[bars] MFJ?

Fri Sep 25 15:52:34 EDT 2020

MFJ, is a big bang for the buck, and it’s made by hams for hams in the USA.   I sent my brother their 949e antenna tuner, and it does the job, it does the job for less than $200, it’s not built like my James Millen tune which cost $300 plus made in Malden MA 42 years ago, Ten Tec  had a similar business model, I wish they would come back.

Henry

From: bars <bars-bounces at w1hh.org> On Behalf Of Andy Wallace
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 11:35 AM
To: Jim Idelson <jim at k1ir.com>
Cc: BARS Reflector <bars at w1hh.org>
Subject: Re: [bars] MFJ?

Wow, that’s a guarantee that even the folks under the BARS Near-Fest tent wouldn’t give us! :)

Sorry just made N1HTS blow coffee out his nose. 

Andy

On Sep 25, 2020, at 10:03 AM, Jim Idelson <jim at k1ir.com <mailto:jim at k1ir.com> > wrote:

MFJ is a wonderful asset to our community. Many things at low prices. But, as others have mentioned, quality issues arise too frequently. My experience is that MFJ always takes steps to quickly resolve such issues; you don't have to fix it yourself.

I ordered parts for repair of a HyGain 204ba - an ancient antenna. The parts arrived and remained in the box, unopened for 18 months. When I opened the box to start the repair project, I found that the part kits were incomplete. Would MFJ make things right on my word alone after such a long time? They did. One call and the remaining parts were shipped on their nickel.

73 Jim K1IR

On Fri, Sep 25, 2020, 9:18 AM Andy Wallace <soldersmoke01 at gmail.com <mailto:soldersmoke01 at gmail.com> > wrote:

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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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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