|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Force 12 C-4XLD.
|
N5GOD
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Dec 7, 2010 08:02
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Well made but needs some tweaks
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I am still in the getting it together to put on the tower right now. I like the antenna but hopefully the new owners would have to make some changes for me to give it a 5.
1st of all the instructions and illustrations fall short especially the illustrations of the 40M elements.
2nd while the antenna was preassembled the 40M conversion kit was not assembled with the C3 and I ran into some problems. I have been a machinist for over 25 years and when the boom of the C3 would not go into the sleeve on the 40M kit I pulled out my mic's and found the boom on the C3 was .040 larger than the coupling sleeve. I tried honing out the sleeve but in the in I made a split where the rivets were supposed to go to get these two booms together. Then the bolts went through the sleeve and the re enforcing tube in the boom and all is tight.
3rd the mast pipe mounting plate is almost laughable. It is about the most rinky dink plate I have ever seen. Very thin so thin I did not even bother to measure it because I knew that was not going on my tower on an antenna with a 30ft boom and elements up to 37ft long, with only 2 clamps holding the boom and 2 clamps bolting the antenna to the mast pipe, no way. I made mounting plate out of a piece of 1/2" plate aluminum I had laying around then used a boom clamp from a Hygain TH11DX and drilled all the holes through the 1/2" plate to mount the boom clamp to it. I used all 4 of the Heavy Duty clamps that came with the antenna going through the 1/2" plate to the mast pipe. So now instead of 2 clamps on the mast and 2 clamps on the boom. I have 4 clamps on the mast pipe and a boom clamp 9" long and will have 3 bolts going through the clamp, boom and the 1/2" plate to hold the antenna to the mast pipe.
While the over all construction of the antenna is very good I like the rivets and easy to put together the C3 part no measuring just line up the holes and pop a rivet is great no hose clamps. I do believe the antenna to be very good but I also believe that some parts of it lacks to be desired. If these things can be corrected I would have given it a 5/5.
|
|
K6YE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 22, 2005 08:05
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
AWESOME YAGI
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I acquired mine in order to combine both 40 and 20 through 10 meters on a single boom. I had been using KLM KT34A and KLM 40M2 yagis. At first glance, the C4XLD did not look as robust as KLM (2" FORCE12 versus 3" KLM boom). I thought that maybe I had made a big mistake. I added the optional relay box for 40 meters for full CW and SSB coverage. With the help of two hams, we built and hoisted this beast on a HG-54HD crank-up tower. Frank Green, KA4CNF, was key in getting rid of all the kinks we encountered (Yup, Murphy was alive and well). At 50 feet, and running barefoot with a YAESU FT-1000D, it was flat from edge to edge on all bands. The F/B seems to be really good although I did not make any measurements. The 40 meter relay box is a great addition and does its stuff well.
The winds here in Colorado can be brutal but so far the yagi has withstood some really bad gusts. I hope as time passes that I can continue to make this claim.
While I looked at other yagis, the only other one I gave serious considereation was the FLUIDMOTION MONSTIR. However my existing tower would not have supported it (not to mention the flak my XYL, also a ham, exuded regarding the $4K yagi price tag plus the cost of a new tower). For the money and smaller footprint, the C4XLD fills the bill. If you are looking for a great antenna, do consider this one. If you can find one at reasonable price, grab it quickly. You will not be disappointed as it is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
TOMMY - K6YE
DX IS
|
|
N6PSN
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 6, 2002 18:24
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Very good antenna
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
The antenna sits at 75' and works great.1st qth I had it at 40' and it did good.No problems with antenna its 3 years old & been up here 1 year.
|
|
KC9UMR
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Oct 25, 2002 22:07
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
works good.... when its in one piece
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Ours (I say ours, this is for a club station)(the 100 MPH version) has been in the air for about 5 years. When it was purchased, we paid for the 100MPH version, but found no way to tell if we actually got it, or got the 80 MPH version. Recently, it was noticed that the SWR was quite high on 20Meters. Upon inspection, it was found that the 20 Meter reflector was laying 50 feet below the antenna on the roof of the building. The Mast to boom rivets were the ones installed AT THE FACTORY, to my knowledge, and all of these RIVETS sheared off. I think using some form of bolt and lockwasher would have been MUCH better than RIVETS. If the antenna stays in one piece, it's great. Now we have to spend between 3 and 600 dollars to get a tower climber. School Rules.
|
|
K1VV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 17, 2000 11:08
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
C-4XLD, easy construction, great manual and suppor
|
Time owned: unknown months
|
After getting beat out by Force 12 antennas in the last few contests .. we had an 11 year old Mosley PRO67A .. we finally bought a Force 12 ...
We just completed our Force 12 C-4XLD.. 100 mph model ...weighs about 95 lbs ... on a 68 ft Rohn foldover... all the telescoping elements are riveted ..all the elements pieces are clearly marked .. for easy construction ... no tip pieces falling off due to screws falling out ... the mounting brackets on the boom are pre-riveted in place by the manufacturer .. boom is 30 feet long ...boom matching sections all pre-drilled and all the holes lined up ..all the elements are perfectly horizonal.. cannot twist out of position... the manual is complete and concise.. good illustrations ...and above all... NO missing parts. SWR on all bands is as specified or better.
We have only just put it up .. so it will take the next contest or two to see how we do ..now we expect to be on a competitive level with the other local Force 12s ...
73 Whitey K1VV
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
