[Towertalk] Force 12 vs. Cushcraft who wins?

[Dale L Martin]

Michael

I had two A3's up on the tower for a few years.  I replaced the top A3 with
a Force 12 C3E.  Haven't regretted it.

I've got a C4 in the garage waiting to replace the C3e on top and the C3e
will replace the remaining A3.

However....the A3 has performed flawlessly since I refurbished the traps a
few years ago.  Needless to say, I'll never have to refurbish traps with a
C3.

Also, you should pay close attention to how each mfr develops their gain
figures..

73,
dale, kg5u
>
>
> Just moved to the seattle area and am assembling a new station.
> Possibly an MA-550 55' tubular tower with a 10' mast.  Trying to
> decide between two classes of beam, in roughly the same price
> range are the Cushcrafts and the Force 12's.
>
> The Cushcraft A3S/A4S 3 and 4 element standard trapped beams
> claim 6db gain (3ele) and 7db (4ele) over dipole.  And the Force
> 12 2 element beams running around 4.5 db.  The 3ele cushcraft and
> the force 12 have about the same dimensions... They have about
> the same windload, 5sq ft for the tubular..
>
> Any thoughts on pro's and con's of the two antennas?
> experiences?  The cushcraft is 3db high gain, but is it lost in
> the traps?
>
> Thanks, Michael  K3MH
>
>