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| Reviews Summary for SteppIr BigIr Vertical |
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Reviews: 41
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Average rating: 4.9/5
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MSRP: $759
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Description: 40 to 6 meters 1/4 vertical- no traps, coils or capacitors.
can be used as a 3/4 wave vertical 21mhz and above. 32 ft length, radials required.
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More info: http://www.steppir.com
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write your own review of the SteppIr BigIr Vertical.
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ON5CQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 4, 2009 12:04
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graet antennas
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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hallo i'am ON5CQ and i'am use now this fantastic antenna now for more than one and ahalf yaer without problems with a 180 degree radialsysteem. a use 36 radials from +- 5metres and it works fantastic with my ic7400 and my amp expert 1k fa also with 1kw. also if you have questions and need technical support you have direct a good awnser from the steppirteam. the antenna is not sheap but it hives a lot of satisfaction simply a verry good product. 73s to all the steppir users and enjoy the antennas ON5CQ PHILIP.
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PAULMANDEL
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 3, 2009 13:41
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Great Antenna, Great Support
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have looked at purchasing this antenna for quite a while and recently was able to buy one used. The performance is outstanding. I replace a 5BTV that worked well with the radial system, but I was not prepared for the signal increase that the Steppir offered at my location. Stations that I talk to normally all report a better signal and I hear more than in the past. I have a very marginal location; in a hole with radials only in a 90 degree pattern. The installation is straightforward, although as others have said the manual does need some work.
If you do need Tech Support their support is superb. The issues that I had we all self induced, but Marty spent an hour with me making sure that I had corrected the issues and had a good working knowledge of the antenna.
The unit is definitely worth the money in my opinion. I just wish I had bought one earlier.
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K3GM
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 10, 2009 17:59
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Performs like a 1/4 wave should perform.....
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This antenna is all about it's mechanics. Take that feature away and it basically just a plain vanilla 1/4 wave vertical. There are no mystic claims made by SteppIR that this will outperform other 1/4 wave antennas. The former 20 meter 1/4 vertical wire hung from a tree limb worked just as well as my BigIR. Its frequency agility is what makes it unique. It's been troublefree since put into service. I opted for the the 80 meter coil and it too has worked well. The installation instructions clearly suggest the options for guying the radiator's fiberglass radome. For elevated installations, I'd would say that guying is imperative. Mine is ground mounted, and it's guyed in one place as recommended. As with any 1/4 wave vertical radiator mounted over typical soil, ground radials are necessary. The only thing I've done to my antenna is add a 3rd party UNUN transformer at its feedpoint. I have a rather low feedpoint impedance due to the size of my radial field. This created a built-in mismatch with the 50ohm transmission line. I added a 1.56:1 UNUN from Balun Designs and everything seems to be happy.
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WA5NNV
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 10, 2009 14:45
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Still Working Well
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is a follow up report on the BigIR Vertical.
The antenna has been in service at my QTH for approximately
18 months now with thirty two (32) thirty foot radials, ground mounted.
There has not been one moments problem with the antenna and the SWR's have remained very low. The ease of changing bands is outstanding. I do not have the 80 meter coil.
Most pleased with the operation and contacts made to date and would recommend this antenna to anyone dealing with HOA restrictions.
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WB9GZL
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Rating: 5/5
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May 8, 2009 21:48
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Exceptional Customer Service
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the BigIR for two reasons. First, the innovative design creates a resonant antenna at essentially any frequency from 6-40m. Second, the antenna is quite stealthy, and no one in my CC&R riddled subdivision has given it so much as a second look.
Although I did have a bit of difficulty understanding some portions of the instruction manual, my emails to SteppIR were answered quickly and thoroughly. SteppIR customer service is exceptional.
I am pleased to be an owner of a BigIR vertical.
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W8JN
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Rating: 5/5
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May 8, 2009 12:28
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PHENOMENAL
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have the big ir mark3 with the 80 metet coil. Rather than put you to sleep with ten pages of blahhh blahhh blahhh, here are three items that have made me a lifelong customer. 1) We had 90 mph sustained winds from hurricaine Gustov. The big IR turned into the letter C for 6 hours. Absolutely no damage whatsoever (guyed). 2) The copper line stripped out on the bottom (my fault) and of course the big ir would not extend the copper ribbon. 3) Marty repaired it under warranty, no questions asked. Marty is the best and steppir has earned my loyalty.
73 Paul w8jn
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AA6VB
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 8, 2009 08:55
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Great Antenna
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have had the BigIR with 80 meter coil for about 6 months, and have tested it extensively against my (pre-MFJ) Hy-Gain DX-77 on 15 - 40.
Both antennas are elevated. Both perform well for verticals. At times, the antennas are equal in performance. Sometimes the DX-77 is better. The large majority of the time, however, signals on the BigIR are between 6 and 18 db stronger than on the DX-77 (that's 1 to 3 S Units), with only a slight increase in noise. No kidding. The antenna is amazing.
The BigIR is a real winner, if only because it is a full 1/4 long on each band - 40 through 6 (plus the 5/8 wave feature on some bands). This means the antenna is more efficient than a trapped vertical and has less loss. So, signals are stronger. I do miss the auto-band change of the DX-77 but am willing to accept the time it takes to shift the BigIR to another band as a trade off for a major improvement in performance. It seems like a small price to pay, and it only takes a few seconds.
The antenna is expensive, but then the improved performance is well worth the price. As they say, you get what you pay for.
73,
Bob/AA6VB
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AB9OS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 10, 2009 08:54
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Great vertical
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Last winter I ordered my BigIR Vertical with 80 meter coil. It arrived this spring and I put it up on a sunny Saturday.
I have attached 60 radials, 48 are 16' and 12 are 40' long. I'm using a radial plate from Penninger radio to make the job of securing the radials neat and easy. I have no guy wires attached.
The manual could be better but I was able to assemble and get on the air in the same day. I mostly work 100 watt CW and have worked all over the world no problem. The SWR's are mostly between 1:1 and 1:2 on 6 meters through 40 meters and 1:3 on 80 meters. I have played with making fine adjustments to the tuning but find I am very happy with the performance as is. I have some trees and a shed very near the antenna which are probably the cause of SWR's. Like I said, I'm very happy with it as is and I don't use an antenna tuner.
It is winter again and the antenna has survived the strong winds and rain of spring, summer and fall and made it through a couple of cold snaps and ice/snow falls this winter.
The controller is very basic and easy to use. I just manually make adjustments to band and frequency as I go. It could be hooked up to the radio and automatically tune with the radio but I haven't used that feature yet.
I am very happy with this product. When I first received the antenna I called the manufacturer for advice on ground radials and they were very nice, knowledgable and wanted to help. I would definitely buy this antenna again and would recommend it to anyone.
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VE4EAR
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 8, 2008 12:09
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OK for a Vertical
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had my BigIR installed for two years now. I purchase it slightly used from a local ham. It is the early model 1 version. I upgraded the controller to add the rig interface for my Icom 746Pro.
My installation is roof mounted on a single story bungalow with asphalt shingles and a slight sloping roof. The base is approximately 6m (20 feet) above ground level. Our backyard is bordered on one side by a 3m (10ft) metal chain link fence.The yard is also small and installing a proper radial field would be impossible.
The first summer I spent considerable time on the roof with the antenna analyzer cutting and trimming resonant elevated radials, 4 per band (40/20/17/10/6). The biggest headach was minimizing the interaction between radials. When it was done, it worked well, the XYL wasn't impressed with the apparent spider web of wires on the roof. (I did use a grey coloured insulation that matched the roof very well, but I guess her eyes are btter than mine)
I should mentioned that the antenna was guyed at the reccommended location using 3 guys, spaced 120 degrees apart.
VSWR was 1:1 on all bands and could be easily tuned as I qsy'ed across bands.
The problems started in November when the first big storm of the year came through. Strong winds of 80-90 kmph had the telescoping section above the guys swaying badly. Finally it snapped at the junction between the 3 and 4th telecoping section.
I ordered a replacemnt telescoping section and had the parts within 2 weeks. On a warm december day(-10C) i installed the new section and added a set of 4 guys at the joint between the top and second telescoping sections.
The wind kept playing havoc with the radials. rattling against the roof and snapping several of them through the year.
In the second summer, I replaced the radials with the butternut stub tuned radials. This was a cleaner installation and worked great for 40/20/15/10m. No change in performance at all noticed over the mess of other radials. I added radials for 17m and 6m.
During the second winter, I started to notice a degradation in performance and the inability to get the VSWR below 1.6:1 on some bands. It turned out that the 1m )3feet) of snow and ice on the roof had encased the radials and detuned their resonant frequencies. When the warm weather arrived, all returned to normal.
Just recently I noticed the top section leaning and upon inspection, I have found the fiberglass tube between the 4 and 5 section has splintered. It will have to be replaced ..again.
I have found this antenna to be very high maintenance and relatively expensive to repair and maintain. Customer service has been excellent however.
Performannce....well it is a vertical and works as well as a 1/4 wave vertical will work. On 40m it has been very good for me. On the higher bands, it works but my 130'doublet outperforms it consistently to Europe by 1-2 S units. For NA contacts, it depends on the time of day and propagation. Sometimes the wire wins, sometimes the vertical wins. Never a big difference. I do have to give the wire the edge in noise performance as it was consistently 2-3 S units quieter than the vertical. That would be my location and I suspect every vertical would be the same.
Bottom line, good antenna for a vertical, don't expect miracles, expensive, may require frequent maintenance in windy, harsh climates, No problems with the motors. No lossy coils or traps.
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N9ABG
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 9, 2008 20:26
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Honeymoon or Best Vertical EVAR Made?
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Okay, I know the wait for a SteppIR seems like forever and, after having lived through the wait, there should be no excuse for waiting two additional months to put my antenna up. But that’s exactly what I did- largely due to my personal debate about whether I wanted to mount it on the roof or on the existing ground mount.
Considering that this antenna replaced my 5-BTV and that I was looking for the “easy way to ham-nirvana,” I opted for the ground mount. This was replacing an existing antenna, so I had most of the work already completed. The evening before mounting the antenna, it took me a little over an hour to assemble the antenna; however, I stopped short of the five minute task of securing the telescoping (top) half to the main shaft.
The following day, I removed my 5-BTV and secured the included hardware to the existing antenna mount and radials. I then ran the control cable from my shack to the antenna and set to work of connecting the two halves of the antenna and was ready to mount it. Considering that I am in pretty good shape, I was able to mount the antenna by myself without much trouble. However, because the antenna is very flexible and “oscillates,” I definitely would not recommend doing this by yourself in the event that you aren’t in good condition or were mounting this on your roof or tower. I then guyed the antenna by tying the guys to my fence with DX Engineering guy rope. In all, I spent about two hours in total, removing my 5-BTV and completing the install.
I returned to my shack and fired her up. The first thing I noticed is that the bands seemed to “come alive” and I could hear things that didn’t before. Signals seemed to be jumping all across the band scope. Adjusting the antenna for all bands took about another 45 minutes (learning curve) and I was ready to go…
One of the reasons I purchased the BiggIR was because the 5-BTV had no 6 meter capability, nor could it work the WARC bands. So being the curious type, I headed to 50 Mhz to see if this thing was capable of working VHF. I live just outside Washington, D.C., and, using the ¾ wavelength mode, I scored my first 6 meter contact (ever)in Nova Scotia, Canada. My second was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Not too bad. However, I bought this antenna to work HF…
In no time, I had worked Ireland, Spain, and England on 20 meters followed by the Virgin Islands and Colombia on 15 meters. All I can say is, “Wow.” Unfortunately, an early evening thunderstorm rolled through, so I had to cut my “play time” a little short. I retracted my element and didn’t give the lightning a second thought. Nice.
I realize I have only played with my new toy for a couple of hours, but it certainly has proven itself to be a great performer. I am very impressed with the quality of the antenna's materials and its rugged construction. However, I concur that the assembly instructions take a little thought to work through and the controller instructions downright suck (I really don't need to know how to adjust elements that I don't have...)
However, after my short experience, I honestly do believe that this is the BEST vertical antenna ever made by man and have no hesitation recommending that you buy one right now. I'll let you know if our honeymoon comes to an end...
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