The New Falcon J-5 & J-6
Originally shown at Pacificon in October, 2003, the original Falcon has been made smaller and lighter:
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Visually small, lightweight, high effieiency Falcon J-5, 5-band rotary dipole |
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The Falcon J-5 is a 5 pound, 5-band (20-17-15-12-10 meters) single element rotary dipole. It is almost 10 pounds lighter than the original. The single element on the Falcon J-5 is only 14' 9" long - absolutely ideal for places where a low profile is needed, plus expeditions and portable. The Falcon J-6 adds a 6 meter element for 6 band coverage. Using the Falcon in the October 2004 California QSO Party, I enjoyed operating in two counties, Merced and San Benito using my TS-870S. The Falcon was at about 13' above ground. In Merced county, I made about 170 QSOs (both phone and CW) in 2 1/2 hours, then moved to San Benito, where I made 181 in 2 hours (both phone and CW). Bands used were 10, 15 and 20 meters, mostly 20 from San Benito. The white covers can be painted any color for your environment.
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Falcon J-5, 5-band 20-17-15-12-10 meter rotary dipole, remote controlled, complete with 50' of control cable. Changes bands at the flip of the switch - instantly. |
Falcon J-6, 6-band 20-17-15-12-10-6 meter rotary dipole, remote controlled, complete with 50' of control cable. Changes bands at the flip of the switch - instantly. |
The efficiency of the Falcon ranges from 87% on 20 meters up to 99% on 10 and 6 meters. It covers the whole 10 meter band with less than 2:1 (actually goes down to 11 meters), covers all of the 12, 15 and 17 meter bands and about 200 kHz on 20 meters at the VSWR 2:1 points. The bandwidth on 20 is what we would expect with a short element and an efficient loading system. The 20 meter response can be set anywhere simply by removing the end caps on the covers - the air core inductors are at the far ends of the PC boards. The proven band switching system in the Falcon is borrowed from the incredible Sigma-5 and Sigma-GT5 vertical dipoles.
Recommended height above ground for the Falcon is 24' or higher. Remember, this is a dipole, so 24' is still less than 1/2 wavelength on 20 meters. When it is mounted lower than 24', proximity to ground will change the feed point impedances, although when I used it at 13', the performance was still excellent and the rig's tuner worked great. I was parked by a small slope, so the antenna probably was looking in the far field at 25-30' high.
How to get the Falcon to 24'? If you can use the roof, a 12' mast will do and any rotator will work. TV rotators are fine. The Falcon is a dipole, so it is directive, like a figure "8", with nulls to the sides. If you do not rotate it, be sure and aim it properly, as the side nulls can be down 15dB.
Force 12 has aluminum masts available. There is the FT-30M, which is a 30' sectional mast with a tilt base and two (2) rotating guy rings. It can be shipped as an FT-24M, using 4 of the 6' sections. I was asked at Pacificon about 40 meters and the right solution looks like using the mast as a vertical by employing a base insulator. We are working on this. As always, we do our best to make products so they can be upgraded.
Anticipating the next question - yes, it looks like we can make a 2 element Yagi using a pair of Falcon J-5's. The estimated weight is about 15 pounds. We will give it a try and see how it performs.
For historical purposes -- the original test of the Falcon J-6 pre-production unit during the 2003 CQP:
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The First Falcon Original pre-production test of Project J-6 during the 2003 California QSO Party, shown over looking Mono Lake. It is mounted on our LPT-620. The Falcon is so physically small that it is hard to see. The performance wasn't small! |
Give us a call at 1 800 Number Is Coming Soon or send an e-mail to force12@sbcglobal.net for more information.
Falcon J-5 & J-6 -- the new word in small, efficient horizontal antennas!
Force 12 knows performance.
Please contact Force 12 for additional information.
