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Reviews For: MFJ-962D

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-962D
Reviews: 97MSRP: 269.95
Description:
1.8 - 30 MHz 1.5 kilowatt AirCore roller inductor antenna tuner
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-962D
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00973
K4CMC Rating: 2004-02-05
Very poor quality & service Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought a MFJ-962B rated at 1500 watts in order to be able to use my small AL811 amplifier on 160 with about 400 watts. When trying to tune up found it arced at low exciter power with amp off. Checking found screw holding coil loose and insulator broken. Sent to factory after discussing it on phone & it came back several months later still not working. Sent it back and it came back over a month later, still not working with screw I had originally reported rattling around inside and insulator still broken. Sent it back again and after a month it is still at factory. Went out and bought an old Heathkit SA2060A which works great in tuning my antenna on 160 with no arcing whatsoever. If I ever get tuner back I will be getting rid of it and never buy anything from MFJ again.
N0FQN Rating: 2004-01-27
It does the job Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've read most of the reviews and wonder about the arcing and shorting problems. Are they trying to tune a high SWR with full power(600 watts)? If so, just about any tuner will arc and burn switches. I always load with no more than about 20 watts max then bring up the power to 100 watts retune, then, bring it up to 600 to 700 watts. Never had an issue with it, No, it won't do legal limit but, for the money, it's not a bad tuner to work with a SB-200 or FL-2100.
TF8GX Rating: 2003-12-29
Works fine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Got mine in 1999 and use it with my AL-811H,
had problem in the start, The meeter stoped working and the spacers in the roller were made of plastic and they melted when i was tuning 10m in to a 40m dipole. ( Yes i know i shuld not do that, but it was a rare one i needed and i got him :)
I got new fiber spacers from MFJ and a new meeter sinse then there is no problem.
W0ZPE Rating: 2003-11-29
Quality control Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm going to be generous and give this tuner a '4' but from the git go I removed this brand new tuner from the factory box and experienced Mighty Fine Junk. I was unable to get the tuner to function in either the bypass position or through the tuned position. When I removed the cover to locate the problem I was stunned! The internal rotary selector switch was out of alignment with the external antenna selector switching knob. In other words...there is no quality control at the factory or this sort of sloppiness would never occur. Give the devil his due, after correcting the FACTORY problem the tuner works just fine. Would I recommend this MFJ tuner...I don't really know if I would or not but I certianly hope that they read these reviews and clean up their act.
KB0GU Rating: 2003-07-11
Cheap Tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the older version 962C. Almost from the first day it was a piece of junk. Arch from rotary switch to mounting bolt post. Pick up for power meter burned through. Heat crystallized the contacts on the position switch for selecting coaxes. This thing is rated 1.5kw now derated I see in newer advertisements. I would not own another one if it were given to me. Warning do not run anything but barefoot rig through it unless your antennas are nearly perfect, and if they are why use a tuner?
NO9E Rating: 2003-07-10
Quite good (962C) Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought 962C about 10 yrs ago to match my 40m dipole fed by ladderline on 10-160m with up to 600W. Initially it arced on 80m on the switch between one of the bolts and a contact. Cleaning did no good. Got a replacement switch from MFJ in a week and a replacement tuner from AES in 2-3 days. After putting some insulatation on protruding bolt, the arcing was gone for good.

The tuner tunes all my antennas on any band without a problem. The switched coil, like the previous poster wrote, is much more convenient than a roller coil. I can switch bands using prerecorded settings and a tuner aid in 2-3 seconds without transmitting. The power meter is not too accurate but I did not try hard to calibrate it; the SWR meter dip corresponds to the real dip.
NZ0T Rating: 2003-05-29
Marginal Tuner Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this tuner to use with my Ameritron AL-811 which should be well within the advertised capability of the 962D. Two weeks after I bought it the antenna switch fried. I called MFJ and they sent the wrong switch. Got the right one the next time and fixed the unit myself. About 2 months later the circuit board fried so I sent it back to MFJ. They fixed it quickly for the shipping charges. Now I'm REAL careful with this tuner - making sure that I never apply full power unless the indicated SWR is very low.
Bottom line - this tuner is cheap and works but you have to be very careful. Wish I would have spent more money for a better tuner!
AD5EM Rating: 2003-03-09
Works Fine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine has worked flawlessly and I've had none of the quality issues I see in these reviews. I'm lucky, I guess. Or possibly I read the manual on how to use the tuner and paid attention when tuning up my amp (into a sufficient dummy load). I hear lots of people tuning up on the air and and I guess they are better at guessing than I am. I learned early on that the sound of arcing inside the tuner while playing with the knobs is not a good thing. MFJ is not a Cadillac but it will Chevy you down the road, just fine.
W8OB Rating: 2002-11-20
you get what you pay for Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
shortly after installing this tuner in line, I noticed that at times the vswr of the antenna being tuned would jump to very high values. This is not the type of thing you like to see happen especially if you are running 1kw thru the tuner. I disassembled the tuner and was shocked to see the lack of thought to grounding and shielding in this thing. The top cover was covered in heavy black paint oversprays, the SO-238 connectors were installed with the flange inside the aluminum case but the star washers were on the top of the flange where they were doing no good at all, and all the common ground points had no star washers installed between them and the chassis at all, Most of the hardware was extremely loose. I installed the proper hardware and remounted the SO-238 connectors, sanded off the paint around the mounting holes on the top cover, redid so iffy solder joints and tested the unit out. So far so good but time will tell.
It just seems that most of us would rather pay a few extra bucks to get something assembled the right way as to go through this. How many other tuners do you see that when you place your arm across the top of the cover the VSWR goes wacky? Otherwise it seems to handle most of the antennas here without problem but I have not tried it at over 100W on 160M.
VE3UDO Rating: 2002-08-14
Execelent Service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased My MFJ962D Tuner In Mar 2002 It worked Fine untill July The roller on the inductance started to arc I emailed MFJ the replied the next day telling me To send The sales slip and the would send me the parts I lost the sales slip emailed radioworld They asked me to send the tuner to them and they would repaire it under warranty the tuner was returned in 10 days
with a heavier coil and roller now works fine I feel Ihad good Service from MFJ and Radioworld