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Reviews For: MFJ-259B

Category: Antenna Analyzers

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Review Summary For : MFJ-259B
Reviews: 238MSRP: 259.95
Description:
HF/VHF Antenna Analyser
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-259B
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
152384.2
N1GMV Rating: 2014-02-10
Very Happy with MFJ-259b Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got mine last week. So this review is based on the 3 or 4 hours I have used it.
After a couple hours with it I immediately saw an issue with two vhf antennas.

One of the problems was water in the Belden 9913 feedline. The other (17' Workman fiberglass Collinear) had blown caps in the bottom section. Both are fixed up now and good to go.

Now I am going to use it to build a qrp antenna! This is a great little unit and did not cost a lot.
W8DEP Rating: 2013-08-24
Great Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased the MFJ-259B from HRO. The purchase price was $239.95 with free shipping. In my opinion it is a great product and does a fantastic job of helping one to find the lowest SWR of an antenna. It saved me a lot of time and money and stress related to trimming an antenna. It helps to simplify the work and put the fun back into ham radio.
KP4MLF Rating: 2013-07-21
Quality control??? Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
As many folks said, the analizer is good but looks like MFJ dont have Quality control, i bought mine new and after 2 weeks of normal use inside of my house (not at the field) i notice that big changes happens in the readings when move the antenna connector, after change all of my PL's connectors (thinking that this was the issue) and the problem continue i decide to open the analyzer and SURPRISE! there is a Cold Solder in the Antenna connector and are not giving a proper contact.

after solder it the analyzer continue working perfect. Good Product, Bad Quality control.
KN6SU Rating: 2013-07-18
Bulky, Boxy, Basic but Good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Admittedly looks kind of rough and flimsy, but it does a lot of antenna & feedline analysis chores and does them well. It's basically a very QRP RF generator that covers HF and VHF with analog needle meters and a digital LCD readout. The manual is fairly informative and explains how to use the 259 to check inductance and capacity values/reactance, measure frequency, and impedance match your antenna. It won't graph Smith charts for your antennas, but what do you expect for $250? MFJ is notorious for sloppy quality control (loose connections, poor solder joints, etc.) but these problems tend to show up early during the warranty period. You can either fix them yourself or return the product for repair if needed.
AG6QR Rating: 2013-07-10
Ugly, but does the job well Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I don't like the fact that it's big and heavy, with a poorly fitting case. But it quickly and easily provides the information I need to tune up an antenna to a desired frequency. I'm frequently experimenting with Buddipole configurations for various bands in different settings, and an analyzer makes the job SO much easier and quicker. While this does what it's supposed to do, I'm starting to shop for a smaller, sturdier unit for ultraportable field use.
KG4NVV Rating: 2013-05-14
Fine Piece of Equipment Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my MFJ-259B for about 3 years now and I've been very pleased with it and glad to have it. I used it to tune a vertical antenna I purchased the other day; it is quite accurate with the radio SWR meter agreeing very well with the analyzer! I've also used it to check the SWR for my 6 meter Moxon antenna and my roll-up VHF/UHF J-pole (the VHF part of it anyway, as the 259B doesn't do UHF). While I don't use it every day, it is there when I need it. Also, I find the digital readout very handy as it tells the resistive and reactive components of the antenna impedance.

The 259B may not have all the bells and whistles of other, more expensive analyzers but for a ham on a budget it is a good bargain. Mine seems to be just fine from a quality standpoint, no rattling or erratic operation that I've noticed. I have not tried to use some of the other features it has, such as frequency counting, etc. I'm sorry to hear about the quality issues others have had with their MFJ analyzers, but for the price and with the one year warranty that MFJ offers these rigs are well worth considering.
KJ4VVU Rating: 2013-04-24
Charger jumper connection Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I thought i'd give an update on the MFJ-259B. I found a loose connection on the battery/charger jumper. Flipped the plastic jumper over and seems to make a better connection. It's working much better.

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Earlier 3-star review posted by KJ4VVU on 2013-02-09

Battery holder doesn't hold the batteries tight enough to make the 259b work. Have to use an external source. MFJ needs to redesign the battery holder.
VK2FSTU Rating: 2013-04-22
Great tool that does a great job! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love this unit, it does all I need to do and hasn't failed me in the time I've owned it. If it ever fails, I'd buy another the same as it's used quite a lot and never fails to give what it's designed for.
G3SQU Rating: 2013-02-16
Great device - shoddy QC! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have previously borrowed an MFJ-259B and found it very useful (better than using my TX to set up n antenna!) so I decided to bid for a brand-new unit on Ebay, even if it did come to me via Bulgaria! Well I won the bid. It arrived in pristine condition, I applied 12vDC externally and it went through it's setup procedure perfectly. I then connected a 50ohm dummy load to the antenna socket - and it measured >650ohm. Oh dear. As the instructions actually tell you to take the back off the unit to set the battery links I did so and could see connection to the SO-239 socket was a dry-joint. Taking out the battery box for a closer inspection I could see there was actually no connection at all to the SO-239. Did they do a final test on this unit at all before shipping?
Fortunately everything now seems OK and the unit is starting to prove it's worth. But oh dear, what about some QC MFJ?
W9RJA Rating: 2013-02-09
Great test eq. for shack ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I don't write reviews usually, but I just purchased this MFJ antenna analyzer & I can't believe that I went all these years without an instrument like this. Mine works great! I compared it against my Daiwa swr meter & get the same swr readings. I like to experiment with different antennas, so I can see that this tool will make the hobby interesting again! THANKS MFJ!