| W6YH |
Rating:    |
2022-11-22 | |
| Works good except for initial ping/click on PTT |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I got one with an Yaesu FT-991A transceiver and I thought it worked fine, until someone told me it pings/clicks every time I put the PTT or LOCK button. So I monitored it, an sure enough, I get a distinct ping/click. I adjusted all the controls with no success, so I called MFJ support and they told me that is how it was designed and works. They offered no help whatsoever. The quality of the audio is very good. I am using a 9v battery. |
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| KK4GMU |
Rating:      |
2022-08-06 | |
| Accessible voice control |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I appreciate this console for the following reasons:
* Frees myself from the buried transmit audio settings in my transmitter. All audio settings (4 band equaliazer, compression, transmit volume, VU meter) are immediately accessible.
* Able to tweak transmit audio more than my IC-7100 or most transceivers can. (I'm a tweaker)
* More convenient than a handheld, especially with the PTT "lock" button.
* Standard Ethernet cables (shielded less than $6 for shorties) can be used to connect to most radios.
* Mic sensitivity can be changed to accomodate quiet or noisy locations, and close versus more distant mic useage.
* Excellent sound once set properly.
Negatives (for some people):
* Not for the non-tweaker, set and forget folks. For me it took some testing to set it right. (see below)
* Takes up 5" x 7" of desk space. I have a slide out board from my roll top desk to place it on while in use, so not an issue. I already had a little 3" high shelf on my desk I slide it under when not in use.
* Not as handy as a headset with regard to head placement while talking, moving your head or walking around. This is the same limitation as for any other desk mic. But unlike a headset, this doesn't require a foot pedal or separate PTT switch. If you have a quiet shack, you can move about during rag chews without keeping your foot on the pedal or finger on a corded PTT button.
My useage notes:
I spent some time on my dummy load, monitor setting on my IC-7100, and my Sony 7506 headphones to test the audio with the various settings on this MFJ mic.
The slider for the EQUALizer MUST be all the way up (second "ON" from the bottom). On the middle setting (the 1st "ON", it will sound muddy and distant. The 2nd (top) "ON" engages the EQ. In this setting the mic comes alive. In fact, I now believe the audio is superior to my Koss Headset SB/45.
The 299 manual states "To enable the graphic equalizer slide this switch to the "EQUAL ON" position." It NOWHERE states the mic will sound like crap if you don't use this setting. Also, the COMP setting for me sounded best on HIGH. It had more presence and high end, although you will get more environmental room noise. Medium might be the best compromise. Make sure you adjust the compression in your radio appropriately - if this is your only mic, turn your radio comp lower or off.
Last week when on a Net and tried this mic, I got bad reports. They said my Koss headset mic sounded a lot better. Now that I've gotten around to testing and tweking the settings, I believe this unit sounds a bit BETTER than the Koss headset mic.
Notes about comments of others:
I note that most reviews less than 4 stars result from the owner not being aware that this console is designed for just using or even connecting only one rig at a time. Eliminating that misunderstanding, this would be a 4+ star item.
I list it as "great" (once I tweak the settings) for my use and preferences. Obviously the style of microphone is a very personal choice with many variables. I like easy access to controls and the more meters indicating status and performance the better. While I use my headset a portion of the time, there are situations, like for more lengthy chats and optimizing dx or ssb output when this console comes in handy. This device is not as appropriate for the "set and forget" folks. But I'm a tweaker and tester. Fun!
Note that the price is now in the vicinity of $130 to $140, not $99. |
|
| K9HOU |
Rating:   |
2020-08-13 | |
| Might work for you but not for me |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Purchased with cables for Kenwood TS-430S and Icom IC-28H. Worked with Icom but if cable connected to Kenwood (even turned off) the Icom and Kenwood would both show transmit with the Icom display going black.
Kenwood connected by its self, audio reported garbled, unreadable.Swapped back to hand mike, audio report with same station was great.
Phone to MFJ had no help. Incompatibility. Returned. |
|
| N8NQH |
Rating:     |
2018-12-25 | |
| good |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I don't know why, but I convinced myself that the 299 would allow for multiple radios to be connected at the same time. This is not the case. I was able to modoify my 299 so that th eA.B.C selector switch activared a single jack... allowing multiple radios to be connected. I put this on my web page:
http://tim-yvonne.com/ham/mfj-299/
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|
| W5RHR |
Rating:    |
2018-03-19 | |
| ok for the price BUT |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
right out of the box the output level pot was wonky , had to push on the pot to make a connection.
Dissembled the unit and resoldered all the pot connections, including the mounting tabs.
Buttoned it back up and it works.
The outut is hot, I have to operate the compressor on low and the pot at around 10 o'clock.
Monitoring the audio yields no difference to a degree in adjusting the EQ settings |
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| KB2MEN |
Rating:     |
2017-05-23 | |
| Clicking |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Hi: When I use the compressor on MED or HIGh, I can see in the meter, and the radio transmits clicks every 4 seconds, unless there is enough frequent transmit audio (talking). I seen mic preamps do this when the AGC opens when it's quiet, too. I think the gain gets so high there is internal feedback, and the feedback cuts the AGC back, at its recovery rate. I looks briefly at the board and found no integrated AGC chips, except the equalizer, which doesn't appear to have AGC or a gain cell. |
|
| G3YVY |
Rating:     |
2013-11-03 | |
| Inradio version IN-908 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I bought the Inradio badged version which was £50 cheaper. Identical in every way as far as I can tell. I had to put a 0.01 cap inside the mic from the audio pin to ground to stop RF getting into the mic. Its now working fine. |
|
| VK3COL |
Rating:   |
2011-08-30 | |
| Misleading wiring. |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Well after reading all these reviews I have come to the conclusion that people only have one radio. THE A B C switches do NOT isolate one radio from the other, in fact it is hard to figure out just what they do at all. You MUST unplug the leads you are not using or you could damage your radios.
On air performance is satisfactory, but all reports on HF comparing it to my ADONIS AM-503G give it 8/10, with the ADONIS 10/10 on my FT2000. It is now my FM radio mic as the reports are good on there. A battery is not required when using my TM-V71A. |
|
| N5VEG |
Rating:     |
2010-12-25 | |
| Decent but not plug and play |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I got my 299 used from a local ham. It is in as new condition. I tried to use my own cable but it did not work properly so I had to order a specific cable for my Yaesu 857D.
After getting the cable and installing same, I got on a vacant 10 meter frequency with a local amateur to setup and test the mic. It took a while to get the right combination of the sliders on the EQ, but after that was done it sounded fairly good. Certainly better than the standard Yaesu hand mic. If your radio has an onboard compressor, you must turn it down or off for best results. One thing we did notice with this mic element is "It's Sensitive!". It will pick up a mouse breathing at 12 feet! You must experiment with the output settings and the "High,Med,Low" switch to get it not to pick up the sound of grass growing outside the shack!
The unit is very well made and works on Vox. I tried a few moderate distance QSO's with it after we set it up properly and all reports were good.
One note, when you use it on FM you must put the compression switch to "Low" or you will overdrive and distort. Plus, don't use florescent lights near the mic as it will pick up the emissions and create a "hum". |
|
| AI4HO |
Rating:      |
2009-08-30 | |
| Great desk mic for HF |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Let me start off by stating that I no longer have my MFJ-299, wish I did but sold it in a package deal a couple years ago. but the entire 3 or 4 years I had this mic it preformed admirably. I used this mike most often on my first 705MKIIG, nothing short of outstanding. Worked extremely well on all the HF bands, even on 10 meter FM. On 2 meters and 70CM's it worked but my only issue with the mic my main use was on HF, if you went to 2/440 you had to readjust all of the equalizer settings to get decent xmit audio. Its not that it didn't work on 2 meter FM, you did have to readjust, it got to be a pain, so not having any other option but to switch mics whenever I went from HF to VHF/UHF.
Other than that one minor issue, the MFJ299 is a workhorse of a mic. I did splurge and bought the Kenwood cable and used the desk mic on my TS-480HX, that way I had the MKIIG for HF/VHF/UHF using the stock hand mic and on my Kenwood 480HX I used the MFJ-299 up untill I sold the 480, MFJ-299, and a Heil Handi-Mic about 2 years ago.
Would like to get another one to use with my Kenwood TS-570D/G, I have the MC-85 desk mic, but it just doesn't seem to have the same OOMPH that MFJ-mic has. Battery life on this mic was very good, I changed the battery maybe once or twice the entire time I had the mic. Once you get the equalizer adjustments made it was smooth sailing. It helps to have a monitor feature on your radio or another ham who can help with making the adjustments. in my case it was both, with the MKIIG a friend helped with making the adjustments, he lived on the other side of town and we picked a clear spot on 49 meters it took a while but got it mostly where it needed to be. Eventually hooked up with a couple hams on air and tweaked it further. With the 480, it has the monitor feature and was able to get it really,really close and with some on air help got it down solid.
Would I get another? You bet, for a basically $100 microphone, it does what its supposed to do and does it well, just wish I hadn't got rid of it, little did I realize what I had at the time.
73 de Mark
W3LZK
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