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Reviews For: MFJ-259

Category: Antenna Analyzers

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Review Summary For : MFJ-259
Reviews: 41MSRP: 259
Description:
MFJ-259 HF/VHF SWR ANALYYZER
1.8-170 mhZ Invalid item - see MFJ-259B
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-259B
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00414.3
N7TM Rating: 2005-10-31
Most used shack device Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had an MFJ-259 for probably nine years now. I bought it brand new. It's undoubtedly the most used piece of equipment in my shack, other than the radios themselves. In daily use, I use it to tune my external tuner without having to transmit. I've used it extensively in building antennas, tracking down problems with coax, and as a frequency counter. Normally, I use it plugged into my shack's 12v power. Last week, I tried to use it on internal battery power and it didn't work. I found that the alkaline batteries I had installed (from Costco) had leaked. The alkaline literally ate the metal connectors at the ends of the battery packs. I sent MFJ an email asking about ordering a couple of the plastic battery holders. MFJ responded to my email within a day and sent me two new battery holders gratis in the mail. That's great customer service! To me, the '259 has been invaluable and a great deal for the money.
N0XAS Rating: 2004-09-24
Very useful tool. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OK, maybe it's not the prettiest thing on the block. I have been using mine for about 7 years now, on antennas from 80 to 2 meters, with good results. I have changed the alkaline batteries twice, and re-soldered the coax connector to the PCB once.

I've used it to cut coax tuned stubs, adjust antennas, and nearly everything else you can do with it at one time or another. I also use it a lot in the shack to set up my antenna tuner without needing to transmit - OK, there is some RF from teh 259, but not enough to be concerned about.

Overall, I'd never give mine up except maybe for the newer one. I'm seriously thinking about getting the UHF analyzer as well.
WB2EWB Rating: 2004-09-23
quality problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Dont get me wrong: this is a wonderful tool.. (look at the autek (sp?) too) but be forewarned: it can consume batteries and there are alot of them so keep a spare pack around (batteries seem to go dead just when you are building a new antenna!) The internal workmanship is downright poor. So be prepared to open it up and fix: so it has mostly been retightning of screws internally (who design these mechanicals??? ) Even the main capacitor came loose.. From time to time starting up in a high swr it seems to operate at teh second harmonic of the osc (turning off/on fixes it) The ergomonics are poor: really REALLY easy to accidently leave turned on.. Finally it is a large unit (Bigger than my portable radio!) so if you are operating portable be prepared for the bulk. If you play with antennas, you need something like this...but choose carefully.. (while pricy they are alot less expensive than lab grade equipment)
K9LEO Rating: 2004-09-23
MFJ-259 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My MFJ does not read accurate half the time. The Battery compartment that holds the batteries broke. It will not work at all when putting fully charged batteries in it. I have to use external power. Not happy.. I will never buy anything from MFJ again. They make to much JUNK in my oppinion.
ZL1UST Rating: 2004-06-19
Trouble Free Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Imported 6+ years ago with the MFJ protective case.Used many times to construct/test mobile "sticks",wire dipoles,verticals and sweep frequencies to locate unidentified radio channels.A small glitch being when the unit is housed in the protective case the display is hard to view throuh the clear PVC window.Never used the internal battery feature,do not like leaky AA battries.Always powered from the external D.C. power lead in conjunction with a small GEL cell or shack/vehicle "T" connectored power source.Unlike others who have the troublesome MFJ 269 this MFJ 259 has worked flawlessly.
KH7L Rating: 2004-05-14
No problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had mine for about 2 years. I use it about 4 times a month. No problems. Good to test antennas....and frequency readout on older rigs.
K9YEQ Rating: 2004-02-17
Never a problem Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My 259 has worked as intended with none of the issues raised by 259b owners. I have used the analyzer to determine center frequencies of the antennas I have built. Works great!
WV4R Rating: 2004-02-09
Great Concept... Poor Execution! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This MFJ-259B is my Second analyzer after the MFJ-259 which I sold when I 'upgraded'.

GOOD News: LCD display shows lotza information than previous model, unit makes antenna tuning and tweeking a snap fer sure, manual is quite good.

BAD News: unit Eats batteries and battery replacement is the Ordeal of Screws unless you use Ni-Cads and Select the Internal Charger Mode, 'Tuning' knob is very imprecise and unpredictable, Assembly is Haphazard at best, unit operation is Not recommended with A.C. charger option.

My unit became Intermittant after a few trips to the antennae farm. After going thru the Ordeal of Screws, I carefully inspected the assembly and discovered the poorest possible connection between the UHF connector and the internal board. In fact, the only thing between the board and the connector was a 'glob' of solder... and it was a Cold solder joint! I sucked up the glob of solder, hard-wired/soldered a Proper connection and cured the problemo.

The unit Needs HELP due to Eating batteries, frightful assembly, the poorest quality control.

Great Concept, Poor Execution earns the unit the WV4R TWO-Star Rating. 73 es God bless, murf.
K9YC Rating: 2003-09-11
Useful, but there are better choices Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This review is based on a unit I borrowed from the rental stock of a company owned by K9IKZ. It is the original version, not to be confused with the later B version that I understand measures complex impedance (R, X, Z, and the phase angle). This older version measures SWR and the magnitude of the impedance only.

Plusses:

It's VERY easy to use and to understand the result. There's an internal generator with a freq readout, probably from the built-in counter (there's also a mode that allows the 259 to be used as a counter).

It has continuous coverage between 1.8 MHz and 170 MHz, and appears to have reasonable accuracy (I did NOT compare readings on a point by point basis, but it found the same resonances in my HF antenna farm that the CIA-HF did). It also compared well in this regard with the AEA 130-500 that I borrowed from K9IKZ when measuring several 2 meter antennas.

It's a very compact and portable package.

It runs on ordinary AA batteries, and rechargables seem to work fine.

It covers from 1.8 MHz to 170 MHz

Minuses:

It runs on a LOT of AA batteries.

Like most RF test gear, it is referenced ONLY to 50 ohms. That reality leads to erroneous SWR readings if you're using 75 ohm line (and a dipole comes closer to matching 75 ohm line than 50 ohm line), and low loss 75 ohm cable is a LOT cheaper than low loss 50 ohm cable for moderate power ratings.

MFJ quality control (or the lack thereof). The unit I used worked fine for the evening I spent with it, and K9IKZ reports no problems with it. My friend WA6NMF also owns one and recommends it.

Better choices: The AEA CIA-HF (see my review of that unit) is a winner for HF antenna work. While I haven't had the opportunity to play with the newer 259B, it would clearly be a better choice if it really measures complex impedance well. But given MFJ's lack of QC and my experience with the CIA-HF, I would pick the CIA-HF 10 times out of 10. (It also only references 50 ohms).

If all I needed to do is find and trim the resonance of a simple wire antenna (dipole, etc.) the 259 will do the job just fine. But if I need to see the R and X components of Z (for example, understanding the ground system for a vertical, seeing interactions in a beam), a 259B or the CIA-HF is a far better choice.

Jim Brown K9YC (ex-W9NEC)
WV4I Rating: 2003-07-16
No Dip or VHF Ops Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I too have an older 259. It has performed well over the years (10+-), but suddenly developed a problem whereby it would not "analyze" above abt 125mhz. The comments of the prior reviewer will hopefully be helpful when I get around to troubleshooting. I do note that the diodes are very easily damaged by excess RF input to the "ant" connector, especially direct. The analyzer briefly got out of my sight a while back and then this problem appeared.
I also recently tried to use this unit as a dip meter per MFJ's instruction. First I tried 3-4 1" turns, and with no inductive indication relative to the trap being tested. I then tried a 47ohm resistor in series with the trap directly connected. Still no indication. Either I'm having an older moment, or at least the latter should have worked, per MFJ's instructions. Conclusion....go get a dedicated dip meter if you like working with traps, resonant circuits, etc.