change the elements length in the air
while on an antenna range and determine very closely our electrical element length. Others
must just estimate it, thus leading to less than optimum performance. With the SteppIR
adjustable antenna, we have advanced antenna design technology one step further - now you
can model and build as many different antennas you want, without ever leaving your ham
shack!
Remember, however, modeling programs output the electrical length of the element - not the
physical length. Our controller indicates the physical length, the electrical length is from 2% -
3.5% longer due to the conductor diameter (our strip is equal to .28 in. diameter tube) mount-
ing hardware and dielectric loading due to the telescoping fiberglass poles. We have this
data accounted for and programmed into the factory default antennas.