WDØM - Pagosa Springs, CO

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Adding 30 and 40 Meters to the 4 Element SteppIR
Continued

After a very long day, I was tired and getting a bit frustrated. The sum of all the small issues I had to deal with was growing old. Parts that were not correct, missing, and as it would soon turn out, made to fit a different bolt pattern could easily have been eliminated by the factory before they shipped the kit. The next step was to install the counterweights.

To mount the weights, I rotated the antenna so the director was pointing down. It turns out that the bolt holes on the counterweights were spaced about 1/4 inch too far apart to match the bolt pattern of the director's mounting bracket where they are attached. After discovering that, I made a phone call to the factory and left a message - they were closed over the weekend. I had to rant. Moving on, I ended up having to clamp the brackets in place and drill two holes to accept larger bolts before I could install the weights.

That finished the installation. Time for the tower to go back in the air. In anticipation of now being able to operate on all bands from 40 meters through 6 meters, the frustration was dissipating. This was also the time I was wondering why I didn't get a motorized tower!

OK - it's finished, up in the air, only one knuckle busted, and all limbs and digits are intact. Time to go check out the performance!

I had to reset the controller for my radio and baud rate since the firmware chip was replaced. After enabling the 40/30 meter addition on the controller by pressing and holding the Select button for 3 seconds, then pressing "Button 4", and telling the controller I have the 6 meter passive elements by pressing "Button #3" (as explained in the on-line PDF manual), I was ready to go.
I fired up the rig, and set the SWR meter to check the new addition. I tuned to the 30 meter band, and the controller sent the Cu/Be element racing down the fiberglass tubes. Then I switched to 40 meters and checked. The results:

Band SWR
30 Meters 1.5:1 Not bad!
40 Meters 1:1 Great!

Hey - the frustrations were fading further away! But I could literally see one potential problem...........

One potential problem in snowy/windy country.......

One concern I have, as will those who live in snow country or experience high/gusty winds, is that the added elements SAG quite a bit...and that's without having any snow or ice on them. It would seem fairly easy to install a small truss system that would help keep the elements level and take some of the weight off the ends.

SteppIR has finally started marketing a truss which is almost identical to mine to ease the concerns of those who live in the mountains, wherever it snows or there are ice storms and high/gusty winds. Way to go SteppIR! (They finally sent me a SteppIR hat as a "thank you"!)

Continued on the next page.
Back to the previous page.

After a very long day, I was tired and getting a bit frustrated. The sum of all the small issues I had to deal with was growing old. Parts that were not correct, missing, and as it would soon turn out, made to fit a different bolt pattern could easily have been eliminated by the factory before they shipped the kit. The next step was to install the counterweights.
	To mount the weights, I rotated the antenna so the director was pointing down. It turns out that the bolt holes on the counterweights were spaced about 1/4 inch too far apart to match the bolt pattern of the director's mounting bracket where they are attached. After discovering that, I made a phone call to the factory and left a message - they were closed over the weekend. I had to rant. Moving on, I ended up having to clamp the brackets in place and drill two holes to accept larger bolts before I could install the weights.
That finished the installation. Time for the tower to go back in the air. In anticipation of now being able to operate on all bands from 40 meters through 6 meters, the frustration was dissipating. This was also the time I was wondering why I didn't get a motorized tower!
	OK - it's finished, up in the air, only one knuckle busted, and all limbs and digits are intact. Time to go check out the performance!