Alan,
the article in RADCOM (UK) described the moveable radiator as a loop of
material half of which contained a copper strip and the loop of material was
driven by a motor such that the copper length was resonant.
Now a stepper motor is still an electrical motor which turns the shaft in a
series of steps which is nothing unusual.
The use of a microprocessor to run a stepper motor is also normal as well as
a comparitor system to control the length of the radiators to maintain
resonance. There is also prior use of where the motors are enclosed and also
controlled remotely.
Roy makes the point that the design in its entirety was the main claim which
appears to be in the design patent bracket. Thus it would appear that the
patent design in its entirety is protected which to my mind makes it one of
the most weakest things to claim court protection but that is just my
opinion. For amateurs who make their own antennas a patent does not really
have any powers unless manufacture is a business.
It seems these days that those who move fast and take the cream and then
quickly fade away can easily beat any justice system that reqiures a lot of
cash and a strong push to get it moving on ones behalf. It is like the'
pursuit of happiness' statement which gives one only the right to pursue but
not to attain happiness"
ART
Minnie Bannister" wrote in message
...
The links to the patent application for the SteppIR are in the original
post that started this thread. *Perhaps* what was new was the
microprocessor control unit that can sit between the rig and the antenna
and readjust the antenna as the rig is tuned. But since I haven't seen
the RadCom one to which you refer, I don't *know* what is new in the
SteppIR.

Alan NV8A


On 08/23/04 09:26 pm put fingers to keyboard and
launched the following message into cyberspace:

There are other remote control antennas that have been patented. In fact
there is a patent already in the mix that uses exactly the same method
as
the STEPPER that was printed in RADCOM several years ago.What exactly
did
the new patent claim?

www.steppir.com