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Reviews For: Force 12 C3

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : Force 12 C3
Reviews: 29MSRP: 1199
Description:
multi-monoband Yagi type HF antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://force12inc.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00294.8
N5SM Rating: 2009-03-21
Best hf antenna ever! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about
the Force Twelve C3 tribander HF antenna.
I have had it on top of a 50 foot Rohn 45 tower for 11 years without taking it down, and it still works as good as the day I put it up, and that is perfect! I have worked the world with
my 10 watt K2 and this antenna.
I live on the high plains of west Texas where we have lots of wind. Forty to fifty mph is normal.
I've seen so much ice on the elements that the
ends seem to point straight down, but they always rebound when the ice is gone.
The price seems a little high on this antenna, but it will outlast the other brands three to one!
You can't go wrong with this one.
Scott N5SM
KT4OO Rating: 2007-12-23
Excelent Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned the Force 12 C3 Beam sinced 1997, 10 years. When I assembled it and put it up, the standing wave ratio was less than 1.2/1 ratio on the phone bands. It today still holds that ratio.The beam is on a 40 ft. tower. I have gotten my W.A.S. and talk to over 150 countries. I have had great signal reports for the whole period I have owned the beam. The wear on the beam is still sturdy and durable. It has been through wind and ice storms. It has been 100% maintenance free. Well worth the money for a life time of performance. John kt4oo
K2VI Rating: 2007-10-24
One problem Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For what they ask for this antenna you would think the driven element insulator would last more than 5 years,The rivets elongate the radials.When that happens you have to devise a way to either bolt or hose clamp them back.Be pepared to take it down for part replacement especially if you live in a high wind area.This is an expensive antenna and should last longer.That's the bad part.The good part is it does radiate a very good signal with excellent foward gain.A little advice for the guys at force 12.Please engineer the construction better and you have one of the best on the market.
N1TX Rating: 2007-03-19
Works for me! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
In all, nearly 3600 QSOs with all continents, 68 countries, all 50 states and DC in five months have gone into my observations about The C3 antenna. That’s more than twice the QSO count I made in the eight years before installing the C3. In short, that antenna rocks! I can't wait to get a second one up this summer.

Mine is installed at the 55-foot level on a 140-foot Rohn 55/45 tower fix-pointed to the Lower 48. I intended it to be used primarily for Sweepstakes, ARRL DX, and Field Day. I can work Asia off the back of the beam, and it shows the benefit of a modest F-B ratio. The next one, already purchased, will go at the 85-foot level pointed towards Europe, due north. South Pacific should be do-able off the back of the beam.
K4XZ Rating: 2006-10-26
Great Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my C3S/HH up for 3 years.No problems.It really plays on 20 meters at only 35'.The HH is for 140MPH wind load.Went thru Hurricane Wilma last year.Held up to 111 MPH sustained winds with no problems.I watched this antenna rock & roll in that storm,But its still up there and works fine.I'm looking at there new 40 meter 2 element Delta 240 to go on top of the C3S.Great consruction all went together as planned.Force 12 gets some bad press sometimes,but not here.I can always get Tom on the land-line or even calls me back.Buy one you won't be disappointed.See you on 20 meters!

Joe K4XZ
K0WA Rating: 2006-10-26
Greatly Impressed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just installed a C3E/D model on my 60 foot tower taking down my venerable TH6DXX. I've been researching antennas for more than two years to find the one that was best. Weighing price and performance, I looked at SteppIR, Force-12, Opti-Beam, and Hex-Beam. I opted for the Force-12 C3E/D (100 MPH) because of price versus performance. Also, simplicity. I like the idea of no traps...and since it is getting harder and harder for me to do tower work...I did not want moving parts in the antenna. Price came into play and also how the antenna would look. I took on the Force-12 C3E/D and am pleased with the product. I understand the design and philosophy behind the antenna, but I would like to say I was impressed with the construction. Well designed construction, holes were perfect and not binding, the antenna went together without any problems, and it seems to be made very tough. All pieces were marked or engraved. On the air, the beam seems to be "brighter" than my 35+ year old TH6DXX which I rebuilt with stainless steel bolts and nuts about 6 years ago. The tuning of the antenna is ... well ... good. In fact, I am really suprised how well it is matched on 20-15-10 meters. The bandwidth is excellent (I prefer CW but use SSB - and I like contesting in both modes) and gives me a good SWR curve across the bands. The match is acceptable from high to low without a tuner. I had no trouble working DX or stateside with the antenna, so far. Again, I've had little time to give it a go on the air, but I wanted to feedback about the constuction of the antenna. Thanks for reading.
AE4EN Rating: 2006-08-09
A Tough Antenna That's Gonna Get Tougher Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased a Force 12 C3 in the fall of 1996 after Hurricane Fran destroyed the trap tri-bander I had. The first thing I noticed was its easy of construction. It took roughly 4 hours to assemble. Next was its light weight. After that was the performance it had over the trap tri-banders that I had owned. It was definatly much better. But alas, I had to pull it down this Summer (2006) because the rivits failed on the boom to element mounts for 20 meters and the center sleeve to element rivits failed on most all elements. I live right off the water in Wilmington, NC. We've seen over 12 hurricanes and tropical storms since my C3 was installed. Remember that the C3 has an 80 MPH wind survival. Not one triband antenna that I've owned has been able to stand the elements here for so long. I never expected it to last as long as it did. This is why I rate it a "5". Right now, I am rebuilding it with welded elements, stainless 1/4 x 20 bolts (replacing rivits on the boom), stainless U-bolts, new PVC insulators and a 40 meter kit. I wasn't going to replace the PVC insulators but the manual states that they have a 5 year life span. If I can, I'll report back in 5 years from now on how good this antenna still is. 73 and gud dx!
K9YP Rating: 2005-09-28
happy C3 owner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Assembly was easy to understand and the predrilled rivet holes were snug and precisely positioned. It would be difficult to misassemble it.

I gave it its first real workout on Scandinavian Contest day, running about 800w from Southern Illinois, I gave and received honest 59's from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland.

Finally, I feel like one of the big dogs. This is a good antenna.
K3VO Rating: 2005-08-11
8 years later Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Its now 8 years since I put up my C-3S. It has been thru ice storms, heavy winds etc and still works like the day I put it up. My Yeasu rotor had to be replaced but my beam has never had to be repaired. It has been hit by lighting once but the ground system worked well. No damage. I am a casusal DXer a yet have worked 275 countries with the C-3S.
Even with out my AMP on it breaks thru pile ups. Performance on 17 and 12 have been excellent except for the lack of F/B. Beats using a dipole.
Get one and you will be very satisfied. Great work Tom
K3VO
8P6SH Rating: 2004-10-12
Still great after modifications Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I decided to try my hand at modifying the C3E for three seperate feedlines on the 10, 15 and 20m bands.

After talking with Tom, I ordered the kit that turns the C3E into a C3E/A (I think). I soon received three centre sections complete with the split feed-point and all the necessary 10-38 hardware. Two additional baluns completed the order.

The assembly was easy. I had to drill out the rivets for the central 4ft section on the front 10m driver, and the 15m driver and after measuring up everything, re-drill new holes for the rivets to replact the centre with a split feed assembly. The rear 10m driver was actually removed.

It worked nicely the first time on 15 and 20, but the 10m section was resonating at 27.5 MHz. I eventually shortened the driver after chatting with Tom and taking the precaution of modelling the proposed changes.

This time, it resonated exactly where I wanted it.

The antenna mirrors the excellent performance I have come to expect from the original C3E.

Interestingly, by using the 20m feedpoint I can use the tuner to get on 17m and using the 15m feed, I can get on 12m with reasonable performance. I'd expected to totally lose this aspect of the antenna.

The feed points are a little close together, but with my dunestar filters, I can use any two of the three bands running under 1KW without any overload or intermod.

This is not a mdification for everyone, but for SO2R ops on a budget, this could be a great solution, especially if you could stack a pair of these.


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Earlier 5-star review posted by 8P6SH on 2003-11-17

I recently installed the C3E antenna from Force 12. I cleare it from customs on a Friday and that night, I started to assemble the elements in the garage. At first light the following day, I assembled the antenna. It's performance is excellent.

I've worked a couple contests with the antenna and it's a major improvement over previous trapped antennas. SWR is excellent as well, using factory-recommended settings.

Rivets really speed up construction of antennas and those easy-on mounts are a joy to use. The antenna is vey stable in its mount.

Looking forward to phasing a pair of these C3E's.