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Reviews For: MFJ-868 SWR/ WATTMETER

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : MFJ-868 SWR/ WATTMETER
Reviews: 34MSRP: 139.95
Description:
VERY LARGE SINGLE NEEDLE METER- VERY EASY TO READ AND VERY GOOD BACK LITE
Product is in production
More Info: http://MFJENTERPRISES
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00343.6
WQ5B Rating: 2014-10-15
all I expected Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my Giant Meter for some time now and could not ask for more. It is better than a Swan Peak reading meter I owned 30 years ago but sold to fund something . This one is staying home when going to sidewalk sales . I did not know it had lights until I was playing with the ON/OFF switch and they lite up . One has now quit but I still see it . I will change them out when this one goes out but modify the circuit for a lower voltage & longer life. I would welcome any MFJ stuff some one may want to get rid of as it all sells well at flea markets .
K4SDW Rating: 2014-06-03
OK Meter Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this meter about a year now. It works good. I have had problems with the lights inside the meter. This is the 2nd time they have gone out. Not sure why. I replaced them the first time after about 2 months. 2 months later and they are out again so I will just use the meter without the lights. I did like to see that large meter lite up. I would probably spend a little more money if I had it to do over and get something more dependable. I guess you get what you pay for.
WD8FM Rating: 2014-03-13
Still Working Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just an update to my first review. My meter is still working great after more than 3 years of heavy usage. Still within +/- 2 watts and SWR readings almost no deviation when compared with 2 other watt/swr meters.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by WD8FM on 2013-02-18

I purchased mine NEW about 1-1/2 years ago and it has worked great for me the whole time. It Checked within +/- 2 watts with three different RF power meters and within .2 on the SWR meters. Close enough for me.
W8EDV Rating: 2014-03-12
Lights out in 6 weeks.. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I like the size of the meter and it seems fairly accurate, however I can't recommend it because my light bulbs are out after only 6 weeks of light use. I only use the meter for a few hours at night and the bulbs went out in just 6 weeks. It's a big disappointment when you spend so much money on a meter that is just junk. I imagine shipping it back and having fixed will probably leave me without a meter for a month or so from some reviews I have read about MFJ repair services.. I like the look of the meter, and it does work, no problem there, they just need light bulbs that will run longer than 6 weeks...
NV6W Rating: 2012-09-30
needs design review Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this large analog meter several months back for purposes of HF linear amplifier tuning. Initial tests were satisfactory. However, I discovered that the device itself is not properly isolated. Station components placed near and/or on top of the meter result in incorrect readings. Also, both meter bulbs burned out after relatively light use. I found replacement bulbs, however, they're not easy to replace. The sockets are held in place by miniature plastic tie-downs, and the meter face needs to be taken apart to reach them.

I'm going to agree with John / ZS5J's previous review, which is quoted here, in part:

"...I re-calibrated the MFJ meter to read correctly on all 3 levels, and while I had the meter open, had a look at the quality of construction. Well, typical to MFJ, it is really cheaply and poorly constructed inside. MFJ is still way behind other manufacturers in terms of quality. And it can be seen that there is no testing of equipment prior to leaving the MFJ workshop, as can be seen by other posters reviews here..."

I'm planning to upgrade to a digital meter with proper isolation at some point.
WB6ZRP Rating: 2011-07-30
Great meter Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the meter used, it's over a year old and still working fine. After a little calibration which is very easy, I found it to be very accurate. The two microsecond op-amp it uses makes it a very accurate PEP reading meter. It' very nice to have such a large meter, makes it just a glance to see my output with my amplifier. When I installed the 9 volt battery I took notice that the construction was good. Overall I always have had good luck with all MFJ equipment so far. I've had several tuners, meters etc.
W7MJM Rating: 2011-02-08
Big meter makes tuning amp much easier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This extra-large meter makes tuning my tube amplifier much easier. I can see changes in peak output in response to amp adjustments that I couldn't distinguish on my old Heathkit HM-2140. Accuracy seems to be within 10 percent of full scale for readings in the upper half of the scale. The meter seems easy to calibrate (one trimpot per power range); as soon as I can borrow a calibrated lab-quality instrument, I plan to tweak the MFJ to get it within 5% of the lab instrument. Very pleased with my purchase and would recommend this device to others looking for an easy-to-read, peak-reading analog swr/power meter.
NA5AR Rating: 2010-12-26
Works great for me. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm not sure why some folks are bad mouthing this meter. I have three of them and they all work great. Very easy on the eyes and easy to use. I've had a lot of meters over the past 40 some odd yrs of hamming and this one is as good as any. As with any equipment there are some that just don't work like they should but these works great for me.
KD8EZU Rating: 2010-12-25
It's a unique meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
OK so; I'll annoy the "MFJ is crap " crowd by saying that I like my GIANT meter very much and think that it works well. Mine's off by about 10 - 15% when initially used but is damn near close to within 5-8% now that I've calibrated it. I did not buy it hoping to get a scientific instrument. I wanted the biggest meter possible and it IS the biggest meter available. I looked inside it also ( I was putting in a 9volt battery). and "NO" it is not cheaply made and is constructed well. You must calibrate it ( Duhhh!), but that to me is a small price to pay for the " Mother of all meters".

I wanted a REALLY big meter and MFJ is the only one that could supply me with one. You could do a lot worse for $140,00 bucks. Could you do better?
Not much... and forget about large size.

I'm glad to have an American made device, that appears ( for now, maybe it will blow up later!)
to be well made and meets it's criterion.

Guess I'm part of the small MFJ fans out here.

KD8EZU
KB3BTO Rating: 2010-11-17
"Good" meter. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using mine for just under 2 years now with no problem. It is relatively accurate and very easy for aging eyes to read at a glance.
I do an annual calibration comparison using my Bird 43 meter and have had to make only minor adjustments to the 868 and that's easily accomplished using the adjustment screw on the meter's face.
I'm in the minority but, for the money, I find this meter hard to beat and a welcome addition to my shack.

Charlie
KB3BTO