Leaving the market?

SteppIR, who are famous for their automatically adjustable beams, have announced they are leaving the amateur radio market in August. They made high-end products I have never owned.

Now I know this is not true everywhere, but it is probably mostly true that ours is a hobby of "mature" people. Indeed this is one of the reasons SteppIR has quoted for leaving the amateur radio antenna market.

It is my view that many who have been in the amateur radio market for many years as manufacturers or dealers are wondering if this is really for them.

It would not surprise me at all if we see a shake-out in the coming years.

New Beam, but not for me thanks

Thanks (again) to Southgate News comes information about a new beam from SteppIR. Covering 40-6m I am sure it will appeal to some. To me it is still huge and my neighbours would be appalled. I prefer to use low power and simple antennas. Luckily we are all different!

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/march/new-steppir-beam-huge-signal.htm#.WN0DTYWcHIU .

SteppIR antennas

The designer of the SteppeIR yagi is at W&S next week according to Southgate News.

I am not a great fan of big amateur antennas, but I understand they will appeal to some. As you know, my "thing" is QRP and small wire antennas, but each to their own. What appeals to me is different to what others judge important. There is room in our hobby for many different interests.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/april/steppir_at_w_and_s.htm