| W3KKO |
Rating:  |
2020-05-28 | |
| Much better than I expected |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I received a used MJF 1699S antenna as a gift from a fellow ham. I placed it on a Breedlove puck mount in the middle of a Taurus trunk deck lid. Bonded the lid to the car chassis in 2 places via tinned braid. I was very surprised by the antenna performance coupled with my 857D and YT100 tuner. It rocked on 20M stateside and into Europe, but the number of 40M contacts I made was very surprising. I logged VK3MO in Australia one morning on 40M while driving to work, Japan one evening, and several other ATNO's. It allowed me to check into the MEPN on 80m occasionally while mobile, albeit with a very light signal. While not a $1K+ screwdriver antenna, this one has been versatile for me and has exceeded expectations. Keep in mind your mileage may vary. I'll be installing in the back yard for Field Day to see what it'll do on a tripod with counterpoises. Given the price, I think its worth the investment especially for experimenting. |
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| K6PBL |
Rating: |
2018-02-19 | |
| I would but it again |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This antenna works better than I expected. I have the antenna in a 5” mag mount on top of a GMC Sierra Crew Cab pickup. Accelerating quickly, or going around corners at high speed, will cause the mag mount to release. An antenna spring helped, but I am going to go to the Tri mag mount to resolve the issue. The best SWR I could achieve on each band is: 2m – 1.2, 6m – 1.4, 10m – 1.0, 12m – 1.2, 15m - 1.2, 17m – 1.4, 20m – 1.4, 30m – 1.3. 40m – 1.2, 80m – 15.4. The antenna is not suitable for use on 80m or above in my application. |
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| W4PIG |
Rating: |
2017-09-13 | |
| Surprised |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| This antenna works great for me not in car lots of times was very surprised with results. For $70.00 you can't beat it |
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| KB1CKT |
Rating: |
2017-09-10 | |
| One issue |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
To be fair, I have not used yet. So I can't say how it works. But my first impression is thus: I bought with the hope of using it on an extension mast for improved efficiency; and had hoped to do likewise with a longer whip. Well, the base is the 3/8x24 as expected, but the whip isn't! I'm not sure what it is, it's almost M9x1.00; it's not 5/16 and it's not 3/8 but between those two. I can put a regular 3/8x24 whip on but it grabs like a quarter turn and that's it. Ok for fixed operation, but not what I had hoped for.
Otherwise, looks about expected. It uses shrink wrap tubing around it, and while it looks good around the tap points, at the very top I'm dubious about how well sealed it will stay over time.
Will update when I get around to using it. |
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| WU3U |
Rating: |
2016-12-01 | |
| Very Impressed! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
So far I couldn't be more impressed with this antenna. After reading some reviews on this site, the first thing that I did after the antenna was delivered was remove the original MFJ set screw and I went to the local hardware store and bought a longer, hardened set screw. That has eliminated the chance of what other people have said about the screw being too short or stripping out after a few uses. To date, I've adjusted this antenna about 15-20 times with no set screw issues.
The reason that I bought this antenna was that even though I don't typically run an HF rig in my mobile I thought if I could, I'd do some National Parks on the Air activations.
I bought the MFJ triple magnet mount, connected two 1/2" grounding straps to the two screws on the bottom of the plate that runs between the three magnets and ran the straps to two screws on the hatch of my SUV and off I went.
My radio is an Icom IC-7100 and I'm using an LDG-100 Tuner. With the IC-7100 at home I can usually just hit the tuner button around the middle of the band and I'm good on either side. With the IC-7100 in the car using the MFJ-1699S it's not quite as flat across the band and I have to tune a little more often but that's not a big deal.
What I'm most impressed with about this antenna is, as an activator, I've made 544 National Parks on the Air contacts while at 4 different sites! Those were all of 40 meters. So far I've never activated on 20 meters just because of the band conditions at the time of activation but...the other day I still had the HF radio in the car so I thew the antenna on and heard a National Park station at Point Reyes National Seashore in California on 20 meters and I was able to make a 5-5 QSO with him! I was sitting in a parking lot near Pittsburgh, PA. That was over 2200 miles from where I was sitting!
No, this antenna is not a screwdriver antenna with a button that will let you tune it from inside of the car but I think if people knew how well this thing worked for the price, MFJ would have a hard time keeping them in stock. If something eventually were to happen to this antenna, I would quickly order another one. I've had hours of fun with it so far and actually, I'm activating another park this weekend! |
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| ZF1PB |
Rating: |
2016-10-14 | |
| GREAT ANTENNA |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This is a great little antenna, I have worked ALL OVER THE WORLD on,10,12,15,17,20,40,and 80 meters,so far, I am VERY IMPRESSED with this antenna as it's only mounted on a magmount on my truck, with a good BRAIDED GROUND to the truck body which it REALLY HAS TO HAVE!!. CONS: One of the few things that SHOULD be improved on is:(1) The setscrew (TOO SHORT and,(REPLACED WITH LONGER STAINLESS STEEL ONE)and Allen wrench is a VERY SOFT STEEL and didn't make the FIRST ADJUSTMENT as it stripped and had to be REPLACED (2) The Bands/Taps SHOULD BE MARKED PROPERLY for ease of QUICK BAND identification,(3) The "STINGER" could be at least 2" LONGER, as it can barely touch the setscrew when its FULLY EXTENDED, I also marked the stinger with a MARKER AND GROOVED LIGHTLY WITH A FILE for QUICK AND EASY band adjustments,(4) ADDED A SPRING TO THE MOUNT(FOR TREES AND VIBRATION PURPOSES ONLY)so,with the modifications I have done I am REALLY ENJOYING THIS ANTENNA,I intend to buy another one shortly to keep as a spare and also work MARITIME MOBILE, feel free to email me at: zf1pba@gmail.com,if you have any questions or suggestions,73 Phil |
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| WB5LFV |
Rating: |
2016-09-08 | |
| really good antenna with some effort to use |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| excellent antenna! I love the way this antenna works its easy to tune and simple to use! I installed it on the truck at the radio store tuned it up and worked a net before I left the store so nice antenna! I have a long piece of rg-8 house coax with a coax choke right under the antenna at the back corner of the bed of the truck at the tailgate and it works well! and hears very good. so if you want a antenna that takes little effort to tune on each band then this is the antenna for you!! :) |
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| WM4RB |
Rating: |
2014-11-09 | |
| Can't beat it for the price |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have used this antenna for over a year. I have 2 of them installed on 2 different vehicles and they work great.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by WM4RB on 2013-06-13
My daughter Emily WE4MB purchased the MFJ-1699S antenna for my Fathers Day gift this year (2013) along with the MFJ-348S trunk mount. It came a few days before Fathers Day and she went ahead and gave it to me. I was amazed how quickly I was able to install it. Tuning was very easy. It works better than I expected. I had a signal report of 59 on 75 meters and the same on 40 meters. It receives really well. The antenna comes with good instructions. This antenna is well constructed and looks good too. For the price you can't beat it! |
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| K1DUN |
Rating: |
2014-11-08 | |
| Great little antenna! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I bought this antenna at HRO on a whim. I had been looking at similar style antennas for my ICOM IC-706 Mk2 and thought this would be a perfect pairing. The price was right, too! I was not disappointed. After buying this, I immediately mounted it on the trunk lid mount on my car, and proceeded to get a couple of QSOs in Georgia and North Carolina on 10 meters from Colorado without even trying! For the price, this is a great investment. Granted, I had to spend about 20 seconds tuning the whip and plugging the "Wander Lead" into the correct hole, but then again, as a ham operator, I'm not one to mind when I need to perform a little equipment adjustment to get a good QSO on HF. The whip length adjustment is not as picky as one would think. Switching from 2m to 10m is a breeze. The whip stays the same and all you do is change the lead. And for 2m to 6m, all you do is change the whip 2 inches. The other bands take a few seconds more of adjustment. I know it's not an ATAS, but I didn't shell out the bucks for an ATAS either. |
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| K9AQ |
Rating:  |
2012-10-29 | |
| New antenna misrepresented in MFJ Catalog |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I own several other MFJ mobile antennas, their "hamstick" clones and the short short mobile whips, and have been very satisifed with them. When MFJ introduced their new 1699, which based on the catalog ad apppeared to be an Outbacker "knock-off". The ad indicated that band changing was super-easy by changing the wander lead and it gave the antenna height as 65".
When I got the antenna I was very dissappointed to find that the antenna was only about 45 inches, and that you have to readjust the length of the top whip every time you want to change a band! The quality also leaves a lot to be desired. The Allen head set-screw that you have to readjust every time you change bands only lasted for the first band adjustment. It is very soft steel and I had to replace it. The bandwidth is also very limited after you get it adjusted. Save you money and buy a Hamstick for each band you want to operate, it will cost less and you can change bands faster! I have requested my money back from MFJ. |
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