> From: Jim Jarvis
>
> Unspoken is the ability to design an antenna to work on 40 and 30
> meters...using longer BeCu tape than the SteppIR can fit in its
> molded motor housing.
SteppIR have already done that. The MonstIR was advertised in the
May 2004 QST. The cost is high but without careful shopping I do
not think that one could purchase equivalent performance (a stack
of 32' boom yagis for 40 - 6 meters) for a lower price.
> Rob also observed that the price of parts from SteppIR was a
> bit higher than he felt reasonable. Might be true, might be
> they don't want to encourage experimentation which would require
> support.
Other than the custom molded housings and specific mechanical
mounting implementations, I don't think there is anything in
the SteppIR that can't be purchased elsewhere (or substituted
for) if one is willing to do the research. It may even be that
another designer could find wider BeCu tape with edge sprockets
vs. the center sprockets in the SteppIR design which would permit
brushes with larger contact areas than that of the SteppIR design.
Similarly, one might find a different BeCu alloy with improved
conductivity, greater flexibility, or some other desirable trade
off.
> It's also possible that they haven't reached the region where
> they can start to squeeze out manufacturing efficiencies, or
> they haven't tried, yet.
It's my understanding that they are trying very hard just to
keep up with orders. Even the original 2/3 element antennas
and the verticals have been running 6 to 8 week delivery times.
It is certainly difficult to work on production efficiencies
when fighting to keep up with demand (e.g., when one is up to
one's ass in alligators, it's hard to remember the goal was to
drain the swamp).
73,
... Joe, K4IK
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