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You can
write your own review of the MFJ-259B.
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K4ZJ
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 11, 2009 06:26
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Lacking Quality Control
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I recently purchased an MFJ-259B fully aware of MFJ's spotty quality control. I could not get a reading at any frequency on a multi-band vertical. I read the reviews and determined the most frequent failure is bad solder joints, most often at the SO-239 connector. I re-soldered this connection and everything works fine now. I will post a review later once I have used the analyzer a bit more.
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K6TTE
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Rating: 0/5
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Jan 27, 2009 18:45
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DOA
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Mine was of typical MFJ quality, i.e., inoperative junk.
The Palstar is a superior unit.
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W5JET
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 27, 2009 16:47
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Outstanding
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I love this thing.. I can't imagine trying to tune an antenna without it. I've had this analyzer four or five years.
The only drawback that I've had is that my old recharable batteries don't last very long. Therefore I usually use a 12 vdc power supply and a long power cord.
Cheers!
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KF6GOM
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 21, 2009 20:31
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great tool for the shack
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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picked on up for a low price.i replaced the battery
holder with a 12volt rechargeable . now i can make my own antennas with accuracy and time saving.works great with mobile setups on HF.Will Buy another one when this one dies?? built very well and soldering connections well soldered...great job at MFJ on this product.....KA6HAV
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K4CLL
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 21, 2009 15:00
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Great for the bucks!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I agree with the fact that the battery holders could be better, and the 259B is not perfect. It does however, get the job done at a price far less than most others. I am able to tune my antenna, and when I hook it up, it is ready to transmit. It is not something I use alot, but it sure makes things easier when you need it. CLL
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N4ABA
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 2, 2009 06:40
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Great analysis tool for homebrewers
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I was wandering thru the reviews and decided to post one for a piece of gear that has given excellent service for years...the MFJ 259B. Tho some MFJ products do deserve the invectives hurled at them, the 259B is one exception. As I take care of my equipment, I've never had to replace a part on it (oh...do use a "hail mary" strap on it if you're on a tower....almost lost it that way). I built a battery pack to fit inside it (and marked the charger to ensure I don't blow up things with the wrong charger) and it has run for the past 3-4 years without a hitch. Not as well built as my Bird 4410....but a bunch cheaper! Any budding homebrewer would be wise to add one of these to their RF toolkit....tho I do recommend buying a new one...a used one may have been abused and out of calibration. Of course, YMMV.
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N2XWV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 2, 2009 06:04
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great piece of test equipment
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had my 259b for years, it works as good as the day i bought it!, it is a piece of test equipment, you have to take care not to bang it too much or drop it, these complaints about the breaking is from the user not mfj, if you take care of it it will give you good service for years, and as far as batterys, load it up with rechargable nicads and ccharge it with the right voltage trnsformer and it will last and last.
what a great product, Thank you MFJ for all the affordable fine products!!,73 john
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WM9V
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Rating: 2/5
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Jan 2, 2009 05:55
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mighty fine junk
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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actually kudos for providing a resonably priced product with many of the features of far more expensive test equipment
all my experimentation ground to a halt here when i blew mine up by plugging into higher voltage adaptor
naturally a gig smt part and an fet smt were bad
simple diagnosis.... replace the little black things that are getting hot
i downloaded the schematic for the 259b and the alignment manual that they use to build the product
this was posted by another ham... thanks to him
he had to call mfj for documentation
i also broke the lcd on the front and reodered the new display board
i replaced just the lcd and left the original board in it
mfj answered the phone and shipped the part promptly
i got the new smt transistors from digikey
their chat tech line guy got me new part numbers
promptly
as far as the product is concerned
here is what needs to be done
this product still suffers from the packaging
lack of sophistication that is so obvious
the push switches ....lose em
i have tone of scrap boards from other products here so im luckier than joe six pack ham who wouldnt have a chance second sourcing those parts
the display is easy to break
the battery situation sucks
remember all those batteries you had to put in digital cameras ?..
well this is just as bad ,...
worse considering a dozen brand new aa alkalines wont last long
there is a jumper inside for charging that needs to be reconfigured for nimh batteries
thats what i recommend
the connectors on the top need to be moved
so that the board inside can be easily accessed
and taken out to service
the menus are the usual confusing interpretation from the korean mindset but they are useful
the freq counter is unstable but that is not a standard anyway
this is probably one of the most popular products to come along in the last 20 years ...
look at the postings
if i could afford an anritsu or wavetek or bird with a color lcd display then thats what id buy
better yet put a usb port on this and or a color lcd display and get it to graph
fix the cheapness of the controls and make it easier to service or ruggedize it
make it so you could give it to the cable guy and he couldnt break it
aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
anyway ....ive calibrated about 20 antennas with this thing and its great for debunking all the crappy hygain junk out there
wish i had uhf on it too but then again the 269 a
friend owns trashed the uhf circuit and he had probs with that one too
when i get time i will sit down and recalibrate this one... they could do a better job on the circuit design ...not that advanced
its a pic processor and little lcd with a couple of smt devices in an aluminum box... ok.. does that answer your question?
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N4MJG
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 13, 2008 15:38
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Still Kicking !!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had my for years and it's still working the day i sent it back to MFJ onces,it working since i got it back.i was happy with my,so no problem no more.ever since than i had'nt any problem since then.i brought my back in 1999 boy time fly fast!
I keep my in good shape with carry case from cubic where i work no damage at all !
73
Jackie
KG4ORX
WWW.KG4ORX.COM
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K7AAT
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 13, 2008 13:50
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Great piece of gear
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Wished I had purchased one years ago instead of dragging my feet for years. An extremely useful piece of ham test equipment... able to provide many different functions I need ... and well built ( not always the case with some other MFJ products. ) I've had many pieces of MFJ gear over the years and this is one of their best.
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