| VE7FXY |
Rating:  |
2002-01-19 | |
| Mine works great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought mine used for sixty bucks mostly because I liked the cross needle meter it has. I use it with a Kenwood ts-520 at home, and also take it mobile in my work truck. The dummy load built in the tuner is great for showing the 520 50 ohms in order to set the drive, load, plate current, etc... I put mine through a lot of abuse at work pounding down the I-5 everyday. I also find it very intersting that the price today is almost the same as it was in 1987. I am very happy with this tuner. Cheap price and it will tune up a chain-link fence! |
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| KB5TBB |
Rating: |
2002-01-17 | |
| One of the |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I guess I was one of the preverbial "lucky ones" when it comes to my MFJ 949E. Many frequently cite a lack of quality construction and I think that is true to a degree. My father has owned and used a 949E for several years and never had an issue, so I decided when I was building my first home station I would use one as well. Past experience proved me right and my 949E has been working flawlessly. Sure, the 949E is not top of the line, but one thing is for sure, you do get a lot for your money if you are purchasing new. I happened to find mine on eBay for $100 and it was in brand new condition. So, if you want a decent tuner that does almost everything and you don't need high power, consider this model for purchase. If you want THE BEST, don't buy this model. |
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| KC4CQS |
Rating: |
2002-01-17 | |
| Most MFJ is (JUNK) |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I read more and more complaints about MFJ. Although my 949E tuner is O.K. I was fortunate
enough to be in the Ham store and hand pick the
unit. You just have to find the one that doesn't
rattle.(Due to loose parts and shotty construction.) Don't waste your money on any tuner from them that has a roller inductor. They are JUNK. Two of the worst are the 969 and 989C. Total trash as far as my experience. By the way I went complete thru my 949E re-soldering tightening etc. but I still only use it occasionally. I now use an AT-11MP tuner that is very good quality. |
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| KB9WIS |
Rating: |
2002-01-17 | |
| Stay away!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I bought this tuner about 8 months ago, and it has already developed several construction "quality" issues.. Sure, it'll tune most dipoles/antennas,(if the tuner doesn't break-down first) but I've encountered several different construction flaws, that have left me severely disappointed with the MFJ product line. Initially, I was excited about using this tuner, so I requested next day delivery from a major Ham Radio outlet.. Upon the "first" day of usage, the ground lug become loose on the inside of the unit.. I didn't think much about it at first, until the following week, one of the UHF S0239 Jacks become severally loose, without any apparent strain on the tuner applied.. Again, I just thought of these as minor glitches/mistakes on MFJ's part, until the other SO239 jack also become loose, and needed re-tightening.. The second month, the "antenna selector" bandswitch wouldn't operate in certain positions.. I've never transmitted while making any antenna selection changes, so I'm not sure why the life expectancy was so short, as what it was.. When over 100 watts is applied, the tuner also seems to act way too flakely for my taste.. Also, I'm not sure if the dummy load just gave out, or if the band selector switch is just also inop. in this position as well.., but it no longer works. I also bought one of MFJ's "wattmetters", which "just" stopped working after the fourth month, for no apparent reason. I'm not sure what it was, but I'm almost certain it was due to MFJ's poor construction!! It's probably a loose connection from one of the connections,(again) and/or a poor soldering joint.. I've learned my lesson, and I doubt I'll ever buy another MFJ product again!!! |
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| WJ5MH |
Rating: |
2001-12-03 | |
| Not bad for the money |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
My MFJ purchases have been limited to their antenna tuners starting with the original MFJ901. I cannot comment on MFJ's construction abilities outside of their tuners, but I would recommend opening up any item bought from them to check for obvious loose nuts and bolts, and poor solder connections.
The MFJ-949E was the third tuner I purchased from MFJ. Taking my own recommendation, I took off the cover to examine their workmanship prior to applying RF. Other than cosmetically looking like it was not built professionally, I did discover that one of the wires soldered to the rotary switch looked like it was shorted to multiple contacts. In all fairness to MFJ, I did not measure the connection. I unsoldered the wire, cleaned the contacts, repositioned the wire and resoldered.
I also noticed that the contact foil around each end of the dummy load resister was cracked and flaking off. I just rotated the resister to insure that the contacts clamped on a part of the foil that was not cracked.
In the process of reviewing the supplied schematic, I noticed that Q1 and associated components (labeled N/L) were not installed on the circuit board in my unit.
The only other problem I have had was an RF hot knob for the antenna tuning control. I have seen this problem before, and it tends to be related to load conditions, and the physical placement of the tuning capacitors. Apparently, the RF was being capacitively coupled to the knob's silver trim (yes, the case was grounded). I solved the problem by replacing the knobs with all plastic versions from Radio Shack.
Would I buy again? Yes, because the price is within my budget, and it works.
With so many complaints of poor workmanship, wouldn't it be nice if these tuners were supplied in kit form.
If you're interested in modifying your tuner for reading PEP, visit my web site. I've written about my experience installing the HI-RES PDC-1 adapter in the MFJ-949E and 962D.
http://members.aol.com/Wb5fco/notebookind2.html
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| KC0IEE |
Rating: |
2001-10-27 | |
| Not bad for the money |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
As with anything you get what you pay for. It's a $150 tuner so do'nt expect a Caddilac, you're getting a Chevy. The only problem I've had with it was a blown meter bulb after about a month of use. The meter is large and easy to read and the controls are logicaly placed and easy to operate. The manual is good, the suggested starting points for tuning are very close. The dummy load was a nice feature when I had to tune the finals in my TS-520, but now that I have a solid state rig it never gets used. Yes the quality inside does'nt look the greatest and it's a little touchy trying to tune up sometimes, but it does its intended job. Overall for a ham on a tight budget(like me) I would recommend this tuner, if I could afford a better one I would look elsewhere.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KC0IEE on 2000-12-28
I just bought mine from HRO in Denver about a month and a half ago. Works perfectly. It easily tunes my coax fed 40m diploe from 80m on up with no problem. I have'nt hooked it up to balanced line yet but I plan to when it warms up. The meter is large and very easy to read with backlight. The manual gives starting points which are very close. If you are looking for good, easy to use tuner for a descent price ( I paid $130 at HRO ), I would highly recomend it. |
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| WA0YEI |
Rating: |
2001-10-18 | |
| Fair tuner but quality poor |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
When I purchased the tuner about a year ago I had trouble getting it to tune my 40/80 meter dipole and in certain situations I could hear some arching inside when trying to tune the antenna. When I open the tuner to investigate I found that when the variable capacitor was manufactured, the plates were not spaced correctly when the cap was soldered together. I unsoldered the cap, re-spaced the plates and soldered it back together with the correct spacing. NOW it works fine.
In general, quality is what I would consider below average.
Unit is too also sensitive when adjusting the variable caps. A little difficult to get a good low SWR because of this. |
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| KC7QIR |
Rating: |
2001-09-15 | |
| Not Bad |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Used it on our sailboat offshore for 4 years. Rig was a Yaseu FT 840, and a random wire loop. This unit worked very well in a variety of conditions. I had to tighten the rear connectors a few times, but other then that, it held up well! |
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| WD0GVH |
Rating: |
2001-08-10 | |
| Works Great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought the 949E used about three years ago and have had not trouble with it at all. I have used it to tune a 40m. loop that was fed by ladderline, and a 40M G5RV. The tuner will tune both antenna's to 1:1 on almost every band 10-80. Have seen no quality problems. If this tuner failed I would replace it with another 949E |
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| K3SUI |
Rating: |
2001-07-12 | |
| BELIEVE IT OR NOT !! ... WORKS GOOD !!! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought mine second hand. I'm using it to load up a 30' piece of wire thumb tacked to the corners between the ceiling and the walls of my condo's dining area. In six weeks I worked DXCC for the Millennium award. I've been using it ever since with good results running 200 w (166 countries in 16 mos.). It tunes up the wire on everything from 30 meters to 10. If I add on a bit more I can get 40. It appears to do a fair job ... Actually better than most any other type of MFJ junque that I have used in the past. I guess even a blind squirrel can occassionally find an acorn. |
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