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Reviews For: MFJ-949E

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-949E
Reviews: 132MSRP: 149.95
Description:
300 watt 1.8-30MHz antenna tuner
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-949E
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001323.8
KC4RZW Rating: 2003-10-22
It does the Job Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This tuner does what I need it to do, have used it with my HF rig for years, I keep a table of settings so that it is easy to tune for a given band and segment. Not uncommon to get reports that I've got the best signal of anyone on the net. My rig is ICOM720a, Use an 80 meter skywire loop antenna. This tuner has been through alot over the years and keeps on keep'n on...
AB2T Rating: 2003-09-30
the "volkstuner" Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had it seven years and so far it's suffered Novice abuse through today, though now it's making castanet noises. I want to replace the knobs, for the supplied knobs "stick" and are old anyway. I don't think the meter light works anymore, but I could care less. While I have my solder out for other projects better take a peek inside.

73 Jordan AB2T
N7SOC Rating: 2003-07-11
met my expectations Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
got my 949e from Radio Depot (sk) in seattle a while ago. paid $10 less than catalog. after reading other reviews gave it the "shake test" and there was a rattle. opened it up and found a 1.5" aluminum wire floating around. But, all solder points are first class, windings are straight, caps are straight..none of the problems others have reported..i wanted a full feature, inexpensive tuner and believe i got it.
AB0RE Rating: 2003-06-30
Better inspect "under the hood" before use... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I did a trade with a ham friend for a 949E after my LDG bit the dust and needed to be sent in for service (Murphy's Law = right before field day). I was a bit leary about getting a 949E as I found a glob of solder floating around in the last 949E I previously owned.

Initially, I could not get my newly-traded 949E to match anything. When I opened it up to check things out I discovered one of the inductor switch wires was shorted out against the transmitter match knob. After fixing the short it worked like a champ for the rest of the weekend.

I was able to tune a 20M dipole anywhere from 10-40M (40M SWR good but performance poor using 20M dipole, of course). I found that with most bands I found the match on the inductor setting 1 or 2 less than what the manual called for (i.e. If manual suggested inductor setting "L", "K" or "J" seemed to find the match).

The 949E is a relatively inexpensive tuner and does meet the needs of many of us hams without bulging wallets. I would've given it a 5 if I didn't have to fix the short. It's just a shame that MFJ doesn't do something about their quality control as it would give their reputation in the ham industry the boost it needs.
KB1ML Rating: 2003-06-16
Great Feature Combination Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought one of these units, used on Ebay, and it works perfectly. Others have mentioned that they had to tighten this and fix that, but this one had no such problems.

This unit, although inexpensive, combines several features that are not in many antenna tuners. It has an antenna switch that allows me to bypass the tuner for the bands where I already have a good match, and allows me to choose which antenna to use (or dummy load). It also has a cross needle SWR meter, as well as a tuner. Before I bought this, I used a separate antenna switch, SWR meter and antenna tuner. Now I can do it all in one package.

In addition, it does do what an antenna tuner is supposed to do - it matches on 80 through 10 meters quite simply (I haven't tried it on 160 meters, as I never operate on that band).
WD4AWO Rating: 2003-05-10
Just to clarify review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
For the unitiated, when I mentioned tech support it was not in reference to any problems with the 949E. Tech support was very helpful when I called and asked them about 'beefing up' the tapped inductor switch in order for me to exceed the recommended input level of the tuner.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by WD4AWO on 2003-05-10

Have owned this one for almost 10 years with no problems other than replacing the meter lamp after 9 years of 24/7 use(I never turn any equipment off). Very reliable. Can't go wrong for the price and tech support is great with a toll-free phone number.
W2UIS Rating: 2003-04-26
Works Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased mine a few weeks ago new from a dealer at a local hamfest. Told the salesman what I wanted to accomplish with a tuner and the 949E was the one suggested. Using the tuner with a Hustler 5BVT vertical and can tune the entire 75 meter general phone band.

Construction quality on mine is solid.
K0KAV Rating: 2003-04-18
Absolutely NO Problems Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Has worked flawlessly for me on all bands I've used, 10-160M. Reasonably priced low power antenna tuner that gets the job done. No failures, no arc'ing, no problems.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K0KAV on 2003-01-07

Sold my amp and AT-1500CV. Bought this tuner because I have had other MFJ's and all have worked fine for me. This one is no different. If you buy a $100 tuner, don't expect to get $800 quality/construction. Bottom line for me is, when used properly, it works as designed without any problems.
W0EKS Rating: 2003-03-24
unuseable Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I am not writing this to bash MFJ in any general way. But I do feel people deserve to be aware of a product which simply was unuseable due to one poorly designed part. I purchased the MFJ-949E new in 2001. A mere touch of the adjustment knob for the inductance selector could make the forward and reflected meters change drastically, due (in my opinion) to the poor contact the tap makes over the toroidal-wound inductor. I sent the unit to MFJ for warranty repair, but the performance was the same after they replaced the inductor. I believe MFJ's intent of the design was to allow a greater multitude of inductances to choose from when tuning, but the problem seems to be a simple matter of poor conductivity between the feeble tap and the coil. I sold this unit at a hamfest (with a verbal disclaimer) for less than half what I paid, just to keep my conscience clean. The only good outcome was that I didn't get rid of my trusty, though inconvenient MFJ-941C, which the 949E was supposed to be an upgrade for. Perhaps the latest design of this model now has a better inductor and tap, but I'm not willing to be a test case to find out.
KF6GOM Rating: 2003-03-13
Works Great,Built Solid Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
well read the reviews here on the good,bad, of this product well i took a chance and ordered one
from GIGA PARTS (great price and service). when it arrived i opened the case and checked all connections and coils, there were soldered pefectly.wiring was well laid out, all screws and
Banana Jack tightly installed.Hooked it up to
My Dipole and it tuned all bands close to 1:1 match very nice to set up and the tunning feels
like a more expense tunner priced much more.I guess i got a well built one it was on back order for a while so i lucked out on its construction
73s KF6GOM Bruno