| N1LYC |
Rating:     |
2003-07-22 | |
| 989C Only for real Hams??? |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Okay I picked it up used and as all good hams should do is take the covers off to look inside (You buy a car I hope you look at the engine!!!) Roller inducter ran fairly well considering the design and concept (I did not dial indicate it but at the extreme ends of the shaft it gets tighter).... Clean as new??? Probably was since after 5 minutes the small knob on the inducter fell off.. Okay guys LOCK TIGHT and a allen wrench... using it for 1 hour I kept having my SWR jump from a 1:1 to infinity for no apparent reason... I then realized if I tapped the Transmitter knob I could make the SWR 1:1 or infinite... Okay cover off again and a loose nut making for a poor connection on the board.... Oh boy if a Tech could not fix this then maybe the licensing process is too easy... Like another commented it is not a highly sophisticated thing but that can be a good thing... Maybe the New Cost is a little high if you have to fix it out of the box but it appears to be a great deal if you find one used with such minor problems.... I cannot comment on power handling yet but have pushed 400-600 on side band with no issues... That is all my amp can handle so it appears to be fine for that...
I think too many Hams expect plug and play without any thought or work.... Buy a cell phone if that is what you are looking for...
Good Luck.... |
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| KG5JJ |
Rating:   |
2003-07-03 | |
| Think Twice... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
First day in service, the selector switch rod/knob fell out of its coupler in the tuner. The "weighted spinner knob" is useless as the air-core inductor binds so much, that you have to use your entire hand to spin it. When I disassembled the unit to fix the loose switch shaft, there were wire clippings floating everywhere inside on the bottom chassis. The meter was 30 percent off on the high-side at all power levels (Jeeves folks! would it be too much to ask to even calibrate the meter properly with the internal dummy-load?) and I calibrated it into the dummy load. The peak function on the meter just switches an electrolytic capacitor which turns an average reading meter into an average reading meter that takes forever to decay.
The worst part of this tuner is the roller-inductor. Very cheap, binds and really sets the overall "feel" of the unit as inferior. I could go on, but everything else has been said many times... |
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| AD9P |
Rating:  |
2003-06-16 | |
| Good Target |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I put it out of its misery. Very good target. What else can you do with it? Sure would not sell it to some one else.
JUNK |
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| OLDHAM |
Rating:  |
2003-06-16 | |
| :( |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Picked one up at Dayton. Wish I had read the reviews before hand! Now for the review.
1. Case won’t sit on desk without rocking. Bent??
2. Poor soldering on band switch.
3. Roller Inductor makes grinding noise when turned.
4. Mechanical counter skips numbers. Can’t repeat settings.
5. SWR/Power Meters not accurate.
6. Shaft on Xmitter control bent.
7. Lamp in meter died after 3 weeks.
8. Has problems tuning dipoles that other tuners can.
9. Arcs/Melts with input power over 500 Watts.
10. Makes a GREAT DOOR STOP!!!
Save your money. Wish I had.
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|
| WV4I |
Rating:     |
2003-06-13 | |
| QC In/nonexistent??? |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I got my 989C used for $175. Perhaps the prior owner fixed it, finished putting it together, etc..I don't know. But, in its present form, it works fine for me. If you think this tuner is overpriced at retail, look at the accessory prices charged by the other major radio manufacturers. Ditto for antenna makers. Any dealer will tell you that the money is in the accessory sales, not the equipment to which they pertain.
This is my second 989. The 989's will not match any and all antenna loads. It's power handling and matching capability is directly proportional to the difficulty of the attached antenna load, read impedance and/or balance as applicable. If it (antenna system load) barely can be matched at low power (min QRM to others), it probably is going to get exciting at higher power levels. The "3kw input power" for this tuner is misleading in that input/output power level distinctions are irrelevant where tuners are concerned. A SWR/watt meter only gives a reasonably accurate indication unless connected to a load impedance equal to the input impedance, ie your rig is 50ohm unbalanced and your load is 50ohm non inductive and unbalanced as well. If you want more accurate power and SWR readings might I suggest a dedicated unit, inline, such as a Bird, etc.. Truly accurate measurement of antenna load impedance requires equipment costing far more than most hams need to spend for amateur operations.
When adjusting this type tuner, max capacitance with minimal inductance is the optimal situation.
If there's arcing, assuming the roller is making good contact with the inductor, then you're outside the tuner's operating range, which can sometimes occur due to poor RF ground, severe imbalance, etc.. At that point it would be educational to use the same power level thru the tuner circuitry, not bypass, to an appropriately rated non inductive load. If the arcing is gone, you have an antenna load that is outside the tuner's range, for whatever reason. I had only half of a ladder line fed dipole connected once, and it arced until I discovered the broken leg. If your antenna has a balun (G5RV), or may be an unbalanced "balanced" antenna due to nearby objects, these are places to start. Ditto for water in coax, bad connectors, RF choke devices, etc. You should not be tuning a (bad) trap antenna with a tuner, right? If the arcing is still there with a dummy non inductive load, then you have a tuner problem, either self induced or from the factory/last owner. If trying a balanced line system, I note that the turns on the balun will arc as the balun becomes saturated, ie maxed out for the load and RF ground hopefully in use. If the SWR/Watt meter board is smoked it's fairly obvious, and that's the first place the tuner seeks a ground BTW, if there's not a good, functioning RF ground attached externally. I keep saying "RF" ground on purpose here. Radio Works in VA publishes an excellent dissertation re RF grounds in their catalog, in English, for free. The Orr/Cowan book series on antennas and RFI cover this subject very well in English as well.
I hope what I've said here is helpful. I could not care less if MFJ sells another tuner or not, but I have thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with antennas and related, and learning therefrom, over 20 years+ of hamming. |
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| WA6HYQ |
Rating:  |
2003-05-21 | |
| J U N K ! ! ! ! ! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've tried to own several of these piles of junk and everyone OUT OF THE BOX had problems. Ether the roller was out of round, the counter skipped, "extra parts" rattling around inside, or under operation failed.
I've read some of the other HAM's positive comments and frankly not sure but sounds like they work for MFJ or perhaps they really don't have a 989C.
Bottom line is they will not stand-up under full legal limit, they have a limited tuning range trying to reach 160 meters, and the assembly is very poor.
What's good about it? It looks great! But so did an edsel or Chevy corvair to some people.
Don't waste your money, time or take a chance of damaging your equipment. Buy an ATR-30, I haven't experienced one problem, not one and it does everything the 989C was supposed to do and more.
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|
| KB0SJX |
Rating:  |
2003-05-15 | |
| not well built |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Had to get one after reading about them for years. My question is when is CQ Mag and/or QST going to stop allowing them to advertise unless their QC is improved. Four loose solder connections and a knob missing a screw on bolt- It works now but I'm more upset at theose who advertise this thing with PHONEY review articles- |
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| KE4ZHN |
Rating:  |
2003-05-15 | |
| Junk! |
Time Owned: N.A. |
| I personally have never owned a 989c, but do know several ham friends who have or had one. And ALL of them have either blown them up or had troubles with them. The roller inductors are junk, not even close to being able to handle the claimed 1500 watts. The switches break or feel like they are about to fall off. The meter lamps always burn out. I know of several hams who tried to tune up dipoles with these disasters running no more than 5-600 watts pep and fried the roller in this thing! How can MFJ market this thing as a legal limit tuner? The design is nice, it looks good cosmetically, and in principle, its a nice tuner. But its made of garbage components! And the QC is a joke! Parts rattling around in a brand new $360 tuner? Get real! For nearly $400, one would expect a tuner that CAN handle what its advertised to do. I would be afraid to run even 500 watts into this thing for fear of a fire in my shack! This is a very cheaply made tuner for a not so cheap price. Other ham buds of mine tell me the older 989 tuner is well built and can take the power. Does this mean MFJ redesigned this thing in order to be more profitable at the expense of quality? Sounds like it to me. This is one to stay away from unless you get one dirt cheap and dont run a legal limit amp. You can buy an old Heath tuner at a hamfest that will take legal limit all day long for around $100, why waste your hard earned cash on this pile of crap? In defense of MFJ though, I do own a 300w 941 tuner and it worked fine for the couple of years I ran it. Although, I never put more than 100 watts into it, so it never really got tested to its ratings. It was of fair quality, nothing special, but it did the job. If you need a big tuner that takes the power, go with the Palstar, or the ATR 30 or possibly the Nye Viking. Sure, hefty price tags, but you wont fry these. If you can find one at a hamfest, get an old Heath SA-2040 or even nicer yet the SA-2060. The 2060 is getting tough to find, but its a nice tuner that handles 1.5 kw with no sweat(also has meters and covers 160). The 2040 is a killer tuner, but has no metering.(10-80) I have one of these beasts and it takes legal limit with NO trouble on any band. It has NEVER arced or even tried to on any band under who knows what SWR conditions. |
|
| W4XXXXX |
Rating:  |
2003-05-15 | |
| BAD |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| BURNED UP IN 1 WEEK. LOW QUALITY COMPONENTS. GREAT WARRANTY. YOU'LL NEED IT. $7.00 PLUS YOUR SHIPPING CHARGES EACH TIME YOU SEND IT IN. WHICH YOU WILL MANY TIMES IF YOU RUN A DECENT AMP. TUNER GOOD FOR 100 WATTS, MAYBE. FULL POWER, NO WAY. TOSSED IT. GOT A REAL TUNER. PROBLEMS SOLVED. PASS ON THIS ONE. AF5U MISTAKEN ABOUT WARRANTY. NO MONEY BACK REFUND AS HE STATED. HE MUST HAVE SPECIAL WARRANTY. THEY TOLD ME NO REFUND. THEY REPAIR OR REPLACE ONLY. I TOLD THEM TO KEEP THE THING. THEY DIDN'T. THEY SENT ME ANOTHER ONE. I THREW IT IN THE TRASH, AND LEARNED A LESSON. |
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| KF3EG |
Rating:   |
2003-04-20 | |
| the cure |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I have fixed two of these tuners, I would not tell anyone to buy one new since price per product quality is way out of the ball park.
I think Charlie Manson designed it, but anyway. The meter is scrap and no where near close to actual watt readings, even as a SWR reference.
BUT if you use an inline meter before the tuner that cures that problem.
The roller inductor is a joke, if you have to use it take the shorting switch out it causes more problems then you can fathom, that is where most shorts and fires come from.
The best thing to do to cure the problem with the inductor is find a good inductor at a hamfest and replace the plastic scrap with the good one.
Check all connections and solder joints, I think the blind was hired to put them together.
One last thing, with the 989c you don't get what you pay for, but these days there are not many that do give you what you pay for and if its used make whoever open it and look before you buy, if it so great why is it for sale? |
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