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write your own review of the MFJ 93X0 Cub QRP xcvr.
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WB0FDJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 8, 2009 05:24
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Follow-up to previous post
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Yesterday the electrical noise at my QTH disappeared (for now) and 20 mtrs was having a good day. It's obvious that the Cubs receiver is clearly more sensitive than either my FT-817 or my Argosy in the less noisy conditions. Several times I found nicely readable signals on the Cub and was trying to spot the frequency with my other rigs, only to find they couldn't find the signal at all! Selectivity is excellent, on the order of my FT-817's 500Hz filter.
From MN, QSO #2 an N1 on the coast of ME, 559
QSO #3 VE1 in Nova Scotia, 559.
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WB6IYM
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 27, 2008 18:14
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Brangs back kit building memories
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Got the 40-meter version of this little gem for Christmas along with the Low Pwr Com book from ARRL. First kit I have built since the old Heathkit days in the 70's (built a dozen of those babies). Nice layout and clear instructions, but you better have a really good magnifying glass to read the capacitor values! Took me a while to sort all that out, but we got it going. Only mistake was mounting one of the coils on the wrong side of the PCB. A quick trip to Radio Shack for a de-soldering iron (should have bought one 30 years ago) and the problem was fixed. Don't know how I did that!
Fired it up and all worked as advertized. Hot little receiver. First QSO was VE6RAC in Ottawa Canada on the 3rd call using my Butternut HF9V which is ground mounted with 15 25-foot radials.
I checked out the transmit frequency using my Icom IC-756proII and signal looked very clean on the scope. Then I re-tweaked the VFO calibration while listening on the Icom. Need to really look at that because you CAN be out of band if you are not careful. Also, during this process I noticed that the tuning is not linear. As you dial up the band, the tunig rate increases (from about 30 KHZ per turn at the low end to almost 300 KHz per turn near the top, but it is manageable. A good idea would be to make a diagram or something to help remember knob position vs freqency. I set the low end above the band edge to ensure I stay within the band.
Bottom line, the little rig brings back a lot of kit building memories of my younger days. Maybe I will tackle a more ambitous project next time; been looking at Elecraft for quite a while, but wanted to try something a bit more basic first.
BTW, did not notice any substantial drift in the VFO. This version came with polystyrene capacitors for C6 and C7. That must be an improvement over the original design.
73's for now, Charles WB6IYM
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K8JD
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 26, 2008 12:19
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More thoughts on the 9380.
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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A few more things about my 80M cub, I like this rig enough that I just ordered a companion, 40M version of the CUB. I hope the grief I had with the shipping time is not repeated !
Makes a nice travel kit along with a roll of antenna wire,tuner/swr meter and my old 9030 rig and battery pack!
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K8JD
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 26, 2008 12:10
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A good performer for $99
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I ordered a 9380 Cub for my birthday last may. After waiting a month I called to ask what was holding things up. "The company has not been making up kits and would have to have some more orders before setting up the line" was the answer..Anyway I had to wait a few more weeks before getting the kit, the box was marked 80M but the bag of coils and caps said "20M"
Since I dont have any use for 20 M, this required another phone call to arrange for the proper parts to be shipped. This new shippment took another few weeks but at least it was free.
The asssembly and alignment was much easier than getting all the stuff from MFJ ! only took a few hours , even resoldering a few "factory installed" chip capacitors that were sitting up on one end.
The receiver's excellent selectivity and sensitivity really surprized me!
Since about the end of July this year I have worked 25 states and had many nice rag chew sessions with this little rig. (It drifts a little).
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WA6L
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 2, 2008 13:53
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Best $99 radio kit around
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have completed many kits from Heathkit, Elecraft, and Ten-Tec, and the 9380 is by far the easiest kit I ever built. The majority of the components on the board are pre-mounted SMT, so you are left with just a couple of dozen "through the hole"" items to finish the radio. My total construction time was about 3 hours, including alignment.
You can say what you want about MFJ quality, but this kit was top-notch. All the parts were there, the instructions are clear and complete, and the alignment went without a hitch. The little cub worked the first time power was applied to it and has not had a single problem.
If I was going to pick a nit about the kit-building process, it would be that the instructions are not detailed enough concerning winding and installing toroids. This kit is geared toward the first-time builder, and they are probably going to need more help with toroids than anything else. The instructions were complete, but it would have been helpful to provide more information on stripping and tinning the coils.
Once the kit is complete and aligned, you have one nifty little $99 radio. You have to keep that figure in mind, and it is unfair to compare the cub with radios costing much more.
The receiver is impressive for a rig with this parts count. It appears to be very sensitive and the bandwidth is quite narrow. On transmit, my 9380 puts out a solid 2.5 watts and the signal is clear and clean.
The VFO is varactor-based and the drift is considerable when you first apply power. It takes a good 15 minutes for everything to stabilize; after which it is steady enough. This is just an operating hint and not a complaint.
The one complaint I do have concerns the tuning range of the cub. On my 9380, I have a range of approximately 70 kHz. The problem with that is the tuning control is a single-turn 10K potentiometer. With a large range and a single turn, it is difficult to accurately tune in signals. You can go right past a strong signal without hearing it, and once you find it, it takes a very, very sensitive touch to get it centered in the receiver bandwidth.
I don't see the need for that wide of a tuning range for a QRP rig. Half of that would be fine. I think that an easy mod would be to put a 10K resistor in parallel with the pot and reduce the tuning range in half. I will give that a try as time permits.
With that aside, the little cub is a fun project and well within the capabilities of the first-time kit builder. Once completed, you have a very serviceable QRP rig that can be a lot of fun to operate.
73,
John, WA6L
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K2PGB
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 9, 2008 14:53
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FUN RADIO
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I HAVE THE SET OF CUBS. MY BEST DX EVER WAS WITH THE 15 METER MODEL. THE FIRST QSO WAS JA1NUT. WILL NEVER BEAT THAT MILES/WATT AS THE BRIDGE WAS SHOWING ONLY 1 WATT OUTPUT.
GOOD VALUE.
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WD8DSB
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 15, 2008 06:29
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Great little QRP rig (almost perfect).
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Yesterday I built the MFJ-9340, and so far very happy with the results. Using a 13.0 volt supply, power output was a hair under 2.0 watts using the stock 2N5190 output transistor. Then installed the MRF-237 in place of the stock output transistor and output power came up to around 2.75 watts, and adjusted it back down to 2.5 watts.
I like the QSK on this rig, and have had good reports on quality of signal (tone). Worked DX last night (YN4SU) from near Indianapolis using my 100 foot attic dipole.
Only major problem was a surface mount capacitor (C33) was standing on end (one end not connected to anything). Broke C33 trying to move it back into position, so replaced it with a standard through hole cap.
Wish the rig had a little more audio volume during the day with weak signals on 40 meters, but it's acceptable. Tried using a little Radio Shack external audio amp and this really helps crank the audio level up to ear banging levels.
You will need a good magnifying glass to read the capacitor values when building this rig, and good strong alignment tools.
My other QRP rig is an HW-8, but I can already tell that the MFJ-9340 has become my favorite 40 meter QRP rig due to its single signal reception (super het receiver), size, QSK, and power output.
Don
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KC4FKX
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 7, 2008 13:29
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If you are new to kit building, this is the one!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This kit went together without a hitch. There were no parts missing and the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. If you are new to kit building or if you are looking for a nice little qrp rig that is not "rock bound", give this one a serious look. I purchased mine along with the "Low Power Communications" book.
As mentioned by others, this is a hot little receiver. My 40M version ended up with slightly more than a 60khz spread along with about 4.5 watts out with the stock PA. I'm rating it a 4 because it comes without a built in keyer like some other rigs do. I used an external Picokeyer. It also has a slight key click but I plan to perform the modification for that found elsewhere on the internet and install a Small Wonder Labs Freq-mite to let me know my exact frequncy. This will be my "throw in the bag" rig for camping and trips to the beach along with a Norcal BLT and doublet antenna.
I've built a host of other rigs such as the OHR 100, NorCal 40, SST, SW+ , Rockmite, DC40, and many others. This was by far the easiest and quickest (due to SMD parts already installed for you) rig to build. I was receiving signals before the alignment process. I'm glad I purchased and built this little rig. It was and continues to be a great experience. It won't matter if this is your first kit or simply another addition to your collection (and this one should be in everyone's), I'm sure you will enjoy building, using, and modifying this little gem.
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KD8BIL
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 12, 2008 15:38
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First Kit - I'm inspired
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Received this kit as part of a QRP bundle through ARRL (included the book "Low Power Communication") for Christmas. It was a joy out of the box, there were no missing parts and I felt that MFJ really wanted me to enjoy this radio and learn in the process. There was a lot of extra info in the manual such as instructions on making a voltage regulator which I made and making an antenna as well as hints on how to operate QRP - and they suggested how to mod the thing to get a little more power out of it. 3 negatives were long time shipping, no tools included to align the radio, and a question I emailed to MFJ was unanswered. My cub had poly caps at c6 and c7 and it drifts down upon warmup but not much at all after the first 5 minutes. I finished the kit on Straight Key Night and was amazed at the flury of CW - I have since received respectible reports from NYC and Louisiana from my qth in Dayton Ohio at 2watts running on batteries and through a simple dipole. I have been inspired - Thanks to ARRL and MFJ - this rig sits next to my Heathkit SB-102 and I haven't used the Heathkit since.
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K9EX
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 6, 2007 18:46
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Great Value with Hot Rcvr
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought the 80 meter version of this kit about a year ago and I just got around to building it at the end of Nov, 2007 (it took me just a few hours to build).
I heeded W5ESE's and KD2DL's collective advice, below, and upgraded the caps and final output transistor to a MRF-237 (NTE341). My unit puts out a respectable 3.5 W and I have really been enjoying using the Cub on the air, making numerous, solid contacts with it in just a few days.
I think 3.5W is just about right to make the QRP experience downright enjoyable - any less than 3W or so and you're definitely in for more of a challenge so I strongly recommend upgrading the Cub's final output transistor to the MRF-237 (NTE341).
My unit does indeed drift, as noted by other reviews, but only when transmitting and only just slightly. Allow at least 30 minutes for "warm up" before you even consider using it and then expect some drift when you transmit.
The Cub's receiver section is extremely hot and outperfoms my trusty Icom IC-718. (Of course, selectivity/strong signal rejection is not nearly as good as the 718.)
Very strong signals overload the Cub and can blank-out the receiver temporarily - you'll get a hint when you start to hear clicks on strong receive signals - about all you can do is adjust the tuning slightly and/or back down the volume.
Despite these very minor issues, the Cub is an easy kit to build, a great QRP perfomer and a superb value at its price point - it's exceedingly simple to use and has an extremely hot receiver. It all adds up to a ton of fun with a "back to basics" sort of feel to it.
Highly Recommended.
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