 andre3k 
Member
Joined: Oct 2005  TX, USA
 Posts: 680 Feedback: 0% (0) |
Posted: 7/18/2012 9:10:46 PM
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT SteppIR DB-11 K4KIO Hexbeam |
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Posted: 7/18/2012 10:31:14 PM
I can give advice on the stations I've heard.
You guys know I run a less than optimal station. Attic wire antennas and 100w. Even still I've achieved DXCC and Triple Play. So with all that what two antennas are able to pull me in and are able to put out a good signal to be heard? SteppIR and SpiderBeam. SteppIR are heard on fixed stations. Can't tell you the number of times I've given a 59+10 and find out they are running just 100w. SpiderBeams are a favorite for DXpeditons for good reason. The things work. Good ears and they can throw out a signal. If / when I win the redneck 401k (lottery) those are the antennas I'll be putting up. On the other hand I work a guy regularly in WY that loads up his rain gutters for his antenna. |
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Posted: 7/18/2012 10:39:07 PM
Pretty much every station I have heard running the wire beams have had very good signals. I have also talked to SteppIR users as well and usually those guys had them mounted on 50+ foot towers and usually had very nice stations. I just want to get the best antenna I can afford right now, and due to my lot size wire antennas have done so-so. I have a few raised bed gardens that sit in the middle of my backyard and I'm not going to fiddle with laying radials down for a vertical. I can get away with a 35 foot tower and small beam but not much more than that.
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Posted: 7/18/2012 11:16:10 PM
I have used the steppir before. It is a nice system. But they are pricy. Make sure that you don't skimp on a good rotor and great coax.
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Posted: 7/19/2012 9:57:09 AM
Originally Posted By andre3k:
Spiderbeam then. At least there is enough experience with these antennas at that height to know it will work.
-snip- I can get away with a 35 foot tower and small beam but not much more than that. SteppIR at 35ft? Don't know. Like you every big signal I've heard is on a 50+ foot tower. |
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Mndless
Dont know a thing
Team Member
Joined: Sep 2007 SC, USA
Posts: 1030 Feedback: 100% (4) Link To This Post |
Posted: 7/19/2012 12:03:54 PM
[Last Edit: 7/19/2012 12:05:02 PM by Mndless]
I've got a K4KIO 3 band hex and I am very happy with it... very light weight, easy assembly, less than 5 sq ft of wind area and light enough for almost any low cost rotator...
I would view the StepIR as a better long term and more durable soltion, with the associated higher costs (direct and indirect - tower, rotator, etc)... but, I have zero reservations with the hex... I'd buy another one tomorrow if needed... |
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Posted: 7/19/2012 4:56:44 PM
http://www.dxengineering.com/search/department/antennas/part-type/hf-beam-antennas/hf-beam-antenna-type/hexagonal/product-line/dx-engineering-hexxagonal-beam-5-band-mark-2-total-antenna-packages?autoview=SKU
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SCWolverine
Husband-Dad-South Carolinian
Team Member
Joined: Feb 2011 SC, USA
Posts: 2019 Feedback: 100% (12) Link To This Post |
Posted: 7/20/2012 9:08:34 AM
the locals with the funds and towers all have the Steppir's
they love them? YMMV |
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Posted: 7/22/2012 7:04:27 AM
The mechanical aspects of the Steppirs make me a little nervous. Bad enough to have a rotator go bad during the winter, let alone a bunch of little motors in an antenna.
I'd have to research them a bit. My Tennadyne T-6 works fine though. GL de W1EL |
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Posted: 7/22/2012 4:01:46 PM
I've been running a Tennadyne T-8 for several years in the role you're looking to fill.
Zero issues. Have a T-28 about 12 ft above it (6m to 1.3 gHz) which has also held up well, but which I use very little in comparison. In an ideal world I would like to add an omnidirectional vertical on the same bands as the T-8. 73 |
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Posted: 7/23/2012 8:02:41 PM
Two posts about the Tennedyne. Will look into those as well. Found a couple of towers locally that I'm looking at this week.
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Posted: 7/24/2012 11:13:23 AM
An older guy I know (73) was going to replace a 10-15-20 beam with a 10-40 StepIR. He bought it and thought better of it. He just traded the stepIR for a 10-12-15-17-20-40 beam. He didn't want to be 80 years old and swapping out a motor on the thing on the tower.
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HomeSlice
'cause wrong's what I do best
Team Member
Joined: Aug 2007 IN, USA
Posts: 3044 Feedback: 100% (1) Link To This Post |
Posted: 7/25/2012 12:45:08 AM
Originally Posted By K9ZW: I've been running a Tennadyne T-8 for several years in the role you're looking to fill. Zero issues. Have a T-28 about 12 ft above it (6m to 1.3 gHz) which has also held up well, but which I use very little in comparison. In an ideal world I would like to add an omnidirectional vertical on the same bands as the T-8. 73 I've had my eye on the T-8 for quite a while. No moving parts is a huge + IMHO compared to the SteppIR –– but i'm not a climber... |
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Posted: 8/6/2012 3:15:44 PM
Ordered the K4KIO Hexbeam today. Another ham friend found me a 50 foot foldover tower at the home of a SK. Still has an unknown tribander on top with a rotor. The widow just wants it down and let me have it for free. So we will see where that goes.
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Posted: 8/6/2012 4:25:16 PM
[Last Edit: 8/6/2012 4:25:45 PM by JaxShooter]
Originally Posted By K9ZW:
I've been running a Tennadyne T-8 for several years in the role you're looking to fill. Zero issues. Have a T-28 about 12 ft above it (6m to 1.3 gHz) which has also held up well, but which I use very little in comparison. In an ideal world I would like to add an omnidirectional vertical on the same bands as the T-8. 73 I installed these same antennas for a friend after putting up a 100' tower for him. When I got off the tower they told me they'd worked a NJ station on the HF antenna. That was off the backside of the antenna with it pointed south. 
Originally Posted By andre3k:
Ordered the K4KIO Hexbeam today. Another ham friend found me a 50 foot foldover tower at the home of a SK. Still has an unknown tribander on top with a rotor. The widow just wants it down and let me have it for free. So we will see where that goes. I'd love to hear your reports about this antenna. I've been eyeing the hexbeam for a while. |
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Mndless
Dont know a thing
Team Member
Joined: Sep 2007 SC, USA
Posts: 1039 Feedback: 100% (4) Link To This Post |
Posted: 8/6/2012 9:29:49 PM
Originally Posted By andre3k:
Ordered the K4KIO Hexbeam today. Another ham friend found me a 50 foot foldover tower at the home of a SK. Still has an unknown tribander on top with a rotor. The widow just wants it down and let me have it for free. So we will see where that goes. You'll be impressed with it.... assembles quickly and really performs well... |
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Posted: 8/6/2012 10:56:22 PM
Former Tennadyne T-6 guy here. If I still had a tower, a Tennadyne would be on it.
Cost/size/benefit ratio is hard to beat. |
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Posted: 8/7/2012 8:06:19 AM
In the past I have utilized a Mosley tribander on top of a Cushcraft two element forty meter beam at 65 feet, numerous verticals at different heights, OCF dipoles, double bazooka's and my overall best experience was a 160 meter full wave loop. The tree supports to the big loop fell to disease and now working on a 80 meter loop with less than perfect configuration. Beams are fun, but not on a hilltop location with lots of wind, which in turn created maintaince at the peak of winter!
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Posted: 8/25/2012 7:10:51 PM
Finally got the hexbeam assembled and in the air. The K4KIO hex is super easy to assemble. Total assembly time was maybe an hour and a half. Right now its being rotated on a pushup pole about 25 feet with a cheapo RS tv rotor until I can get a better one. Man, this thing rocks. If you are on the fence about getting one do yourself a favor and make the purchase. Front to Back is decent, but its nice to be able to point the beam towards a station and they go from the noise floor to a very audible signal that you can copy. I cant wait to get it up even higher to about 40 foot. At 22 foot across its not as small at I though it would be. I'll keep at at the current height and let the neighbors get used to it before I raise it up again.
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Posted: 8/25/2012 10:29:24 PM
Pics......pics.....you need to show us your work.
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DOUGHERTY03
I AM A GEAR IN THE WHEEL OF KLOK
Team Member
Joined: Oct 2005 GA, USA
Posts: 3908 Feedback: 100% (3) Link To This Post |
Posted: 8/26/2012 9:15:32 AM
Originally Posted By K9-Bob:
Pics......pics.....you need to show us your work.
Yeah, I know this isn't GD, but I am going to have to invoke the pics or GTFO rule. |
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