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Reviews For: Force 12 ZR-3 vertical

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Force 12 ZR-3 vertical
Reviews: 7MSRP: 389
Description:
Force 12 ZR-3
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.qth.com/force12/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.1
K3YD Rating: 2013-12-16
Could not assemble Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my ZR3, unassembled, about 13 years ago. I finally found a place to use it early this year, and tried to put it together.
1. This ZR3 required Allen screws for assembly, not the typical pop-rivets of F12 antennas, or even the nuts-and-bolts of some early models.
2. The antenna had large amounts of (labor intensive) aluminum welding--which is not typical of F12 antennas.
3.The package contained two sets of instructions--neither which seemed to apply to this antenna.
4. When I tried assembly, using the best "hints" which I could derive from the conflicting instructions and the best suggestions of several experienced antenna-builders, the horizontal support bars deformed by over 20 degrees and the resulting element shape was a stressed, irregular rhombus. How stressed? The tuning rods could not be adjusted!

I suspect that this antenna may be some sort of prototype. In any event, it has never radiated any RF and is not likely to. I'll probably sell it for aluminum scrap someday when I clean out the garage.
AA4A Rating: 2004-03-21
Amazing performer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I used a ZR-3 from late 2002 until mid-2003 and was amazed at its DX performance, which included a DXCC during the ARRL CW DX Contest in 2003, using 100 watts. My signal seemed consistently competitive in working DXpeditions and I even added a couple of countries to my DXCC total of 340.

I have since relocated an hope my new Sigma V and Sigma 40XK do as well!
N6BIZ Rating: 2001-11-05
V 3 vertical dipole Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i am astonished at the V3s performancc. working DX its not uncommon for me to get stronger reports than i give out and its not my 990! very low angle of radiation 17-19 degrees the antenna is quiet compared to other verticals i have used. yours might require tuning - trimming the elements to obtain a low low swr mine did. better to have more aluminum than less to deal with!needs to be on the ground to work to spec tom schiller is easy to work with too he is MR FORCE 12 when you get your V-3 just take a look at the pics and study them and lay every part out-then assembly will be a snap trust me also on 20 i can compete now remember no radials and ground mtg! thanks for putting back the fun at n6biz force 12 and cant wait for ur Sigma 80 40 combo73
VE6SH Rating: 2001-03-12
Excellent! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have several F12 antennas. This is a neat little vertical, very efficent and well constructed.

The manual needs some work. For example, the instructions left out a step(spreaders on the 20M square) and the photos were not clearly produced.

It performs very well, but is very sensitive to surrounding objects. It also needs to be ground mounted. Roof mounting or any elevated mounting plays havoc with the takoff angle. On long haul DX it has a clear advantage over a ground mounted R7000.
W2GO Rating: 2000-11-30
VR-3 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This the 4th antenna I've bought from Force12: two C4SXLs and one ZR-3 (not built yet).
I bought it after reading the verticals antenna booklet review by Steve K7LXC.
On the plus side,
-The main driver for buying it: my limited space, and that it does not need radials. Also, it blends niceley between the trees.
- The antenna includes a really nice 1:1 Balun and a NOALOX kit.

Need improvement:
- The instruction manual, more step by step drawings would be better, rather than the obscure B/W photos.
- Also, tips in how to adjust the loading wires would be appreciated.

One thing that you need to plan ahead is that the antenna should be feed at the middle point and keep the coaxial cable horizontal for some distance (I do not recall if the manual specifies a minimum distance) My coaxial is kept horizontal for about 27ft.

The performance on 20-15 and 10M is fine. I found the antenna to be somewhat sensitive to the surrrounding objetcs, (same thing happens for all verticals) I settled on having a flat SWR 2:1 on the whole band for 20M and 2:1 on the CW segment for 15M and 10M.

If you have limited space for laying radials, this the one to choose.
4Z1JJ Rating: 2000-02-26
Great compact antenna Time Owned: unknown months.
I own 2 ZR-3 antennas, and I had been running them as phased verticals. Excellent results - I broke through several pileups on all 3 bands. Unusual design - I heard some enterprising ham hid his from neigbours by camouflaging it as a picnic table with umbrella! Can be put just about anywhere, as it is compact and needs no radials (really!). Liked the product and customer service so much, I subsequently bought a Force C-3SS tribander.
JI1ANI Rating: 2000-01-04
Nice compact Vertical DP. Time Owned: unknown months.
I have been using a ZR-3 for a month and am fairly pleased with its performance. I also have home made Viertical,it is useing auto tunner(ICOM AH-4) .
Both anttena set up on my flat roof(15m x 30m).
My vertical always outperform the ZR-3 at over 1500km QSO. Especially,performance of long distance QSO(over 10,000km) is Excellent.
Sometimes I got better signal report from DX stn ,he was using Yagi Beam. I belive "a take-off angle of about 14 degrees above average ground".