Customer Pictures and Comments

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                                       Fred / W8FLC Mosley TA-63N (phase lines)

John/ WC0W    4el SteppIR  (U S Tower 572)                      Mark / WA2ILB 4el SteppIR (leveling tip)

Guy / ON4AMG  Optibeam OB13-6                                   Tom / K5AX  TH11DX (no KARLock mounting)

Bill / ND0B   SteppIP with dual 30/40 loops                     Ivan / WK1W Stacked TiltPlates

Kim / K4ATX   DB18 and U.S. TX 472 - Stackable                  Matt / KI6VJY Mini-TiltPlate & 2el Steppir

Pete / N4KW   Bencher SkyHawk & 40M dipole                      Herb / K4HMK Pix of tilt operation and hurricane tie-down

Will / K4AAV  M2 Log Periodic (phasing tube example)            Ron / KB9NW DB36 - making a repair

Gary / W7DO   4 el SteppIR                                      Jack / WE5ST DB 42

Bill / K5UY   DB18 on US Tower                                  Dennis / N8ERF DB18E at Midland HS Club

Rulon / W7QR  DB42 with 80M dipole and 144/440 yagi             Charlie / AB3LE DB42 and VIDEO

Rich / W9YAC  DB18 on US Tower                                  Steve / N6SJ DB42 HDX589

Tad / WF4W    Mosley PRO67C (phasing tubes)                     Paul / WY7I Stack - 4el SteppIR & 2el OB2-40

Mike / K4EU   US Tower 455, 3el SteppIR                         Chris / N6CPL 4el Steppir and KARLock

Richard / W7ZR 4el SteppIR and 40M yagi - Tipping               Fred / W2HZ Mosley Pro 67-C-3 (phasing tubes)

Jack / N7JP  Mini-TiltPlate on MA-550 tower                     Keith / KJ8DO Mosley Pro 67C  (phasing tubes)

John / W5ODJ Standard Stackable - 4el SteppIR - 4030 loop       Al / K0CN SteppIR DB18E - Excellent VIDEOs

Kent / NC6B  Monster, DB36, Unique assembly process             NG7M / Max SteppIR DB-18 - Excellent videos and pictures

Rick / K7RCS Mosely TA 54 XLN 6/40 non-Stackable / KARLock      Gene / K5GS DB-18 - Interesting Installation method

Xavier / F6FKQ Ultrabeam 3 el with 60mm square boom             Ed / N3CMI - DB18E on U S Towers HDX-555 with 2M and 300X on top

Tracy / KC7WFD Steppir DB32                                     Scotty / K7MIX  - Tennadyne T-8

Tomy KF7GC

Owen  KB5XE 

Kirk  K6KAR

Del KG6LQ

Dave K8DH

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

Gunther VA3GA

Jerry / K3BZ

Jim / K7YZ

Bernard / WA4OEJ

Bob / WA5VSK

Gary W2CEA

Bill KM1C

Tommy W6IJ

Lou / W0FK

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.  Below is a closeup showing the cables highlighted in RED and BLUE.

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.

The RED line is added in the copy below to help see the bend.....

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.  

Adil / A65EE

 
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 / KC2TN

Joe recently added a KARLock to his installation and comments:

4 El SteppIR

Fred / W8FLC

Fred has a Mosley TA-63N on a tower that pivots 8 feet off the ground.  
Here are some of his construction photos showing how the phasing lines are run. 

I got the beam all put together today, but I don't have the coax run yet.  Although my tower pivots at 8 feet off the ground, the beam is still easy to work on.

Thanks again for coming up with this idea so this old man does not have to climb up the tower and service the beam. The whole beam was assembled on the tilt plate with the tower lowered.

Regards,

Fred(W8FLC)

John / WC0W

SteppIR 4el

U.S Tower 572

Mark / WA2ILB

HDX-555 tower with a 4EL SteppIR beam

Monster model and KARLock

Mark ordered the monster version in case he decides on an antenna upgrade in the future. 

Here is a picture and his comments on how he leveled the antenna to the proper angle on the Tilt-Plate.  His method is a variation on method 3 for SteppIR antenna installation

First I attachched the boom to the TiltPlate with the u-bolts.  Then I closed the TiltPlate and held it shut with a couple of clamps. I then took a square and placed it on the mast plate and the right next to the boom. I drew a line with a magic marker on the edge of the mast plate.  I then rotated the SteppIR boom until the EHU mounting plates on the SteppIR boom were parallel to square and line. Viola, perfect alignment!

This might be useful for others installing a SteppIR on your great Tilt-Plate.

The EHU mounting plate on the SteppIR boom plate is visible in foreground....

Here are some pictures describing and illustrating the installation process and Mark's first tests with the 4 el steppIR.

The weather dawned clear, cool and sunny Saturday morning, September 22, 2012. Just a beautiful day for an antenna raising party. George, N1GB (my right hand man through all this) and Bob, KB1IZU, arrived just before 9 am to help with the final assembly of the 4EL SteppIR beam and raise the tower vertical.

Prior to installing the fiberglass elements there is a testing procedure to be sure all the control wires for the four elements are connected properly. During this test the driven element stepper motor failed to deploy the copper elements properly. Murphy showed up again! We disassembled the driven element housing and manually rotated the drive mechanism. The electrical test was run again and this time it worked perfectly. Evidently, the mechanism, for what ever reason, bound up slightly during shipping and just needed a little nudge to get it working properly.  (Al's note: it's always easier to do from the ground)

This picture shows the fiberglass element housings all installed just prior to raising the tower.

Due to the very heavy duty nature of the tower and antenna it was necessary to get a little help from hydraulics. My good friend and neighbor came over with his tractor and lent a helping bucket to get it up. I will be checking out acquiring a heavier duty winch with a higher gear ratio to make it possible to raise the tower without the help from the tractor.

Finally the tower and antennas are in the vertical position ready for connection, testing and the first contact.

What a thing of beauty to any ham.

This picture is of the "Tilt-Plate" that allows the SteppIR to remain horizontal as it is raised to the vertical position. This means that there is absolutely no climbing necessary, ever!   If the antenna rotates in the wind more than a few degrees that hook engages the U-bolt and prevents it from rotating any further.

I used two of the drilled holes in the tilting plate to run the reflector and driven element control cables through the plate to route them away from the boom. This eliminates any possibility of a wire-tie breaking and the loose control cable being crushed by the boom to plate U-bolts. I used some small rubber grommets to protect the cables from the holes sharp edges.

Yesterday, Sunday, September 23, 2012, I routed the control cables and feed lines into the shack and installed the necessary connectors. At approximately 12:30 pm the SteppIR beam became "radio active". WOW, I was hearing and contacting stations that I could not hear on my 40 meter zepp wire antenna.

Signal reports from all over Europe, Africa, Alaska, Japan and South America were 59+ just running 100 watts. Anyone want to buy an amplifier? ;-) Just kidding.

There is still a lot to do to get the grounding, cabling and landscaping done. I am going to get to it after a day or two of making contacts and enjoying my dream come true.

5-Oct-2012 update.   All done and I have been working stations that I can't even hear on my other wire antennas!  Your Monster Tilt-Plate worked flawlessly and if I decide to go bigger on the antenna I am all set.   The Tilt-Plate made the assembly and raising of the antenna a breeze and extremely safe!

73,
WA2ILB,

Guy / ON4AMG

Optibeam OB13-6

Monster model - stackable

I am really really pleased with the final result, it was a lot of fun being able to put everything together on ground level.

Tom / K5AX

TH11DX

Standard model TiltPlate

Tom didn't need the KARLock in his location so he mounted the TH11DX directly to the moveable plate of the TiltPlate. 

(Note: if you want to use a KARLock with this antenna,  the adapter  is needed.  When you order the TiltPlate for this antenna the adapter is supplied.  Click here for more information on this.   -- Al's comment)

( Note:  when using the TiltPlate with the supplied adapter, the antenna boom mounts between the plates.  In Tom's installation he mounted it on the outside and had to raise the phasing tubes 1 inch to provide the necessary clearance.  -- Al's comment)

73 de Tom K5AX

Bill / ND0B

SteppIR with (2) 30/40 loops

Ivan / WK1W

Stacked TiltPlates

Force 12 5BA bottom

2 el 40M on top

Ivan's review on eHam (Thanks for the nice review....Al)

Kim / K4ATX

SteppIR DB 18

US Tower TX-472

Matt / KI6VJY

2el SteppIR

Mini-TiltPlate

I could not have pulled this one off without your TiltPlate . Photo attached of the 2 element SteppIR threading the needle between two trees and over a hedge. Thank you for an excellent product!

Matt / KI6VJY

Pete / N4KW

Bencher SkyHawk with a NN4ZZ Tilt Plate on a US Tower

Above the Yagi is a 40M dipole.

Pete / N4KW

Herb / K4HMK

Nice installation and the pictures below show Herb's setup in all 4 of the stages. 

 - Operational

- Tower Nested

- Tilting over

- Final postion and resting on a bracket for maintenance or hurricane weather

Operational

Nested

Herb brought us these pictures while we were in Orlando for Hamcation this year (2013).   They were very helpful in showing folks how easy it is to work on your antenna, tower and rotor from the ground with a tiltplate.  As Herb mentioned, all we need to add is a lounge chair and a tall glass of ice tea.   Thanks again Herb!

2018 Update -- Here are some more pics of the tower folded over with the NN4ZZ Tilt Plate CONTROLLING the Yagi AND the 2 meter twin beams. The products continues to work FLAWLESSLY along with its KARLock since July 2011. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks for your engineering feat.

Closeup of the tie down used for hurricane preparations.

Will / K4AAV

U.S Tower TX-455

M2 Antenna 7-10-30 LP8

Note:  You can see  how Will routed the phasing tubes for his log periodic.  One in front and one behind the moveable plate.

Here are some pictures showing the tower being raised up to the operating position.....

Tower in fully extended and opeartional position.  The UHF/VHF vertical is mounted above the LP.

I know I am preaching to the choir, but working at ground level to complete the antenna and raise it was just too incredible. Thanks again for your incredible product.

R/S

Will, K4AAV

Ron / KB9NW

SteppIR DB36 with our optional "lateral truss support"

Here is a good example of when the ability to work on your antenna really comes in handy.  Ron has a DB36 and discovered the loop return had come off.  This first picture shows the missing loop.   He discovered it on a Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm. 

This pictures shows the antenna and tower lowered so he can make the repair.

Thanks to Al NN4ZZ and his Tilt-Plate, the antenna was lowered, tilted, repaired and operational in just 3 hours.

Gary / W7DO

4 el SteppIP

Gary building the SteppIR on the ground on the TiltPlate

Tower tilted up and ready to raise.....

Gary commented "I would not have bought any Steppir without the availability of your tilt-plate, to maintain and repair the antenna system. You can quote me. "

Thanks Gary!

Jack / WE5ST

DreamBeam 42

UST HDX-572.

Overall,  the tilt plate is a real work saver. I built the antenna on the tilttplate mounted to the mast/tower. I had to lower and raise the tower (horiz to vert) several times in the troubleshooting process. Can't imagine how I could have accomplished that without a crane!

Jack / WE5ST

( The DB42 is a BIG antenna! Here are the specs.....Al)

Jack's DB42 - ready to go!

Closeup of the new boom truss support - provided by N6SJ

Bill / K5UY

US tower TX-472  Motorized

Dreambeam 18E

Everything is up ....   Again Tnxs for all the help 

This looks almost too easy! 

Closeup.....

Dennis / N8ERF

DB18E installed at the Midland High School Amateur Radio Club site at Midland High School, in Midland, Michigan.

 The people in the photos are either student club members or mentor/advisors.

Rulon / W7QR

DreamBeam 42

Rulon purchased one of the Monster TiltPlates in May of 2012 and recently changed antennas to a SteppIR DB42 with the 80M dipole option.    He also mounted his 144/440 antenna on the boom truss mast and reports it is working fine.

Beginning to build the DB42 on the ground and on the TiltPlate.

Notice the location of the various relay and switch boxes.  

You can see the 144/440 yagi in this picture

Hope you enjoy the pictures,
 
Rulon Passey
W7QR 

Charlie / AB3LE

DreamBeam 42

Click here or on the PICTURE below to see Charlie's VIDEO on  

Rich / W9YAC

DreamBeam 18

U S Tower 472MDP

Click here for a short video of the antenna

DB18 is up and the Tiltplate works great.

73 Rich Mercer W9YAC

Steve / N6SJ

U. S Towers HDX 589

DreamBeam 42

Monster "stackable" TiltPlate and KARLock

Steve provided some great pictures and tips for using the TiltPlate with the DB42.  My thanks to him for documenting so well.  This a complex antenna and there are always several ways to skin the cat.   I'm sure other DB42 users will be able to take advantage of these ideas.   Al / NN4ZZ

It took about 2 months of on and off work to finish everything.  I built the DB42 right on the TiltPlate on the end of the mast on my tilted over tower.  The biggest problem was getting everything square and parallel while working on sloping ground with lots of brush in the way.  I didn’t want to clear-cut the area because the brush helps to screen the tower from the house.  I probably spent the first two weeks fiddling with a 4’ level and carpenter’s square before I felt confident tightening all the element brackets onto the boom.

To get the elements level on the tower, I first closed the TiltPlate with clamps and attached the DIR #1 element plate with ½ of the center fiberglass tube attached.  I used masking tape to attach a carpenter’s square onto the TiltPlate surface that’s clamped to the mast.  Then I stood back and visually lined up the tube with the square.  The carpenter’s square and long piece of fiberglass gave me more confidence than the rather short pieces I saw one of your other customers use for the same procedure.  I found if I stood back about 50 feet and used binoculars to look at the two edges, I could clearly see when they were perfectly lined up.  Once that was done, I visually lined up all the other elements to be parallel to this first one.  The result was a level antenna with parallel elements.

For the boom truss mast, I didn’t want to allow the mast to lean over with the TiltPlate as this would greatly reduce the angle of pull on the far side of the boom, making SteppIR’s new double-truss design much less effective.  I used some additional DX Engineering V-clamps and your furnished shim to offset the upper edge of the mast from the TiltPlate.  This resulted in the boom truss mast only being tilted by 3 to 4 degrees off vertical.  The truss tightened up fine with good purchase on both sides of the boom for lateral stability. 

I chose not use mount the SteppIR mast-to-boom plate like another of your customers did.  I didn’t want to offset all those components horizontally, especially since I also had the 80M dipole option.  I used a couple of un-used 3” SteppIR clamps to mount the connector junction box right onto the TiltPlate.  I used one existing hole and drilled one additional hole in the plate and used leftover 5/16” SteppIR bolts to hold it on.  The photo shows how I added a threaded rod standoff to tie down the cables as well, attached to another empty hole on the TiltPlate.

This  photo shows how close the big center element, DIR #1, ends up to the tilted over US Tower HDX 589.  Until the element truss was tightened up, the inner fiberglass pole was lying right on the steel, and I wasn’t sure it was going to  clear the tower!

You can see the KF7P curved standoff at the top of the tower.  This is an after-market part that Chris made on order for me.  It provides a gentle sweep-90 bend to get the coax into the vertical plane without creating the sharp right angle bend

The last main task was running AC power through liquid-tight conduit between the breaker box and electrical panel at the end of my conduits.  That’s where I installed the Remote Driver board in a little LMB aluminum box I found at HSC Electronics in Sunnyvale.  You can see the 33V wall wart at the bottom of the panel. 

I had Valerie run the controller while I listened to the happy sounds of copper beryllium scraping along the insides of the fiberglass tubes.  I tested it with all the final cable runs coiled up on the ground just to be sure I wasn’t installing any bad cable.

Time to tilt it up!

The hardest part of using your fine TiltPlate was convincing myself I had gotten the first DIR #1 element square with the main mast.  I must have fussed over lining up the carpenter’s square and fiberglass tube for several days!  Once convinced, everything else was easy.  The TiltPlate is a great way to build a 240 pound antenna on the ground with no sawhorses and no helpers!

It was sundown as I soldered the PL 259 onto the vertical coax run Sunday afternoon.  I went inside, heard a pack calling S21ZBB and worked him on 17M for my first QSO on this antenna, an auspicious start!

73,

Steve

N6SJ

Tad / WF4W 

Mosley PRO 67C

Heights 72ft tower

Picture during construction and assembly

The Mosley PRO 67C has phasing tubes between the driven elements. 

CLICK here for more tips on assembly and the phasing tube set up for the Mosley PRO 67B & 67C

Click here for more pictures of Tad's tower and antenna procect.

Paul / WY7I

Stack - 4el SteppIR & 2el Optibeam OB2-40

2el OB2-40 on a non-stackable TiltPlate on top

4el SteppIR on a stackable TiltPlate on the bottom.

Project went up on 6-Apr-2014 - first picture below

Mike / K4EU

US Tower TX455

3 el Steppir, weather station, vertical and small yagi above

Now maintenance work and repairs can be done from the ground.

73, Mike

Chris / N6CPL

4 el SteppIR

Standard model TiltPlate and KARLock

Richard / W7ZR

Antennas:  4el SteppIR & 2el 40M yagi

Richard has a unique situation.  He wanted to mount a 4el SteppIR and 2el 40M yagi on TiltPlates in a tight location.  There is plenty of room for the antennas once they are in the operational position.  But  he had a challenges tilting the tower over with the 2 large yagis due to a phone line running behind his property.  We came up with a solution that may be helpful to others. 

Warning:  this solution is ONLY acceptable for avoiding phone lines (or trees) but would NOT be acceptable for avoiding any wires carrying POWER.

Here is a diagram illustrating the challenge.  The upper antenna is the 2el 40M yagi and the elements are 46 feet long.   With the 40M mounted on the upper TiltPlate the tips of the elements overlapped the phone line (in BLUE) by a few feet when tilting the tower.   There is a wall at the back of his lot which is seen in some of the pictures below and shown here in RED for reference.  

Swapping the locatiions of the two antennas on the tower was considered but keeping the 40M on top was the preferred location.

View looking back to the wall and phone lines beyond.

The phone wires are the lower ones in this picture.  The upper lines in the picture are power lines but they are much further away that they appear in the picture and not an issue.

The antenna will swing freely on the TiltPlate so it could be tipped down to avoid the phone line when raising or lowering the tower.   But he needed a way to tip the elements when  the tower up beyond his reach.  The solution was to mount a short tube on the boom with a rope that can be pulled to tip the antenna.  Only the upper 40M yagi is shown in the following diagrams.

Lever boom and rope seen in this picture.

Here are some closeups of the antennas mounted to the TiltPlates

4EL SteppIR mounted close to the tower

It's nice to be able to access the antennas and tower from the ground but there was one additional challenge for the 4EL SteppIR.   The boom extends over his pool.  If he needs to access those elements or EHUs he has a good solution.  You can see the extension ladder across the pool used to make a platform.   (At least there is no climbing involved)  

40M 2EL mounted near the top of the mast.  You can see the lever and rope attached to the boom.

Here are some pictures of the tower in the operational position.

Richard worked through all of the challenges and says everything is working fine. 

Fred / W2HZ

Mosley Pro 67-C-3

US Tower MM562

Fred installed his tower, antenna and TiltPlate in July of 2015.  He provided a lot of really great pictures and feedback that could be very helpful ot others so I'm posting most of his comments and pictures here.  Here is one of Fred's QTH in Tucson , AZ   ( Al / NN4ZZ)

It was last July when I finally got to work on the installation of the US Tower MM562 crank-up and the antenna. The installation went very well, I had a crane assist me for one hour to get the tower on its hinges and then I finished the entire job on my own, without assistance. All of this is thanks to the installation of the Tiltplate and the ease with which all fell into place. I finished the job in August of last year and have been tinkering around with other things in the radio shack but the tower.

Thanks to the types of components and the quality of the tower, the Tiltplate and the antenna all the work went without a hitch, followed the instructions carefully and finally it all went up were is been ever since working beautifully to specifications. The phasing lines of the antenna did not represent a problem at all, I just followed your instructions to the letter. The Mosley PRO 67antenna has proven to be an exceptionally good buy, the instructions were clear, the assembly of each element took place as expected and the assembled antenna just looks great and works according to specifications and has provided me with great joy and satisfaction.

I could have not possibly assembled this large tower/antenna project, single-handed, without the NN4ZZ Tiltplate, the fact that I can lower the antenna to 3 feet of the ground without any additional help or assistance for service/repair is also a great resource to the Ham operator. Hope you keep making and selling the Tiltplate, it is a great product of superb quality and I endorse it wholeheartedly.

Tower delivered and ready to install. 

Mast and TiltPlate installed

Boom installed on TiltPlate

One Phasing line between plates

Other Phasing line outside of moveable plate

Roll of tape on the handy KARLock hook.....

Antenna assembled.

Tower raised and ready to extend.

Ready to operate.

I could have not possibly assembled this large tower/antenna project, single-handed, without the NN4ZZ Tiltplate, the fact that I can lower the antenna to 3 feet of the ground without any additional help or assistance for service/repair is also a great resource to the Ham operator. Hope you keep making and selling the Tiltplate, it is a great product of superb quality and I endorse it wholeheartedly.

73s and good DX!

Fred Bresani
W2HZ

N7JP  Jack

Mini tilt plate with the KT34a and MA 550 tower.

The antennas from the bottom up are, KT34a, KT31WARC and GP9 on top

Maintenance position -- Mini-TiltPlate

Tower being raised

Almost back up

Ready for some DX

*** UPDATE ***

I purchased the Mini Tilt plate w/KARLock for my MA 550 tower 2 years ago for the installation of a KT-34 beam. I thought you may be interested in my change of antennas. I just completed installing a 3el Steppir with 30/40 loop. My Call Sign when I purchased the Tilt Plate was N7JAP, my current Call Sign is N7JP.

Having the Tilt Plate made this antenna transition very easy.

KJ8DO / Keith

Mosley Pro 67C on a Monster TiltPlate and KARLock

TX 455 tower

This shows the awesome ability of the monster tilt plate model and my US Tower TX-455 with a DX engineering reinforced cro moly mast with my Mosley pro67 c3 and a uhf vhf beam sitting a foot or two off the ground !! 

The Mosley design forces a very close tight clearance from the tilt plate.  I used two separate plastic wire looms over the phasing lines to keep them insulated from the tilt plate.

73, Keith / KJ8DO

W5ODJ / John

U S Tower HDX 572 MDPL

SteppIR 4el with 40/30 loop

Standard / Stackable / KARLock

K0CN / Al

Heights 84' crankup / tiltover tower

SteppIR DB18E

Al provided three excellent videos of  his setup.  They provide great details on his tower installation, the assembly of the DB18E and operation of the tower and TiltPlate.  

*** This video shows the finished product and demonstates the system ***

CLICK on the TITLE page to see the video.

*** This video details building the DB18E step by step on the TiltPlate ***

CLICK on the TITLE page to see the video.

*** This video details the installation of the Height 84' tower ***

CLICK on the TITLE page to see the video.

Here is a picture of the tower going up....

I have used the tilt plate now for 2 years and it has served me very well. Every time I tilt over the tower, I smile to myself and am happy that I installed the tilt plate. It sure makes life easy as the years add up and doing inspections of the antenna, rotor and feed lines does not require a ladder or climbing.

73, Al – K0CN

NC6B / Kent

TiltPlate Monster - SteppIR DB36

T-Bar truss and "bent" truss mast tube.

Kent used a unique method to install and level his TiltPlate and DB36.   Here is an outline of his steps.

• He started with the DB36 mostly assembled and sitting on saw horses. 

• Attach the TiltPlate to the boom while still on the saw horses.  The Tiltplate is not attached to the tower at this point.

• Level the TiltPlate using a bubble level to insure the mast plate is vertical and the elements are hozirontal.

• Dissamble the mast plate from the boom plate by removing the 4 bolts that secure the bearing blocks.  (Al's note, the bearing block are slotted so it would be a good idea to mark/outline the bearing blocks with a sharpie to reassemble the plate in the same location)

• Attach the mast plate to the tower which is tilted over.

• Move the antenna with the boom plate already mounted next to the tower and re-attach it to the mast plate.

• Install the KARLock.

• Install the antenna element tubes and finish up the wiring etc.

Antenna assembled on saw horses -- Shown after leveling the TiltPlate and disassembling the mast plate

Closeup showing the optional 2" "bent tube" boom truss mast with the SteppIR T-Bar 1.75" truss nested and bolted in place.

Completed and ready to go!

NG7M / Max

SteppIR DB-18 on a LM-470 tower

Max installed his DB-18 on a "monster" TiltPlate in case he decides to upgrage to a bigger antenna in the future.  He did an execllent job documenting his SteppIR  build and installation on the TiltPlate with hundreds of picture and 2 excellent videos.   I only posted a few of his pictures here but included the links to them down below.  

Here are the links to his videos.  These should be very helpful to anyone building and installing a SteppIR on a TiltPlate. 

Part 1                       Part 2

Ready to go!

Front view and SteppIR control box mounted

Rear view from the top

Rear view from below

Links to hundreds of additional pictures:

http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album&var1=NG7M%2FSteppIR%2FDB18%2FReady+to+Tilt-UP/

http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album&var1=NG7M%2FSteppIR%2FDB18%2FPre+Trumbone+Trusses/

http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album&var1=NG7M%2FSteppIR%2FDB18%2FBoom+Build/

http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album&var1=NG7M%2FSteppIR%2FDB18%2FFiberglass+Pole+Painting/

http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album&var1=NG7M%2FSteppIR%2FDB18/

http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album&var1=NG7M%2FLM-470+Tower/

 Great job Max and thanks for sharing.  Good DX and 73....Al / NN4ZZ

K7RCS / Rick

Mosley TA 54 XLN 6/40

The TiltPlate and antenna went together without a hitch.

Two of my boys visited and helped me get the Mosley TA 54 XLN 6/40 into position on four sawhorses. I was able to do the rest of the installation by myself. I adjusted the tower  height to meet the TiltPlate clamps and just slid it on. Your marks for the KarLock were perfect. Fortunately the adjustment angle on the antenna was on the money and was level on the first try. I was so certain it would take a couple of attempts to get it plumb that I did not connect the feedline so I had to crank it down anyway.

We had a storm event last week with 85 mph wind gusts heavy rain and some snow. Everything came through fine. Thanks for developing a really valuable device. I have always dreaded lowering the tower for repairs-not anymore.

73, Rick  K7RCS Reno, NV

K5GS / Gene

SteppIR DB-18



Gene used an interensting method to install his TiltPlate and DB-18.  Instead of mounting the TiltPlate to the tower first and then installing the DB18, he used this process.


I found it very easy to install the Tilt-Plate with the DB-18 resting on sawhorses.

All that's required is using a level to first ensure all the EHU's and other horizontal brackets are parallel to the ground.

I did that by resting the boom on the ends of the bolts holding the 20m-6m Driver EHU on the sawhorse. I already did a true-up when I installed the EHUs so at this point just made sure all horizontal parts
were level (parallel with the ground).

With the EHUs parallel to the ground I attached the Tilt-Plate to the boom, and using a level made it perpendicular to the boom. That's it, no special tools or jigs.

After installing the Tilt-Plate I was going to bring the antenna over to the tower, but it was too heavy to do alone. I removed the elements and carried the boom to the tower and attached the Tilt-Plate to the mast,
then reinstalled the elements.



It all worked out well.

Cheers,
Gene K5GS

F6FKQ / Xavier

3 el Ultrabeam for 40M thru 6M -  Standard Model TiltPlate and KARLock

 Click here for more information about the Ultrabeam 60MM square boom adapter

Closeup of TiltPlate

Another view

N3CMI / Ed

The photo is of a US Tower HDX-555, SteppIR DB18E, M2 2M12, and Diamond 300X on top.

I bought a TiltPlate from you back in May, and got the tower and antennas up yesterday just ahead of the snow last night!

The TiltPlate and Karlock performed flawlessly!

Thank you for such excellent products. I can’t imagine how much harder this project would have been without them.

I really appreciate your help and advice along the way.

Thanks again and 73,

Ed N3CMI

KC7WFD / Tracy

The antenna is a SteppIR DB32 (4el with a loop).   His tower is the HDX-572.   He has the stackable model with a vertical at the top. 

Tracy found an added benefit -- the TiltPlate makes a good shelf for tools and parts during the build.

Build complete....raising the tower

Ready to go!

"...thank you once again for the great service and advise."    Tracy / KC7WFD.

K7MIX / Scotty

Tennadyne T-8 -- The antenna will be replaced with a new T-12 HD when it arrives from Roger. This device is amazing!  I can’t believe that I can now do all antenna work whenever I desire by myself and safely at ground level.

Thank you Al for the Tilt Plate!  More pictures to come with the new antenna.
73,
Scotty
K7MIX

Your Pictures here.....

  Your  pictures could help someone that has a similiar antenna or tower setup.