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Reviews For: MFJ-989C

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-989C
Reviews: 144MSRP: 360
Description:
Handles 1500 watts PEP SSB output power
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-989C
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001442.7
W2HP Rating: 2010-04-17
Could be better! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The tails and tales of the 989C. had arc'ing with a AL-80B at about 900W. Opened it up and found aluminum chips. Blew it out and seemed OK. About 6 months later again ARCing. Opened it up and found the bearing lubricant on the roller inductor impregnated in the insulator of the roller inductor. Took it apart to attempt a fix and the tiny bearings became airborn. Now to replace the roller inductor. I also have a 27 year old Dentron MT-3000A and it never gave me a single issue. Open wire, long wire, coax and whatever. Never a failure. Hope MFJ has parts.
W6MQI Rating: 2010-04-02
What can one say it's MFJ , but it does work. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Funny how some people have so many problems with this tuner now I’m not a big MFJ fan by no means in fact I took a single jack to one of there swr meters, what a inaccurate P.O.S I finally had to put the thing out of it’s misery. I bought my MFJ 989c in the late 80’s and it has matched anything I’ve hooked up to it just fine. I think most of the problems people have with tuners in general is a lack of understanding how to use them. Some of the antennas I’ve matched using the 989c are yagi’s, R5 vertical, inverted L, dipoles fed with ladder line and coax, long wires, and even rain gutters just for fun. I’ve also run up to 700 watts through the unit without any problems. The unit does have some mechanical problems like the O ring drive belt on the counter; with time this O ring stretches and then begins to slip. The tuning caps don’t have verniers on them and at times can be hard to fine tune the caps. The caps main shafts tend to get sticky and without a vernier on the main shafts fine tuning can be jerky. The roller inductor needs cleaning every couple of years the thing starts to sound like one is grinding coffee. The dummy load makes a fairly good antenna I’ve worked two stations so far while connected to the dummy load. So the 989c does work despite its mechanical issues so I can only give a 3.5, but for ability to tune loads I’ll give it a 4.5 it’s not perfect but what is.
W7KOL Rating: 2010-02-18
Workmanship Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my tuner for several years,It does tune well but shortly after I got it, the finger knob on the inductor came off.
Its really something to pay a couple hundred bucks for a tuner and the knobs fall off every time you use it. You would think MFJ would put more attention on quality control. Palstar does.



KI6NQT Rating: 2009-10-22
Works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After removing the pcb from the end of the roller inductor and straightening out a couple of odds n ends has been working perfectly since.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by KI6NQT on 2008-08-31

Only problem I've had was arcing on back half of the inductor. Mfj had siliconed a piece of pcb., removed it and has worked flawlessly since.
I am only running 500w but this unit is so much better than a fixed inductor.
K5DHE Rating: 2009-10-04
!!!!! other products Time Owned: N.A.
glad i read the reviews. i have bought several mfj products and they are all bad bad bad.. i owned another mfj tuner that didnt hold up.. they lost it some how. i didnt have a tracing number . they claim that they never received it. who knows? look at the the labor pool at the factory and who answers the phone. they talk like they have a mouth full of mush.. what can you expect???? no mfj ever again. im glad that i read these reviews.
KI6WIK Rating: 2009-07-22
Good, with TLC Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought it off eBay $200, was well taken care of, but must have set for awhile. Opened it up did some cleaning and lubing. The roller would jump in between the coils, that was repaired easily with cleaning and a drop of 104 synthetic oil, as the switch that is half way down the coil was stiff. The manual is a dud.

The easiest way to make a road map of you antenna with this tuner is with an antenna analyzer and then go back with your rig and fine tune. Work well for me, no problems so far.

The small knob on the inductor large knob is useless. The belt drive is great, no gears to wear out, belts can be gotten online or any VCR repair shop.

Quality is not one of MFJ's strong points, but still decently made, I give it a 4.
K8CPA Rating: 2009-05-23
Not well built, at least not mine... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned one since 2000. This one must have been a part of a bad lot of them. The metering system was never built right. A friend of mine was able to get the peak system to work properly.

Screws used to hold cover on were too soft, they would strip, if you were not very careful.

The roller inductor in mine was twisted, that was fixable too. once we got all the stupid stuff fixed, it seems to work well tuning my new antenna.

My NEXT tuner will be a PALSTAR!

73 de K8CPA

-Chuck

G0PVR Rating: 2009-05-15
PIECE OF SH*T Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i have just purchased one of these abortions, i have had it for 3 days , and have just set the bugger onfire, 376 pounds up in smoke...the roller inductor has a self resonance killer on it, somehow the copper spring tensioner , got hot...that in turn conducted heat to the inductor assembley, and the mounting fibre board caught fire....the inductor is useless now, and i shall have to try to repair it, the self resonance killer has distorted and snapped when i tried to straighten it out..this is the worst thing i have ever purchased in 35 years in the hobby....now i know what people mean when they tell me what M.F.J. stands for...MORE ******* JUNK....I USE ONLY 400WATTS FROM AN HLA 300V AMP....!!!so much for 3 killowatts...only buy this if you have serious mental issues , or are under a shrink...JOHN G0PVR
NM2K Rating: 2008-10-20
Most useful tool in the shack Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my MFJ-989C new in 1993. It has worked flawlessly since purchase. I've tuned 450 ohm twinlead fed dipoles, random wires, commercial verticals and lots of homemade antennas without a problem. Yes, I have ran across antennas that could not be matched with this box. But I doubt if anything else would have done any better.

It's a collection of mechanical parts (semi finished kit) that needs attention and regular maintenance. It is also helpful if you know enough theory to understand that arcing may occur if you set it up incorrectly (wrong dial settings for power and mismatch). Fortunately, this tuner is able to withstand lots of abuse while teaching you a thing or two about RF.

If you're an equipment snob, don't buy this tuner. MFJ provides a good product for those that are technically oriented. This tuner sold for a great price. Only buy this tuner if you're willing to learn and truly love the technical aspects of our hobby. It will easily survive most mistakes that beginners make. If not, MFJ's fine technical folks will help you and will often give you free parts. Frankly, I don't mind paying for the parts, they are that inexpensive.

Yes, there are more polished and prettier available. But they cost much, much more than the cost of this MFJ favorite of mine. I'll let the snobs waste their money on pretty-pretties. Me, I'm an RF technician that appreciates functionality. The MFJ-989C gets the job done, lasts forever and sold at a reasonable price, when it was available. Used units are a great buy. Other tuners come and go in my shack, but this one stays.
W4YA Rating: 2008-08-31
Good tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Owned since 1989. I use it with a R-7000 vertical & coax, and a 40M dipole & ladder line.

The 989C tunes the dipole from 160 thru 6 M to 1:1, and the R-7000 from 40 thru 6 M to 1:1 swr.

It's a good tuner.