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Reviews For: SteppIR Fluidmotion MonstIR

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : SteppIR Fluidmotion MonstIR
Reviews: 8MSRP: 3960
Description:
Yagi four elements, cover from 7.00 Mhz to 54 Mhz continius.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.steppir.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0084.9
K8GTQ Rating: 2010-11-09
just adding some additional comments to my earlier review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
the long element housings of the Monstir dance and weave and oscillate in any reasonable wind - they will make a Hula Dancer look likes she can't move- I restrained the ends of the three longest element housings with monofilament fishing line - keeping the original spacing - that greatly reduced the amount of "jiggle" during windy days. Also, since I have replaced a drive motor/housing and also repaced the "no-hub" vinyl connectors, I made a tilt-plate for the antenna. Now when I tip the tower over, the antenna remains parallel to the ground and I can work on it at waist level. You can build your own for a couple hundred dollars (or so) or buy one commercially made. It is a good investment.
The antenna plays great on all bands.
XW1B Rating: 2010-08-29
Never a problem! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As my good friend, K5RK, once said, "If I could have only ONE antenna it would be a MonstIR." I agree completely.
Mine has been in the air for over a year now and has performed flawlessly. Yes it's big, heavy, and expensive, but for your efforts you get an antenna farm on just one tower. I consistently get huge signal reports despite the poor conditions and even made the 1st EVER 6m EME Qso from Laos using the MonstIR!
It's rugged and built to last - I wouldn't be without it!
K4AJL Rating: 2009-09-23
very nice Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I had the 4 element stepirr up for about a year. The results were great. I sold my 4 element to a friend and bought my monster 4 element from N4XP. I've been extremely happy with it. Going from a verticle or dipole on 40 to the monster is like turning on a light switch. The signal jumps up and noise goes down. I have mine up at 102 feet. Jack Norris W4TWX put up my tower and set the antenna on top. Wow the man knows how to install a tower and antenna and make them talk. Thanks Jack God has blessed me with a most wonderful friend. GOD BLESS my friend....
N2RJ Rating: 2008-08-03
Almost a year, some problems Time Owned: N.A.
Okay, so after almost a year I still LOVE this antenna. It's simply the best HF beam I've used, and is probably the best HF beam out there, apart from stacks of monobands on rotating tower.

That said I DID have some problems.

The first casualty was the gear shaft (plastic) on my Reflector element. It broke while chasing the VP6DX expedition on the first night, so my reflector element was stuck on 40m for quite some time. How I knew was that I lost the 180 direction and SWR did not change when I manually adjusted the But it still worked pretty good, even though I could not shift 180 degrees with one click and I lost a lot of F/B.

SteppIR sent a replacement. It was too cold though, so I left the antenna up while I waited for weather.

Then a couple months later, I lost the D1 element. Same problem - broken gear shaft.

So that was it, I took down the beam, then found that the other two elements had hairline cracks.

Sent it back for repair, and in a few weeks got back my elements. It should be going back up shortly.
VK3NI Rating: 2008-04-23
Speechless - well almost Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I'm not one to post reviews, but after 8 months of flawless operation I just had to make a report. My past BIG antennas so to speak, have been long boom yagis and Delta Loop Quads (5e 15m, 3e 20m) and dipoles on 40m and the low bands, so this is my first experience of a really large array. I've been licensed since the early 1980's.

In the current low of the sunspot cycle I've nearly made DXCC on 40m and 20m in 6 months (not all confirmed of course); plus almost 50 countries on 18m, where the MonstIR really shines. This could be because of the lack of big arrays on 18 I guess, only time will tell.

The sheer pleasure of QSYing from band to band and having a perfect match everywhere is only surpassed by the ease of going 180 degrees to check out the long path. The $ I saved on a heavy duty full limit antenna tuner more than makes up for the price tag.

Assembly, well unaided I put it together in around 70 hours and then raised it , again alone, on a one man tower complete with hazer and electric winch. The later took just 2 hours (and no crane hire).

Front to back, SWR and side lobes are as advertised. Imagine working 40m, turning 180degrees and being able to work stations in Sth America while almost completely blocking out the Chinese OHR (20-40/9 at times) with the back of the beam... Bl..y amazing.

It's stood up to some very high gusting winds (100kph+) up here on our ridge at a tower height just shy of 60 feet. If I were to deduct a half point it would be for the manual which I like to describe as "leaving somewhat to the imagination". Having said that though, I guess it did make me triple check the assembly and testing and consequently I have had a trouble free run.

Quality control is up there, but I did find a few items missing which were quickly supplied. I didn't like the bolts on bare metal system used by SteppIR, preferring to have washers spread load over a larger area. These minor whinges were not enough to degrade my evaluation and pure pleasure with the finished product.
Mario
VK3NI
W4USA Rating: 2008-01-21
Still # 1 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had it now for over 2 years. except for the high blood pressure in the high winds, I will say this is the best made, best designed and best working. If your ready for big-time DX, this is the antnna.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W4USA on 2006-11-17

I have been a ham for 30 years. I have seen many amateur and government antennas. Not one can stand the test to the Monster from Steppir.

It is of massive construction, great customer support, everything pre-tested and it's all there.

I built it myself and it took 3 days. I used a crane to set it. It is a very large antenna and it takes a good acare or two vof free space and a good rotor.

I used the Orion, a Universal Tower and wireman cable. All worked great on the first try. The antenna is well worth the 5K. The lady next door may not agree, but it looks great to me.

K8RR Rating: 2007-09-08
A DREAM ANTENNA!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been a DXer/Contester for almost 40n yrs..Have had TELREX..HYGAIN LONG JOHN's [ the real thing made in the 60s only]...KLM ..M2..Homebrew etc.. I have had stacked 40-10 on a 165' rotating tower.. but I have never had any thing like this beast.

For a variety of reasons.[ mainly health] it took me about 10 weeks to assemble..[2hrs/day]..This is a BATTLESHIP...Nothing cheap or lacking on this antennas EXCEPT the boom to mast clamps... I did some machining work and replaced the STEPPIR clamps with HD DXE units. Because I use 2 1/2" masts..I had to re-drill the BOOM to MAST plates, as they ONLY come for a 2" mast. [BOO]

THIS is NOT an antenna for a beginner to assemble...YOU must follow the manual step for step. I also painted all the fiberglass pieces with IMRON EPOXY PAINT... wrapped ALL rubber items with SCOTCH "88" tape..wrapped ALL cables with SCOTCH "88" for UV protection. ANTI SEIZE on all SS bolts and LOCTITE on all other bolt/nuts. I also checked and rechecked the motor wiring about a dozen times.

My antenna is appx 100' on a FREE STANDING PIROD tower..using a 2 1/2" 6061T6 Alum mast with a 1/2" wall...The top plate of the tower has a 2 1/2" thrust bearing .. the rotor is an ORION 2800DC with a GREEN HERON control box. I also use a TENNADYNE SLIPPNOTT on the mast to ROTOR clamp.

The performance appears as advertized. FLAT VSWR from 7MHZ to 29MHZ and 1.2 VSWR on 51MHZ.. It is really cool to see the same F/B across the entire 40 and 30M bands..along with 1.1 VSWR.

Will this antenna stand up against K3LR's monster antenna farm... NO... but it will outperform almost any other compromise antenna setup.

Don't be afraid to get one of these beauties..but be prepared to DO IT RIGHT... TOWER..ROTOR.. MAST and assembly time.. no shortcuts on this setup..

I am located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is a "BLACK HOLE" for radio..but this MONSTER will make it a lot more fun.

Final thought... STEPPIR has very good techincal support..don't be afraid to use them..

Doc Sheller K8RR ex KN8Z...WA8ZDF

ZS6YI Rating: 2006-01-01
Phenomenal antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had the MonstIR up for just over 9 months now and it has worked flawlessly on all bands. Comparing it to my KT34 XA I find that it has a slight edge on the KT 34 XA on most paths despite it been on a tower about 10ft lower than the KLM.
The only sour note is that there is a hash noise present on the receiver while the antenna is busy tuning which makes it difficult to use a weak received signal to peak the antenna on. However the software in the control unit gets the antenna to perfect resonance anyway so it’s really not an issue.
The concept is really fantastic and the build quality is excellent. It is like living in a dream world been able to work with a mono bander on any frequency from 6.8 MHz through to 54 MHz by just touching a button, or if you wish totally automatically by interfacing it with the radio.
The antenna is really a monster on 40m. I work DX stations pounding in like local stations with signal reports well over S 9 plus while they are virtually not hearable on an inverted V up at 100 ft.
This is a very worthwhile asset to any serious amateur radio operator. I cannot contemplate pursuing the hobby without this valuable piece of hardware which appears to just open the ether to some tremendously potent signals.