| VE7RDO |
Rating:     |
2008-01-23 | |
| good value |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Bought in vr2 land 8 years ago. SERVICE FAILURES Have had the VOL wheel break - cause unknown. We're hams, the wheel was removed, repaired and remounted; now fine for 6 years. Careful board realignment almost cured the minor VOL wheel scraping. There is a bonus to the scraping in that the wheel is less likely to be bumped. One column of the LCD is currently off / suspect a bad solder joint, which will be serviced - eventually; it is not bad enough to worry about. When the battery dies enough to kill the LCD, the tutor will still work for another week or two, great for in-dark use because one is forced to see the words, instead of looking at the screen. Mine has been dropped several times, but is quite functional; not too bad for a low-cost consumer item. BATTERY life is reasonable if you remember to turn it off. COST is also not that expensive, considering manufacturing, shipping, brokerage and duties, distribution, small ham run volumes and retail mark-up Costs in North America. OPERATION There are many attributes that may be changed and some, like code speed - on the fly. It is user-friendly if you read the notes once or twice, enough to make some changes in the dark. I can't think of anything that it does not do, and do fairly well. AUDIO - the built-in speaker is just - OK, for quiet home use, but (a) decent earphone(s) may be prefered by many. Mine has been used during commutes, at night, in unscheduable dead time, and even in unfriendly temperature and humidity extremes, on two continents, and also while flying at high altitudes. SPEED My speed has climbed to 30 w/min plus, partly due to the MFJ418, and partly due to finding and using 'teach 3.1', a superb PC based code trainer, available as a free download at NZART, courtesy of ZL1AN and associate. After 35 years of not really touching CW, and two weeks of two - 20 min sessions/day with teach 3.1, followed by the MFJ 418, CW is easy and fun again (including a switch to paddles in 2000; from a straight key to a Vibroplex to the paddles.) NEW HAMS - For a new CW op., use teach 3.1 to learn your core code, (with a straight key please, thank you VE7FPM), then switch to the 418 to increase speed and comprehension, before switching to live receive/transmit code. You'll be using CW on the air in less than a couple of months given several minutes practice / day. Continue to use the 418 to increase your speed. One of the better investments for a ham, whether starting CW, or speeding up. MTBF should be ....20 years? That's cheap - think of it as $4 / per year. |
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| K6NT |
Rating:      |
2007-08-02 | |
| Very Handy |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I got mine about 9 years ago and it still works well. I used it to bring my code speed up from 5 to 13 wpm to pass the General test. It worked so well, I used it to get to 20wpm for the Extra test. That took less than 2 months of effort. Handy because you can use it anywhere with headphones.
Another use: my club has done some T-hunts, and we programed a short sequence with call sign and connected it to an HT at low power. It repeated in CW and kept everything legal. |
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| KE5GZR |
Rating:      |
2007-08-02 | |
| Outstanding Product |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I purchased the MFJ-418 over a year ago to prepare for the Element 1 exam. Although no longer required, I now have my code speed up to 10 wpm all because of this code tutor. It is very portable and I have taken it on business trips and family vacation. I recently broke the on/off switch due to my own negligence. This device has been very durable as I have dropped it several times on hard surfaces without any damage. I highly recommmend this product! |
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| VE1IO |
Rating:  |
2006-07-18 | |
| It sucks |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Just got my MFJ 418 and what can I say? We it was broken right out of the box! Tried 5 new batteries with the same results. Called the guy from MFJ and he was just plain rude and not helpful. He told me to return it to the store for an exchange. Had to ship it back to the store I got it from. I'm sure it will be weeks before I get a replacement. |
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| NT4Z |
Rating:      |
2005-09-11 | |
| Excellent tutor |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have owned my mfj tutor for about 2 years. I learned enough to pass the 5 wpm and I have used it quite frequently in the past year trying to get my speed up. It does help tremendously. However, there is nothing better than getting on the air and transmitting and receiving code. There is a huge difference in hearing almost perfect code compared to what you hear on the air. Also, I have had to replace the round turn on/off "knob" because it broke into two pieces. I purchased two extra ones from the factory for the next break. I also know that you cannot drop this unit very many times without having problems. And, for reading excellent code you WILL have to have earphones as the outside noises near you will interfere with your hearing. Overall, it is a GREAT piece of equipment for learning CW. |
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| VA7CPC |
Rating:      |
2005-06-21 | |
| Portable, and excellent! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I bought an MFJ-418 to supplement my PC-based (Nu-Code) software. I've been carrying it around for weeks, using it on subways, buses, planes. It fits nicely in a pocket, and the battery seems to last forever.
It handles 'custom character sets' nicely, so I can continue with my Koch method practice, synchronized with the PC. I'm practicing with the callsign generator as well, as a break from copying random character strings.
This box is a winner! Code practice may not be fun, but with the MFJ-418, it's very, very convenient.
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| WT4M |
Rating:     |
2005-01-16 | |
| Awesome tutor, but fragile looking case. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is about as many features as you could possibly want in a Morse code tutor. Does it all and does it well!
I did note that one other review pointed out that the quality is not in the speaker. That is an understatement, the speaker is really sorry. Don't even attempt to use it without headphones!
Also, I don't know if they all do this, but my volume/off switch scrapes against the case as you get about half way through the volume setting. This makes it hard to turn up.
The case is made of plastic, and I believe that if you dropped this thing from more than about 3 feet on a hard floor, you would be left with many pieces. I would give the manufacture/QA about a 3 with function coming in at a strong 5!
Makes learning the code a joy. All of the functions are excellent! For $80 they should spend a little more time ensuring that the volume knob does not scrape the case. For that matter, I am certain a more sturdy case would not hurt the profit margin too much at that price! |
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| KG4PWC |
Rating:      |
2003-12-29 | |
| Improves your skills at all levels |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I agree with all the comments below. I've owned this item for over a year. I use it to practice at high speeds in excess of 30 wpm using the word and call sign generators. Battery life is very good using headphones. I am not aware of anything like it on the market. |
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| N0CGF |
Rating:      |
2003-12-02 | |
| LEARN CODE EASY |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Learning Code used to miserable, using CODE TAPES.
The only relief was W1AW. Then I purched this at
a hamfest...With in hours my code speed jumped
15 wpm to 25 wpm. This experience was a FUN way
to learn code...well worth the money. The MFJ code tutor has put the FUN back in morse code.
73's Dennis |
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| KD5VOP |
Rating:      |
2003-12-02 | |
| A Jewel! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I passed element 1 last night, in no small part due to the MJF morse code tutor. I purchased one used from ebay this summer (based on these reviews), but wasn't able to fully study for my exam till last month. I used the ARRL CD's to get the basics down, then spent a majority of my time with the tutor. I recommend a simple pair of Walkman headphones, as the "money is not in the speaker". I especially liked the ability to select letters, numbers, prosigns, or combinations during practice. As I improved, I could adjust the number of characters sent, random words, and finally...QSO's. Yes, some of the character combinations do repeat themselves if you listen to it long enough..but this is not a bad thing. The tutor "knows" the characters that are most frequently confused (ie, B & 6, H & 4, etc) and when you hear those combinations often enough, I felt it improved my learning. Obviously, there is no short cut to learning CW, and now that I passed my exam, I need to get my speed up to a level where most hams operate. And this little jewel will do the trick. It will grow with you. Buy one and you will not be disappointed. |
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