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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Henry<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> bars <bars-bounces@w1hh.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Andy Wallace<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, September 25, 2020 11:35 AM<br><b>To:</b> Jim Idelson <jim@k1ir.com><br><b>Cc:</b> BARS Reflector <bars@w1hh.org><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [bars] MFJ?<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Wow, that’s a guarantee that even the folks under the BARS Near-Fest tent wouldn’t give us! :)<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Sorry just made N1HTS blow coffee out his nose. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Andy<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><br>On Sep 25, 2020, at 10:03 AM, Jim Idelson <<a href="mailto:jim@k1ir.com">jim@k1ir.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>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.<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>73 Jim K1IR<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Fri, Sep 25, 2020, 9:18 AM Andy Wallace <<a href="mailto:soldersmoke01@gmail.com">soldersmoke01@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Support the companies that support us, I say. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Andy<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>KA1GTT<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><br>On Sep 25, 2020, at 8:48 AM, Bruce Blain <<a href="mailto:bruce.blain@charter.net" target="_blank">bruce.blain@charter.net</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'>I’d like to chime in….</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'>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.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'>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.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'>Bruce, K1BG</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> bars [<a href="mailto:bars-bounces@w1hh.org" target="_blank">mailto:bars-bounces@w1hh.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Andy Wallace<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, September 25, 2020 8:12 AM<br><b>To:</b> William Smith<br><b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:bars@w1hh.org" target="_blank">bars@w1hh.org</a><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [bars] MFJ?</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>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. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>But we ARE lucky to have a company selling so many ham products at all. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Andy<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>KA1GTT<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:12.0pt'><br>On Sep 25, 2020, at 7:41 AM, William Smith <<a href="mailto:w_smith@compusmiths.com" target="_blank">w_smith@compusmiths.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Way back when, before the turn of the century <span style='font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif'>😎</span> we always called MFJ "Mighty Fine Junk", as it was pretty low quality, not very durable or reliable, and very inexpensive.<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>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? <span style='font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif'>🤷</span><span style='font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif'>♂</span>️<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>73,<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Willie<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>N1JBJ<o:p></o:p></p><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'><br>William P. N. Smith<br>ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'>978-600-1621</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>_______________________________________________<br>bars mailing list<br><a href="mailto:bars@w1hh.org" target="_blank">bars@w1hh.org</a><br><a href="http://mail.w1hh.org/mailman/listinfo/bars_w1hh.org" target="_blank">http://mail.w1hh.org/mailman/listinfo/bars_w1hh.org</a><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div id="m_7519042823625295336DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellpadding=0 style='border:none;border-top:solid #D3D4DE 1.0pt'><tr><td width=55 style='width:41.25pt;border:none;padding:9.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=icon" target="_blank"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=46 height=29 style='width:.4791in;height:.302in' id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-round-orange-animated-no-repeat-v1.gif"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=470 style='width:352.5pt;border:none;padding:9.0pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:13.5pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#41424E'>Virus-free. <a href="https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=link" target="_blank"><span style='color:#4453EA'>www.avast.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________<br>bars mailing list<br><a href="mailto:bars@w1hh.org" target="_blank">bars@w1hh.org</a><br><a href="http://mail.w1hh.org/mailman/listinfo/bars_w1hh.org" target="_blank">http://mail.w1hh.org/mailman/listinfo/bars_w1hh.org</a><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________<br>bars mailing list<br><a href="mailto:bars@w1hh.org" target="_blank">bars@w1hh.org</a><br><a href="http://mail.w1hh.org/mailman/listinfo/bars_w1hh.org" target="_blank">http://mail.w1hh.org/mailman/listinfo/bars_w1hh.org</a><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></div></div></body></html>