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Reviews For: MFJ-269

Category: Antenna Analyzers

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Review Summary For : MFJ-269
Reviews: 83MSRP: 359.95
Description:
HF/VHF/UHF SWR Analyzer
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-269
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00833.7
VE7AGW Rating: 2012-06-09
If you don't have one borrow one Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought mine used at a swap meet, so I'm not out of pocket much money. I've checked my 269 against a Bird AT-500 and it's pretty darn close, considering the price difference I'll stick with the MFJ-269. Like someone else posted "for the kind of work I'm using it for it works just fine". It's one of the few test instruements that I could actually say I don't know how I managed for so many years without one.
A couple of years back I was working on a Sinclair antenna which we tuned by cutting back a capacitive stub using a MFJ-259, before completing the install on top of a mountain we checked the antenna with a Bird AT-500 and it was exactly what the MFJ had read. So at that point I had changed my mind about the MFJ analyzers. I'm an old school amateur and am very stubborn about new things but this paticular unit is worth an investment, unless you have a lot more money to purchase a Bird AT-500 this is worth every dollar and then some.
Enough said there are still units that can have issues, although every amateur I've talked to who owns one of the MFJ series of analyzers none of them are unsatisfied.

BRANDRE Rating: 2012-04-19
A versitile tool Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My 269 was bought from a silent key sale so I have no idea how old it is. But one thing, I will go ballistic the next time I hear the Mighty Fine Junk term for this and at least 4 other MFJ products. They are not laboratory instruments and you would pay 10 times as much or more for anything that is close to lab quality. But they 1) work 2) are close enough for what we do and 3) are generally rugged enough. When I read the bad reviews I have decided that MFJ has customers they do not like and ship defective units to them. :) They must like me.

I bought the 269 to get the antenna analyzing capability but have used at least a couple other features. I bought the "grid dip" coils because I do some construction of equipment and a GDO is a very important tool. There are things this unit will do that even MFJ does not list.

Everyone knows it can be used to analyze antennas. What about measuring coax. It isn't as elegant as a TDR but it works. One thing, READ THE MANUAL. I had a piece of coax that had an open. The ohmmeter said open. But which end? Hooked up one end, coax was 81 feet - looked at it, it was close to that. Hooked up the other end, couldn't get any reading. Took off that end and it was not right, replaced it and ok. This was a antenna mount with a SO238 that had broken.

It can be used as a rf signal generator.

I have pulled out the manual recently and looked at it to see what else it will do...
WB3AYW Rating: 2011-12-18
JUNK ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Worked all day trying to set the match and it was the analyzer, not what I wanted to do all day.
I would NOT recomend this to anyone, even my worst enemy!
This is my 3rd MFJ analyzer and the worst.
They can advertize it as a 440 meg unit, but it is very unstable and in accurite.
The 259's, also had there problems, but at least they worked as advertized.
The hf/170 seems ok but not on the 440 scale.
KQ4KK Rating: 2011-12-07
Must have Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you don't own one, have a friend who does. And use it.

A little better than typical MFJ construction. I had a 259 for years, battery case crumbled, so used an external battery case.

269 a little better built.
K2JX Rating: 2011-12-07
Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

Just received my MFJ-269-B this week. I sold my MFJ-259-B which I owned and used for a year, it was great but it did not cover the UHF range which I needed to maintain our Clubs UHF repeater system. Before powering up the new unit, I carefully inspected the PC card for poor soldered or no soldered joints, I found none. Everything was in order so I powered it up. I made a few simple checks in my home shack on antenna's that range from HF to 450 megs. I quickly found out that the high VSWR on my UHF antenna was not the antenna, rather a cable fault in the shack !

I was ready to blame the antenna which is more than ten years old, not so ! Moving on I tested cables, my 43 foot vertical, an end fed wire, baluns with ease, and the results compared to those I recorded with the 259-B. One thing that could be better is the on-off switch, I'd prefer a slide type. The UHF mode switch which selects the UHF range if your not careful could be damaged as it stands above the sheet metal enclosure. The analyzer is sensitive to static voltages on your antenna. Short to ground ANY cable or antenna your about to test.

The MFJ-259-269 analyzers are in my view for the price a much needed piece of test gear that every Ham should own. You won't use it everyday but when you need it say to tune an antenna or need a frequency counter or cable fault locator you'll wonder why you didn't buy one sooner ! Trust me.

73/K2JX

K5BA Rating: 2011-03-12
I love it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The one thing that impresses me most about this unit is how easy it is now to tune my mobile antennas. Having R, X, Freq, SWR displayed at the same time really help to understand the interaction. Out of my 4 HF mobile antennas, one of them has never worked. I could not get the SWR down no matter what I tried. The MFJ-269 show me the problem; it was resonating on 4 MHZ, 6 MHZ, 17 MHZ! One word of caution through, Protect the antenna connector religiously.

What I dislike about the MFJ-269 is the lack of measuring X on the UHF range. I've become quite found of getting X to go down to zero.
KQ4BX Rating: 2011-01-29
Mixed view Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The MFJ-259 is the one tool that almost every ham that is serious about making antennas, or baluns has. Regardless of what anyone says about not understanding what the meter is doing, they have no right to berate the product for their own lack of intelligence. The one thing that is true, is that you need to open the meter and look for cold solder joints, or evn as I found, the lack of enought solder to mate the S0-239 to the board correctly. Yes, I did have to solder the S0-239 to the board. The meter itself can help you tune an antenna directly. There is no better way to tune an antenna. It can also be used to test a balun for proper operation. I could not get the frequecy counter to count, and I've given up on doing anything except the two things this meter shines at, tuning antenna's, and baluns.
N8IK Rating: 2011-01-27
no problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Never had any problem with mine. Had it for years - very useful tool. Would be interested in knowing what the "latest" firmware is - can't get an answer out of MFJ. Mine is v1.24 dated 1999. Anyone have something later or know if anything has changed? The chip on the main board is socketed so should be replaceable.
K2YWE Rating: 2010-12-25
Good Analyzer but MFJ-29C Case is Junk Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used the MFJ-269 for impedance as well as simple SWR measurements for about a year. It does what it's supposed to do. I also have an Autek RF Analyst which is much smaller and works OK, but the MFJ-269 has a wider frequency range and far less tricky to use. It's become my primary tool for antenna work.
DO NOT bother with the MFJ-29C pouch. I was very disappointed when I got mine. It's made of neoprene with punched holes. You have to stretch the case to make it fit the various undersized openings. The markings for the frequency selection knob are completely covered up and the two buttons at the top have no holes. The most critical edges for damage, the top two sides and corners, are not protected at all. The end result is that the case makes the unit harder to use and doesn't protect it well.
STAYVERTICAL Rating: 2010-11-08
Sigh of relief Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After reading the reviews and noting all the horror stories, I finally bought the MFJ269 anyway.
It works as advertised, being solidly built and without any of the "gremlins" plaguing other users.
I compared it with my VK5JST HF analyser and it agrees well with its readings.
Works well on VHF/UHF as well, although I double check the UHF push button to ensure it is not pushed in when powering up.
Mine came with the UHF button activated (pushed in), so had I put the batteries in (which seems to start the 269 by default) it may have taken out some of the circuitry.
So before putting in batteries or powering up double check the UHF push switch and make sure it is out not pushed in.
I also take a lot of precautions to ensure static does not damage the bridge diodes by discharging antennas before use.

Since mine and many others work so well, it is obvious the quality control has gone through some rough times, but the basic design is good.
I noticed mine has a QC sticker on the bottom, perhaps a step taken to correct quality issues.

At least MFJ will correct problems, no questions asked, unlike the inquisition like and mocking customer service desks of some other manufacturers.

Well done MFJ.