| WR4N |
Rating:  |
2021-08-21 | |
| UrbanBeam Works Great In The Country |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| (You can see my URBANBEAM installation on my QRZ Profile) Due to traveling for work, I had been inactive for about 10 years. I finally retired and it was time to build my “DREAM RETIREMENT STATION.” My XYL said, “BUY WHATEVER YOU WANT - YOU’VE EARNED IT.” I note that because I could have purchased any antenna, but after research, decided on the URBANBEAM (with a 4’ Boom, Sleek Bow Tie appearance, Wind Load of 4.4 square feet, a Turning Radius of 15 feet and a 3KW Power Rating - I understand the URBANBEAM Moniker - but it also kicks butt transmitting RF from the Rural, Country areas!) I have it mounted on an Aluminum Tilt-Over Tower at 45 feet and even with strong wind gusts at my location, it doesn’t budge. It handles my ALPHA or ACOM with ease and gives me 6m - 40m in one aesthetically pleasing Beam (2 Elements on 6m - 20m and a Rotating Dipole on 30m - 40m). The build quality is superb; I can’t overly stress how the quality has improved over the years. My friend has a 10 year old SteppIR and the differences are huge; just one example is his fiberglass being held together by tape, while my kit included commercial grade, heavy duty, heat shrink with expanding sealant! The EHUs extend and retract the Copper Beryllium Tape so smoothly. Connection Junction Box uses Male / Female Terminal Plugs that make connections secure. One of my favorite features is the “Global Calibration”: If the Controller shows 14.200, but the beam is actually resonant at 14.150, you can easily recalibrate, so the Controller matches the Beam perfectly. Of course, there is also the 180 Mode - where you can electronically change the heading without the Beam ever moving. And one more great feature is the BI 3/4 Mode: though you lose 2db, you’re able to TX / RX in two opposite directions at the same time! (Great for chasing DX, running Nets, or Rag Chew with friends who live in opposite directions). But the list of other improvements is just too long to note. As for performance, I’m thrilled! I have a 20m QSO every other day with a friend in California (I’m in TN); I consistently get S-9 + 15-20 db reports (I never run more than 1.2KW and usually keep it under 1KW). My first DX contact was busting a pile-up working a Ukraine Station (it wasn’t until after the QSO that I realized I had not flipped the Amp to “Operate” and was only transmitting 50 watts.) Since then, on 20m, I’ve worked everything from Australia to Russia, Costa Rica, Spain, Peru, etc. As for 40m, my first contact was Bulgaria! Yep, the 40m Rotatable Dipole works well. I have this Beam and an 80m Dipole for HF - and it’s all I need! Don’t let the size fool you - the URBANBEAM is tremendous! |
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| KM6WSI |
Rating: |
2021-07-20 | |
| I like it more and more |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Originally I bought a 5 band Spider Beam... but my wife & neighbors would NOT like the looks of THAAAT... so it's still in a box for a later install. Instead I put up the Urban beam. It took 6 months for me to really like it. The 2000 controller went back to WA 1x and I serviced it myself 1x. I was so paranoid the thing was going to break after all that... I was expecting more of a plug-N-play experience which mine was not. The build was fine in spite of weak, at best, instructions... thank God for the videos! Half the bands needed to be tweaked and on a few bands I'm still unable to use BI and/or 180 functions due to 1.75-2.00 swr. Tech support, I agree w/review below... and their online blog was not helpful, to me anyway. I felt like I was under attack for even mentioning problems - a group of die-hard believers for sure. It was a frustrating experience. But 6 months into it I started to figure it out and I grew to really liking this antenna, it's perfect for my requirements. The 20-6m performs well, 40/30m less so and to be expected... but I had options so I put up a 2-ele Mosley above it for 40m. Somehow the Mosley 8' above the Urban still looks better then the Spider beam? Go figure...
I would invest in a larger SteppIR... and probably will later.
Why not 5 stars? I still haven't been able to get it to work on every band as advertised; instructions sucked; their blog was no help and their tech support was weird almost like talking to customers vs a paid service staff. But that was a few yrs ago so maybe it's better now? I hope so. I leaned more from Jay W5IB in 10 minutes then I got from Steppir!
Mike
NY6G |
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| W9DJ |
Rating: |
2021-05-17 | |
| Very Fine Antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
First, it works great. I still worry about how long it will work great with all those moving parts in the air, but so far so good. It's amazing to get 40-6 meters with gain on 20-6 in such a small and light package. I have it mounted at 40 feet, and it certainly does work. I don't have my old beam (Force 12 C3SS) to do an A/B, but it seems to be at least as good with many more bands. F/B is very impressive for 2 elements on 5 foot boom, and when I make a call people seem to hear me. The pattern seems a little sharper than the Force 12. Rx is quite nice. Perhaps it's my imagination, but it seems to "hear" better. The 180 and bi directional features work well. I had to go through each band and tweak it individually, but that was not hard to do. It does take a few seconds to change bands so it's not quite an instantaneous band hopper. I can actually hear a faint hum from the motors, as the sound is conducted down the tower and into the shack by the house bracket. The tower is 40 feet of Rohn 25 unguyed with one house bracket and an 800 series Yaesu rotor. Assembly was not too bad. I put it together over a 2 week period without any assistance. I spent probably 30 hours on it, not counting putting it on the tower. The instructions are good, though there are some ambiguities and some inconsistency with the excellent video they recommend watching. It definitely pays to keep your thinking cap on while doing the assembly, and sometimes it requires some elbow grease. I did find a couple of times I had made a mistake and had to backtrack. I suspect longevity is to a great extent a function of how careful you are with assembly. Tech support is excellent, though a little snippy if they think you are asking a dumb question. Don't ask me why I think that. I do have the Optimizer 2000 controller. It tracks both my Icom and Flex great - I had no trouble with set up. The antenna is a little pricey, but I really like it. It has already survived some 60 mph wind gusts. We'll see what happens with winter ice in a few months. The only quirk I've noticed is that on rare occasions the SWR will be off a little (normally it's about 1.1:1, but rarely it will be higher). I have been able to solve that just by moving the elements to another band and back. I assume it has something to do with a minor degree of binding somewhere, but it has not been a big deal so far.
Before buying the Urban Beam I looked at a lot of other antennas. The one I really thought hard about was the JK Navassa 5. It's a lot cheaper, but it's also a lot bigger and heavier with a bigger wind load and doesn't do 40 meters. At the end of the day, the high tech SteppIR was just too much to resist. |
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| W7HU |
Rating: |
2020-12-23 | |
| THE BEST ANTENNA FOR HOA |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Hello there this is Alex W7HU my review is very short as my antenna a conventional aluminum beam can present challenges for some hams due to size and aesthetics. special if live in HOA With a 4-foot boom length and turning radius of 15 feet, but still covering 40 through 6 meters 2 elements from 20 meters to 6 meters and a folder dipole for 30 meters and 40 meters, the UrbanBeam Steppir.. solves a lot of problems for the urban or suburban ham trying to get an effective HF signal.in the 3 weeks that i have the antenna up and running after assembly the antenna in one day starting at 8 am and finishing at 12am installed on the mast that was incredible ,the reports that I have receive with the new toy are amazing you can visit my YouTube channel (W7HU Alex) and see it with your eye the good signal on reception and of course the TX ,I want to thanks SteppIR Communication System for make a dream come true on an HOA environment if you need an antenna the Urban Beam is the one 73 dx ALEX W7HU |
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| PD9Z |
Rating: |
2019-09-29 | |
| Another SteppIR masterpiece |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
SteppIR Urban Beam....masterclass!!!!
After a long time playing with Optibeams we did sell our property and we're moved to our new property next to some national park.
Unfortunately there we're big strong rules in this area for putting up big antennas. Well...after i did sell the OB's to a good friend i did do some research on the internet and i saw the newcomer from SteppIR...The Urban Beam.
Almost 10m elements length, good specs and a beautifull nice dark green color whats fitting right in this area ;)
After 2 days of assembling the beam was ready to go up in my telescopic 26m tower.....looking awesome!!!!
What i did noticed....very good F/B and from 6m to 40m a nice and steady SWR...less then 1:1.15. Also the noise levels are incredible, for example on 20m i only got a max of S1. With bad weather like some rainy day the SteppIR also works great, no strange SWR or noise from the water.
The 180degrees switch is working perfect....this option i do like very much. Playing with the SDA100 controller is very easy too, you can even get the controller tuned by the radio itself.
Many guys asking me already what antenna i use....reports are really incredible.
Equipment:
Icom IC-7610 and more.....
www.PD9Z.com
73s Sascha de PD9Z |
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| KY6R |
Rating: |
2019-07-24 | |
| UrbanBeam - A Year Later |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My UrbanBeam has been up for more than a year now - almost a year and a half. I had it on a very nice US Towers ALM-31, but for 40 and 30M that is really not high enough.
After raising it to 50' on an AB-577 Military Mast system, wow - what a difference. Next week it will go up to the 65' foot level - now that I found 4 AB-577 extension tubes.
I had no problems assembling it or having it up in the air (knock on wood), and I must say - the height change from 31-ish feet to 50' already is like night and day.
I used a DX Engineering DV-40-P phased vertical array as a reference and did many A-B tests. Once the UrbanBeam was up 50' it surpassed the performance of the DV-40-P - which actually tells you how good the DV-40-P is - since it has a lower maintenance requirement than a tower (as long as you have a good radial field and can handle radials).
40M is my favorite band, and I started seriously considering going for a 2 element 40M "shorty 40" yagi, but the UrbanBeam offers so many bands - and once high enough is a serious DX antenna on 40 - 6M. Having everything like this on one antenna is really a unique feat.
Thanks SteppIR
----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by KY6R on 2018-03-19
This is a very clever antenna - imagine a decent antenna on all bands 40 - 6M (40 and 30M its a rotatable dipole and on 20 - 6M its a 2 element yagi.
Back in 2006 I had a 2 element SteppIR yagi and it was a good antenna. Eventually I ended up with an N6BT DXU-32 with 3 elements on 20 and 2 elements on 40M. I also have a DX Engineering DV-40-P phased vertical array on 40M.
I saw the UrbanBeam at Dayton 2017 and thought it was a really great idea, but was convinced it would be worth it when I saw the UrbanBeam plots and utomtion at Dan McGuire's AC6LA web site - https://ac6la.com/
I have mine on a US Towers ALM-31 - so for 40M its high angle, but that's fine since I will keep the DX Engineering DV-40-P up for low angle stuff.
I really like this antenna and its versatility. I had been an aluminum antenna proponent for quite a few years, but this SteppIR is really unique and fills the bill as far as what I do these days in Ham Radio and DX-ing.
I plan on taking the ALM-31 and UrbanBeam with me when I retire in a few years - that was another reason I chose this combo. |
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| K7BJS |
Rating: |
2018-08-07 | |
| Urban Beam Follow-Up |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Hello Folks,
I have had my Urban Beam in the air a couple of months now, and many of you were interested in how I feel about the antenna system.
I have learned a few things about the antenna and how to use it.
Hopefully, I can pass this data along.
•To be noted, the Global Correction Setting, in the settings menu, I have found to be useful to account for differences in "Coax Length" to the antenna. Note the word "Global" ! I had issues on all bands, and once I figured out how to use this function, it did not matter where I went, on any of the bands, my SWR is always 1:1.5xx or better as reported by an LP-100A digital watt meter. If you do no0t have one of these, you should.
•The instructions, for the most part are well done, there are a couple of clarifications that could be implemented, and I shared those concerns with the SteppIR Team at the last Dayton Hamfest.
•The biggest issue being, exactly how far the fiberglass tubes fit into the plastic curves. The picture that reflects this information in the instructions is too dark to reveal any detail. This was important, and caused me some grief during assembly.
•There is apparently an issue (cost / availability/ profit) with selecting parts. The bolts nuts and washers for building the curve tubing clamps, were not stainless. I had the antenna down this last weekend, to examine an issue, and all 24 sets were rusted. Like all the other hardware contained with the antenna "KIT", these should have been stainless.
•The next item was the fiber glass poles, and pulling the out as instructed, leaves you with poles of uneven lengths. this will affect the balance of the assembled unit when up in the air. I figured out how to resolve the issue, built I am not happy with the outcome.
•I mentioned that I had the antenna down last weekend, here is why: ◦The SWR on all bands up to 30 was great, except when I went to 40M, and when I went back to a lower band, say 20M, the SWR remained screwed up until I did a full retract and shutdown.
◦In the 30M and 40M band of operation, the antenna tape travels through the director tubes via the far end curved tubes.
◦As it turned out, the entry to the curved tube on one side, the exit of the tube entering the plastic piece had delaminated at the end and closed up enough to not allow the antenna tape to properly extend.
◦The result being that the antenna stalled, although the "Stepp Counts" continued as though the tape was extending. Remember, this is a stepper motor, with no positional feedback.
◦So I repaired the delaminated tube, I work with fiberglass, reinstalled the tube, and with the controller outside and people stationed and various points around the assembly, verified several times that the antenna was operating properly.
◦The tower was re-raised and off to the shack.
•Like I said earlier, with the global correction applied, and verified with the digital watt meter on all bands, except 30M, as I do not do anything on 30m, the SWR ran from 1:1.12 to 1:2.0 max
•People have asked me about the operation, and my thoughts:
•6 through 20 meters this antenna is a really good beam, the side rejection is actually better than one might expect.
•The back rejection is just fabulous, and what makes this nice, I just press the 180 button and the beam reverses itself without moving the rotator, and the rejection is just as great.
•On 40m and a very noisy band, early in the Morning I make a daily contact in southern Florida. I can hear this person, and he can hear only me consistently on a daily basis. This antenna begs for DX work.
•The folded Dipole works, it works better than I actually thought that it would. I am pleased to say the least.
•Soon I will have to tear this install down for a move to Phoenix. If I had this to do all over again, please note that I would. My next bigger antenna will be a SteppIR, probably a DB-18E.
•The Urban Beam is a great Small-Mid range Antenna System. the support from the SteppIR team is great as well. They have earned my business, and are worth your consideration.
All the Best & 73
Jack - KD9ERA
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