| WA6EKP |
Rating:  |
2008-05-04 | |
| Should have been a kit |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Bought my MFJ-998 new along with an interface cable for my Yaesu FT-1000MP. It would not work with the factory interface cable. What I found was shorts in the 3.5mm male plug end of the cable, and very sloppy soldering. Inside the MFJ-998, the quality :} of the solder joints was also pretty bad. The heavy tinned wires to the SO239's were all cold joints and I was able to pull one of the connections apart easily. Someone needs to teach MFJ's assembly line people how to solder!!!
Once I had cleaned up the solder joints, and made my own interface cable, everything worked as advertised. I'm running a Quadra at up to 1000W, and have not noticed any problems at that power level. I do wish MFJ would get a QA Manager that knows what they're doing. |
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| W1CDX |
Rating: |
2008-04-29 | |
| It tunes my Wire and Vertical |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
It workes good so far. On the first day... hooked up a dummy load and tuned all band segments into it (That aktually takes quite a few seconds per tune).
Then when the Bands are in Memory of the tuner ... hook up your Tenna and press Tune. 1 click and 1 second later your on the Air.
I like it ... would recommend and buy again |
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| K8ICB |
Rating: |
2008-02-12 | |
| It is wonderfull ! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased mine used, I was told of course that it worked perfectly. The amp relay was shorted , MFJ repaired it for free,took about 2 weeks.I use mine with an Icom Pro III , also have the cord interface for the Icom , this is a real help , you use the tuner button on Icom which reduces the output to about 12 watts until it tunes for low SWR , it then returns the Icom to full power.
On feature of using this type of tuner is that you always have a 50 ohm load for the amp , so you can just record your antenna and plate settings for a fast band change.I like MFJ products,I now own about 5 devices.
73
Dan
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| N4KZ |
Rating: |
2008-01-17 | |
| This tuner is a winner |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I was lucky enough to find a slightly used (about 4 months old) MFJ-998 along with the Icom interface cable. Wow, this tuner is excellent. First, the fit and trim is excellent. One of the best looking MFJ products I've seen or owned -- and I've had a bunch since the firm first started with those CW filters Martin made in a hotel room 30-plus years ago.
The 998 tuner offers a myriad of features -- almost too many to count. You can configure it in many ways. I use an 80-meter full-wave horizontal loop for 80-30 meters. (I have a beam for the higher bands.) I bought a DX Engineering 1:1 current balun for use with 450-ohm twinlead. I have used this antenna for years with a 25-year-old MFJ-962 kW tuner and it worked great. But after buying a solid-state Ameritron amp, I wanted the added convenience of a no-tune tuner too. And I must mention that the amp bypass feature is wonderful and offered on few if any other competing products.
The loop presents some high impedances on 80 meters but I can QSY all around the band at will by just pressing the tune button on the Icom Pro 3. Always get 1.3:1 or less on 80. Very slick. The antenna is broader on 40 and 30 and tuning on those bands is very fast and always achieve 1:1 in no time flat. On 160, I feed one side of the feedline as an end-fed wire and combined with some 160m radials, the antenna works nicely there too.
I've been one who's been skeptical in the past about autotuners -- figuring they were an inferior way to use an antenna fed with balanced feeders. Now, after using this tuner for a month, I think I was wrong and the autotuner is the way to go -- particularly if you want an all no-tune station, which I did.
I really feel like MFJ has hit a home run with this tuner. It's pricey but it does a LOT and does it well.
73, Dave, N4KZ |
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| K7GRR |
Rating: |
2007-10-28 | |
| Two thumbs up! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Antenna: 80-6M Windom OCF, which resonates well on 40 and 20, but not so hot on the other bands. FT-857D and AL-811H. I grew weary of manually tuning, so took the plunge.
My, my, my.
1) tune the amp into a dummy load
2) switch to the 'real' antenna
3) press the tune button
4) you're on the air.
I've only used it for a week, but it tunes to well under 1.5:1 in just a few seconds - if it's close to a frequency you've been on before, it's well under a second. It disables the PTT line while tuning, so the amp (and fellow hams) are spared the key-down knob-fiddling. I am totally happy with this tuner - while it is spendy, it gives me more time to actually operate. |
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| K4XD |
Rating: |
2007-10-15 | |
| Point and shoot - great! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've held off reviewing this until I could get a couple of contests and a months of DX'ing under my belt with it. So far 100% happy. I have it connected to my Icom 756 Pro II with the MFJ interface cable, my Tokyo Hy-Power HL-1.5KFX on the output, and it drives four antennas switched by an Ameritron RCS-12: homebrew hexbeam for 6-20M, K1JEK Cobra Ultralight Sr. for 80M/30M, Cobra Ultralight Jr. for 40M, and an inverted L for 160M.
It replaced an LDG-1000 autotuner (the previous model, not the new one which seems to have some of the MFJ's slicker features).
It tunes all these antennas to 1.4:1 or less keeping the THP amp happy.
Now the slick part. Double click a spot in DXLab and the radio tunes, the RCS-12 selects the right antenna for the band, and the THP gets on the right band. At this point I hit MW (memory write) on the Icom and find a clear spot close to the desired frequency for a tune-up. Hit the Tune button on the Icom and it puts the amp into bypass, puts the Icom into a tune cycle, and stops at the desired SWR (I have mine set for 1.5:1 or better, which the THP needs). If you've tuned near that frequency before, it re-tunes in under a second. Otherwise you may wait 1 to 5 seconds, typically about 2 to 3. Hit MR (memory read) on the Icom and I'm back on my QRG and ready to roll.
Those of you who like to tune up right on the DX frequency can skip the MW/MR QSY step (just kidding, but I wish it was only a joke).
So it's about as quick as it can be -- get to a clear freq next to your target, hit Tune on the MFJ-998, and you're all tuned up. Very cool.
The tuner also has SWR protection for your amp - you can set to desired max SWR and it put the amp into bypass mode (meaning open circuit the amp's PTT or keying line) if you are working up or down the band and don't notice the SWR climbing. This is really helpful for solid state amps that are fussy about SWR. I've had way fewer faults on the THP since putting the MFJ-998 in line.
I like the digital forward and reverse power readout (and nice to hear it appears accurate compared to a calibrated external meter). The analog meter appears fine too, but from my operating position the digital meter is easier to read and very handy for things like getting to 200W (and staying there) on 30M. The digital readout also shows you the last QRG tuned or transmitted, a handy reminder of whether you need to retune.
You can also set the MFJ-998 to re-tune automatically if the SWR goes above a desired level. I tried this and it works fine, but I'd rather not have a tune cycle initiated automatically so I keep it turned off.
I usually run 800W or less on the THP to "baby" it since my PA board croaked (not with the MFJ-998). So I can't confirm how the MFJ-998 handles 1.5KW.
Only odd thing so far was the LCD display going blank about a week after I got it. I did the power-on reset explained in the manual and everything came back to normal. No recurrence since.
Compared with the THP autotuner, the MFJ's specs say it will tune a much broader range of SWR's, handle more power, and it costs quite a bit less.
Even though most places had a waiting list when I ordered mine, I shopped around and found it at a very nice discount (almost 20%) too. I'm a happy camper.
73,
Rowland K4XD
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| AD5X |
Rating: |
2007-09-26 | |
| Top of the line! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I’ve had this MFJ-998 for about two weeks now, and I am very happy with it. It tunes anything I throw at it. And the amplifier-disable feature, along with a transceiver interface cable (which you can build from info in the MFJ manual), lets me leave the MFJ-998 in full auto-tune mode all the time without worrying about amplifier or tuner damage when tuning starts. The SWR amplifier protection feature is also a nice addition. I checked the internal digital wattmeter against my Tektronix TDS-2022B 2gb/s 200MHz oscilloscope and found the power meter accuracy to be very good. If interested, I have a detailed review on my website at www.ad5x.com. |
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| W6OA |
Rating: |
2007-09-17 | |
| Works great |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Received the MFJ-998 on September 14 after just over a two month wait. The unit was packed in styrofoam and inside another box with large cell bubble wrap.
Took the cover off right away to set the radio jumper JP1 to Icom and to see if anything had jarred loose during shipping. No need to open the unit if you're using a Kenwood. Mostly surface mount components. Nicely laid out. The torroids are all ty-wrapped to the PC board to stabilize them.
When using the optional interface cable with an Icom, Kenwood or Yaesu radio power to the 998 is supplied through the cable.
Operation not really straight forward. You could start using it without reading the manual but you'll do well to read it all before hand. You can request a manual from MFJ or download one from their web site and get a head start while you're waiting for delivery.
It would have been nice if when the unit stored the L/C settings for a particular frequency that it would also store which antenna was being used, 1 or 2. Maybe whenever the firmware is updated it could be incorporated into it as maybe a menu option.
I saw no mention of what maximum power level one could use for RTTY, PSK or slow scan TV. E-mail from Richard Stubbs of MFJ says it is rated at 800 watts continuous.
Lastly no schematic was included for those who might be interested. It isn't available or hasn't been released yet according to Stubbs.
So far I rate it a 5/5. |
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| W1JUS |
Rating: |
2007-07-08 | |
| Fantastic |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Works better than I expected - I'm using mine with ProIII & HL-
1.5Kfx - push the tune button on the Pro & it tunes to 1.5 SWR !
Talked with HRO Salem NH & all they are getting are rave reports - 1000 times better than the LDG 1k (which neverworked - Tried two ) Oh yes power rating is 1500 watts SSB & CW; NOT KEY
DOWN !!!!! |
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| KB3MMI |
Rating: |
2007-07-05 | |
| Horrible results with Rig Interface Cable |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
When I purchased the 998 Intellituner tuner 4 months ago, I was excited to replace my MFJ Versa Tuner V with an AUTOMATIC, Legal Limit Tuner. Well, the tuner itself works great--when you MANUALLY tune with it!
I purchased the appropriate Rig Interface Cable as described in the manual for my Yaesu FT-857D. After spending $19.95 + S&H, I had to cut the rig interface plug to even fit into the back of the rig properly (square peg into round hole issue). Then, there was "automatic" tuning, as it did not work as described in the manual. I am still waiting to hear back from MFJ.
On another note, I was excited to be able to use the 998 with my FT-2000. Well--the manual only shows the FT-1000 series rig interface. I contacted MFJ to let them know there was nothing about the FT-2000 series, the FT-1000 series was no longer in production, and could I even use the interface cable for the 1000 series in the 2000 series. I am still waiting to hear back from MFJ on that also.
$700 for an AUTOMATIC tuner that require MANUAL tuning. I guess it's back to the Versa Tuner V. |
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