| W4BGN |
Rating:     |
2007-10-16 | |
| Good Analyzer |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Purchased a new 269 back a few months ago, it was DOA. I sent it back to MFJ and they promptly replaced it.
The new meter takes some getting used to, but so far has worked well. I was getting bad SWR readings on my new j-pole, only to find out the coax was junk(NEVER use mini 8).
So all in all, I have to give MFJ an A in customer service and a B in quality, could be better quality, but it is not made to be used for commercial work. so, you get what you pay for!!! 73. |
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| KK6AS |
Rating:     |
2007-10-11 | |
| kk6as |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought my mfj269@april2004. We have taken this unit overseas and used it for gov't antennas.
Also check out antenna's for field day. etc.
We really wish I could use it more often. But no need to,darn. Anyway the unit is good for general use and is accurate. i have used both recharable and alkalie batteries. Just wish it showed the negative or positive j operator symbol.
But over all it is goood unit in the advance mode where you can program inpedance 50 to 600Z.
This make for a nice peice of equipment to check out ladder line or tv twin lead. I used for professionaly and for ham uses. All in all it is a good unit I would like to test drive the 269 Pro. So all in it is a good unit.
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| K7RFW |
Rating:     |
2007-08-18 | |
| It works |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It appears that in the 18 months since I bought this, the ratings have slipped on the MFJ-269. I myself really wanted to rate it at 3.5, but gave it a 4 since it is working but the UHF is problematic (may be the way I am using it since some 70 cm antennas seem to have no issues). I mail ordered from HRO a fully kitted out unit, rechargeable batteries, case cover, dip coils, car adapter, and AC adapter. I leave it plugged in the AC all the time to keep the batteries charged and it is ready to go.
The optional case cover is mix of cheap and good and tends to trigger the mode button if you are not careful (I should cut holes for the gate and mode buttons). The pouch on the back holds my adapters (N to SMA, BNC, and SO-239) and the car adapter (not used yet). The 70 CM band worked for a few antenna designs, but a month or so ago, I could not get that band to work right on some new builds, but my mag mounts are still showing good. Kind of big and bulky, not a true portable unit but then again, the last analyzer I used (the 70's) was much bulkier and more limited.
I played with the coax tests a couple of times, and I think that if you need to ID an odd cable, that feature would be useful.
I use it today mainly for HF, 6 M and 2 M adjustments on my BuddyPole and for that purpose it works well, even if it does not sign Xs (Zs). I have occasionally seen abnormalities that could probably be traced to a KW pusher about a mile or two away (at least he was there when I finally got done tuning up), but over all it works fine and my FT897's SWR indicator likes what it sees (and I think most cheaper units do not like external RF feeding in).
MFJ does have a 'calibration' document on the web but I would give that a '1'. Some pages badly scanned, faded scribbled corrections, and very much looking like some 7 grader who did not care what kind of grade he got did it.
Would I buy it again today? Well, there are some units on EHAM reviews that are much nicer appearing, but you are paying 3X and more the price. There are some nice ones that are only a bit more or less, however most are only up to 30 MHz. I think without going to a store and playing with the various ones out there I would be hard pressed as to what I would get. While the common wisdom is that complainers write more often than non-complainers, I am still leery of getting another one, especially the way the calibration document looks. But outside of the UHF portion being strange (or maybe me goofing up), I really can not see why I would not go for the 269 if I could not get to a store to play with other units.
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| N7CN |
Rating:     |
2007-07-23 | |
| Works well when working. Great customer service! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had my MFJ-269 for about 2 years. I read all about that terrifying UHF button that brought nothing but pain and sorrow if pressed at the wrong time. Well I’m sometimes more impulsive than careful and slipped up, for a couple seconds, a few times, but no problem, the meter kept working flawlessly. I had no problems with the N-connector either.
Everything in my world came crashing down however, during some Field Day measurements this year. The UHF portion of the meter started to do some crazy things when I tried to measure UHF SWR. 27 Volts and wacky SWR measurements. After a few attempts at powering up again… nothing. The UHF portion no longer had any response to power up. The non-UHF section worked fine as always.
Before arranging to send the thing in to MFJ, which I dreaded due to the time and expense anticipated, I called the tech support line to see if there was an alternative to their repairs. A gentleman answered promptly. I explained the symptoms and that I strongly suspected that my meter had gone where many before it had, to the ranks of the useless due to a poor design. I asked it there was a repair kit they had that would enable me to fix the unit myself since it happened so often. Or at least I wanted him to give me some hints as to what to look for since so many units had the same problem.
Fully anticipating an expensive repair bill, the answer shocked me! After the gentlemen verified that I was capable of doing SMD rework, he told me that he would send me some different transistors to replace for Q9, 11, 13, 19, and 22. I was amazed at the simple offering of a solution that would enable me to easily fix my problem – for free!
The teeny surface mount transistors arrived a few days later, and I replaced them by locating the positions on the board by their silk screen designators. After re-assembly, I powered up, switched to UHF, and was back in business!
Any company that offers an option to send out parts to take care of repairs due to design flaws rather than requiring it be sent in to them gets a “great customer service” award from me. What the design guys get from me is something else, but the problem was fixable without too much effort. OK, so you do need an SMD rework station, some experience, and an hour or so… But their solution worked very well for me. MFJ customer service rocks!
I just hope that this component specification change will make the UHF portion a bit more robust. Their new meters probably have this change and may not exhibit the problem quite as much. I don’t know. So far – an awesome meter (when it is working) and awesome customer support!
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| VE3LLL |
Rating:     |
2007-05-31 | |
| Get one that works and it's great! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
No question, MFJ's infamous quality un-control has been seen in this product too. I'd heard several stories, so when I bought mine from a dealer at Dayton I extracted a promise that they'd have a replacement on hand the next day. Sure enough, mine had an antenna connector that was only occasionally connected to the inner workings, if you held it a certain way! It went back the next day, and I gave the replacement a pretty rough ride, thumping it on the counter, twisting knobs to their limits on both ends, roughing up the connectors, and even trying it out on several nearby antennas.
It survived, and has been a terrific tool in the three years since. Quick and easy to use, more versatile than many people know (it doesn't just do VSWR), not too bad on batteries (which are a bit of a pain to replace) and, yes, reliable.
Further, I've had the opportunity to compare its readings with those of a $4,000 handheld analyzer and a $40,000 network analyzer and it stood up very well, producing the same or very nearly the same results as those tools.
So my advice is do NOT buy one online, but if you can pick one up in a local store and give it a bit of a ride before you leave, you may be very glad you bought this indispensable tool. |
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| KK7SS |
Rating:     |
2007-03-30 | |
| No Problems |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had my MFJ-269 Pro for over 2 years, I've never had any problems or casue for complaint.
I'm a satisfied customer.
The results agree with my AA-908.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KK7SS on 2006-08-02
I've had my MFJ269Pro for over a year now. I use it with rechargeable nicads. It worked straight out of the box and has given me no problems so far. Nothing loose - nothing broken. There is no light for the display - but if I can't see the display then I probably can't se the antenna... :-) |
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| WA4DFE |
Rating:   |
2007-03-30 | |
| Hoping it gets better! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| New MFJ-269 arrived Wednesday and ended up sending it back to MFJ on Thursday. I had read all the posted warnings and still bought one for the cadet hamshack here at VMI. I checked the battery jumper, installed new batteries and made sure the UHF button wasn't down and powered it up. Numerous tries resulted in numerous results - few that were successful in being able to use the device. I saw previously reported displays like "VOLT LOW" and "VOLT OK 27 V" and when the battey voltage came up correctly, the meters were very unstable as well as the display readings. The tech support guy was very cordial and checked his stock of new units and agreed to ship one out as soon as the defective one arrived. I have used a friend's MFJ-269 and it worked well so I know it has the potiential to fulfill our needs. I agree with the previous reviews concerning MFJ's Quality Control (or lack thereof). The weather just broke here in VA and I really wanted to get up on the roof and do some antenna work. |
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| KT4WO |
Rating:  |
2007-03-29 | |
| RUN, RUN FAST!!! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Where to Start?!?!....First one came in from HRO and the UHF switch didnt work.....
Second one came in two weeks later....
It was DOA out of the box!!..so... I opened it up just to see the "Quality"(or lack there of!) and found that the Neg. wire from the internal battery pack had NEVER been soldered!!
Now for operation... Checked SWR on Three different Dummy Loads with Three different coax jumpers(and direct on one)... 1.7:1 to 2:1 was the lowest I could get....Same on all my antennas.
ohhh.. almost forgot... the Band Switch is intermittent...
ALL this and more... for $330.00 BUCKS!!!!
MFJ has NO Quality Control!!!
RUN,,, RUN FAST!!!
KT4WO
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| N4MJG |
Rating:     |
2007-03-10 | |
| Not Bad |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I had mine long before i got into the ham,last 2 times i had to sent my out for repair.if i remember right it would not power up or something wasn't working right !so i hope that last time i have to sent out and maybe that will stay working as long i can.like they say mighty fine junk.to me i don't say it i just it not too bad if they fix right like it sould !
73
Jackie
KG4ORX |
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| KI4SYX |
Rating:   |
2007-03-10 | |
| Bad engineering |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The first unit I purchased was already broken. The replacement seems to be working fine, but before you buy one you should know that it has several basic design flaws.
Firstly, there is a flaw where if you turn the unit on with the UHF button depressed, it will fry the unit. As others have mentioned, a note about this appears in the manual numerous times (it doesn't say it will fry the unit, but that's what it does). However, that's just ridiculous.
Secondly, the unit apparently has no sort of protection on the input circuit. The designer could have easily put a gas discharge tube to discharge high voltages from static build-up and a 100K bleeder resistor to bleed off static charge. However, this device apparently has neither, so you have to be very careful to short the antenna leads before connecting.
Thirdly, the RF connector is not attached to the chassis, so I have concerns that eventually all the screwing and unscrewing of the connector will cause it to detach from the PCB.
Fourthly, I have read (but not experienced this myself) that nearby strong AM stations can destroy the unit as well.
Finally, changing the batteries requires removing 8 screws. You also have to set an internal jumper which is not very clearly labeled on the PCB.
I am an electrical engineer, and I have to say were this my design I would be ashamed to sell them. The basic function appears to work OK, but solid engineering means you can't forget the details. Having already received one unit that was fried, I feel like it is just a matter of time until I slip up and fry this one. I have had to glue a protective ring around the UHF button so that it doesn't inadvertently get turned on, and I placed labels on the device to warn me to check the state of the button and to short the antenna leads before connecting a device. |
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