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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
WD5IWN Rating: 2002-10-28
Works OK, but scratchy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The first thing out of the box was checking all the hardware. Had to separate a few wires from the inductor to eliminate crosstalk and very interesting noises under power. The inductor was VERY tight and required lubrication. The turns counter matched up very poorly with the gear on the drive shaft (it was jammed against the gear and required removal and remounting to get it to engage properly). The antenna switch has severe crosstalk (sometimes I have to look to ensure I am actually on the dummy load as I can still hear band signals). The good points: It tunes my 160-10M folded dipole to a 1:1 SWR anywhere between 1.8 to 30 MHZ. I even was able to load a 150 watt lightbulb just fine (that lit up the shack! No pun intended). OK for portable OPS.
Bottom line: Don't run more than 100 watts unless you want to replace parts. I am confident I would NOT want to run 300 watts through it.
KE6WED Rating: 2002-10-13
Does a great job for the money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I often find myself chuckling at the "rotten build quality" reviews of MFJ products. You get what you pay for. I have purchased many MFJ products BECAUSE THEY ARE INEXPENSIVE! I don't expect to have top of the line. When I want something better I buy something else.

There have been a couple of posts by guys blaming problems on the tuner when it was just their lack of knowledge - for example: getting a shock from the tuner is almost certainly NOT a tuner problem. It is most likely just a bad RF ground issue and is an indicator of a poor shack installation.

Anyway, this unit works "ok". It does a sufficient job. Yes, the roller inductor is hard to turn but it works. Yes, the connector center conductor needs to be re-sprung to make better contact.

Bottom line is don't buy MFJ if you want the best quality and top notch support or can't tolerate the occassional infant mortality issue but if you want low cost then go for it. Just remember, you get what you pay for.

Ron Curry
KE6WED
KG6MEG Rating: 2002-09-28
Update: Works great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have since used this tuner on the air, and it works perfectly. I have been able to load my trap dipole on any freq. from 10-80 meters. It can be a little inconsistant at times, but I suspect the recently changing climate.

Overall, I really like the features of this tuner.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by KG6MEG on 2002-09-19

I am a new Ham, and I ordered the MFJ969 because it was cost effective. It provides:

Forward and reverse watts on active control

Relative SWR

Antenna switch

Dummy load

Antenna tuning with airwound inductor.


All I need, aside from transmitters and antennas... Anyway, I have heard some bad reviews concerning loose components, wires, counters, etc. I can thankfully report that my particular tuner, revision 2F, arrived in perfect shape. I check all the hardware, only one bolt needed marginal attention. I took the advice of the more experienced Hams and used Tri-Flow (local hardware store $3) on the inductor, which is very nicely made. I was expecting a rubber band driven counter, but what I got was a gear driven unit of decent quality. The action is not silky smooth, but not bad. You can roll the entire range with one finger. I have not used it on-air, but I am anticipating good results.

73
Mike
K7WV Rating: 2002-09-16
Needs thorough checkover, then good performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using the MFJ 969 for over 2 years. After reading about build quality issues on the Web in doing research on the unit, the first thing I did upon removal from the box was to take off the cover and check over the interior. What do I see but a wire dangling in mid air! It had broken loose from it's terminal due to poor soldering and this unit would not have worked right out of the box! I resoldered ALL the joints with 4% silver solder and tightened all screws (some were quite loose). Also used TRI-flow bicycle chain lubricant on the moving parts of the roller inductor.

The unit has functioned flawlessly ever since. Even the original lamp still works; I am feeding it 12VDC from a wall wart.

Just check everything over thoroughly before use and it should serve well.
KC5CQW Rating: 2002-09-09
Good workhorse, needs oil... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you get this tuner, let me give you some op-tips!
#1: take the cover off and give it a good look around.
#2: If everything seems ok, give all the screws especially the roller inductor a good tightening.
Then coat them with some enamel I used some old leftover clear fingernail polish. It would be wise to wipe them clean with alcohol first.
#3: To fix the roller wrist exercizer, I used alot of this Teflon based lubricant called TRI-Flow. I found it at a local Bike shop. Coat every moveing part in this thing with the lube.

I can now use one finger with very little effort and tune this beast!!!
I haven't found any adverse changes in performance by useing Teflon on the inductor, however, DON't use dry types of teflon It will have insulating properties!

Damon, KC5CQW
WB7G Rating: 2002-05-28
Would not buy again Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I can not keep the roller inductor from skipping a few turns every so often. Thus the readings I take are not repeatable. (inductor setting for different frequencys.)

Maybe I have a bad one ?

Needed to put a boat anchor on top of it to keep
it from jumping around while tuning the knob.

It seems to tune up my G5RV ok on all bands.

Have not run over 100 watts with it yet.

Dave
N8YV Rating: 2002-05-27
Not Bad, Gotta Work It! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This tuner has garnered some reviews that may not be entirely fair, but that's life! If you treat this item as a tuner without compromise, you will be disappointed. It is however, a practical means to an end while avoiding some of the pitfalls of MFJ's 941E and 948 series tuners.

First of all, the tuner virtually REQUIRES a DC input source. This isn't just for the night-light bulb, as some users may think. The meters can't work very well without the DC, especially during peak-read function. Those that have posted here about the meters not working well, try plugging it into a 13.8VDC source with the supplied power cord---it DOES matter!

This is the ONLY MFJ tuner that I have owned (out of six, so far) that performs superbly as a peak-reading wattmeter. The active circuit is reliable and the compensation is nearly perfect, once proper null has been obtained.

The mechanical roller inductor works okay, but as already stated elsewhere, it is a "bear" to crank.
Fortunately for me, all three band-settings required for my sloper are within 20 turns of each other, so it is not a problem. Even with its "clunky" action, the roller inductor is FAR better than the lousy switched inductors I have used on most other MFJ tuners.

The meter is large and well-lit, easy to use and quite accurate. I like the built-in dummy load which makes the tuner handy for service work. The tuner's selector switch is convenient, as is the multiple outputs for coaxial feedlines.

All in all, for the money spent I would rather have this model than most other MFJ's.
W9ZB Rating: 2002-03-04
OK on most ant. conditions, hard to crank roller inductor. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have checked out the MFJ 969 antenna tuner somewhat now, and can say that it is ok, but not everything that I'd hoped. My antenna for the lowest frequencies is an Alpha Delta DX-LB inductively loaded wire dipole adjusted for the CW portion. My assumption was that the new tuner would allow me to move into the phone part of that band occasionally. I've tried that , but it just doesn't quite work. I can move a little away from the frequency of resonance of the antenna and get the SWR down enough that the rig won't shut down, but if I move far enough to reach the phone portion of the band it just won't reduce the SWR much at all. That Alpha Delta is real narrow (high Q, I suppose) on 160, but its still very disappointing. All other bands work fine on other dipoles I use, and it works good with a 6 Meter beam. I did open up the tuner to see the construction. The roller inductor is very nice looking, and is about 40 or so turns, about 2.5 inches in diameter and maybe 8 or so inches long. The variable caps look ok. Some wiring to the meter and other places is not cleanly dressed.
The tuner works fine on all the other bands, including 6 meters. Cranking that roller inductor control really is a chore, though. To change bands from 6 or 10 meters down to 160 means cranking that thing 40 turns. It is a little creaky, requiring a modulated effort and the "spinner" knob doesn't have a crank, just one of those thumb depressions. So it can require two hands, sometimes, to keep the whole box from jumping around. But it did produce fairly smooth nulls. I have so far avoided the short life of the meter lamp by running it from a 9V "wall wart" supply of about 11 volts under the light load.
The peak detector is great for SSB, but needs to be switched back out for tuning.
There is a 4:1 balun in it for use on balanced transmission lines. It looks kind of puny, with small wire; probably ok, but I haven't tried it yet. It also has a dummy load, which looks ok, non-inductive, and is good for 25 watts continuous, 100 watts for 1.5 minutes on, 3 minutes off, and worked well for me. There is a provision for a second antenna, too, which I use to good advantage. I think it is a good performer for the price. The only other I've owned is the Drake MN200, which has no 160, WARC band or 6 Meter provisions; no cross-needle metering, no continuously variable coil.
K3IVB Rating: 2001-12-09
GREAT FOR THE MONEY Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had two different 969 tuners and each one worked as expected.
N7LOA Rating: 2001-12-09
No complaints Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
My 969 Delux Versa Tuner II has worked flawlessly right out of the box. It tunes my G5RV, vertical and beam quickly and effortlessly. After reading so many negative remarks on this tuner I decided to remove the cover and see for myself. There are no rubber bands or O-rings, the AirCore Roller Inductor and counter are gear driven! I found no loose parts rattleing around inside. No cold solder joints, with the exception of a few less than professionally done. The only thing I can see is cosmetic, the case was scratched in three places. I think it deserves to have a better overall rating. Take another look guys they do upgrage their equipment