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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
KB2SEO Rating: 2006-11-27
Nice unit, GREAT SUPPORT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a 949E now for almost 12 years. In that time, it's been rained on, Went flying through the air! (But a Concrete wall broke the fall,80 MPH Storm on Twin Lights back in 1997)

It has gone through a Heck of a lot of moving, run as mobile, Beaten and pushed to the limits of common sense, let alone common use! We loaded a Aluminum Beach Chair as a goof once! (Worked 2 Cubans that day off it!)

And here- 12 years later, I emailed MFJ for a bit of assistance if they knew what would be a good place to start on a issue. I hardly expected them to bother-

Next thing,I know- they tech support not only advised me of the probable place, they SENT THE PARTS- Free of charge!

Let's see Yaesu do that! I have a FT-100 I purchased Brand new and I STILL can't get it to work right.
KI4LHA Rating: 2006-10-19
It has survived me so far.. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I know alot of people do not like MFJ,some do. Its like cars. Well I have had this tuner popping like Orvill and it still works. I loaded a 52ft. wire on 160M with this tuner and above 50 watts it pops like everything added a ground to the antenna and it works like a charm. I will buy MFJ products because who else is making so many produts affordable.

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Earlier 3-star review posted by KI4LHA on 2006-06-21

Just Here recently my wife bought me a IC718 and a GR5V jr antenna with a 949E tuner for our anniversary. The radio dose great, got for shortwave listening while I study for General exam.Everything is fine but the tuner. It will only tune one band. It loves 14.2 MHz and thats it. I call ed tech support not really any help there. I read the manual four times, literally. So I think its time to take it back and save up for a AH-4 auto tuner.
KC8YKQ Rating: 2006-08-18
Does what it is supposed to Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used my 949E for 2-1/2 years without any problems. In that time it has matched a variety of wire antennas at 100 watts with no hiccups. It does just what it is supposed to do, and I guess that is all anyone should expect.
IK7LJR Rating: 2006-07-12
Not very good Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Deludente. Risente della vicinanza della mano durante l'accordo. In 20 metri l'accordo risulta sempre critico. Ho risolto mettento una manopola più grossa che allontana di fatto le dita dall'alberino del condensatore di destra.

73 de
IK7LJR
PE1NPG Rating: 2006-06-23
looks cheap, works OK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use it a IC-718, barefoot 100 watts. 2 x 17 meter with 10 meter open line. Tunes flawless on all HF bands. Has a bit of a cheap feel, and would not recomment using above 100 watts.
Its an afordable unit, so I do not complain.

73 de Jean-Pierre

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Earlier 5-star review posted by PE1NPG on 2004-02-27

MFJ makes affordable stuff, like this one. I use it with a Inv. V 2x17M with 8 meter open line, and a MFJ-1796 vertical dipole. Rig is an Icom-718 at 100 watts. A simple station, but I work the world on SSB and PSK31.
Opened it up after reading the other reviews that critisised it. No quality problems found. Mechanicaly its a bit simple (like some other MFJ products) but its reasonably prised so don't call it poor. For me this is a hobby, and this product is really fine for the price. Keep up the good work Martin! 73 de PE1NPG, Jean-Pierre.
VK4APN Rating: 2006-06-22
Excellent Value tuner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my tuner for more than 10 years. It has performed flawlessly during this period. I have never failed to obtain a reasonable match on any load to date inc g5rv, long wire, ocf horizontal loop....the list goes on. I believe one of the recent reviewers must be making a fundamental mistake or the unit is faulty. As a good starting point try setting both capacitors midpoint, change inductance to peak noise, then peak each capacitor - this should put you at least close to the ball park. Paul vk4apn
K4IA Rating: 2006-06-22
Pleasantly surprised Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had one for years and it works great. Finding the right Inductor setting is the challenge as the SWR jumps dramatically if you are one "tick" off. However, once you get that right, I have never failed to be able to achieve a 1:1 (into reasonable loads). It handles your typical 100 watt transceiver with no problem. I you want to run power, you shouldn't buy a 300 watt tuner.

KI4LHA - if you will email me, I will be glad to help walk you through it. I think you are doing something wrong. k4ia at arrl dot net
AB2TC Rating: 2006-06-06
Gets the job done Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Given the number of reviews on this tuner, there is not a lot that can be added, but I do think I have found the solution to the problem with repeatability mentioned by some. During the first month of use, I found that tuner settings I had documented one day would no longer be valid the next. To make a long story short I found that the the top and bottom half of the housing are not well connected together. I opened the tuner and sanded away the paint around every mounting hole in the top cover. The problem has never come back. Other "maintenance" I've had to do is to tighten the mounting nut on the switch that had come loose. Other gripes: The fact that the capacitor shafts are hot with RF and protude outside the housing compromises shielding (more computer birdies) and causes the hand capacity effect mentioned by many. And lastly, I wish the knobs were a little bigger. But then again it gets the job done. Mine won't be replaced until I find the ideal tuner for me: A reasonably priced remote controlled manual/auto tuner that can be placed in the yard where the feedlines from my several wire antennas come down.

AB2TC
VE6XL Rating: 2006-04-15
Average Tuner / Compact Design Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Of the MFJ line up this tuner has the most features in the smallest package.

The tuner is great for portable use.

It works very well and will tune anything within reason. I would not use this tuner for base use and would purchase something a bit larger with more power handling capability.

One negative, the tuner does not have a full metal enclosure and has plastic sides. Other than that the tuner is good value for the money.

VE6XL
www.ve6xl.ca
K5AF Rating: 2006-03-17
Perception versus Reality Time Owned: N.A.
I am among those who bash MFJ on a regular basis and I am about to eat some crow! I tested the MFJ-949e against my homebrew design that I've worked years on optimizing, and the results were fairly impressive for the MFJ.

I think this is a classic case perception versus reality. This tuner just looks inexpensive and I think many people judge the book by its cover. There also are the many well-known quality issues that MFJ has experienced over the years that don't help either.

Then there is the hype. This is advertised as a 300W tuner. I am quite confident that this tuner would melt down under 300 W of continuous key-down power, it will probably handle 300W peaks, however.

What you have here is a pretty good 100W tuner that will perform with the best of them under normal loads and in the middle of its operating range. Around the edges, it gets ragged, just as all tuner designs do.

I tested the 949e on all bands between 160 and 20m on a typical balanced load and compared the antenna current readings against my L network with reasonalby robust components and a heavy-duty balun on a 200' center-fed Zepp. On 20, 30 and 40M, the MFJ was exactly equal to my homebrew design. On 80M, the current was about 10% below my L network, and on 160M, it was about 45% down.

There are two issues at work here. First of all, it is difficult to build a good balun that will be efficient on 160-10M, second, the parts tend to break down under the high currents on some loads. In this case, the "antenna matching" capacitor arded at only 50W on 160M.

Overall, though, I was impressed with the ease of loading and efficiency on 80M and above. The meter was as much as 20% off of my Daiwa CN-102, but the SWR reading was dead on.

Given that this is a very flexible tuner with a built-in dummy load and the ability to switch between several antennas, it does the job reasonably well. If you look beyond the hype and have reasonable expectations for this tuner, you will find it is a very good value.