SteppIR SDA 100 User manual

2112 116TH AVE NE SUITE 1-5, BELLEVUE WA, 98004 WWW.STEPPIR.COM TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]
SDA 100 Controller
Operators Manual

2112 116TH AVE NE SUITE 1-5, BELLEVUE WA, 98004 WWW.STEPPIR.COM TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]
1
WARNINGS
The controller has voltage present on the control cable wires, even when the power button
has been pushed to “Off”. Unplug the power supply and disconnect the 25-pin D-sub con-
nector before making any connections or cutting or splicing the cable wires. If the controller
has power and the control cable wires short out, this will damage the driver chips inside the
controller.
We HIGHLY recommend that you ground the chassis of the controller to your station ground.
When operating with over 200 watts, it is important that you do not transmit while the anten-
na is adjusting.
CONNECTING CONTROLLER
Once you have connected the power cord to the controller and plugged the other end of the cord
into the power outlet (the universal power supply can accept 100 - 240 volts AC, 50-60Hz), turn on
the controller and then check that the screen display shows “Manual Mode, Elements Home”. If it
does not display that then go to page 16 and retract elements. Then disconnect the power plug and
then plug the 25 pin control cable connector to the mating connector on the back of the controller.
Plug in the power plug to the controller then turn on the controller. It is then advisable to perform a
“Calibrate” function before using the antenna for the first time. This ensures the controller is in sync
with the antenna.
If the control cable connector comes loose at any time while the antenna is moving the calibrate
function will need to be done.
Also, on the back of the controller, there are two ports - “Data In” and “Data Out”. If you have pur-
chased the transceiver interface option, there will be two 9 pin d-sub male connectors in the ports.
If you have not purchased the interface, there will be a plastic cover over the ports. For more infor-
mation on the transceiver interface refer to the “Transceiver Interface” section.
Other options that are available with the SDA 100 controller are the Tuning Relay, Remote Driver
Board and Advanced Lightning Protection (ALP). These options will have different wiring configura-
tions on the back of the controller. Refer to each options section for more information.
12/12/2008 Rev 2

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Grounding Stud
Data In plug in for
Transceiver Interface
Data out plug in for
stacking antennas
USB B plug for soft-
ware upload
Remote RJ45 outlet for
Remote driver board option
25 D sub Connector
Power outlet from
power supply Tuning Relay option 3.5mm stereo plug
FRONT
BACK

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CONTROL BUTTONS
POWER
During power up all 7 LED lights will light and the display will show what antenna software the
controller is programmed with along with the program version,
After 3 seconds the display will change to the last used function and operating frequency.
From the factory the screen will appear as shown below.
The power light will remain lit along with the NORM light or depending on the last mode you
were operating on. example: 180 or BI (3/4) and also AUTOTRACK if you are using a
Transceiver Interface.
NOTE:
Even if your controller is turned off by using the POWER button there is still a holding current
being sent out to the elements on the antenna. This is to hold the antenna element in the
exact position after being used.
FREQUENCY ADJUST
This function gives the user the ability to adjust his/her antenna with great accuracy and
speed. Giving the user the range to move between 59.990Mhz to 6.950Mhz and tunning the
antenna every 50Khz. This is achieved by using three different control buttons, BAND,
COARSE and FINE.
BAND UP / DOWN
This will move the antenna to whatever band the user selects. The factory defaults are as
shown in Figure 1. Whenever the controller is tuning the antenna the tunning light will be
blinking red.
These two up and down buttons also have a duel perpuse by acting as a toggle up and
down for the SET UP function. This will be described in greater detail later in the the manual.
COARSE UP / DOWN
Adjusts the frequency by 100Khz either up or down.
FINE UP / DOWN
Adjusts the frequency by 10Khz either up or down.
Manual Mode
Elements Home

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RETRACT
With one touch of a button the user can retract all elements to the home position and the con-
troller will power down automatically. The function of retracting the elements through the SET
UP menu is still available and will be described in the SET UP section of the manual.
MODES OF OPERATION
NORMAL
The NORM mode is used when you are manually operating your controller, and the primary
intended use will be in the ham bands (to use the optional transceiver interface, the user
must be in the AUTOTRACK mode). When in the NORM mode, to tune through the bands
simply use the FREQUENCY ADJUST BAND up and down button, and the controller will
simultaneously adjust the length of each element to that frequency that is chosen. Each
time the up or down button is hit the antenna will adjust to the next preset frequency. The
display will show what frequency the antenna is tuning to, plus the tuning light will be blinking
red. By using the COARSE and FINE up / down buttons, it is possible to adjust the antenna
to the nearest 50 KHz. You can also adjust to frequencies outside the ham bands.
When the controller is in the NORM mode the bands that can be toggled through are pre-pro-
gramed to get the antenna close to the desired frequency. Most of our antennas work very
well over a 100 KHz frequency range (minimum except on 80m). The Bandwidth will depend
on which model antenna you have but it will be at least 100 Khz.
180 BUTTON
The 180 degree mode feature is one of the most popular among SteppIR users. The 180
mode allows you to electrically “rotate” the antenna 180 degrees from your current NORM
direction beam heading. This is done by simply pressing a button, and in 2-1/2 seconds
(quicker on higher frequencies, longer on lower) the transformation is complete. The existing
reflector becomes a director and the director becomes a reflector, and you now have a com-
pletely different antenna in the exact opposite direction. With the two element Yagi, the direc-
tor becomes a reflector. In addition to greatly reducing your rotator use, many SteppIR users
report that the 180 function is an excellent tool for short path / long path operation, or for pick-
ing up that elusive multiplier in the heat of a contest! At SteppIR, we think the best use for
this function is when we want to show off the great front to back performance of the antenna!
BI (3/4) BUTTON
The BI (which stands for bi-directional) function operates in a similar manner, except when
enabled, you are now operating with gain in opposite directions. You will have approximately
2 db less gain than normal but now you have gain in both the forward and reverse direction.
This feature can be very handy for those who are involved with net operation or ham contests
where hearing (or sending) signals from two directions can give you an advantage.

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AUTOTRACK MODE
The AUTOTRACK mode must be toggled if the optional transceiver interface was purchased.
This function must be enabled via the Setup Mode. The antenna will be under the control of
the radio ONLY when in this mode. When under the control of the radio the antenna will be
re-optimized every 50 KHz and will follow the radio to any frequency within the range of the
antenna.
Using the other modes of NORM, 180 and BI can all still be used while in the AUTOTRACK
mode. By pressing the AUTOTRACK button so that the light is not lit is a very quick way to
disable automatic antenna frequency following.
NOTE:
The FREQUENCY ADJUST buttons are active when in this mode and will cause the antenna
to start to change frequency until the controller sees another command from the radio which
could be up to 2 seconds. Therefore you want to avoid accidentally hitting the band buttons
while using the transceiver interface to control the antenna.
The transceiver interface will update the frequency if it is enabled with the radio or computer
on overriding the band buttons almost immediately. If using the RETRACT button to home the
antenna the controller will override the tranciever interface and will go through an automatic
shut down once the elements are completely home.
SETUP MODE
The SETUP menu can be toggled by pressing the button on the front of the controller so that
the amber LED light is lit. This will change the screen so that it shows.
Once this screen appears on the display the BAND button will act as your scrolling button up
and down to select what option to modify. The following options can be selected in the
SETUP menu.
RETRACT ELMENTS
CALIBRATE
CREATE, MODIFY
TRANCEIVER SETUP
FACTORY DEFAULT
TEST MOTORS
OPTIONS MENU
Mode Key to EXIT
Up Dn to SCROLL

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RETRACT ELEMENTS
If you ever plan on taking your antenna down, you will first need to retract the elements. In
addition, if you want to protect your antenna during periods of non-use, or during lightning
storms or harsh winter conditions, you can use the retract element feature for this as well.
Don’t confuse “retracting” with “calibration”. Doing a calibrate guarantees the element is
brought home and then extended from a known start point. Retracting assumes the proper
amount of tape is extended and simply reels that much in to home position and leaves it. We
recommend retracting the elements during lightning storms, this greatly reduces the conduc-
tive area of the antenna platform. In ice storms retracting the elements greatly reduces the
potential for loss in case of a catastrophic failure. When you retract the elements, the copper
beryllium conductive strip is “safe and sound” inside the antenna housing, leaving only the
telescoping fiberglass poles extended. These poles are easy to replace so even if you dam-
age the telescoping fiberglass support elements (pole), the most valuable part of the antenna
should be safe!
The controller will ask you if you want to send the elements “home”, which means retracting
the elements inside the antenna housing. To retract the antenna, press the BAND up or
down button once, and YES will start flashing. Press the select button, the display will say
“Home Now? / Homing”. The red TUNING light will be flashing, this means that the antenna
is retracting, when the light stops flashing, the new message will read “Done”, then will return
to the “Retract Elements” menu. The antenna is now safely inside the antenna housings.
When you want to put the antenna back on the air, simply press the antenna segment you
desire, and the controller will adjust to that segment.
CALIBRATE
NOTE:
Whenever your antenna is not acting as it should, we highly recommend that you use the cal-
ibrate function before exploring other potential problems. Always calibrate when in doubt - it
is easy, and doesn’t hurt a thing! It doesn’t matter what frequency you are on when you cali-
brate, when complete the antenna is calibrated at all frequencies.
Calibrating the antenna ensures that the element lengths are exactly what the controller dis-
play says they are. Usually, the only way the antenna can get out of calibration is if the
power is interrupted or the cable is somehow disconnected while the antenna is changing
length. The controller does not “know” where the antenna is adjusted to unless you start at a
known place. The antenna housing sent to you has each element retracted inside to “Home”,
and the controller is set to “Elements Home”. If you power up the controller and it says
“Elements Home”, and you connect the antenna control cable with the elements physically
retracted, system is calibrated and ready to go!
If you need to calibrate, select calibrate in the SETUP menu, the antenna will retract all of the
elements, and the stepper motor will continue to over-step for up to 50 seconds after the ele-
ments have retracted. In doing this, the controller is making sure that there is not a shadow
of a doubt that each element is fully retracted, and back to the known starting point. When
calibrating, you will hear a buzzing noise for as much as 50 seconds, this is normal. When
calibration is finished, the antenna will go to the last frequency you were on before you start-
ed the calibration process. The entire process takes less than a minute.

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To calibrate the antenna, press the BAND up or down button until “YES” is flashing, and then
press the select button. The screen will now say “Calibrate” with the second line saying
“Calibrating”. Notice that the TUNING red light will be flashing the entire time the antenna is
calibrating. When the controller is done calibrating the antenna, the LCD screen will then dis
play the last antenna segment the controller was on before the calibration. When the red
TUNING light quits flashing, the controller leaves the calibrate mode and returns to the mode
previously set to.
CREATE, MODIFY
The factory default antennas that are programmed into your controller have been modeled
and field tested to provide very good gain, without sacrificing the front to rear performance.
The create, modify menu allows you to change the length of any of the SteppIR elements for
each master antenna segment. You can use this feature to try out your own antenna
designs, or to “tune out” potential objects that are causing interaction or SWR problems with
your antenna.
The driven element can be changed up to +/- 5% in length to obtain a better match with no
appreciable change in gain or front to back performance, so it is always best to just tune the
driven element to correct SWR problems. This feature is especially good for those of you
who experiment with modeling programs such as EZ-NEC or YO PRO.
When you have finished changing the respective lengths, you can save the new antenna to
memory, overriding the factory default antenna for any given ham band or frequency range. If
at any point you want to restore the factory default antennas, you can do so by going to the
“Factory Default” menu in setup which allows you to easily restore either a single ham band
or specific frequency range, or all of them at the same time if desired.
Computer modeling has dramatically simplified antenna design. With this technology (many
modeling programs are available on the internet) the average ham can create his/her own
antennas and have a very accurate idea as to what kind of performance to expect before the
antenna is built.
While the availability of antenna modeling software has been a giant leap forward in antenna
design to fully exploit it you need to be able to modify the elements length with the antenna
mounted in its operational position. We are able to change the elements length in the air
while on an antenna range and determine very closely our electrical element length. Others
must just estimate it, thus leading to less than optimum performance. With the SteppIR
adjustable antenna, we have advanced antenna design technology one step further - now you
can model and build as many different antennas you want, without ever leaving your ham
shack!
Remember, however, modeling programs output the electrical length of the element - not the
physical length. Our controller indicates the physical length, the electrical length is from 2% -
3.5% longer due to the conductor diameter (our strip is equal to .28 in. diameter tube) mount-
ing hardware and dielectric loading due to the telescoping fiberglass poles. We have this
data accounted for and programmed into the factory default antennas.

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The 4 element antennas have two directors, Director 1 and Director 2. See the installation
manual to determine the location of each on the antenna. The 2 element and 3 element
antennas will also display Direct 2 even though they have only one director (Direct 1). Make
sure you select the correct one. We did this to make our software compatible across our
entire product line. D1 = Director 1
D2 = Director 2
DVR = Driven
REF = Reflector
To scroll across through the different elements use the BAND up or down button. Hit the
select button once the desired element is flashing. This will allow for adjustment for each
individual element. Use the BAND up and down arrow to change the lengths of the element.
Note that the TUNING light will flash as you move the element. When you are finished mak-
ing all adjustments, press the up or down arrow until DONE is flashing again, and press the
select button. The screen will read “SAVE? YES NO, with NO flashing. Use the up or down
button to make the proper choice (“YES” or “NO”) and press the select button. If you select-
ed “YES”, the new lengths will be saved into memory for the ham band or frequency range
you are currently on. After saving your new antenna the controller will scale it and use it
throughout the entire ham band or frequency range you created it in. If you create a new
antenna or modify the factory default antenna in any of the range segments the controller will
then scale that antenna throughout the selected frequency range and only the selected
range. Creating and modifying an antenna anywhere (it is best to chose a frequency near the
bottom of the range) in a frequency range will change the entire range.
You can create the antenna at any frequency within the ham band or general frequency seg-
ment. For the very best results model the new antenna in the middle of the band or frequency
segment and set the controller to that frequency before creating the antenna. The frequency
coverage range of each of our antennas is broken up into numerous blocks for each direction
(NORM, 180 degrees, and BI (3/4)), each covered by a different antenna model (Figure 1).
Using the create antenna mode you can modify and save any of the master antennas (Figure
1 & 2). The frequency range is identical for the all three direction modes of the antenna
(NORM, 180 degrees, and BI (3/4)). If you select “NO”, no changes will be made, your
antenna segment will be just as it was before.
6.95 - 7.85 20.80 - 24.85
7.85 - 8.85 24.60 - 27.50
8.85 - 10.0 27.50 - 29.00
10.0 - 11.3 29.00 - 34.50
11.3 - 12.5 34.50 - 41.00
12.5 - 13.95 41.00 - 49.50
13.05 - 15.8 49.50 - 51.00
15.8 - 18.05 51.00 - 54.00
17.85 - 20.80
Yagi Master Antenna Frequency Range (MHz)
Figure 1

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TRANCEIVER SETUP
This menu item is used if you have purchased the optional transceiver interface. To use the
transceiver interface, you need to have a rig that has computer interfacing capability. Rigs
with these options were primarily manufactured from 1990 on. When enabled, the transceiver
interface on the SteppIR controller will “listen” to your rig through its computer port, and will
automatically re-adjust every 50 KHz as you tune through the bands.
If you have the transceiver interface option (2 - 9 Pin connectors on the rear of the controller),
you will also need an optional interface cable for your specific rig, which has a 9 pin d-sub
connector on one end that hooks up to the “Data In” port on the back of the controller. The
other end will go to your rigs interface. There is a second 9 pin D-sub connector below the
first called “data out”, this connector is used in the event you stack two SteppIR Yagi anten-
nas, it allows the two controllers to communicate to each other, so that when any change in
frequency on one of the controllers, the other will follow. It also allows the user to connect
the SteppIR directly to a PC.
NOTE:
We can also supply an optional “Y” cable that allows the user to run a logging program con
currently with the SteppIR controller. (Not required for ICOM radios)
Select the SETUP button, and use the BAND up or down arrow to select “Tranceiver Setup”.
To enter, press the SELECT button. The screen should be as shown below.
The baud rate is the speed in which information is exchanged between the SteppIR controller
and your radio. This setting must be the same as the setting in your radio, or the interface
will not function. To set the baud rate, press the BAND up or down arrow until “Din” (Input)
or “Dout (output)” is flashing, and then press the select button. Depending on the purpose
you can change both input or output to different Baud rates. You can then use the BAND up
or down arrows to adjust to the proper setting. If you are not sure what this setting is, refer to
the users manual for your radio. When the proper baud rate is showing, press the select but-
ton. BAUD will now be flashing again.
Din Dout Mode Done
Up Dn to SCROLL
3.4 - 3.5 17.9 - 20.9
3.5 - 3.6 20.9 - 24.9
3.6 - 3.75 26.9 - 27.9
3.75 - 5.2 27.9 - 34.9
5.2 - 6.9 34.9 - 49.0
6.9 - 9.9 49.0 - 49.5
9.9 - 13.9 49.5 - 50.9
13.9 - 17.9 50.9 - 54.0
BigIR Master Antenna Frequency Range (MHz)
Figure 2