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Reviews For: MFJ-299

Category: Microphones for ham radio

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Review Summary For : MFJ-299
Reviews: 16MSRP: 99.95
Description:
Deluxe Desk Microphone w/Equalizer Controls
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
13163.8
KB7SCV Rating: 2009-04-29
Nice, But.. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Very nice mic. I have a low/bass tone voice, hard to hear on noisy bands and you can adjust the equalizer and volume to fix that. The only thing I found bad is that they do not use a shielded mic cable. Out of the box it squealed on transmit with my Yaesu FT-897. I just removed the shield from some RG 8 coax and shielded the cable, connected to screw on radio and mic. About a 20 minute fix.
All signal reports are great now, every one says I sound a lot better now.
AI4WZ Rating: 2009-03-18
Great for the money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I just read that the mic will work off the radio 8 volts and tried it, it does and the battery check range is at 85% good. ..... gonna save me some batteries. I made a "wall-wart" for it but had RFI problems and also tried to save $$ by making my own mic to radio cable and almost got it to work with a ferrite with a few loops, still RFI on 80M. Spring for the MFJ-5397I cable(Icom) and now life is good. I wish the finish was harder, very easy to scratch.
Not gonna put it on Ebay until I can afford a Heil.
SV2BWM Rating: 2008-03-11
Nice microphone, but tricky... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have owned the MFJ-299 for more than six months and I always find new audio adjustments that match my transceivers.

It has a 4-band +/-12db equalizer (that's all you need after all) plus a bypass button, 3-position compressor, up/down plus call/vfo/mr/pf buttons, VU-meter display, on air LED, PTT/LOCK switch with time-out, output level, battery checker and 3-way (Icom/Kenwood/Yaesu) output selector: do you need anything else? I don't think so...

I removed the battery and made a connection to the TM-732's +8V pin, because I had to change it very often.

RFI was a problem in HF when connected to TS-850, but I overcame this with a ferrite ring in the mic's cable.

The 4-band graphic equalizer needs some attention in both HF and VHF because certain frequencies need emphasis for DX and local conversation.
I use for VHF +12db/2khz, 0db/1khz, +6db/540hz, +12db/270hz and for HF +12db all bands for HiFi ESSB and +12db/2khz, +6db/1khz, 0db/540hz, 0db/270hz for DX. Other adjustments may match your preferences.

The compressor stays always in low position and keeps the environment noise low.

You should buy a good set of headphones to hear the differences between adjustments very carefully.

First time I bought it, I was not very pleased but as time passes by I got used to it and I like it every time I use it.

Highly recommended from me...

73's Anastasios SV2BWM
F6IQA Rating: 2007-02-20
Nice and efficient Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I need to say that this is a great mike for use with your SSB transceiver. Most of the time I increase both medium adjustments and lower a bit high and bass for use on DX, and the oposite for ragchew local QSO (adjusted like a U for local and inverted U for DX).The audio is very nice and sensivity is great.
WB9DLC Rating: 2006-10-07
Great Mic / Great Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After the last review I felt the need to review this mic when it is used as it is intended to be used - on SSB.

I've had this mic for 3 years. I get unsolicited comments about my great audio. This from a Kenwood TS440 circa 1986. I can monitor my own xmit audio and the graphic equalizer is very effective. You can configure your audio for a comfortable ragchew QSO or sharpen the audio for contest type QSOs.

I like the choice of 2 PTT buttons: a momentary PTT or a locking PTT button. I also like the timer on the locking PTT button (it beeps like a wristwatch alarm for about 10 seconds before it drops out - you can disable the timer).

The compressor works better than the internal Kenwood processor and provides 3 levels of compression. The equalizer can be switched in and out of the circuit.

Not mentioned in the manual is the fact that it will pickup voltage to operate from the radio. You do not need the 9v. battery.

The mic is on independent of the PTT so it works well with VOX.

At just $100 plus a cable ($20) I think that this is one of the best values out there. I believe this mic is also available from Pryme Radio.

I have been thrilled with it. I like the way it looks and I like the way that it works.
AK9S Rating: 2004-10-22
DIsappointing... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Let me start off by saying that you get a real nice desk microphone. The housing is made from metal and the finish is pretty good. The base is also fairly large for a desk mic. This is something that many of us have not come to expect from MFJ.

I purchased this product to replace the stock hand mic on my Icom IC-V8000 2-meter radio.

Unfortunately, the MFJ desk mic performed quite poorly compared to the hand mic. On-air reports indicated that the MFJ had less dynamic range and was not as loud as the stock hand mic. Many reports indicated that it sounded "nasally."

When I replaced it with my stock hand mic, I would get reports indicating significantly improved dynamic range (good highs/lows in my voice) and much louder audio.

Perhaps this mic may work great for an HF rig, but MFJ does advertise it for both FM and DX work for all types of radios.

I can't believe that this mic performed so terribly on a FM radio.