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Reviews For: MFJ-16010 200W Random Wire Tuner

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-16010 200W Random Wire Tuner
Reviews: 32MSRP: 49.95
Description:
1.8-30MHz variable L-network random wire antenna tuner
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-16010
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00324.4
W6USC Rating: 2010-07-19
Nice Product and Size Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
picked one up from r&l electronics which were great in shipping fast, hooked a 40 foot piece of wire and it tuned great from 20 meters and below. was at 1.6 to flat 1.1 very nice. made few contacts and i was pleased on its 3 minute setup very portable, the wire was on a jackite pole about 30 feet. opened it up and it was built and soldered real good i highly recomended this wire tunner for portable and antenna restricted housing. 73 bruno
NG9D Rating: 2010-06-06
Handy for Portable/Field Use Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The MFJ 16010 is a well build L-network tuner and enables easy field operation using random length end fed wire antennas. I have used this ATU on 80 meters with a 75 ft wire, just over ¼ wavelength (see how it worked at http://www.youtube.com/user/NG9D#p/u/6/JPdtN6AtXmI ). On 20meter I have used it to match an End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) about 35 ft long (see http://www.youtube.com/user/NG9D#p/u/13/JD-DjQuL7bk ). The tuner will match the simple end fed wire antennas to the low impedance of the transmitter and do not need grounds or counterpoise elements which makes the set-up handy for portable and field operation. 73 de NG9D . .
KB2NAT Rating: 2010-05-28
Does What It Should Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I currently have the 16010 set up with a long wire and a Grundig Satellite 800 Receiver. I have used it for QRP/portable operations, also. It's size makes it very handy, and if the operator can't get a low SWR, he can just reverse the cables to the ant/xmtr. The unit does exactly what you'd want with no fuss or extra doo-dads. I bought mine at a hamfest for $5 or so...well worth having it on hand, even if it's just in case.
G4VVQ Rating: 2010-05-28
Great Little Tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi all, Fred in England, just bought one of these units, can't believe how well it works, thought it was a bit pricy for what it is though,(£65/$65), it's so small it fits in the palm of your hand, i have been having trouble with a Chinese Smart Tuner, CG 3000 tuning 160 mts, this thing just done it easy, in fact i got about 1-1 on all the HF bands, they don't put an earth connection on it as such, but for testing purposes what i did is got a PL-259 outer nut, the threaded bit only, that takes thick coax, so has a big hole in the middle, with my big soldering iron i got it hot enough to run some solder onto it, then soldered a wire with crocadile clip onto it, that's the earth, and another lead simalar, but with a Banana plug on, that fits right through the middle of the PL 259 nut and into the socket, so you then have both connections, connect one to wire and the other one to ground, simple...and it works..cheers all..Fred in UK, check me on qrz dot com.
N5HNY Rating: 2010-01-22
Handy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I don't know where the one I have came from. I didn't buy it. It has the screws and not the pop rivets. I used it a lot in the 80s. It helped keep me on the air from apartments back in the 80s. I smoked it once on 160 but it still kept on ticking. The inductor can get warm and it's not that efficient, but it does a great job for qrp to 100 watt power levels.
M3XPR Rating: 2007-12-21
Good value and compact Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up my MFJ 16010 new for £40 to use with a Yaesu FT817.
I am mostly a VHF man so most of the time this tuner is used for SWL.

Its nice and small, light and can easily be put into a bag or coat pocket.
Having read about build quality issues form this product in Radcom the first thing I did was open the case and check everything was OK. It was in fact the build quality is nice and sturdy.
I use mine with a 10.5, 15.5 and 26.5 metre long wires fitted with banana plugs as per MFJ manual.
I don’t know why this tuner does not have a terminal post instead or a UHF socket seems crazy.
The tuner works but using any one of my three wires and a ground spike I could not get the SWR below 1.7:1 on TX this is not ideal. On RX it works really well giving a much better S meter reading than a wire alone (no tuner)
My MFJ 901B works a lot better but of course it cost more and is bigger and heavier.
So Would I buy it again I think so however I think that more experenets with wires is required it I am going to use it more for TX.

Cheers and 73.
M3SKF Rating: 2006-06-23
WORKS FINE FOR ME Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I HAVE OWNED MANY MFJ PRODUCTS IN THE PAST & HAVE A COUPLE OF TUNERS AT THE MOMENT.THE MFJ-16010 IS A GREAT TUNER I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS AT ALL WITH THIS KIT IT DOES WHAT IT SAYS TUNES RANDOM WIRE & DOES IT WELL.RANDOM WIRES ARE NOT THE BEST TWIGS IN THE WORLD BUT THEY DO WORK I HAVE HAD MANY DX CONTACTS WITH SUCH A SET UP THANKS TO THIS TUNER,WELL MADE DOES A GREAT JOB FOR SIMPLE WIRE SET-UPS.
N1RIK Rating: 2006-06-22
It works, but not sure about effiency Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this thing for $25 on Ebay. Not expensive at all. I'm able to get 1:1 SWRs from 160m - 10m and 1.5:1 and sometimes 1:1 on 6 meters. However I can hear alot better than people can hear me. My AEA Isoloop on 20m outperformed my 30 ft longwire 7 ft above the ground. My loop is only 5 ft above the ground. The locals on 6m hear me much better than my 6m dipole. The unit is also pop rivted and looks very fragile. Due to HF performance compared to my Isoloop and the manufactured quality of the box, I'm giving it a 3.
VE6XL Rating: 2006-04-15
Give it a pass Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this tuner to use for portable operation on 160 or 80m.

I tried several configurations and followed the manual directions, however was unable to tune anything effectively.

The tuner works just barely. Based on the cost I would spend a bit more and purchase a full function tuner. MFJ has several others in their line up which can be set up to tune random wires.

VE6XL
www.ve6xl.ca
KW4N Rating: 2005-07-24
Hard to beat! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a cost effective little tuner that you can almost put in your pocket. No quality issues. Very practical for tuning random wires, especially in the field. Running QRO at the base I use it as a tuned input to my amp for improved efficiency. Try finding a box, drilling the holes, getting the parts, etc and making one, then you'll see why it's hard to beat.
73's, Dave,KW4N