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Reviews For: MFJ-948 Deluxe Versa Tuner II

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-948 Deluxe Versa Tuner II
Reviews: 34MSRP: $119.00
Description:
300 Watt fixed inductor tuner/4 pos antenna switch with tuned/untuned option/cross needle meter
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00343.7
K3NG Rating: 2006-04-15
OK Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one in 1989 at a hamfest for $75. It's worked flawless since then. The only problem I had was the meter light burning out, but lights burning out is a fact of life. The light bulb is pretty much built into the meter and not changeable; I intend on replacing it someday with some super bright LEDs. The workmanship in my unit was good.
KA3NXN Rating: 2005-10-20
Absolute Junk Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
It will not tune anywhere. I found at times when I bypassed the tuner section the SWR was lower than with the tuner section in line. I never got an SWR lower than 3.0:1 on any band, even when the antenna was resonant at a certain frequency. I even tried using it as a simple coax switch, and it was lousey there too. If I could rate it lower than "0" I would. LDG is much much better.
M1EZF Rating: 2005-10-06
If its cheap buy it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Not the best tuner I have ever used but for the money its not bad.

The bigest let down is the Inductor Selector. That has a cheap feel to it and MFJ say you shouldnt move it while tuning. Everything else is fine and what you would expect out of a budget ATU.

I use it to tune a Carolina Windom 80 Special running 100W and it works fine.

Its also small and lightweight so ideal for /P
VA7ACA Rating: 2004-11-18
It works well Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It works very well on all kinds of antenna, dipoles, Isotrons, verticles and yagi with out a problem. I have had it for 10 years. The SWR meter is not as accurate as my YS-60 meter but its close enough. The knobs do come loose over time and can cause problems if not tightened. Other than that I expect another 10 years of good service from it.
N9ESH Rating: 2004-07-07
No problems! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought mine about 10 years ago. To this day, no problems. Not even a loose screw. It won't work miracles. Don't expect it to load a cb antenna on 160M. It will load PROPERLY fed doublets, long wires (with proper counterpoise) etc.

The "quality" problems I hear about are actually "workmanship" problems. The average Ham should be able to resolve them.
K9HX Rating: 2004-07-04
It works, but... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine new at Dayton in '03. After walking about 2 miles to put it in the car, I took it out of the box. Gently shaking it I found loose hardware inside. I opened it and corrected the problem quickly.

In use, I found that quite often I was unable to to match my G5RV, when the autotuner in my TS-450 would without a problem.

This year at Field Day, while running a 300 ft longwire, the tuner all but quit. I cast it aside and we grabbed a MFJ-969 to replace it. When things calmed down a little, I opened it up to find that the screw holding the wiper for the tapped inductor loose and making intermittent contact with the shaft. Tightening this screw restored it to operation.

This tuner works, at least most of the time. I plan on keeping it, but I will not be buying any other MFJ tuners.

Kevin Berlen, K9HX
ON4SSC Rating: 2004-01-08
Nice tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought it from a OM who died some months ago. I have used it with a 20M dipole inside my appartement and got a 1:1 match. On other bands I can hardly get better that 1.5:1 but what do you expect from such a basic antenna. Once I'll get a G5RV or a long wire results will be much better I'm pretty confident. It looks fairly well built and I've no problems with the inductor switch. A shame they didn't put screws at the PL259 plugs, because they seem a bit loose.
K9FE Rating: 2004-01-07
OK, but a little QC would help Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had it since 95, first time I used it on 20m I could here arcing from the tuner. Not being very happy about a new tuner arcing at less than 100watts, I took off the top/sides. Turns out the screw holding the case on, front and right side facing the tuner, was shorting very, very close to a cap plate. The screw was too long by 3/16 of an inch. It was the only long screw holding the case on. I guess the assembler grabbed an odd screw to finish assembling the unit. On other cap settings it wouldn't have mattered, but in this situation everything line up. A little more care would have helped. The unit works ok for what it is, but a little QC during assembly is in order.

de K9FE Mike

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Earlier 3-star review posted by K9FE on 2003-07-14

Bought a 948 8 or so years ago. The antenna cap would short out to the case at first. Minor adjustment was needed. Worked ok after a little tweaking. Used for Field days, demonstrations, and normal hamming. It was ok, not really enough range on the inductor for some situations and at times the caps did not have enough. I usually lend it out now to new hams to get them on the air. After teaching them the quirks of a stepped inductor and tuning process they alway ask is there a better or easier tuner?


For use at 100 watts it will tune most situations, just don't expect it to have the range of a TenTec or LDG. A little pricey for what you get, but it does work.
M3MRR Rating: 2003-12-29
OK..............but......... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Originally ordered the next model up, but the local dealer delivered this one instead. Rather than send it back I decided to keep it - should have perhaps sent it back. The inductor dial is intermittent - it works only if you fiddle and try and pull it out or push it in. Other than this horrible problem, it works just as the manual says it will. I rang MJF and they were helpfull - I just didn't fancy my chances by sending the unit back for replacement thru the dealer. This is my first MJF product I am not convinced yet I will buy another.
K4LLA Rating: 2003-12-15
Not bad for the price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had one of these for at least ten years and it works as advertised. It's not very sophisticated, or brilliantly executed, but it does the job. The two antenna outputs work, as does the balanced line output. I've strung up a lot of dipole antennas for 160-40 and it matched all of them no problem.

The build quality is typical MFJ. I've not had any trouble with it except that the capacitor and inductor adjustors come looks every once and a while and you have to tighten them back up. The illumination for the SWR meter is a silly joke and really should be eliminated. A roller inductor would be nice, but you get what you pay for.