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Reviews For: MFJ-1704 4 Position Switch

Category: Antenna Switching, Phasing, Controllers

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1704 4 Position Switch
Reviews: 53MSRP: 64.95
Description:
Four position switch with additional position for ground.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1704
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00532.8
N4MJG Rating: 2022-03-02
best antenna switch for my radios Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I PICK UP THIS SWITCH YEARS AGO AAT HAMFEST I USE IT ON 4 RADIOS ALL I WAS HAD TO DO IS HOOK UP MAIN COAX FROM OUTSIDE AND I PUT 4 RADIOS I USE ONLY 3 RADIOS WORKS GREAT I NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM WITH SWITCHES TO SWITCH 3 DIFFERENCE RADIOS AND WHEN I SWITCH WHAT EVER RADIO I WANT TO USE ! RADIO AR FT 847 AND FT 102 AND FRG 100 RECIVER ! WORKS WONDERFULL!
W4TU Rating: 2022-02-02
I've had mine for ~7 years with no problems at all Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine just works, period. It's a heavy, solid, reliable switch. It claims to have lightning surge protection. My house was hit a few years back and nothing in the ham shack was touched. Did the switch help? I don't know. It certainly didn't hurt. I also have a Daiwa switch and I don't think it's any better than the MFJ. Would I recommend the MFJ-1704? Based on my experience yes, I would.
MW0PTY Rating: 2022-01-30
Made From Junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Words fail how bad this switch is, so I'll just have to describe the problems.

I bought the MFJ-1704 from a silent key and it looked brand new and unused.
I tried to use it at QTH and quickly realised why it was unused. Strange SWR and 2 antennas intermittantly being connected (or no antenna).

Anyway, I took it apart and saw the problem - its just poorly designed and made from poor materials. The switch relies on metal fingers being pushed against a plate. The contact area of each metal finger is tiny and the metal plate tarnishes over time. Each metal finger is easily bent out of shape, causing them not to connect properly. Also the grease used on the ball bearing had gunked so bad, it was acting almost as a glue!
Over time, switch needs more torque to turn it (because of the poor lubricant design). This cause the knob to break its friction with the shaft. Once the knob no longer grips the shaft, thats it - There seems to be no way to tighten it again.

The Summary title says it all
N4UE Rating: 2016-10-25
One more 'wart' Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a bunch of these switches. Although I've had pretty good luck with other MFJ stuff, I STILL consider these switches 'semi kits'
I did some updating in the shack today and installed another 1704. I noticed the 'com' coax connector was not flush with the body. Removed the cover and the reason was clear....
The wire from the center of the coax connector was overly long and touching the casting.
The fix was simple, unsolder the wire, shorten the connector center pin and resolder a new piece of wire.

Like I said before, HOW can anyone screw up something so simple?
Semi-kit.

ron
N4UE

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Earlier 3-star review posted by N4UE on 2013-10-08

I have several of these switches. Mine that are in use are fine. I just bought 2 from the ePay place. One was fine. Looking at the other, the SO-239 were very crooked AND loose.
Took the back off and it appears that the soldering was done BEFORE the setscrews were tight....
So after some resoldering and tightening, the switch was OK. Checking the 'good' switch, all the screws were tight.
How can someone screw up something SO simple???
A previous poster was correct, the screws for the connectors do not contact a good quality connector, so they will probably loosen up. Overtightning will ruin the connector.
So, consider this another MFJ "semi-kit".....
ron
N4UE
VK6HP Rating: 2016-08-28
Be very careful with this switch Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I planned to use this switch as part of a test setup in which several transceivers were switched to one load. Before I did this, I checked carefully that the coax switch involved was up to the job from isolation (incl. auto input grounding) and other perspectives. While a number of my other switches were fine, this MFJ switch held a nasty surprise. Used carefully it may have been OK but it was possible to get a reasonable 'feel' detent between positions 1 and 2, and a less reasonable intermediate feel between positions 3 and 4. In either if these positions the respective inputs are BOTH connected to the output, and to each other. This would have been disastrous in my test application.

Taking the switch apart revealed the problem. There is a 'floating' PCB which is spring loaded downwards against metal fingers which are forced upwards by the plastic wiper control. The whole assembly is not really big enough and the wiper can push two contacts at a time into contacting the PCB. Very careful bending of the contacts and adjustment of the springs loading the PCB have helped, but I would not use the switch in any critical application.

The PCB assembly looks pretty cheap and nasty, and I have no idea how long the whole thing will last. I'd give this product a miss and spend the extra dollars on a better product.
LA9DAA Rating: 2015-01-17
No problems with it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Own 3 of these. Used With amps Expert 2K-FA and OM3500 ++ Operates HF+6m Never given me a problem. Best MFJ product owned
VK3DGN Rating: 2013-06-06
Works Fine - Poor QC Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This switch works fine (now). I opened it up after reading the reviews and discovered the solder connection to one position wasn't making contact - remelted to fix. I don't have an amp so no experience there. I'd urge users to remove the back plate and inspect before use.
N8YN Rating: 2012-12-31
Works great for me! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had an Alpha-Delta 4 position switch and could not keep the cheap knob on it....tried gluing it and it still broke loose....finally just threw it in the drawer and bought the MFJ-1704-4 and have not had any problems with it at all.....I would buy another one....
K2WO Rating: 2012-10-20
Pure JUNK! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Don't waste your precious time or money on this unadulterated piece of junk. It "may" start off ok, but after a little use, it will literally self-destruct. The allen screws that hold the SO-239s in place (!) will loosen and soon, the entire switch becomes inoperable. Oh, you can tighten them, but nothing will stop them from loosening again. Eventually, the threads in the casting wear out and there is only ONE solution.....throw the entire switch in the garbage can. Get an Alpha Delta 4B in the first place and you can save yourself A LOT of aggravation.
AD5VJ Rating: 2012-03-27
Works Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I like contesting and dxing. I work cw, phone, rtty, digital soundcard, you name it.

I have a 4 position and a 2 position switch.

Had trouble once while running WPX phone contest with the 4 position at around the 900th contact at full legal limit.

I diagnosed it to be a bad connection. I had melted the solder inside. Wrote MFJ and they replied within 24 hrs and sent out the connector I needed without any questions. Now shes back online and working great again. CANT ASK FOR MORE THAN THAT!!

Oh yeah, I also change the oil in my truck, like I tighten my connectors and check for bad coaxes, rusty tower parts, ect from time to time, doesnt mean they are bad, just means I am lazy if I dont.

Bob AD5VJ