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Index - Click CALL to Jump to Pictures and comments
Tomy / KF7GC 4el SteppIR 40/30 option Joe / WDØM 4el SteppIR 40/30 option
Bob / WA5VSK 4el SteppIR 40/30 option Mike / KM4H 4el Rohn 25 tiltover tower
Owen / KB5XE 3el SteppIR 40/30 option (Rohn 45 foldover) Gunther / VA3GA 4el SteppIR 40/30 opt.
Gary / W2CEA 2el SteppIR 40/30 option W0PL / Paul DB18 (installation tips)
Kirk / K6KAR 4el SteppIR 40/30 opt. (inspiration for KARLock) Jerry / K3BZ 4el SteppIR (TiltPlate #1)
Bill / KM1C Optibeams 40-6M (3 yagi stack on 2 TiltPlates) Russ / K4WB Tennadyne T12 Log Periodic
Del / KG6LQ 4 el SteppIR (US Tower MA-850) Jim / K7YZ 4el SteppIR
Tommy / W6IJ M2 Log Periodic Jeff / W0JM DB36 (lateral strut)
Dave / K8DH 4el SteppIR ("remove a tube" leveling) Bernard / WA4OEJ 3el SteppIR 40/30 opt.
Lou / W0FK DB18 stackable Adil / A65EE Optibeam 13-6 40-10M
Joe / KC2TN 4el SteppIR
Here are a few Pics of my Steppir 4 EL with 40/30 installation, to a TX-455 tower.
All of the antenna installation was done on the ground by myself.
Thanks for a great idea and product. The only thing I added was a couple of 12v winches.
73! Tomy Ivan kf7gc
I sure am proud of the plate. I no longer have to climb tower. It is a Rohn 45 fold-over.
Happy Days are here again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Owen KB5XE
Tower in the tilted over position Tower coming up at 45 degrees
Tower in the operational position Tower in the operational position
KARLock (named for Kirk / K6KAR and his suggestion to offer an optional lock) .
Ready to raise.... Time for some DX
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and congratulate you on a great product. Your TiltPlate is built like a tank, with very high quality parts and precise machining. It was a pleasant experience to have the U-bolts slide so easily into their respective holes. Your design has resolved a long standing problem that I've suffered regarding antenna operation and maintenance.
I bought the MA850 tower so that I would never have to climb a tower again. However, when lowering it to ground I had to stop at the 18' length of my antenna elements.
Dave wanted to continue using a tall vertical in addition to the yagi/TiltPlate but didn't have enough mast to use the sidearm option and came up with a different solution. Dave also provided the "remove a tube" method of leveling your antenna during installation.
Thanks for your ham brand ingenuity!
Dave's homebrew solution to attach a mast that is independent and rises above the TiltPlate. He constructed a mount that lets the TiltPlate boom truss rotate between the cage that supports his vertical mast.
The sidearm option noted in the FAQs attaches below the TiltPlate and would have required a new mast about 2-3 feet longer. And in Dave's case, cutting and lengthening his cables.
Joe / WDØM has a great web page with more pictures and commentary about his TiltPlate installation. Here are a few shots, check out his web page for more.
LEFT - Joe's "last time on a ladder" removing his antenna and getting ready to install the Tiltplate.
RIGHT - The TiltPlate is on the mast and ready for his SteppIR
Joe enlisted the help of his XYL Deb for the installation. She installed the U-bolts as Joe lifted the antenna in place.
Another successfull TiltPlate installation on a very small city lot.
73 Gunther VA3GA.
(check out the weather vane on the boom truss, a neat idea...Al)
Jerry has TiltPlate #1 and was one of the
beta testers for the KARLock.
(You might know Jerry better as the SteppIR support Guru)
Hi, Al... I've had the tower up and down twice and the KarLock performs just as expected.
I definitely like the whole arrangement. I can tilt the tower over, do whatever maintenance or repairs I need to do without a ladder, and tilt it back up again.... all in a couple of hours, safely, and easily. That doesn't seem to be a lot, but believe me, it's HUGE. This is the tower and antenna set-up I always dreamed of, and the TiltPlate and KarLock just add the frosting to the cake. This set-up will enable me to independently take care of my own antennas and equipment.... in virtually any physical condition, as long as I can move around.... for as far into the future as I can imagine.
73, Jerry K3BZ
MY NEW TILT PLATE IS UP AND DOING WELL.
I HAVE A DIAMOND DUAL BAND ABOUT 17 FEET LONG ON TOP. WE OFFSET IT TO
MAKE UP FOR THE OFFSET OF THE TILT PLATE AND HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH THE
TILT PLATE DOING EXACTLY WHAT ITS WAS DESIGNED TO DO.
I AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRODUCT AND HELP. I DIDN'T LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING TO CLIMB A 20 FOOT LADDER OR THE TOWER.
The tower is a MA-850 and the antenna is a Steppir 3el with the 40/30 add-on.
Show here in the retracted position.
By the way, we have had some pretty strong winds at the lake and it's operating just as advertised. Good Job!!!
73s, Bernard Vatz / WA4OEJ
Stackable Tiltplate and KARLock with lower antenna installed....
Click for more pix of the stackable TiltPlate
Pic shows the wind blowing at about 30 MPH with gusts as high as 40 MPH (Note the trees). This is why I bought the KarLock. Pic shows the antenna really tilting but the KarLock engaging. It works nicely.
This, is a picture of my wind speed indicator, my
neighbors flag. Yes sir it was blowing that day. God Bless America!
73, Bob / WA5VSK
Gary has a 2el SteppIR, and U.S Towers MA-850. He is using a stackable TiltPlate with another antenna up above in this creative application and use of the garden gate. Who says you need a lot of room for a tower and beam.
Below is a picture of his project in process.
The SteppIR boom is in place, elements are next. Gary will have to raise the tower to just above the fence to install the far side elements.
Up and ready to raise....
The KM1C project is
3 yagis on one tower
with 2 Stackable TiltPlates.
Bill provided pictures, commentary and video for his project. Anyone considering stacking TiltPlates should take a look at "The KM1C Project" page.
Bill says he was going to do wires and verticals and low power for the rest of his ham radio live until he spotted the ad for the TiltPlates. Read the rest of the story.
Click the PICTURE or link to go to "The KM1C Project" page.
16-Dec-2011 -- Update from Bill
"The day came that I had to do some maintenance on my OptiBeams: Easily done by virtue of my TiltPlates. Cranked the tower down and over, did all the work by myself, cranked everything back up. No tower climbing. All antenna work done at chest high, ground level, except for the 6 meter beam. That required a 2-step step ladder, because it does not have a TiltPlate and the boom is just out of reach from the ground. This was far, far easier than the beam maintenance I used to do at 110' off the ground while strapped to a 2" mast. I would sell my pets and children before I would sell my TiltPlates!" .... KM1C
TiltPlate #002 and a Karlock with an M2 Log Periodic antenna. I originally bought this TiltPlate for use with another antenna and decided to add a KARLock and use it with the M2 Log Periodic shown below.
We found the "protractor method" spot on for the correct angle and to level the antenna.
Hooking up the boom truss cables.....
Front view.....
Note Phasing tubes routed around the boom truss mast.....
DreamBeam 18
Lou is using a stacked
TiltPlate with his Dream Beam 18E. He writes " My 6M
beam is not built or installed yet. That will fit about 5' above the
SteppIR on the main mast.
You have a well engineered
product. It works great.
73, Lou, W0FK
Lou
recommends that users with the stacked plate that also use the boom
support supplied by SteppIR for the DreamBeam 18E use the shim
supplied with the TiltPlate under the LOWER u-bolt. If a
longer mast is used, it probably won't be needed.
Mike has a 4el SteppIR installed on a Rohn 25 Tiltover tower. Click here for more information on using a TiltPlate with one of these towers.
With a TiltPlate installed the antenna comes down to ground level. Mike is going to send more pictures showing the tower tilted next time he lowers it for maintenance.
Here are some pictures of Mike's project. He says "everything went fine with installation and I’ve already had occasion to use it again."
DreamBeam 18
Paul says this assembly would not have been possible, in the small area that I have to work in, without the use of your Tiltplate. I sincerely thank you for a novel innovation and a quality product!
Paul
/ W0PL provided some installation tips that might be helpful to others who are
assembling a DB18E on a TiltPlate.
CLICK for more information and
pictures
Tower ready to raise
View from the porch
Tower being raised....
Closeup of the KARLock
Russ / K4WB
Tennadyne T12.10-30HD
on an US Tower HDX-555.
Building
the antenna was a breeze considering the size – 36 foot booms with the longest
element reaching 53 feet. I attached the NN4ZZ TiltPlate to the mast, then the
T12 booms to the TiltPlate and built all the elements – right on the ground.
Very easy and no heavy lifting as it all sat on the sawhorses.
Thank goodness for Al’s TiltPlate. I built the T12 with the booms already attached to the TiltPlate and the tower in the horizontal position. Everything went together smoothly and it works great on all the bands
Click here for more information on
the Modification for the NEW Tennadyne HD
model T12 10-30 HD
TiltPlate
works great.... Thanks again for this great device.
73
Russ, K4WB
Jeff / W0JM
SteppIR Dreambeam 36
Jeff writes his DB36 is up and ready for the Minnesota winter now with his custom strut to address the problem some DB36 user have reported with a "too flexible" boom. If you look closely you can see both the vertical and lateral boom truss masts and cables in the picture above.
Click
here to read more about the boom flex problem and solutions.
The picture below shows how the boom can bow under the weight of the trombone elements. Jeff does not have his lateral strut installed in this picture.
Here are Jeff's notes and closeup pictures for his strut mount.
Using your measurements as a guide, I fabricated a truss using 2" angled aluminum, 1/2 " plate aluminum and a couple of 2" element clamps that I had left over from my DB-36 project. The 3' tubing is left over from the aluminum antenna mast that I had cut to mount the tilt plate. I used 1/8" UV-resistant Dacron double weave rope and thimbles at each endpoint.
Great job Jeff! And thanks for sharing the pictures and notes for others that may want to make one also.
Optibeam 13-6
Thanks to Al and His wife now My OptiBeam OB 13-6 is up
easily without any problem....
I just changed a bit the location of the boom to mast plate place and swiched
the boom truss positions...
was very easy to put it up.. Great work exellent TILT PLATE i call it one man
job to put the antenna up...
No more calling for crain and helpers ...
Al keep the great work and well done God bless..
Adil
A65ee
Joe recently added a KARLock to his installation and comments:
4 El SteppIR
Your Pictures here.....
