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write your own review of the MFJ-269.
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WB3AYW
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Rating: 2/5
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Dec 18, 2011 15:06
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JUNK !
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Worked all day trying to set the match and it was the analyzer, not what I wanted to do all day.
I would NOT recomend this to anyone, even my worst enemy!
This is my 3rd MFJ analyzer and the worst.
They can advertize it as a 440 meg unit, but it is very unstable and in accurite.
The 259's, also had there problems, but at least they worked as advertized.
The hf/170 seems ok but not on the 440 scale.
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KQ4KK
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 7, 2011 08:18
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Must have
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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If you don't own one, have a friend who does. And use it.
A little better than typical MFJ construction. I had a 259 for years, battery case crumbled, so used an external battery case.
269 a little better built.
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K2JX
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 7, 2011 05:25
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Good
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Just received my MFJ-269-B this week. I sold my MFJ-259-B which I owned and used for a year, it was great but it did not cover the UHF range which I needed to maintain our Clubs UHF repeater system. Before powering up the new unit, I carefully inspected the PC card for poor soldered or no soldered joints, I found none. Everything was in order so I powered it up. I made a few simple checks in my home shack on antenna's that range from HF to 450 megs. I quickly found out that the high VSWR on my UHF antenna was not the antenna, rather a cable fault in the shack !
I was ready to blame the antenna which is more than ten years old, not so ! Moving on I tested cables, my 43 foot vertical, an end fed wire, baluns with ease, and the results compared to those I recorded with the 259-B. One thing that could be better is the on-off switch, I'd prefer a slide type. The UHF mode switch which selects the UHF range if your not careful could be damaged as it stands above the sheet metal enclosure. The analyzer is sensitive to static voltages on your antenna. Short to ground ANY cable or antenna your about to test.
The MFJ-259-269 analyzers are in my view for the price a much needed piece of test gear that every Ham should own. You won't use it everyday but when you need it say to tune an antenna or need a frequency counter or cable fault locator you'll wonder why you didn't buy one sooner ! Trust me.
73/K2JX
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K5BA
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 12, 2011 00:06
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I love it
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The one thing that impresses me most about this unit is how easy it is now to tune my mobile antennas. Having R, X, Freq, SWR displayed at the same time really help to understand the interaction. Out of my 4 HF mobile antennas, one of them has never worked. I could not get the SWR down no matter what I tried. The MFJ-269 show me the problem; it was resonating on 4 MHZ, 6 MHZ, 17 MHZ! One word of caution through, Protect the antenna connector religiously.
What I dislike about the MFJ-269 is the lack of measuring X on the UHF range. I've become quite found of getting X to go down to zero.
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KQ4BX
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 29, 2011 13:05
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Mixed view
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The MFJ-259 is the one tool that almost every ham that is serious about making antennas, or baluns has. Regardless of what anyone says about not understanding what the meter is doing, they have no right to berate the product for their own lack of intelligence. The one thing that is true, is that you need to open the meter and look for cold solder joints, or evn as I found, the lack of enought solder to mate the S0-239 to the board correctly. Yes, I did have to solder the S0-239 to the board. The meter itself can help you tune an antenna directly. There is no better way to tune an antenna. It can also be used to test a balun for proper operation. I could not get the frequecy counter to count, and I've given up on doing anything except the two things this meter shines at, tuning antenna's, and baluns.
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N8IK
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 27, 2011 15:14
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no problems
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Never had any problem with mine. Had it for years - very useful tool. Would be interested in knowing what the "latest" firmware is - can't get an answer out of MFJ. Mine is v1.24 dated 1999. Anyone have something later or know if anything has changed? The chip on the main board is socketed so should be replaceable.
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K2YWE
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 25, 2010 06:43
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Good Analyzer but MFJ-29C Case is Junk
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've used the MFJ-269 for impedance as well as simple SWR measurements for about a year. It does what it's supposed to do. I also have an Autek RF Analyst which is much smaller and works OK, but the MFJ-269 has a wider frequency range and far less tricky to use. It's become my primary tool for antenna work.
DO NOT bother with the MFJ-29C pouch. I was very disappointed when I got mine. It's made of neoprene with punched holes. You have to stretch the case to make it fit the various undersized openings. The markings for the frequency selection knob are completely covered up and the two buttons at the top have no holes. The most critical edges for damage, the top two sides and corners, are not protected at all. The end result is that the case makes the unit harder to use and doesn't protect it well.
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STAYVERTICAL
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 8, 2010 18:10
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Sigh of relief
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After reading the reviews and noting all the horror stories, I finally bought the MFJ269 anyway.
It works as advertised, being solidly built and without any of the "gremlins" plaguing other users.
I compared it with my VK5JST HF analyser and it agrees well with its readings.
Works well on VHF/UHF as well, although I double check the UHF push button to ensure it is not pushed in when powering up.
Mine came with the UHF button activated (pushed in), so had I put the batteries in (which seems to start the 269 by default) it may have taken out some of the circuitry.
So before putting in batteries or powering up double check the UHF push switch and make sure it is out not pushed in.
I also take a lot of precautions to ensure static does not damage the bridge diodes by discharging antennas before use.
Since mine and many others work so well, it is obvious the quality control has gone through some rough times, but the basic design is good.
I noticed mine has a QC sticker on the bottom, perhaps a step taken to correct quality issues.
At least MFJ will correct problems, no questions asked, unlike the inquisition like and mocking customer service desks of some other manufacturers.
Well done MFJ.
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K7RWB
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 18, 2010 21:27
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Works Great
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have one for myself and one for the place I work. They both perform without any problems. We use it a lot at work.
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AJ4SL
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Rating: 0/5
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Aug 6, 2010 09:24
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Has never worked correctly since purchase
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought this analyzer right before I got my ticket as I was preparing to equip my shack and knew I would need an antenna analyzer. I did not get a chance to use it for a couple of months and when I did the results were not informative. I got no viable information from the analyzer for the antenna I was looking at and did not understand why. In a few days I found out. The thing went crazy! All indications cycled from zero to max continuously.
MFJ did repair it (I had to pay $12 shipping) and I was able to use it to analyze a new antenna and trim it for resonance, etc.
Now just a few months later it is broken again. I do not yet know what MFJ will do this time but I am asking for a different unit as this thing costs plenty and should be reliable for a long time. It is still in warranty. I agree with the maxim that MFJ means Mighty Fine Junk!
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