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Reviews For: MFJ 1026 Noise & Interference Canceler

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Review Summary For : MFJ 1026 Noise & Interference Canceler
Reviews: 122MSRP: 179
Description:
The MFJ-1026 is designed to reduce noise or interference, or improve desired signals, before the noise affects sensitive receiver circuits.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1026
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
151224.3
W4IW Rating: 2010-10-06
It Works Well! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have no idea what the last reviewer thought he was doing. Did he help anyone who is interested in this product by rating it poorly because he didn't know anything about his radio? NO. It works and does a great job. If he has a problem with his radio he should rate the radio poorly. The 1026 works for my worst noise problem, which is on 40m with the whip antenna. It also works great on 80m with the whip only. I haven't tried it on other bands as 40 and 80m are most of my use.
KC9OAA Rating: 2010-09-13
FANTASTIC Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was having just terrible line noise and with the electric company taking forever to address the problem,I obtained the 1026. While waiting for it to arrive I put up another antenna(g5rv) about 1/4 wave from the loop I use.As others have said the best way to make the 1026 to work for you,you need to pay extra attention to the auxiliary (listening)antenna.I had to do some antenna relocation to get the strongest -s- signal to null against.Overall great product,it brought back the enjoyement of 75 meters again!
MW0CVW Rating: 2010-07-13
MFJ 1025 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Quite pleased with the unit,
have been using it with my Icom IC756 Pro iii.

With some practice I am able to null out the local electricial noise and tv line timebases with good results.

You Have to play with the sensing antenna,which picks up the local noise tv,etc.

One question,what pins on ACC socket on the Icom IC756 do i use to enable the T/R switching on the 1026,as i am using the rf switching at the moment.

Paul MW0CVW.
WW5AA Rating: 2010-06-20
Steerable array Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After talking with Tom, N5AS (see below) I read the manual and was interested in the concept of a steerable array. My 160-6 doublet is centered over my low receiving loop which was connected to the RX input on the Pro-III with a home brew T/R relay. As luck would have it, a friend was downsizing and sent me the MFJ-1026. I work mostly low band DX and was very impressed with the capabilities of this unit. A-B tests by turning the unit on/off show that an unreadable weak signal in the noise could be peaked to 100% copy! This unit is a keeper.
VE3PTC Rating: 2010-05-07
1025 vy fb Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
well, its all been said before. i have tried various aux antenna's, beginning with centre fed dipole, but have found that dipoles fed in parallel for the bands i want to use/that are troublesome, works the best.
dont throw out an 80' wire and expect good results, you need to optimise your aux ant.
btw, i also use this unit on 6m, and it works great, although i do notice that it knocks the signals down a little.
if you have severe line noise, then this is the unit for you! good job mfj!
FORMER_NN6Q Rating: 2010-04-22
returned to dealer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The internal antenna could not be attached because the hole in the top and the stud on the board were too far out of line. There was very sloppy re-work in the pre-amp circuit: parts skewed on pads, solder blobs, excess flux. Could not get a null with external antenna. I have three other devices from MFJ and all work; this was the lemon and it cost me postage both ways. If you want to gamble on low cost/low quality gear, buy from a dealer who will take back defective merchandise.
N5AS Rating: 2010-04-16
It Really Works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been plagued with Plasma TV noise from my next door neighbor for the past several months. A local friend suggested that I try his 1026. He stated it worked well for his local line noise. I was reluctant to try it, but after sitting on my desk for a week and getting tired of listening to the noise, I gave it a try. I was amazed how well it removed the noise - gone. So I purchased one and returned his. Also it will remove line and other noises too. I have found that it will not eliminate multiple noises at the same tuned point. I just eliminate the most offending and listened to the others. An outside Aux antenna is needed for best performance.

I can't give any technical statistics or specifications on the unit other than it does work. Now I use it anytime I have noise.
LU2AW Rating: 2009-11-26
My antenna, my rig, my 1026! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Its amazing when you experience the theory in action! and when you can use it not only to fight an offending interference but also to mix and play with the product for two antennas as if it were two faders in an audio console.
I owned my stock unit since a week and extensively tested it from 160 to 10 mts.: no matter what, if its on both antennas it will be cancelled (most of the times completely) with the correct settings.
The adjustments of gain and phase are not that narrow to get a good null, all you need to have in mind is once you get a shy but clear null you are in the right phase setting, now its just readjusting the gain of both antennas to get the correct proportion of signal (noise) on each and achieve a deep null. (10 - 10 = 0, but 10 - 12 = - 2 and no matter what the sign of the product is, the noise wont disappear unless the amount of noise on each knob is right the same.

When I first tried it I though the 1026 was just a noise generator as increasing the main antenna gain only added more noise and buried the 5/9 stations I was listening to… A weak point on its design is theres no tuned circuits (except for a BCB HPF on the main port) to prevent overloading or desensing the preamplifiers if you live close to an FM broadcast station (theres one some 3,5 KM from my QTH)… Although this unit is intended to work from 1.8 to 30Mhz a strong 88-108 signal can turn it into a useless device, so I added a spare LPF at the main port, and the HF port of a VHF/UHF duplexer (cut off at 56 mhz) at the auxiliary port to fix the problem, no big deal except for the U$S150 added to the “kit”.
If you are aware of these “details” the MFJ1026 is a MUST HAVE for every station suffering of man made noise. Some more filtering, the ability to bypass the BCB filter to extend the range below 1.8Mhz and some other mods (listed on the web) could improve its performance a lot, but for the money its undoubtedly a good investment for those committed to improve their reception!!
I may have given it a solid 5 but the 4 is to MFJ as they need an incentive to go a little step further with this great station tool.

KG0WX Rating: 2009-11-08
Works great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
N4HNH (see his review earlier) nailed it! This device DOES work and work WELL (an MFJ???). Just follow the directions.

I'd like to add to what has been written so far:

1) Turn the Phase control SLOWLY (1 rpm) otherwise you might miss the sweet spot.
2) Your AUX (noise) antenna MUST hear the noise!
3) Set jumper 1 and forget using the built in antenna unless your main antenna is equally small (like for indoor antennas, etc).
4) If all you have for QRM is a little static, this might not be for you - the device will work better when you have a BIG QRM problem.

I bought mine to try to get rid of S1 power line buzz on AM only - not much of a problem so finding the sweet spot was difficult for me. However, I found I could eliminate WWV so much that it went from S9+20 down to S ZERO! (just a test) Oh, by the way a fading QRM is MUCH harder to get tuned to. This unit will be easiest to use on local QRM. If you've got TV/PC/Etc noise this will work GREAT.

What is neat is that I could now hear Spanish speaking stations that were under WWV (10Mhz) so it really does let you kill QRM and still hear what you want.

Impressive.

Oh, one last point - do NOT transmit into this unit unless you use the PTT line between your rig and the MFJ 1026. I've read enough of the reviews here and elsewhere to indicate that the internal RF sensed switch is only about %40 reliable so if you use it, expect to blow your 1026 one day.

Ken KG0WX
G1DRP Rating: 2009-11-07
Fantastic! I can enjoy my hobby again. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have the MFJ-1025, which I bought from Waters and Stanton. It arrived within 24 hours of placing my order and I couldn't wait to try it out on 80 Meters.
I use a Degen active loop as my "noise" antenna and my 80 Meter loop as my main antenna. I have suffered from broadband noise since January this year, which is radiated by telephone lines. The 1025 has totally eliminated this noise and now, I can hear the VMARS AM net on 3615KHz again.
5/5 in my opinion. I would have scored 6/5, if I could! The only let down is the absence of a mains power supply. I shall build myself a mains filtered, regulated mains power supply as soon as I have the time.
I have used it with my National HRO MX and my Marconi R1155A, with excellent results.
Well done and thank you MFJ!
73,
Ian G1DRP