By chapter 5 of my recently-mentioned book on antenna modeling I had enough knowledge to modify an existing EZNEC model of my Yagi to include the additional 10m element I added to it shortly after installing the antenna.
Luckily for me the base Force 12 C3 has been modeled and that file is included in the software CD that comes with the ARRL Antenna Handbook. All I had to do was add the new 10m reflector that converts the C3 into a C3E and then compare the before & after to see what my trouble and $99 bought me.
The verdict: Continue reading 'Force 12′s C3 vs C3E: Performance trade-offs'»
As the year draws to a close and plans are made for 2013, I like to look back and see what 2012 offered.
Thanks to the efforts of many people from many different countries I was able to add 11 entities to my “Worked” list, bringing my total to 299. Number 300 will most likely be Clipperton Island in late February 2013 although there are rumors that a very rare one will be activated perhaps before then.
These are the New Ones added to the log in 2012:
- Malpelo – 289
- Congo – 290
- Wallis/Futuna – 291
- Spratly – 292
- Yemen – 293
- Malta – 294
- Afghanistan – 295
- Christmas Island – 296
- St. Peter & St. Paul – 297
- Auckland/Campbell – 298
- Monaco – 299
Misses: Swains Island (away on a biz trip) and Cambodia (can’t hear them).
After Malta, my tower and Yagi were installed but St. Peter & St. Paul were worked on 80 meters bringing my “dipole country” total to 295. Even though I now have a Yagi on 10-20 meters, I still have a goal of 300 countries with the dipole and will be chasing them not only on the low bands but also on 10-20 if I think I can get them there w/o the Yagi.
Band conditions were better on the high bands and noisier on the low bands in 2012 compared to previous years. Continue reading '2012 at AE5X; and looking ahead'»
My C3 became a C3E today – “E” for enhanced, with an additional element on 10 meters.
I ordered the 10m reflector from Force 12 last Thursday and it arrived on Monday. Assembly and installation took 40 minutes including the raising and lowering of the Yagi.
A trip to the hardware store was necessary as I had to buy two sizes of rivets that were not included. Once the element pieces were riveted together, I measured 31″ from the adjacent element on the C3 and drilled holes for the rivets that would hold the boom-to-element bracket to the boom. Continue reading 'Eight is enough'»
I built my ATS-4B several months ago and finally got on the air with it yesterday. Most of the delay was caused by an intermittent problem; the rest, by the tower project.
The problem was the result of a flaky solder joint on a tiny MOSFET that, at times, would function normally on one or two bands and at others, not at all. As a result, I might have a good output on 30m one day and on 17m the next. And the next day, no output at all. Continue reading 'ATS-4B lives, additional element ordered for C3'»
This week has seen me spending far too much time in front of the radio trying to see if I got my money’s worth with the new tower and antenna.
Force 12′s C3 has a few features that make it unique to my limited knowledge of traditional Yagis – namely its feed method. With 7 elements, it looks to the eye to be a superior antenna to the more common 4-element tribanders that adorn many stations but the fact is it has only two active elements on 15 and 20 meters and three on 10 meters.
With each band having its own dedicated elements, there are no traps, the antenna being designed to act as a monobander on each of those three bands. This trading of an element or two for “monoband-like” performance may seem a poor trade-off but the advantage is more broadband performance than would be possible with a trapped Yagi – and this is the main reason I chose it.
Force 12 mentions that the antenna has reduced (with respect to 10-15-20 meters) performance on 12 and 17 meters. In other words, it has gain and F/B on those bands…just less so than on the other three bands. Good enough for me – my main goal was a rotatable antenna to get into the nulls presented by my dipole on as many bands as possible. Any WARC-band gain is icing on the cake. Continue reading 'A week with the Force 12 C3'»
I finally finished my much delayed antenna project this afternoon – almost. Still have to bury the RF and rotor cable but that can wait till tomorrow. But with the cable running across the lawn I’m finally on the air with the Yagi and wasted no time in exercising the VFO up & down the bands. Continue reading 'Yagi – rotating & radiating'»
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