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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
K6BSO Rating: 2010-03-31
First Impression Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got my 259B yesterday so it's way too early to give it a full review. However, in the interest of fairness given the number of people who have complained here about MFJ's quality control, the unit I received was in perfect condition when I opened the box and functioned as expected per the manufacturer's specifications.

Testing my various antennas with it was a real eye-opener, by the way, since almost none of them worked the way I thought they were working. Turns out that the unit is educational as well as useful.
KI5WX Rating: 2010-03-17
DOA Junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought my MFJ-259B from a MFJ dealer at our local hamfest 3/13/2010. when I opened the cover to insert batteries I was shocked to see that there was no battery case! They forgot to install it. To make matters worse, the DC input jack was so mis-aligned with the opening that the adapter plug wouldn't stay in place. Then I looked at the meters. They were reversed! The SWR meter was in the "impedance" opening and the Ohms meter was in the "SWR" opening. The mode & gate buttons were binding due to misalignment between the board & the case. Customer service at MFJ has been awful. I should have known better; their reputation for making junk is well deserved! I will return the analyzer at my expense to the dealer who is out of state and hope for a refund.
WM9V Rating: 2010-03-04
where we would eb without mfj? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
you know, i saw the early ones at dayton and finally got one a couple of years ago . I kicked the crap out of the poor thing 'cause i'm used to expensive test equipment and this is portable...
first off ..there is a general feeling that mfj stuff is junk. it could be built far better and as usual I ended up rebuilding it and servicing it myself. I broke the lcd and ordered a new one and replaced just the lcd not the entire board . sure enuf ,i plugged in the wrong adaptor and overvoltaged the final and the switch transistor. there are schematics online if you look and you will be able to replace these parts. taking the meter apart and servicing it is clumsy and cheap, as to be expected, but the parts were available from mfj who, gave great response on the phone ;quick and available. Buy the meter with the uhf section in it . change the jumper in it for charge and put in nimh or better rechargeables . this thing makes a digital camera look anorexic. it will eat batteries so think adaptor when it comes home.
Someone should come up with a companion video that demonstrates real world uses for this extremely versatile piece of amateur test equipment. It has a thousand and one uses and the mfj docs don't begin to do it justice.
naturally in sure the newer products with better lcds will graph also .

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Earlier 2-star review posted by WM9V on 2009-01-02

actually kudos for providing a resonably priced product with many of the features of far more expensive test equipment
all my experimentation ground to a halt here when i blew mine up by plugging into higher voltage adaptor
naturally a gig smt part and an fet smt were bad
simple diagnosis.... replace the little black things that are getting hot
i downloaded the schematic for the 259b and the alignment manual that they use to build the product
this was posted by another ham... thanks to him
he had to call mfj for documentation
i also broke the lcd on the front and reodered the new display board
i replaced just the lcd and left the original board in it
mfj answered the phone and shipped the part promptly
i got the new smt transistors from digikey
their chat tech line guy got me new part numbers
promptly
as far as the product is concerned
here is what needs to be done
this product still suffers from the packaging
lack of sophistication that is so obvious
the push switches ....lose em
i have tone of scrap boards from other products here so im luckier than joe six pack ham who wouldnt have a chance second sourcing those parts
the display is easy to break
the battery situation sucks
remember all those batteries you had to put in digital cameras ?..
well this is just as bad ,...
worse considering a dozen brand new aa alkalines wont last long
there is a jumper inside for charging that needs to be reconfigured for nimh batteries
thats what i recommend
the connectors on the top need to be moved
so that the board inside can be easily accessed
and taken out to service
the menus are the usual confusing interpretation from the korean mindset but they are useful
the freq counter is unstable but that is not a standard anyway
this is probably one of the most popular products to come along in the last 20 years ...
look at the postings
if i could afford an anritsu or wavetek or bird with a color lcd display then thats what id buy
better yet put a usb port on this and or a color lcd display and get it to graph
fix the cheapness of the controls and make it easier to service or ruggedize it
make it so you could give it to the cable guy and he couldnt break it
aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
anyway ....ive calibrated about 20 antennas with this thing and its great for debunking all the crappy hygain junk out there
wish i had uhf on it too but then again the 269 a
friend owns trashed the uhf circuit and he had probs with that one too
when i get time i will sit down and recalibrate this one... they could do a better job on the circuit design ...not that advanced
its a pic processor and little lcd with a couple of smt devices in an aluminum box... ok.. does that answer your question?
K6SDW Rating: 2010-01-09
Surprised........ Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm always surprised with something sold by MFJ actually works and the 259B works as claimed! I've had my at least 10 years and it has never failed...well, knock on wood HI HI

Cheers All
KJ2P Rating: 2010-01-09
Functions as advertised Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Excellent little tester. SWR readings agree exactly with Flex 5000A. Case is rugged, but a bit crude.
Considering that the price is lower than other good meters, the 259B is a bargain.
K6GAK Rating: 2009-10-04
Very useful tool Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is not a laboratory grade test instrument, but it's more than adequate for the needs of 95% of amateurs who tinker with antennas (2 meters to 160 meters). It's a solidly built unit with easy controls and readouts. It's battery operated (rechargable batteres and a built-in trickel chargr) or a power cube for 110v operation. You can buy a nice case for it, along with the batteries and grid dip coils, for about $90 extra. Think back to the last antenna you put up and how much time and sweat something like this would have saved you. Don't worry that it's not a precision instrument. It will more than handle what you need and the cost is reasonable. A large number of the antenna problems I've had over the years relate to antenna tuneup. So get an MFJ-259B right away. You'll be glad you did and also become immediately popular with your ham friends who will want to borrow it.
UY7CW Rating: 2009-10-04
No problem! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine 2 years ago to make my life easier and to be able to tune up my balcony antenna(Buddipole-also a great product) faster and more precise. Since then I use my MFJ259B and have no problems of any kind... As you can imaging I have to use the analyzer very often since when changing the band the fisical dimentions of my antenna also change and even so I didn´t need to replace the batteries(price-1 Euro for 10 pcs:))for over a year.
I am more then contented with this product. UY7CW
KD7AWG Rating: 2009-09-22
The “Sine Qua Non” of Antenna/Resonant Circuit Design/Testing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
If you are looking for a lab-quality instrument stop here! However, if you want a good and reasonably-priced piece of test gear, the MFJ-259B Antenna Analyzer is what you need.

An antenna analyzer is a very good piece of gear to have in your shack. Years ago, I built a 15/20M trap dipole and adjusted it with a Millen antenna impedance bridge and a Millen grid dip meter. Upon transmitting, the results were D. O. B. accurate and I saved hours of time and possibly a set of blown finals. I got the 259B for the same reason I used the Millen gear decades ago.

I suggest that one reads the instruction manual and pays particular attention to the caveats regarding operation in RF fields and possible instrument damage due to not heeding their warnings.

An examination of the interior of the unit reveals a reasonably well-constructed “amateur-radio” grade piece of test instrument.

I hit a couple of “bumps” with the unit and found the MFJ Customer Support staff is courteous and knowledgeable.
WD8LIC Rating: 2009-08-05
Wonderful!!!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am one of those "challenged" hams that lives in a restricted condo. And, my Dad , age 90, is a ham living in a "challenged" assisted living facility. We both have ISOTRON Antennas. If you know anything about ISOTRON antennas you know they are a bear to tune. But, once tuned, work FB.

Prie\r to buying my 259B, it would take hours to properly tune my 20/40/80 ISOTRON set up.

So, I bought the 259B. Presto! Tuned in 5 minutes. Works wonderful!

Thank you MFJ! You saved me and my ISOTRONS.

By the way, if you are an ISOTRON owner and are frustrated or disappointed with your antenna, beg, borrow or steal a 259B. Your antenna and you will appreciate what the 259B can do that you can not do, which is tune the antenna in 5 minutes.

73,
de Bob WD8LIC
NA7I Rating: 2009-07-23
OK - some problems Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My first MFJ item - worked as advertised, making setup and tuning of a TAK-tenna easy. Could have done it with rig in basement, but then I would have been in and out of house each time I tweaked it. Much easier to stand there and move the contacts on the antenna, watching the display on the 259B. Of course, it requires 10 AA cells to operate outside, but it's worth doing that for the convenience. Have some other 'stealth' antennas planned that this item will help with.

I do have a problem with the ON/OFF button - it is buried so deeply into a circular recess (for protection, probably) that it is hard to activate with my flumsy fingers. Can use a pencil-eraser, but don't always have one. The main problem here is the button is almost impossible to activate with the fabric 'cover' (accessory) installed. I say 'almost'; I have *never* been able to get it to turn on/off with cover in place.

Don't buy the fabric cover - mine almost separated putting it on the box. I doubt I'll go out and measure antennas in the rain, anyway - even with the cover.

BTW - reading other reviews above, and having learned the hard way in another hobby, I will no longer buy *any* battery holders from Rat Shack - at least half (about 6 of 10) fail to maintain good electrical contact, brand new. So far, the ones in the 259 are OK....

Dick - NA7I