After last season’s pathetic performance on 160 and 80 meters, it’s time to figure out what to do to replace the AlphaDelta DX-B half-sloper. The half-sloper design is questionable and is highly dependant upon many variables that differ from site to site (tower height, antennas, mast, sloper height, angle, etc.). I had low expectations for [...]
After using it for four months, I’ve written a SteppIR 4 element yagi review and posted it in the ham radio products review database. The SteppIR has been a good antenna but there are a number of considerations (both pro and con) that should be considered prior to jumping on this antenna.
Overall the [...]
Last night we were able to install the SteppIR 4 element yagi on the tower at about 71 ft - roughly 11 feet below the Cushcraft XM240. Coax and control cables for the Prosistel Rotor and SteppIR have been brought to ground level but are not yet installed. If things go well tonight, I will [...]
The Cushcraft XM240 was installed on Sunday evening. On Monday, Dave finished clamping the antenna to the mast and lowered the coax. That evening I tested the antenna and was a bit surprised at what I found… On my Icom 746, I checked the SWR (yeah, I know, SWR ain’t everything - but you’d [...]
My father-in-law and I were working on the coax trench, PVC sections and ground rods when Dave (KI0Q) called to see if we wanted to try to put the antennas on the tower. We didn’t have a lot of daylight to work with and we were concerned about rain later in the day, but we [...]
I managed to get the SteppIR 4 element yagi built yesterday and today I added the truss systems to the SteppIR and Cushcraft XM240. Additionally, this afternoon with the help of my neighbor, we were able to get a trench for the coax/pvc. Fortunately, central Iowa had a picture perfect October day today as [...]
Spent some time in the past few days building my 40 meter antenna. Unfortunately, we’ve had some rain, so I finished the project in the mud. Although the Cushcraft XM240 Big Thunder is a small yagi for 40 meters it is a very large ham radio antenna by my standards.
The XM240 is a two [...]
With the tower foundation in place and curing in the Iowa summer sun, it’s time to think about the antenna system. Topping the mast (~83′) will be the Cushcraft XM-240 which is a two element “shorty forty” monoband antenna for 40 meters. Beneath that (at about 73′) will be the SteppIR 4 element yagi [...]
You might recall the Butternut HF6V damaged in the ice storm. If not, here is what it looked like:
Someone had asked what the Butternut looked like after the storm had passed. I finally uploaded the pics showing where the antenna had failed mechanically:
Here is a wire that broke:
Finally, here’s a picture of some corrosion [...]
I haven’t been making progress on the tower/antenna project, but I was able to snag what could be a temporary low band antenna, the Alpha Delta DX-B. A local ham estate sale had this wire antenna for 160, 80, 40 and 30 meters listed for bid - and I was the winner [...]