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Reviews For: Force 12 C31XR

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

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Review Summary For : Force 12 C31XR
Reviews: 18MSRP: 2969
Description:
3el on 20m, 4el on 15m, 7el on 10m; 14-el, 31' boom
Product is in production
More Info: http://force12inc.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00185
W1GRM Rating: 2008-01-24
Great Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The Force 12 C31XR Has been up for almost a year. It's still as exciting as the first day I installed it. It has performed better than any other beam I have ever had. It has withstood high wind and ice without a problem. Keep up the good work Force 12.
W4SK Rating: 2006-09-23
Bad Boy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had mine up for more than three years now, without any mechanical issues. Superior performer on 10 and 15 meters. Good bandwidth all three bands. I would buy again.
K9RX Rating: 2005-11-11
Construction details... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I plan on putting 3 of these up on a rotating tower system... at 41, 81, 121'. The construction is first rate - the boom is heavy duty and the elements well designed mechanically. Most dimensions are close (seems on the first antenna assembled almost all were off by ~ 1/8" too long per joint... go figure). Took 2 hours to assemble the boom and all the elements. Testing in about a week... will update at that time. Also will review a new Sigma 180Magnum 80/75 dipole and a 240N 2EL40 - both bought new. [These C31's were bought used, one 4 years old and used the other two 4 years old but still new in the box. The above one, first to be assembled, was one of the new ones.]
[I have had experience with Hygain, Telrex, M2, KLM antennas so am aware of how others build antennas.]
K6RB Rating: 2001-12-18
I'm impressed Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This C31-XR replaced my KT-34XA, which I had up, problem-free, for 17 years! It was both faster and easier to build than the 34XA, and it looks like it will last at least as long.

I work all its bands, end-to-end, without a tuner, and the SWR never exceeds 1.3 to 1. In this most recent ARRL 10 Meter contest I broke one million points in 20 hours of operation and got several unsolicited "great signal" comments.

So far I've used it in the California QSO Party, both Sweepstakes contests, and the ARRL 10, and it compares favorably to its predecessor. It also seems to be less stressed by wind compared with the 34XA.
W6IZT Rating: 2001-09-14
One fine antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased and erected a Force 12 C31xr and I would like to share my experiences.

The antenna arrived in two UPS shippable boxes. Force 12 uses several unique contruction methods. First the entire antenna is pre-assembled at the facory, dis-assembled and packaged.

Each of the element consists of several lengths of telescoping tubing and these sections are individually packed for easy identification and assembly. The elements are assembled using pop rivets. Each joint has three rivets. (be sure to insert all 3 rivets before "popping") It is very difficult to make an error.

The element to boom brackets are pre-attached to the boom enabling quick asssembly and perfect alignment. Assembly went without a hitch using a pop-rivet gun. Total time was about 4 hours.

The boom to mast bracket employs two plates, one attached to the boom, the other to the mast. The mast braket has a 3/8 bolt protruding from it for easy attacthment of the antenna to the mast. There are no u-bolts to mess with while on the tower. Total time to attach the antenna to the tower was 15 mins!

I have assembled several KT34XA's and this was much simpler, and a far superior mechanical design.

Performance is excellent. All SWR curves meet or exceed specs. The pattern is extremely clean with no noticable side lobes and great F/B.

73 and see you in the pile-ups'

Gregg
W6IZT
Blairsville GA.
N5WNG Rating: 2001-06-30
I would by another one Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the C31XR Heavy after an ice storm brought down my quad. Assembly was easy, everything pre-drilled. Unit has now been up about 4 months and I have worked everything I can hear. I have been asked several times if I was running an amplifier - I am not. Front to back is fantastic. I have had the typical SWR experiences noted, SWR on 10 is < 1.3:1 28.000-28.600, 15 - 21.000 1.1:1 rises to 2.6:1 @21.500. Single coaxs feed. I have moved the wires together for the 15mtr drive and that helped, producing the SWR noted above. 20 Mtr 1.6@14.000 drops to 1.2:1@14.500. I need to do some more experimenting with the SWR, but FT1000 MP auto tuner does fine as is. Tower is a Tyrlon 72 foot selfsupport. Ant has already been subjected to ~70 mph winds and no problems. The wife is also a ham, but very impatient - she has worked 24 new countries (total now 276)since putting it up - her total on air time probably less than 15 minutes. In short I have been most impressed with this antenna and would by another one. Previous antennas included a TH5 and a 2 ele quad.
K2WE Rating: 2000-01-01
C-31XR Deserves a 10 Star Rating!! Time Owned: unknown months.
I've now had my C-31XR in the air for 2 months. It has out preformed any other antenna ever installed at this QTH. (I've had a Classic 33,Classic 36,KT-34 later a 34A, various monobanders from HY-Gain,Telrex,and Mosley). This is a serious antenna. The assembly took 5 hours. I installed it myself on a 70' tower. The front to back and front to side are just amazing. The SWR goes no higher than 1.3 on any of the 3 bands. Although it only has 3 active elements on 20 meters, it out preforms the 4 element long boom monobander I had! The 7 elements on 10 just slice thru the qrm like a razor. I've never had to call more than twice to work anything. The instructions are excellent, there assistance can't be beat. Only the finest quality materials are used. If you had to have 1 antenna, this is it. Hands down.
K2UOP Rating: 1999-09-14
Super construction, performance, and service Time Owned: unknown months.
First time I put a beam together with rivots, but
it was a breeze. Everything is bundled by element
and parts, so its impossible to make an error. The element to boom mounts are already in place
and rivoted, so the elements can not rotate on the
boom. I put the elements together in my basement,
attached the boom to the mast on a Hazer about 7
ft above the gnd. The boom to mast mount is unique and a breeze to install. Then I started attaching elements. Upon completion, I attached coax, raised the antenna, and it worked right off. SWR was within specs on 20 and 10M, but the resonant point was low in the band on 15, so the SWR was high at the high end of the band. A call to Force advised to shove the end piece for the 15M driven element in two inches. Now it is within spec on all bands. Did a comparison between my other tribander (at same ht.) and the C31XR with my first DX contact and he said it was a "keeper". Further testing shows a 10 -18 db improvment over my other tribander, depending on the band. By the way the C31XR has 3 el widespaced(WS)on 20, 4 el WS on 15, and 7 el on 10meters. It is a joy to use, especially with all
the glowing reports I receive.