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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
W4HWD Rating: 2006-01-13
Hunka arcin' junk Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This pizza sheet is supposedly rated for 3kW (Yeah, I'd like to observe someone acually try it - from a safe distance and behind hard cover of course!), but arced when I put my AL-80B through it! None of the settings were repeatable. Inductor knob felt cheap and obviously was...it fell off completely after 6 months!

With Palstar around I don't understand how MFJ continues to sell this crap! Do yourself a HUGE favor: avoid MFJ completely and go PALSTAR!
KG4HUP Rating: 2005-12-06
Not one problem Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this one for about 6 years an it works great. I started out at first with a 75 meter dipole an could tune easily on 40,20,17,15,12,10 an worked ok on 160. I have used the ameritron AL80A with it also an have put a KW across it with never a arc or pop. I got it used at $170 dollars an it looked just like new better than most I've seen at hamfest. Maybe the guy I bought it from put it together before I bought it!! Hi Hi. I did like the other guy said he did, I bought it then found these reveiws an was worried. A lot of testing an tuning an Not One Problem. Thanks Tom Fisher KG4HUP
N9VR Rating: 2005-11-19
Junk! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Out of the box, the inductor knob fell off. Put it back on tightened it up, and hooked the unit up. Read the manual and proceeded to tune a inverted vee that is about 3 to 1 untuned. Tuned it down fine, but the wattmeter is very eratic. Not very happy camper! Called AES to return it, they suggest I call MFJ for repair of replacement. hmmm Called MFJ. 3 weeks later I got a new tuner....guess what...the Meter doesnt work at all! JUNK last time I waste money on any MFJ poduct! Bought a Ten Tec 238B, Love it...everything works!
KB3KCJ Rating: 2005-09-12
GRAPHOLINE Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The only bone I have to pick with the tuner is the grapholine (graphite grease cut with 10W-40 motor oil). I asked MFJ why they put this stuff on the roller inductor shaft and at the end of the tuning capacitors. They said that they had complaints of grinding noise and this was to eliminate as much of it as possible. Well I have an old friend who is a broadcast engineer who told me to take the stuff off. HF is metal to metal contact in a tuner. Since, then (minus the screw tightening and such when I first bought it), the tuner has performed maginficently. Hey take off the greasy stuff and watch what hapapens (10W-40 motor oil is an insulator not a conductor, and with insulated current - YEP the thing will sizzle and go poof). Couldn't be more happier.
W6TH Rating: 2005-07-11
Nice unit to own Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have a MFJ 961, a MFJ 962, also the MFJ 989C. On all of these units I tune at low power of 50 watts with just my transceiver for the lowest standing wave ratio of less than 1.5/1. I then turn my amplifier on and tune the amplifier for maximum power with the input of 50 watts. When the amplifier is tuned, I slowly increase the power input to the amplifier and check the tuning of the amplifier which usually remains the same, if not there is a problem with the antenna. No problem I continue on until the amplifier is fully loaded. With 700 watts output I have not had a bit of problems with the MFJ 989C or the other MFJ models at their rated power levels. I am very much pleased with all of my present models and work as designed. I know better than to run 1500 watts of power to a unit that was not designed for such operation above the rated power.
W6TH
AI8H Rating: 2005-05-30
Less Than Marginal Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a pair of the '989 Charlies. Both were in bad shape as bought at separate hamfests and widely separated models at about 2 years difference in age. Nothing was damaged by operator use - just simple, sloppy design and discusting quality of workmanship. The sellers were discusted with them.

On the positive, most of the components in each were salvagable and useful. Band switches are heavy. The capacitors are sloppily built, but suffice. The case is heavy, but assembled badly.

Note: If one sits like a 'rocking chair', just loosen the six screws on each side, push it down flat, and re-tighten while applying vertical pressure.

On the negative, the stupid cross needle meters are always worthless and never get better. They jump around and explain the lack of quality. Add a power pack to see how bad they are (if the cheap lamps still work). Everything about them needed to be re-built, except the feet on the bottom.

The roller inductors tend to burn with more than 500 watts. Must be my imagination, as a defender seems to think that the burnt spots are a matter of logic: there are still burnt spots.

MFJ is on a mission.

If you can find one for less than $100, get it and plan to spend some time doing the final assembly for them and tinkering to get it to work right: the quality at MFJ is so bad that it is not even consistantly bad enough for me to outline.

Now that ameritron is under the umbrella, watch out for that one, too: marginal to begin with now on the much-less-than-questionable side of the accepable fence.

Palstar is filling the deep hole created by mfj for quality of product, and doing a very great job of it.

Be careful with the '989c - it can intercourse-up a perfectly nice radio. They are 'project boxes' at best, but a bargain at 'reject prices' from burnt users.

KK4DW Rating: 2005-03-19
As good as the user Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had an MFJ 989C for a couple of years now and my only complaint with it has been that the meter light burned out rather prematurely I thought -- possibly because of the external voltage applied more than a fault in the lamp. The lamps are soldered into a little plastic socket that slips down into the top of the meter back and you have to clip the wires to it and order a replacement assembly from MFJ. Cheap enough but they should have chosen a common lamp, easily twisted or screwed in or better yet an LED that would last instead of an incandescent bulb. The wattmeter also could have been more elaborate with calibration capability. It never matched up with my external Diamond SX-200. I have run my Ameritron AL-811 Amp with 500 watts CW through it with no problems at all, but I always tuned it up with 20-50 watts maximum first before I went off of standby on the amp. You never tune any tuner with the amplifier on.


As far as all the sour grapes, operators causes 95% of all trouble with most new equipment by trying to cram power through it before it is tuned. You can't expect to load a doorknob or a clothes hanger with these. I am afraid all men share the common mythology that we can dump something out of the carton and throw the instruction book into the bottom of a drawer, fire up the rig and wonder why all the smoke is coming out of the new box? Duhhh ! As far as trouble with used tuners, maybe you should have wondered why the guy was selling the tuner so cheap ? Hmmmmmm ? I don't think anyone should blame MFJ for troubles with a 2nd hand rig to start with. Blame the previous owner. To the guy with the tuner damaged - You should have taken the tuner right back to the place where you bought it immediately. You never accept damaged new goods. Blame you, not MFJ.
K2UL Rating: 2005-03-07
Happy with my MFJ-989C Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I recently acquired a 989C from a ham estate I was liquidating for the family. It's about ten years old. Also got a Clipperton-L linear. Ran them together for a while and they worked perfectly into an open-wire fed dipole. Nary an arc to be heard. Sold the linear, but decided to keep the tuner. It seems that this tuner generally gets either a 1 or a 5 rating. Go figure. Mine works perfectly and the inside looks well made and high quality.
W9RPE Rating: 2005-02-22
QC Crap Shoot Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Owned one for three years. I bought it new and it arrived with a slightly out of kilter case and a warped roller inductor. I was in the Navy a the time and the $349 price tag was a fortune for me, but I wanted a quality tuner that would last. Well, neither MFJ or the vendor I bought it from would replace it or repair it. They both insisted that I ran too much power through it, even though I assured them I had not even hooked it up at that point!!! At the time I only had a TS-140S Knwd and no amp anyway. So I used it. It worked ok, but had gaps in where it would tune due to the warped roller inductor. I wound up giving it away when I sold the TS-140.
WA2JJH Rating: 2005-02-02
short and sweet..a real pizza-sheet!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
ARCED AT 500W!
USUAL MFJ QULITY, BUT WORSE.

SHORT AND SWEET...IT IS ANOTHER MFJ
PIZZA-SHEET!!!!

WILL USE FOR PARTS!!! CANNOT SELL IN GOOD FAITH!