Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: MFJ 90-Series

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : MFJ 90-Series
Reviews: 37MSRP: 189.95
Description:
Mono-band HF QRP CW Transceiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00373.6
KD7FAU Rating: 2001-08-05
Never again Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the 40 meter rig over a year ago. Seemed to be just what I wanted, a light weight rig for back packing. About the only good thing I can say about the rig is that it was light weight. Didn't matter how long you let it warm up, couldn't stay on frequency. I complained to the maker and sent the rig back. Waited for months, no answer. Called MFJ up and was told that my repaired rig was being sent out that day. Imagine that? Got my radio back and guess what? Nothing was changed! I called MFJ again and sent the radio back for repair. Common sense took over and I called MFJ and told them I wanted my money back. They said the problem was fixed and would have the new and tested radio sent to me that day. I'd waited months for the radio and had a belly full of run-arounds. I got my refund and bought a real radio, an Elecraft K1. Never again will I deal with MFJ.
KC2GZV Rating: 2001-04-11
Adequate Perfomance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've got an MFJ-9030, and I've had mixed results. On the positive side, I routinely work Western Europe and the Western United States from New Jersey, and I've gotten decent signal reports. It's simple to set up and use. It runs well on a wall adapter as well as a 12-volt battery.

On the negative side: the VFO does wander. Another reviewer on this site characterized it as the VFO wandering like a drunk. My VFO may not be totally fitshaced, but it's definitely into its second martini. I need to continually adjust it, especially when copying a weak station. A more annoying problem is that the receiver picks up a shortwave broadcast station throughout its entire tuning range. The station is on the air from about 8:00PM to 1:00AM EST. This raises the noise floor and makes reception troublesome. Finally, I bought the companion wall adapter, and it mysteriously blew on me when I unplugged it from the rig.

If I could do it all over again, I probably would have sucked it up and bought a K1 kit.
KC2FPR Rating: 2001-02-22
Non Non - Kit Builders answer to QRP Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Ok it's agc(?) is thumpy. However, the reciever is nice and sensitive. Tuning is tight. I like it's sturdy case. A real winner for rough handling. Mine is an MFJ 9040 40 meter rig and I have made many good contacts. I have the narrow filter which I would like a little tighter, but hey it's not a Ten Tec. All and all a solid proformer that's made more for the road and backpack then the shack, but can do the job regardless. Good new but a bargain when found used.
K1OPQ Rating: 2001-01-22
MFJ-9030 gets excellent results! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had excellent results with this radio whether tent camping and throwing a wire up in a tree, or using it at home in the shack. I have run it powered by a gel-cell , a car battery or a nice DC supply with never a problem with poor keying or drift. The radio is stable, has ample audio output, and is a treat to use.It covers all of the 30 Meter band. I have A/B compared it on receive with various rigs at different times- makes me wonder the attraction of a mega- buck rig. Mine does not have a narrow filter, nor a keyer. I have not needed a sharper receiver on 30 Mtrs, I use a small external homebrew PIC keyer.
NI8R Rating: 2000-12-20
not bad at all Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i purchased a 9030 in new condition with box and manual for under $100.00, that in its self qualifys for a great rig , the rig has a built in iambic keyer and narrow filter. the filter works very well , i is very narrow and if the other rig is a floater , your are in trouble if you dont shut off the narrow filter. i wish the keyer had
memory, but it does not. it is not sensetive
to a non resonate antenna and will transmit on a coat hanger(really). i am perfectly happy with the rig and will look forward to adding it to my mfj collection, i have a 9440ssb rig and it too is very nice.
WD8QJB Rating: 2000-08-18
One very good concept gone very wrong Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the 9030, because I didn't have anything to work 30m. I was thrilled to get my rig, and see what the VERY attractive little thing could do. The few controls had a nice tactile response and the rig looked like the real deal. It's when I plugged it in that I knew that the 9030 was the mis-execution of a good idea. The VFO wandered like a drunk. I tried other power supplies and allowing extended warm up time. I called MFJ and, right off the bat they said they had never heard of such a problem. I would later find out that they had indeed heard of the problem, and had been advising users to change out two caps in the VFO circuit to remedy the problem. MFJ would later blame their supplier (indirectly) - but the problem was simply that the VFO design was at fault. While other manufacturers had figured out how to design and build stable VFOs, MFJ failed to learn from their experience. They were, it seemed, expecting the customer to re-design their product. Maybe that kind of thinking will wash when we're talking about kits or homebrew, but not for a radio represented as off-the-shelf workable - even at this price point.

I demanded and got a refund from the dealer, and bought a fully usable radio (Icom 707) with which I am very satisfied. It's sad really, that MFJ screwed up the 90 series. It's the right look, feel, and purpose. Had it been better designed in the VFO, the QRP world would beat a path to this radio. I realize the 707 is not in the same class, but I decided that if the quality of the 9030 was representative of the low-price end of the ham radio price spectrum, I was going to move up the ladder.

Worse, MFJ seems to have made the same mistake (same VFO design) with the Cub! Talk about hard-headed!

I have used other MFJ products and find them a good value. Their personnel (despite my 9030 experience) have been friendly and considerate. Don't shun MFJ as a whole, but think twice before buying the 9030. It's junk.

N.A. Rating: 2000-01-09
MFJ9020, Thumpy, Drifty, Temperature Sensative, In Time Owned: unknown months.
MFJ 9020, Been using it for allmost 3 years. It IS temperature sensative, i.e. during BUBBA or FYBO the transmit/receive freqeuncy split gets a bit wild, requireing excessive use of RIT. It doesn't like supply voltage below 12.1v, it drifts a little, Not like the old Swan 350's, but you hafta chase it around a bit. AGC is a little THUMPY, and slow to recover.
BUT!!!!
I have taken this radio out in BUBBA, FYBO, 2 Field Days, and countless camping trips/quick runs to the park... and it has been badly abused, and I just worked Doc (K0EVZ) on it. I have killed my Argonaut, Butchered my HW-8, and completely destroyed my old Swan 350, but the 9020 lives on!!!!
And!!!! I bought it USED!!!!
Who knows what happened to it before I got it!!!
Overall, Not a BAD radio for the price!
(Third Star for durability!)