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Reviews For: MFJ-969

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-969
Reviews: 115MSRP: 199.95
Description:
Covers 160M to 6M, 300W
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-969
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001153.5
KT4EP Rating: 2015-04-13
New meter lamp, tuner OK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a prior review or two... Saturday, I attended a local hamfest and talked to the MFJ guys about the burned out meter lamp. The rep gave me two new lamps, no charge. Yesterday, I replaced the lamp and all is OK. I never got an answer from the rep as to why they burn out so quickly.

Looking back and not knowing better, next time I will go with another make/model/manufacturer. I have a 20 plus year old small MFJ tuner similar to the newer travel tuner, and liked that product, so I bought the 969 based on prior experiences. I will say this, the 969 will tune anything I hook-up to it.
W7MCK Rating: 2015-03-24
Works Good Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought mine for $120 out of Craigslist.
A month later I noticed the SWR meter jumping from
1:1 to over 5:1!
I was afraid I was going to blow my finals.
So, I opened it up and noticed that the open air inductor was burned in one spot and that is what was causing it when I would roll over that spot.
Be aware that this may happen from running too much power!
I also noticed that it was the original open air inductor.
Heck, the unit was 13 years old.
So, I replaced it, and never more a problem.
Other than that, it works good.
W2DI Rating: 2014-11-26
A definite step up from coil switch type Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had one of these several years ago and recently got another. My antenna is a 65' dipole at 30 ft, center fed with 75' of radio shack 300 ohm foam twin line (100 ft, $10). It comes into a Palstar 4/1 current balun, and then 2ft of RG-8 to the '969.
It tunes all bands, 40 thru 10 with no problem at all. Using 100 watts I've received very good signal reports and worked some nice dx.
I've used similar set-ups with the 'switched coil' tuners and there was always a band that wouldn't load up. Not so with the roller inductor. Once you get a few settings noted for each band, tuning is quick and easy - and the SWR is FLAT. The manual suggests starting points for the caps and the coil. And there is no RF in the shack.
The coil knob is large and turns with some friction, but it is not hard to turn at all.
The meter is big, and the 'peak reading' circuit is an excellent way to monitor your power output.
I really like this tuner. I'm sure you can get a very nicely built tuner of this type for $500 or $600. But for under 200 beans, I don't think you can beat it. Anyway, that's my humble opinion. I give it a solid 5 for doing a Mighty Fine Job.
Thanks for reading.
W8STU Rating: 2014-04-26
WORKS FOR ME Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is the second MFJ-969 I have owned. The first one I had to sell. I needed the money. I had so much good luck with the first one, I bought a second one. The tuner tunes about everything I throw at it. Yea, mine has the same tight inductance knob, but that does not bother me. The tuner works as it should. I love it. I would of rated the tuner a 5, but because of the tight inductance knob I rated it a 4... I would highly recommend the tuner. I got mine from WWW.HAMCITY.COM for $170.95. Best price on the net.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W8STU on 2011-03-03

Greetings,

I have had this tuner for only two days, but all ready enjoy it. The finish was great. The inductor tuning was very smooth and accurate. It is very easy to use. I like the fact it also came with a DC power plug. I don't need the 9 volt battery. I can tune everything except 160 meters. I only have an 100 foot W5GI Mystery Antenna. Over all I would highly recommend this tuner. You cannot beat the price of $184.00 from DX Engineering. If you are looking for a low power, (300 watt) tuner on a budget this tuner is for you. Thanks in advance. 73, Stu W8STU
PE1FCH Rating: 2013-11-08
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been working with the MFJ969 for a few months now. Yes indeed, the tuning process requires a bit of patience, but in my experience it will tune almost anything. No problems with the roller inductor, it does what is has to do: tune the antenna to the transmitter.
KD0OEC Rating: 2013-07-09
great barefoot tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I live in a antenna restrited zone,so I have to use indoor antennas and low power.My antenna is a G5rv configured in a three legged loop.I tried other tuners with no luck and thought I might have to give up the idea of operating DX with a indoor antenna.The MFJ 969 worked great it tuned this indoor G5vr jr. on 40-10 meters with near perfect swr.I haven't tried 80 meter let because I just don't have the antenna. I also haven't tried the tuner on 6 meters because I don't have that band.I can switch from 40 to 20 meter and by just adusting the knobs to the proper settings for that frequency I can have it set perfect so that when I tune up no futher ajustments are needed.The only fault that I can find is that the roller inductor is a little stiff to operate.If you are operating 100 watts or less and looking for a good manual antenna tuner for around $200. this is it.
N1EE Rating: 2013-06-04
Hate it but still have it... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I really hate this tuner. Like everyone else my bulb is out. And my roller inductor knob is stiff and the thumb indent needs a lot if pressure.

I hate that it wants to move around when I try to turn the roller inductor. I solved that by putting a heavy box on it and wedged it between some things. If you can mount I with brackets you will be happier--as long as you don't need to make changes to cabling.

It takes some experience to tune quickly, however, to go from 0 to 49 turns on the inductor takes a while and drive you crazy. I try to find the notch that drops the antenna side cap, then radio side cap and then scroll around with the inductor until the reflected power drops and then revisit the two variable caps.

It won't tune everything but it can tune most anything...which is why I have it--15 years or so now. That is a long time to hate something. To be fair, it tunes up to 6 Meters and is working with some amazingly bad feedline at the moment--something that an auto tuner could not handle and that might damage a radio.

What I should do it sell this and find a better quality tuner with a smooth roller inductor. Which is what you should do if you are thinking about this POS.

Better still, make sure you have good antennas and feedline and use a great auto tuner. It is worth the extra expense.
26JLH Rating: 2013-05-25
works but screws loose Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i got this used on flea bay.
inductor all loose as all i mean all the inductor screws were loose one was missing.
works ok now but this is a ham radio product it is put together in a very poor manner.
yes its ok now but it should not need to be repaired
befor you can use it.. jeff .. m0prf
W5YDM Rating: 2013-05-09
Works ok for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my MFJ-969 since 2008 and I agree with most of the reviews about the cheap quality, but mine must have been one of the better ones, since there are no loose parts or poor roller contact and the roller knobs turns easy. I made it even easier by greasing the gears. The tuner has never arced nor failed to match any antenna, and I use a lot of different wire antennas on bands they are not meant for. My only real complaint is one that no one else has mentioned...the scales on the cap knobs are reversed and so is the turns count on the roller, which means 0 on the caps means max capacitance and 10 means minimum, and 0 on the roller means max inductance and 126 means minimum. Why does MFJ build them that way? I emailed them that question and never got an reply.
GM4VGR Rating: 2013-04-20
Poor casework Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This tuner works fine but I cannot believe any respectable manufacturer would let a piece of equipment be shipped with the edges of the casework straight off the gullotine or saw.Considering the price here in the UK is £199 it's not a good advert for a product made in the USA