| N1DZ |
Rating:  |
2021-12-28 | |
| Great low profile HF beam |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Update:
After more then 10 years on my roof, the Force 12 C3SS is still going strong. This is an exceptionally strong antenna. Both electrically as well as mechanically. During the past 10 years the Force 12 line has been acquired by JK antennas. They improved on the mechanical/electrical design and the C3S is still being produced but unfortunately not as the SS with the shortened 20M elements. I feel it would be fantastic if JK antennas came out with an SS design. I might consider upgrading. Otherwise this antenna will stay on my roof for my remaining ham life. Hopefully another couple of sun cycles. :)
+++++++++++++++++++++
Replaced a Cushcraft MA5B with this antenna. The antenna is placed about 10 feet above the roof of my house. Total height is about 40 feet above ground. The C3SS covers the full 20, 15 and 10 m bands and DX signals seems to be significantly stronger on this antenna than on my MA5B. (Comparing MA5B vs. dipole and C3SS vs. dipole. Not a real scientific test.)
It also performs well with a tuner on 17 and 12m. Anything I can hear I can work now. Surprisingly it works also on 6m. No real gain on this band and any true 6m antenna will perform much better.
Mechanically the C3SS is very well constructed and it hold up very well during the last New England snowy/icy winter. However the linear loading wires could be constructed more elegantly. Their construction is very simple but they kind of warp up or down as the holes for the standoffs are not evenly drilled. Electrically or mechanically this is not an issue but it just does not look that nice. For the price I was expecting more. For example M2 antennas are mechanically nicer designed.
The C3SS has a very small visual profile which works really well in my neighborhood. Its profile blends away against the trees. The antenna is very easy to install due to its light weight. Unfortunately the price for this antenna is high and it is hard to understand why this antenna is costing now over $1000.00. Despite its high price I can recommend this antenna to anyone who is looking for a small low profile HF beam that will last many years.
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| KN7AT |
Rating: |
2016-08-11 | |
| Lots of fun with this limited space beam |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I had this antennas for five+ years on a small lot in Costa Mesa California (KK6ZV). My station consisted of a FT-1000 MP and an FL7000 600 watt solid state amp. Since the SWR on all bands was flat, no tuner was required. The antenna was on a 55 ft crank up tower. This C3CSS exceeded my expectations and brought lots of fun into my shack. This is an example of the fun:
In the 2000 CQ WPX, I had a guest ham staying at our house, Marcus, OE2MBN, from Austria. We took turns operating the DX, mostly chasing other station, with great success. The bands were wide open and Europe was pounding in on 10 Meters. Marcus called "CQ Contest" in his native tongue and before you could blink an eye, we had a pile-up going from Germany and Austria. Contacts were posted on DX Spotting Clusters and other German speaking hams from throughout Europe joined the fun. We had such a pile-up that we had to work split (easy with the FT-1000MP). This lasted for a few hours and the time flew as we logged one contact after another. Well over 200 QSL cards were received from European stations worked during this time.
If that's the kind of fun you want to have, then look for one of these used. You won't be disappointed. Force 12 was a great organization to deal with, too: Quality product and quality service. |
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| K6ELE |
Rating: |
2014-12-01 | |
| Update after 15 years use |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought this beam in 2000 when I upgraded my license. Now, 15 years later it is still working great. I have DXCC mixed with 165 countries on SSB and RTTY with this beam.
It is mounted on a 12 ft mast on the roof of my house, or about 30 ft above the ground. The rotator is a Yeasu G450A that also has been flawless. I took it down in 2012 when my house was reroofed.
The hardware, element spacers,etc are still in good shape. I replaced my coax feed line and put it back up.
It's 8 ft. boom and 21ft longest element and no traps, give it a minimal profile on my city lot. |
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| W9DJ |
Rating: |
2014-02-10 | |
| 15 Years and Still Going |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I reviewed this antenna back in about 2003 when it had been up about 4 years. I've had it at 40 feet on a house bracketed Rohn 25 tower since the summer of 1999. The rotor is a Yaesu G800, and I've done no maintenance (I hope Murphy is not listening) on any of the system. It's a great performer for its size on 20, 15, and 10, though it has not much gain and is poorly matched requiring a tuner on 12 and 17. It has survived many icing events and lots of high winds. When it gets a lot of ice on it the elements sag and the SWR goes through the roof, but when it thaws things go back to normal.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W9DJ on 2003-06-16
I have had my C3SS up for 4 years with no problems, and great performance, especially on 20 meters. It's not so great on 17 and 12, where it is basically a poorly matched dipole, but it's quite hot on the other bands. I have found that even at low height (40 feet), and running 500 watts or so I can usually bust a pileup with a few calls. It doesn't have huge gain and F/B, but for the size its really does perform. Assembly and erection were easy, and I have no complaints. Probably I would like a great big beam or quad better, but for the size I can't imagine it being better. It has survived numerous ice storms, microbursts, and general midwestern weather. An unexpected bonus is that it loads and works (sort of - not great) on 6 meters. I have made several 1000 mile 6 meter SSB contacts with it. |
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| G0JKZ |
Rating: |
2011-10-10 | |
| Great Antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Ok, my review.
Had this for about 3 months. Bought it second hand from a guy who bought it secondhand from another guy who bought it secondhand... This bit of metal has had a few owners!
So, I brought it home in 7 peices on the roof of my car. All I did when I got it home was to attach the elements to the boom, fit the coax and put it on the tower.
It works well, consistently giving better results than my doublet, my 10m vertical and my previous beam, a TET. Generally it seems incredibly sturdy, and it survived the journey on the roof of my carat nearly triple figure speeds (honest officer, it was only 70mph..)
About 2 months in I had a problem, the vswr on all bands went up through the roof and I looked out of the window to the top of the tower. There was a bright orange glow in the darkness right at the feedpoint. I shut down for the night and brought the tower down in the morning. The supplied balun had actually caught fire inside and had completely melted internally. I read through the manual and it stes that it can be fed directly with coax and a choke instead of the ready built w2du balun... so thats what I did. Everything back to normal and performance is back up to where it was, with even a slight improvement.
To sum it up, buy one... Here in the UK the price is triple what other antennae cost so if you can get one used then do it. The build quality of the boom and elements is first class and you won't have any problems with a used one... as long as you check the balun out thoroughly or just feed it directly. |
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| KG2V |
Rating: |
2011-05-17 | |
| Seems well made |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
OK, How well can most of use really review an antenna? We don't have the proper testing ranges
That said, it went together easily, but the manual DOES require reading a couple of times.
Signal wise, it blows away the low wires I used to have, but that is to be expected
Comparing the construction to a MA-33Jr (which is a TA-33Jr with full power traps), that I recently took down for another ham, the C3SS mechanically blows the TA-33 away |
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| M0CEL |
Rating: |
2011-03-01 | |
| Disssapointed in components used |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had the antenna up since 2003 and for the most part it's been ok. I recently discovered that the swr was extremely high and lowered the antenna for, what I thought, would be routine maintenance and cleaning. In the process of cleaning some of the corroded connections I discovered that nearly all of the loading stand-offs were cracked and therefore unusable. None of the bolts were overtightened (I've been a licenced aircraft engineer in the pastk and know how to torgue a bolt properly). I am disappointed because I feel that inferior inadequate parts were used in critical parts of the antenna and I've decided to replace it.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by M0CEL on 2003-01-07
I've recently had to take down a Mosely Pro57B because the city planners felt the antenna was too large. I won't go into details, but I was faced with a 12 foot boom limitation. I decided to go with the Force 12 C3SS based on size and reports from other hams.
The Force 12 was well put together, but certainly not in the same league as the Mosely. For example, the element to boom attachment fittings are cast metal on the Mosely and bent metal on the Force 12. On the plus side, there are no traps. The whole antenna is of a lighter gauge and hopefully will stand up for the long haul, only time will tell.
All the parts were present and accounted for. I liked the idea that the antenna was pre assembled at the factory by one individual and then disassembled and shipped. By the way, Charlie, if you read this, thanks, you did a nice job.
I also liked the idea of extensive use of rivets throughout. I installed the Force 12 balun, which was recommended and it works well in flattening the swr on all bands that it was designed for.
I've now had the antenna up for about a week and have made several respectable contacts. I don't have enough much experience with it yet to make any final conclusions, but initial results and impressions have been very favourable.
This is a very nice "light" antenna and as far as I can tell does not compromise on performance. |
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| GW0HUS |
Rating: |
2010-05-18 | |
| darn good antenna works well in windy locations |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had my C3SS for some 12 years now, I have not had any problems except with the stand-off nuts and bolts on the 20 meter elements failing after 9 years ,(steel bolts in aluminium stand-offs ..) I sourced some s/steel replacements from A local engineering shop for less than £4 reassembled the beam no more trouble .works great on 20 15 and ten meters great on 12 meters ok on 17 meters but joy of joy last Saturday put the 60ft (crank up tilt over )tower back up after its 2 weeks maintenance holiday ran the antenna analyser over the antennas, had it set on the wrong setting ! swept across 6 meters wow flat as a pancake another free band don't need another beam ... GREAT
this morning had a 3 hour opening on 6 meters all over europe from F6 to IZ1 to EA6 9A3 5-9 to 5-9+++
QTH is very exposed Just a few feet under 1000 ft ASL and clear take off 360 deg (the wind goes through you rather than round you ..) if antenna continues to perform I will by a new one in 2040 if I need to or not !!
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| K2DC |
Rating: |
2010-05-12 | |
| A 5 All the Way! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had my C3SS for nearly 12 years now, and still no complaints. I bought a 40' medium duty crank-up tower before I had an antenna. When I went to look for an antenna I knew that the tower wouldn't take a lot of wind load. So I looked at all of the mid-sized tribanders without regard to price. My selection criteria was the maximum ratio of forward gain to wind load. The C3SS won hands down, so I bought it and put it up.
The manual could be improved, but it's not all that bad. I spent 1 1/2 hours the first night studying the manual and putting the first element together. Then the next night I finished tha antenna in a bit over an hour.
The difference between the C3SS and the wires and GAP vertical I'd had was like a whole new world, just unbelievable. Just 5 weeks after I put it up we had a storm line pass through with 110 mph winds. The C3SS was the only functioning antenna I had left when the storm was over, and it's still up today.
I've since moved to a new QTH and put it on a 60' tower with a Hazer. It still performs extremely well. I can now support almost three times the wind load, but I just can't justify replacing the C3SS. About two years ago the B-1 Balun failed open, so I just took it out. The center of match changed a little on 20M, but it works just fine. No change on 15M or 10M.
I can't dispute the comment in an earlier post that the advertized performance on 17M and 12M may be a little overstated. I also think the advertized front-to-back may be overstated, but I don't care. I typically turn through 120 degrees from WNW to ENE and work everything.
About a year and a half after putting up the C3SS I started chasing paper for the first time. I now have Honor Roll in less than 9 years, with nearly all the new ones on this antenna. That's performance that's hard to argue with.
A friend of mine recently performed comparison testing against a Cushcraft A-3, both on the same tower at the same location under the same conditions. His evaluation is that the C3SS is the winner in everything but front-to-back ratio.
Yes, it's pricey. I bought mine for about $550 in 1998. It's currently about $1050. But spread that cost over 12 years with the chance for Honor Roll on your wall and see what you think.
73,
Don, K2DC
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| MM0DVZ |
Rating: |
2009-11-08 | |
| Very happy! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Hi, I've had this antenna for about 1 year and i must say i'm very happy. The performance is very good, although i must say i did replace the balun with a home made coax balun which did improve the performance a lot. Its a light, well made antenna and has been up in some of the Highlands worst weather without a problem. Works very well on 10m,15m and 20m but does do well on 17m for me, i've worked everything i've heard! I have had some other good beams including the KLM KT34a which was good but i would say i like Force 12 and it'll be here for a while. One other thing is the support from Force 12 is great!!!. |
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