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Steppir DB18E and Tower
Installation
By Steve Scoggins
N9HE
Jan 16, 2014
Tower Project Phases
• Site preparation
• Tower base construction
• Rotor selection and installation
• Tower installation
• Lightning protection
• Antenna order and assembly
• Antenna testing
• On the air operation
• Remote operation
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Site Considerations
• 55Ft Crank-up Free Standing Tower selected due to site limitations
– No space for guy wires
– Limited lot size
– Tower needs to lay over for maintenance
• Base construction per tower manufacturer blueprints
• Create the base template for anchoring
• Use the Tower manufacturer anchor kit
• Is the Tower designed maximum antenna wind load?
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Unpacking…
Assembling Seems Easy…
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
But Expect Mistakes…
AD7ND
By Steve Scoggins N9HE http://www.w4gkf.com/steppir/n4dk/
More Pics & Tips
By Steve Scoggins N9HE http://www.w4gkf.com/steppir/n4dk/
Tower Base
ASTM F1554
Grade 55
1” x 36”Bent
Anchor Bolts
Atlantic Bolt
Charlotte, NC http://www.atlanticboltinc.com/anchorbolttypes.htm
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Base Finished
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Tower Winch
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Yaesu G-1000DXA
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Rotor Installation
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Tower Crew
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Boom Assembly
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Antenna Installation
Steppir DB18E
• The DB18E Yagi antenna utilizes folded dipole technology for 30m & 40m performance
• There are 3 looped elements on the antenna
– Two loop elements are active on 40m
– All three elements are active on 30m-6m
• The singular difference between the DB18E and DB18 are the active elements on 30m:
– DB18E there are 3 active elements on 30m
– DB18 there are only 2 active elements on 30m
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Specification
Boom Length
Boom
Longest Element
Turning Radius
Weight
Available saddles for mast
(2.0 in / 5.08 cm is standard)
Wind Load
Wind rating
Adjustable elements
Power Rating
Feed points
Frequency coverage
Tuning Rate
Control Cable
DB18E Specifications
DB18E
19 ft / 5.79 m
1.75 – 2 in
4.45 – 5.08 cm
39 ft / 11.9 m
21.58 ft / 6.57 m
110 lb / 50 kg
1.75, 2.0, 2.25, 2.5, 3 inch
4.45, 5.08, 5.72, 6.35, 7.62 cm
12.1 sq ft / 1.12 sq m
100 MPH (EIA-222-C)
3
3 KW
3
6.8 – 54 MHz
1.3 ft/sec
16 wire 22 AWG shielded
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
DB18E Specifications - Gain
Performance for Ham
Bands
40M
30M
20M
17M
15M
12M
10M
6M (without opt. 6m passive)
6M (with optional passive element on 50.0 – 53.3
MHz)
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
DB18E gain, DBi
6.2
7.0
7.4
8.3
8.5
8.8
9.0
6.2
10.1
30
20
15
11
DB18E Front to Rear,
DB
20
20
25
25
4
How Does it Work?
• DB18E Elements are copper tapes which are enclosed by hollow fiberglass tubes
• Copper “tapes” move inside tubes
• 3 EHUs are boom mounted
• Element Housing Unit contains:
• Stepper Motors which drive the tapes in and out
• Stepper Motors are driven by the SDA-
100A controller
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
SDA100A Controller
The SDA100A controller required of the
Steppir DB18E Antenna
Modes of Operation:
Normal
Bi-Directional
Reverse
Tuning Mode:
Manual or Automatic Tracking
Transceiver Interface:
Auto Track Tuning based on Transceiver CAT commands via RS232 Serial Interface
Remote Control
USB interface for firmware updates
Steppir Troubleshooting Tips
• With the DB-25 connector removed from the back of the controller, measure the voltage between the pin pairs that feed the motor windings. For example, pins 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 when referring to the driven element. The other elements pin pairs are listed in the troubleshooting guide These are the same pairs you use to check the resistance of the motor windings.
• With the controller power plugged in, you should read approximately 3.5
VDC across each pin pair. At this point, change bands using the controllers band change button. As an example, switching from 20m to 10m generally gives a long enough run to get a good reading.
• When measuring the voltages, a suggestion would be to use a bare 25pin dsub to plug into the SteppIR controller and then insert a paper clip to penetrate the pin hole. Again, be careful NOT to short the pins. Even if the controller is turned off, there is always voltage going to the pins with a
SteppIR controller. We do this to “lock” the stepper motors, and minimize the need to calibrate the antenna on a regular basis.
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
DB18E Order
• DB-18E Antenna
• SDA-100A Controller
• Transceiver Interface
• Advanced Lightning Protection (ALP)
• Control Cable: 16 wire 22 AWG shielded control cable
• DB25 Dsub Field Splice
• Connection Junction Box
• Element Truss Kit
• Boom Truss Kit
• 6M passive element
• 33v Power Supply
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Flex 6700
SmartSDR for Windows
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Green Heron RT-21
•USB and/or RS-232 control
•High resolution digital display
•Point & Shoot operation
•Digital heading accuracy
•PWM speed control and gradual start'/stop to your system eliminating tower and rotator stresses http://www.greenheronengineering.com
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
Credits, References & Links
Special Thanks:
Bob Mazza AA7BA
Israel Vicente AD7ND
Mark Coker KC7JOG
Alan Downing KD7GC
Rick RJB Concrete
Bart Hasz K7HAZ Steppir Sales
Dudley Hurry WA5QPZ Flex Radio Systems
Greg Jurrens K5GJ Flex Radio Systems
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
By Steve Scoggins N9HE
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