Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: MFJ-1422 2mtr/440 Rough Rider Antenna and mfj 345 hatchback moun

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : MFJ-1422 2mtr/440 Rough Rider Antenna and mfj 345 hatchback moun
Reviews: 15MSRP: 50
Description:
144/440 mhz mobile antenna and hatchback mount mfj 345
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1422
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00152.7
W5RHR Rating: 2013-01-14
good performance shoddy parts Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
the good. outperformed my Diamond dual band that was twicw the price of the MFj.Of course it is longer than the Diamond.

the bad, the fold over mechanism broke when i was attwmpting to fold it over yesterday. The portion that resides in the coil housing appears to be made of pot metal and broke in two.naturally there is no way to repair it.

No more MFJ for me
KC8IMB Rating: 2011-05-15
It's Great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this antenna for TEN years, constant use, on 3 different vehicles. Nothing but good things to say about it. I use a trunk lip mount. Never any problems, always seems to have good SWR and never a problem hitting the local machines or the ones a bit "further out". I really have nothing bad to say about this antenna.

The cars have given out before the antenna. Hopefully it will last another 10 years!
N5ZR Rating: 2011-03-24
Great Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I really don't understand the poor ratings on this antenna. I have had mine for 5 years now on a 4runner that gets driven through branches and bushes on a regular basis. This antenna has performed great the entire time. It amazes me that after all the information you need to absorb to be a ham that you still go with a magnet mount and expect to to perform. Mine is mounted with a fender mount; a solid connection to ground at the antenna is a must.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by N7UIC on 2010-01-04

I and my friend have both owned this antenna for well over 3 years and we go tromping through the woods on 4x4 trips at least 8 times a year. These antennas continue to work well and put up with the beating they take off-road(I don't mean gravel roads either)

These are mounted using fender mounts and not magnet. Maybe its the magnet mount that's failing for others. For the price this antenna has been a true performer.
KC9QYE Rating: 2010-02-07
No Problems....Yet. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I was really worried about this antenna because I found these reviews immediately after purchasing it about 4 months ago. My first problem was that the antenna did not come with the mag-mount, but that was my fault. The antenna installed cleanly and with agreeable SWR on both 2 and 440. I have yet to make a contact with it but I can activate local repeaters up to ~15 miles without problem. I've hit a few low hanging branches with it and have not observed any cracking, leaking, rusting, etc. So far I have no complaints with regard to this antenna but once the 1-year warranty is up I will probably not purchase another strictly because of the hit-or-miss nature this antenna seems to have.

rc - KC9QYE, 46545
KC9OLI Rating: 2009-03-13
Poor Transmit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had mag mount and 1422 for about 2 weeks and while receive works very well. SWR is lower then 1.5 so should work fine. Transmit I can barely talk 3 miles and to hit repeaters 10 miles away I have to be in the clear and on a hill. I'm current researching a replacement. I'm working with cross banding and with poor transmit this will never work. Don't waste your money spend a little most and purchase a higher quality antenna.
AC5JV Rating: 2007-10-13
mfj 1422 with mag mount Time Owned: more than 12 months.
owned mfj 1422 for 13 months [so much for the 12 month warranty] the fold over part is a joke , hit something then stick it back on roof and if swr went high , go there first wrangle it around till they come back . not so good on water proofing too, the mag mount was a rust bucket , no hope for it . the wife was complaing about not doing good on the local repeators. well with 3.8 to 1 swr on 2 meters and a 5.1 to 1 swr on the 70 cm side , i wonder why , then after all of that found out the load coil had absoluly no continuity thru it , guess it fried or broke from having to put it back on the roof when the foldover was suppose to take care of that . i have owned hustler mobile mag monut antenns for years no trouble , and at these prices this antenna should last alot longer than 13 months . any way i replaced the whole deal with 5 inch mag mount with 17 foot of coax and a HUSTLER LMC-270 DOU-BAND ANTENNA // LOVE IT little less gain on it than mfj 1422 but it out does it by i'll bet %30 in distance . thank you ac5jv
KC2LSA Rating: 2007-09-21
So far so good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got this antenna a few weeks ago and it has been good to me. Great signal on a couple of distant repeaters and SWR on both bands around 1.2:1 or less. I've even been able to receive downlink from a few satellite passes, I'll give it a five if I can get an uplink...
NB7I Rating: 2007-03-04
Poor Performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Out of the bag the 1422 appears to be well made. On 440, the antenna is a poor performer. I have two of these antennas, and both have the same characteristics. Direct swap outs in marginal areas with a quarter wave, Austin 500C, Comet SBB5, and Lakeview 440 colinear prove its performance is inferior. On 2 meters, the antenna seems comparable with a quarter wave. After one year of minimal use, the 1422 had a crack running the length of the black plastic above the base coil.
It is my belief many of these so called dual band high gain antennas do not produce gain at any usable angle, if at all.
KE5BTY Rating: 2005-06-07
DOA Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got the MFJ-1422 with the MFJ-335 mag mount at Ham-comm. Right out of the package, I'm getting infinite SWR on 2m, and 1:3 on 70cm. Will be returning the pair back and looking into the Comet/Maldol antennas instead of MFJ.
VA3DXV Rating: 2004-12-01
Decent for the money Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Purchased this antenna (minus the mount) for its price and advertised gain. Works well so far, good SWR (below 1.4:1) on both bands. Can make it into any repeater I can hear, easily 50 miles or so. For the money I think its an good buy. Quality could be a bit better, the black plastic section above the base coil seems to turn if you are grasping that to unscrew the antenna from the mount. I'm not sure if that part is supposed to unscrew or not but I suspect that it's just a flaw in the one I have. Other than that, it suits my needs just fine. I have it mounted on my trunk, but its short enough that I have no need for the folding feature. Here's the surprising part, It even functions well as a back-of-set antenna on 2m!!! Using a right angle (90 degree) pl259/so239 adapter on the back of the radio, directly connected to the antenna yeilds a nearly perfect SWR on the 2m band! Got me in to the local repeaters before I could erect a base antenna.