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write your own review of the MFJ 90-Series.
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KA5KRV
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Rating: 4/5
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May 23, 2012 10:06
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Nice rig-while it works
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The xcvr is a neat one--great to drag along on our boat or camping. Mine developed some odd noises just after going out of warranty and got sent to the company for repair back in mid-January. Four months later and it's not back or been looked at, best I can tell. Three e-mails and a phone call or two have had no effect. Any repair guys out there need a job? There's work waiting in Starkville MS!! Good radio, lousy support.
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W1JKA
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 16, 2011 03:25
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Built like a tank
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I am mostly a qrp cw-dx operator and do 75% portable ops on land and water and have built several qrp rigs.My favorite by far(other than backpacking for which I use my cubs and swl-30) are my 40/20 meter 90 series rigs.Very good signal seperation, built like a tank and simple to use.Mine are weather proofed in a 1 gal. zip lock bag and operate through lots of varied conditions winter and summer,Main antenna is a portable dipole with 20/40 m screw on radiators usually 15-20 ft. high with auto jump start battery for power,no tuner or baluns to mess with.I love my home qth K-1 base station but there is no way the K-1 would hold up to the unintentional abuse and conditions that the 90's see.My only recommendation with these radios is to check voltages and repeak tuning from factory for maximum effenciancy(Standard practice for anyone buying an MFJ product),I also tried the RS amp chip mod but noticed little difference,I prefer head phones in the outdoors anyway.The TIMEX slogan would aptly fit this radio so it gets a 5.
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AA4BQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 15, 2011 12:31
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With Mods= excellent
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The MFJ-9020 out-of-the-box was a bit rough around the edges. However, with two improvements, it rivals my TenTec Scout in the QRP mode. The first improvement was with the audio. Some have suggested just putting in a Radio Shack chip in the place of existing one. I guess that works okay. But, better yet, I built a simple audio amp using a basic chip and took the opportunity to build the supporting circuitry to enhance the audio bandpass. It's marvelous. At the same time, I added a single chip keyer and placed the speed control on the back panel. With these two nice enhancements, this little MFJ-9020 is just superb. It's built-in crystal filter and hefty 5W out netted me a full log during the recent QTC contest. I was amazed how well hams in Europe heard me (because they wanted to). And, the receiver in the 9020 is selective enough even during the crowded contest band conditions. I can't say enough good about these little rigs once these two enhancements are added. I will say I didn't just throw something together. I designed and built the audio amp for performance as I did the keyer. I couldn't be happier with the performance.
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WX4O
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 24, 2011 19:58
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Good rig for <$100.oo
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned many of these for different bands. They were pretty good at the $100. or so price. They are
NOT a good deal at the current price. Buy used or not at all. Save your $ for an 817.
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AF2Q
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 24, 2011 16:54
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MFJ CAN'T BEAT IT
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I think I owned the very first MFJ 20 meter 9020 rig that came out.
Yes it did drift but some poly caps put a good fix on that.
I started buying used rigs for under $100.00
The plug in CW filter beats the bandwidth on the 2 band China rig.
I even use it more then my FT 817.
If your low on funds,this out of the box rig will have you making contacts all over the world just as soon as you string up an end fed wire.
I also showed how rugged the rig is by parking the front wheel of my Ford Escort on it.
The final takes a real beating but never seems to fail.
Of all the MFJ rigs I had,I only suffered on that failed and that was the relay.
I still have and use my first 40 meter 9040 that I purchased back in 1996 and I still use it almost every day
BOB
AF2Q
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N7JBH
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 21, 2010 08:35
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Built in speaker
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I own an MJF-9020 and 9040, I use these at work with an end fed longwire strung between two HVAC units on the roof, no antenna tuner. Haven't checked the SWR, afraid what I might find. Both get out suprisingly well, must be the good counterpoise (all the ducting and AC wiring in the building) I like the MFJ's because they have a built in speaker, I don't think any other single band QRP rigs have a speaker built in. I just wish MFJ built an all band 90' series radio, even if it were only the five traditional bands and no WARC bands, I would be happy.
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KD7MTI
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Rating: 5/5
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May 25, 2010 06:59
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Great fun!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have two: 9020 and 9040. The 9040 has the audio filter and keyer. I never use the keyer. The filter is surprisingly good. One issue with the filter is that there is some ringing which is evident when you transmit.
The good:
They don't draw a lot of power. The receiver is quite good -- very open sounding. The side-tone is pleasant although its volume cannot be separately adjusted. Alignment is very easy.
The bad:
They're a bit big by today's standards of small. They're single band -- to work 20 and 40 meters, I need to take two rigs (so I end up taking my ft817). I haven't found any published modifications.
Why I keep them?
They're fun! Right now it's summer, twenty meters is open day and night. A small battery and a 20 meter dipole will make for a fun evening.
Should you buy one (or two)?
I think so. I find myself using them quite often. The side-tone is pleasing, the tuning knob is big, and the receiver quality is pretty good -- you can listen for hours at low volume.
I highly recommend getting one.
Robert - kd7mti/4z5sw
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N7JBH
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 22, 2009 11:37
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Simple as it gets
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Great little CW rig, I also have an MFJ 9020 for 20M. Use them at work with a random length long wire antenna strung between two HVAC units on the roof. I don't even use an antenna tuner, the SWR must be horrendous, haven't even checked it, afraid to know how bad it really is. In spite of this, the radios don't seem to care, they put out the full 5 watts, made contacts all over the CONUS on 20M, not so far on 40M. The only problem I had was with the 9020, the RX audio was a little low. Replaced the audio amp LM386 chip from Radio Shaft for under $2.00, didn't even have to solder anything, the chips are in 8 pin sockets.
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K8JD
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 26, 2008 11:56
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Plleased with this little rig.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought the 9030 because I had a Non-WARC Kenwood for my main opperation. I wanted to get on 30M and this seemed to be a cheap way to do it. This was about 8 years ago and the price was still 149.00.
During the better solar years I worked Many European countries and most of the states using the 9030 with a ground mounted Butternut 6-band vert and a fullwave horizontal 30 M loop.
The VFO did have some drift but a good warm up settled it down and over the period of a QSO it was not noticable.
The selectivity was about 700 Hz and usually is narrow enough for the not-so-crowded nature of this band. the sensitivity seems nearly as good as my newer TS440s.
Speaker audio is ok under quiet surroundings but plugging in earphones is plenty loud.
Oveall, the rig rates a GOOD, for performance and ecomnomy.
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M0JHA
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 10, 2008 06:55
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great kit
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Well i got the 40m version and on opening the packets was quite pleased. The project is an absolute doddle to complete with even the first time constructor.
Took me 1 hour on monday night and another hour on tuesday night sat in front of the telly with the missus casually placing the components in place. All components were clearly marked and so were the markings on the board.
The manual was written well enough and had no probems understanding any of it. If i had to put my finger on the hardest piece to complete it would be the winding of the toroids.
Not because the job itself was hard, far from it ,but simply because the toroids were a little fiddly due to the small size.
Fitting the completed board in the case was a little tight but not a problem. I also fitted the optional bnc connector.
All thats left to do is align and test but already heard lots of signals and the vfo seems nice and smooth .
highly reccomended for the first time builder and even the more experienced of builders for a bit of easy construction that will leave you with a cool little cw tranciever.
i will post again after alignment and on air test.. well done mfj
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