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Reviews For: MFJ-998 IntelliTuner

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-998 IntelliTuner
Reviews: 112MSRP: 699.95
Description:
The MFJ-998 Full Legal Limit 1500 Watt Intellituner takes you to the final level in automatic antenna tuners. With a capability of 1500 watts SSB and CW, coupled with automatic tuning, your high-power station can now operate essentially hands-free even when frequency and band changes are made.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-998
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001123.8
W5LRU Rating: 2016-05-05
Excellent auto-tuner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I traded a LDG PROII 1000 for the MFJ 998 so I could have one for up to 1500W PEP. It has worked great right out of the box and I purchased directly at a HRO store in Plano, Texas a couple of months ago. I am well pleased with the unit and I believe it is as good if not better than the one I traded for it. The LDG1000 was just that up to 1000W PEP and I wanted the added safety of being able to push the 1000W without fear of damaging the unit as I would have with LDG product.
WB8NXR Rating: 2016-01-17
Looking great so far! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm just getting back into HF after a hiatus of almost a quarter-century.

I have an IC-7600 barefoot and an Alpha Delta DX-CC 80-10 wire in the backyard. It's installed as a horizontal Vee between three trees about thirteen feet off the ground. And the trees are too close together to have the wire fully straight. :-(

While the built-in tuner on the IC-7600 worked well on 40, 20 and parts of 10, 15 was marginal and 80/75 was unusable. Unusable as in the foldover dropped the power to about 2 watts and the built-in tuner could not handle any portion of the band. Probably because the ends of the wire are lying against the tree trunks or something. :-)

After having experienced the Palstar auto-tuner at a friend's home, I knew I didn't want a manual tuner as I used last century. I decided on the MFJ-998 autotuner because it was about 40% of the cost of the Palstar. I also purchased the Icom interface cable.

The tuner was packed securely in the MFJ box and used styrofoam corners and inserts. Inside and out it looked great. While it does not come with a printed manual anymore, it did come with a short power cord, about two feet. The store I purchased it from packed it in another box and wrapped the MFJ box in bubble wrap.

Connection was easy. Just hook up the cables, power and plug the interface cable into the IC-7600 and the tuner. There is a menu on the tuner that you need to set for to the Alinco/Icom setting. The IC-7600 needed no configuration.

Power up the tuner first and then power up the radio and you're ready to go. Pressing the Tuner button on the IC-7600 kicks it into 10 watt mode and tunes the tuner. I took the advice of someone (who I don't recall) who said to just go on each band and do a tune every 5 KHz. That sets everything in the tuner memory for when you need it. That was really good advice.

I was concerned that the antenna and barefoot might be "sub-optimal" but after working the North American QSO party this weekend I know that's not true. 20/40/75/80 were good and I made several cross-country contacts on 75. The tuner even worked on 12 and 17 even though the antenna is not designed for them.

I'm still looking for a solid state full-power amplifier so I'll update this whenever I get one.
K1RI Rating: 2015-12-17
MFJ sez it all Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased new Dec 2015. Worked good all bands except 75/80 into a resonant 75 meter dipole. Extreme RF at all power levels. When taken out of line and replaced with my 25 year old manual tuner, RF completely gone.
KB1GKN Rating: 2015-11-12
poor quality Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Initial assessment of "out of the box" quality - I purchased this tuner at HRO in Salem, NH. When I got home and unpacked it I found a strange breaking-up of the packaging foam inside the sealed and undamaged box. Further examination revealed a large and noticeable scratch on the front panel. I really wanted to bring this back to the store for an exchange, but they had no others in stock. Facing a weekend when I wanted to be on the air, I accepted the poor quality and bad initial experience so I could be on the air.
Had I bought this used, I could've accepted a scratch or two if the price were right. But paying full price for a brand new item, this damage is unacceptable.
KK8ZZ Rating: 2015-10-18
Great Tuner that Always Works! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this tuner for several years and it works first time, every time. Until it learns enough minimum SWR points, it's noisy while it finds the right algorithm, but after that, "braap!" and it's ready. The box is BIG, so make enough room for it. The other "best thing" about this and other MFJ tuners is that MFJ makes cables for nearly every radio, unlike the other high power auto tuner manufacturer, who makes Icom easy but no cables for Yaesu or Kenwood.
KJ4YZI Rating: 2015-10-17
ALmost instant tune on all bands Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I dont care what anyone says, MFJ has some great, and neat stuff. I made a video review on this tuner on my YouTube channel "HamRadioConcepts" and it took every bit of 1500 watts, with 20,000 memories, it remembers the value of where you used it and what it used to make the match, and the next time you hit that spot, its instant.. If you dont run high power, you should check out the MFJ-993b, i made a video of that as well. For mobile or smaller operation, the MFJ-939 is the same. All 3 have the memories, and the best fastest match. Definately recommended.
WB4GUD Rating: 2015-10-13
Great tuner so far Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this tuner about four years. A few months ago, it started acting up-the meter light would dim and I'd get a "turn power off" display. Things would be OK for an hour or a day, then it would do the same thing. I worked with MFJ via email for several weeks. They sent me a new microprocessor chip and interface cable (for free), but that didn't fix it. I finally sent it back and they replaced the 7805 regulator and a 4001. All is well again.

I did find that tuning was quicker if I didn't hook up the interface cable to the FT-950 and just zapped the tuner with 25W AM. After it has been tuned to a particular frequency, it will go back to the settings within a half second.

It seems fashionable to badmouth MFJ, and they do have their QC issues from time to time, but this tuner has worked great and the service from MFJ was great too.
K4LSX Rating: 2015-07-15
very nice! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using the 998 for several years. When I used it the first time I heard arcing inside. The leads to the SO-239s on ANT 1 and ANT 2 had not been soldered, not even a bad solder joint! That was a quick fix and it has been great since.

MFJ has always had a QC issue and one must treat many of their products as if they were kits. After all, we no longer have Heathkits, Knight kits or WRL kits, so MFJ is filling a real void! Sorry for the folks that can't solder. I do find their products to be a good value after you get over the QC problems.
W6EES Rating: 2015-07-14
Best tuner I ever owned.. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this tuner after reading several reports here. The price was right for my budget. However, I keep all receipts and boxes for several months until I could believe in it. First thing I did was inspect the insides for loose connections, poor soldering and loose hardware. Everything was perfect. I then connected it to my existing coax going to my old AH-4 tuner. It would not tune properly to my 33' vertical on my motor home. Read the manual several times till I noticed that the coax feed was too short. I installed 90' of coax to my 4:1 unun and now it tunes everything 1.5:1 It will tune much lower if you fine tune it. My big mistake was the coax feed length. This has cured all the problems I had with this installation. I love my tuner and trust it 100% I have an ICOM 706mkIIg and a Yaesu 2100f amp. Robert W6EES
K5BJM Rating: 2015-05-30
GREAT TUNER!!!!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have used for 4 years and still works perfect! Lower losses than other tuners due to its design. Relays clicking makes a little noise, who cares! It still matches any antenna I use it on and matches to 1.2 to 1 in seconds every time. Defiantly worth your money. Yes MFJ can use better quality control but when you produce as many of these that are sold, you can expect a few that will have some kind of problems.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K5BJM on 2011-03-26

OK, I have used this tuner for over 1 1/2 years and I recomend it! It has worked well. Nothing is perfect. I enjoy operating on every band on 1 Antenna, a carolina windom at 40 Ft. I usually run 1400 to 1500 watts, but when I exceed 1500 watts by mistake, the tunner tells me. It shuts down the Amp and the display reeds OOPS TOO MUCH POWER! I simply turn down the power and push the tune button again and I am ready to go! No damage done! This tunner WORKS!