[bars] MFJ?

[Andy Wallace]

Tom Walsh brought over a small MFJ antenna tuner - the 100W mobile one - for me to fix. This was shown in a previous BARS newsletter. 

The failure was shorting of one of the variable caps at a certain dial setting. It turned out that a design defect (sheet metal front panel poorly stiffened) or assembly mistake (stiff wiring connecting the cap terminals) caused misalignment of the plates. Reflowing the solder joint caused the cap to release the tension and recenter itself. It would be really nitpicking to say this was a junky product. Plus Tom had used it for years. 

My father left behind a damaged Cushcraft R7 vertical which I’d like to repair. That model isn’t around anymore but they make similar ones and I hope to call MFJ and get parts as Bruce says. 

Support the companies that support us, I say. 
Andy
KA1GTT

On Sep 25, 2020, at 8:48 AM, Bruce Blain <bruce.blain at charter.net> wrote:

I’d like to  chime in….
 
Besides acquiring all of these failing amateur radio companies, they manage to  keep supporting a lot of the old products that these companies manufactured in the past.  Plastic parts for your Cushcraft antennas?  No problem.  Amplifier parts for your 30 year old Ameritron amplifier?  No problem.  And while they could charge an arm-and-a-leg for these parts, I find them quite reasonable.
 
So even with the quality perception people have, those of us with older products would have a much harder time maintaining them without MFJ.  I give them a lot of credit, and agree with Andy that we are lucky to have them.
 
Bruce, K1BG
 
From: bars [mailto:bars-bounces at w1hh.org] On Behalf Of Andy Wallace
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 8:12 AM
To: William Smith
Cc: bars at w1hh.org
Subject: Re: [bars] MFJ?
 
They have also acquired other companies like Hy-Gain and Cushcraft over the years so they may have better reviews factoring those companies’ successful products. 
 
But we ARE lucky to have a company selling so many ham products at all. 
Andy
KA1GTT

On Sep 25, 2020, at 7:41 AM, William Smith <w_smith at compusmiths.com> wrote:

Way back when, before the turn of the century 😎 we always called MFJ "Mighty Fine Junk", as it was pretty low quality, not very durable or reliable, and very inexpensive.
 
Now that I'm getting back into Amateur Radio, I'm noticing a lot of ads and some pretty good reviews for MFJ, did they fix their quality issues and are now considered decent quality, or did they just increase their ad budget?  🤷‍♂️
 
73,
 
Willie
N1JBJ

William P. N. Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc.
978-600-1621
 
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