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The most potent single tower antenna systems ever seen in Amateur Radio

Pushing the Boundaries

SteppIR Antennas was founded in May of 2001 by Mike Mertel K7IR, Jim Thomas K7IRF, and John Mertel WA7IR.  The company was formed when an idea Mike had began to develop – a Yagi antenna that would work on the Amateur Radio WARC bands. Early attempts led to many failures, and the project remained more of a hobby than a business venture. Mike, Jim, and John gave up on the antenna project several times, but eventually finalized the basic design that is used to this day with all SteppIR antennas.

history

 

The first SteppIR antennas were demonstrated at the 2001 Hamvention trade show in Dayton, Ohio – the largest convention of its kind in the world. The antenna garnered a significant amount of attention at Hamvention, where the company sold thirteen 3-element Yagi antennas. And from this day forward, the rest – as they say – is history.  

Since that first year, thousands of SteppIR antenna products have been sold worldwide and the product line has grown to include many different types of antennas (vertical, horizontal, portable), controllers and optimizers, accessories and more. We are thankful for each and every one of our customers. We believe that SteppIR owners are the best and most loyal customers on earth and we wake up every day reminding ourselves that we would not be where we are at without you.

In 2017, after taking a small break from the company to focus on the 3D printing industry, John returned to the company and acquired SteppIR from Mike. With the acquisition of SteppIR, Mike will stay involved in an advisory capacity helping with technical innovation and product design, and John will assume the leadership role of President, helping lead the company into its next phase of growth and expansion.