| K4HX |
Rating:      |
2002-10-07 | |
| One of MFJ's better models! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought one of these MFJ-941's (mine's a "D" with the black face) at a hamfest, used. I wanted a small tuner to use with my Icom-706 for portable operation. I can tell you that the little 941 is a very good performer! It works just as a tuner should, and does a great job with a G5RV.
It is rated at 300w, but I have actually used it with a small sweep-tube amp (Amp Supply LA-1000-A) with satisfactory results at 450 watts. No arcing was heard.
Too bad MFJ's bigger tuners aren't built as well! |
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| NE0P |
Rating:      |
2002-06-30 | |
| Works for me! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought a 941D from a local ham, knowing that the meter did not work on it. Was just looking for something to use mobile. It is now in the shack, and had performed perfectly here. My HF rig has a built in power and SWR meter, so the meter on the tuner is not a problem. This tuner will match anything I throw at it, with no arcing. Have loaded my Quasi G5RV homebrew dipole on 160 meters with no problem, and the tuner will even work on 6 meters. Now it does not have the feel and quality of a Nye Viking tuner, but it also costs 1/5 as much. For around $100 new you get a tuner that will match anything, a SWR meter, an antenna switch, and a balun for twin lead or single wire feed. This is a great value. I have had a 941E in the past and did have a little problem with arcing on occasion, but I did not have a real great ground on it either. |
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| KG4NVV |
Rating:     |
2002-06-06 | |
| So Far, So Good |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I bought my 941E (black face) brand new at a hamfest last year, and so far it has worked fine with my G5RV and two other dipole antennas. As noted in other reviews, the feeling of quality just isn't there, although I have not as yet had problems with loose components that other folks have had. Nonetheless, I cautiously recommend it. I've worked over 90 countries and numerous contacts all over the states with it.
After putting up my G5RV, I recorded all the required inductor, trasmitter capacitor and antenna capacitor settings to get close to 1:1 SWR with my ICOM 718 on the bands I work. I can usually repeatedly turn the knobs back and forth to the recorded numbers and be assured of having reasonable SWR of 1.5 or less. Of course, on some of the wider bands (such as 80 M, 15 M or 10 M), some adjustment may be needed depending on the exact frequency, but this is to be expected.
My only beef so far with this tuner (and it is a minor one) is that the tuner's SWR meter does not exactly match the ICOM 718's SWR meter when I'm tuning up. The tuner SWR will typically read 1.3:1 or so when the 718 SWR reads 1.1:1. I admit that I can't prove which of the two is closest to reality, but I suspect that the tuner's is the one that is less accurate. Obviously, the receiving station won't notice the difference between these values!
73, Raf |
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| KC8PMM |
Rating:     |
2002-04-14 | |
| Works great |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| This is the first tuner I have ever owned. I bought it from a friend for $60 and it has exceeded all my expectations. It can tune a 5:1 antenna system to nearly 1:1 most of the time. I have since bought a cushcraft 4-band vertical and only need the tuner when going below 40 meters. It still works fine for that PLUS to go on 6 meters. The 4 rating is because it takes some "finesse" to get it adjusted sometimes, but that might be the case with all tuners. |
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| KC8ERP |
Rating:     |
2002-04-08 | |
| Works good for me |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have had this tuner for a little over a month now, and it has performed well for me so far. It will tune my 40M dipole (@25ft.) on 80, 40, 30, 15, 12, and 10 meters, to below 1.5. Tunes a 20M dipole that slopes from 10ft to about 2ft off the ground on 20 and 17M with to 1.0. So far I havent had any problems. The only reason I don't give it a 5 is that on 17, it can be tricky to get a match, as the nulls are very narrow. This could be due to the extremely low height of the antenna though. |
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| N8YV |
Rating:   |
2002-04-08 | |
| Not the best... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| My 941E is the "blackfaced" model. I am not sure what, if anything, this means but I will say that I wish I'd gotten a different tuner. Like others who have posted here, I had to tighten the loose bandswitch after just a few operations. The wires between the switch and coil were taking tremendous twisting strain. Odd thing is, after I corrected for this problem, all my settings were way-off! What used to be "K" was now "G", etc. The backlighted meter is fine, but the bulb is too bright---you could read a roadmap in the dark by the light emitting from the meter! There appears to be a problem with the tuner when selecting the external dummy load. I have a "can" type oil-filled dummy load with a perfect 50-ohm match, but when I connect it through the tuner (one of the reasons I bought the 941E), the SWR goes off the planet. I have also noted that when operating AM-mode phone, I get a squeal from the tuner until I touch one of the capacitor knobs. This disappears when I back the power down to around 10 watts, but this should not happen. I have the tuner grounded well, as with all my equipment, and it is bonded directly to the transceiver as well. This is definitely NOT a tuner I am too impressed with! |
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| WB2JUF |
Rating:    |
2002-03-03 | |
| Poor Quality! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Just got back on the air after 15 years QRT. Wanted something more compact than my old Dentron Mt-2000a which is still in moth balls at my old QTH, though it was a great tuner.
So, I bought a 941e (Black faced). Out of the box had the following problems:
1) The inductor switch was so loose in the cabinet that the aluminum tap wires were twisting back and forth. Not a big deal to tighten up, but still not really excusable.
2) the ANTENNA tuning variable capacitor was making a metallic scraping noise and I was having a very difficult time tuning a long wire. Opened up the cabinet and after viewing the (small) cap from all angles, was able to see where the plates were bent. I should have boxed it up at that point and sent it back. But I was really anxious to get back on the air, so I carefully realigned the plates with a small jewelers screwdriver.
It seems to work, but the tuning is so tight that I get cramps in my wrists sometimes from the narrow peaks/dips.
Overall, not impressed, but it will do until I get a better (more resonant) antenna in the air.
Marc, WB2JUF |
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| KD7MBN |
Rating:   |
2002-02-24 | |
| SHOCKING |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Get RF burns from the antenna dial on different freq's., and power settings |
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| K4CWO |
Rating:      |
2002-02-04 | |
| Excellent |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I have the black-faced 941E mobile with my 706MKII. It tunes flat across the band,10-80.ALSO, it tunes flat on 6 meters, although not adveretised for this. THis is a great mobile setup, if you desire a manual tuner. Have had no problems with anything loose, or, not soldered properly, or anything that has effected its performance. |
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| WB0WQS |
Rating:   |
2002-02-03 | |
| Did not work out of the box. |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Purchased mine about 6 months ago. My first new tuner out of the box.
Tried to tune up my loop antennas. SWR would not change, no matter
where the inductors and capacitors were set. Older Tuner loaded same antenna
with no problem. Opened up the tuner and inspected it for obvious defects, but
could not spot anything obvious. Put tuner in the box and have not messed
with it since. HOW FUN... Understand that any company can have quality
control problems once in a while, but amazed how many of these I read about.
Hopefully I will send it in before warrenty runs out.
That's all I have to say. Hope you have a better experience. |
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