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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
NN8E Rating: 2007-01-04
Very poor quality. Buy another brand. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned mine for 3 years. Have successfully used it twice. Have wanted to use it much more. Beefs: Doesn't hold calibration. I had to send it back in the warranty period because it went way way out of cal. Read 50 ohm dummy loads as almost 80! Took 6 weeks to get cal'd. Went out of cal again in 6 mos. with NO use!

Latest problem when I went to use it is the internal freq counter quit so when I tune I can't tell where I'm at. I got MFJ to send me the schematics and I'll repair it myself, I hope.

Overall fit and finish is poor. This is the 1st and last piece of MFJ stuff I'll ever spend my hard earned dollars on. I'll stick with REAL test equipment.

Great concept. Poor execution. Sorry for the harsh review but this item wasn't cheap. Do yourself a favor and stay away from it.
K5AGO Rating: 2006-12-17
Take care when replacing the AA batteries... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a lot of successes with the MFJ-269 on HF, VHF and UHF. One design issue deals with the power switch. It is easy to accidentally power the unit up while it is in storage, rendering it inoperative the next time you need it. This month’s QST recommends gluing a round grommet around the power switch to protect it. More importantly is an issue with the back cover of the unit that must be removed to service the AA battery pack. My 269 has some insulation material on one side of the inside of the back. This is apparently to keep the battery pack from touching (shorting to) the rear of the chassis when assembled. Unfortunately, the rear cover can be applied either correctly or incorrectly, and when attached backwards the battery pack will short out because the insulation is no longer positioned correctly. I smoked 10 AA cells today and afterwards could see where the pack had shorted to the back of the unit. I have since added insulation to the entire back cover. My MFJ-269 is at least 2 years old, and MFJ may have corrected this issue by now.
N3XMV Rating: 2006-04-24
DOA Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Unit did not work from the start. I was able to get it to work for a few seconds then swr went through the roof on a proven antenna.
VE6KJM Rating: 2006-04-16
Junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I read the manual, checked the jumper then installed batteries and then turned on to a beautifull display. It seem that MFJ is still shipping out defective product as the Tune dial does nothing. I say this as every other NEW MFJ item I have bought it has been defective and when you contact them they can tell you what is wrong with it, and how to fix it. Is that not way companies have Quality Control so defective product doesn't get shippped out , but then again they have us to repair the item poor product.
I will return this one tommorrow. and go back to using my MFJ 249 which work great, but then someone else had to fix it as I bought it used for $ 170.00 and he had just got it back from MFJ and that was why he was selling it as he need one so he bought an brand.

I gave it a 1 for the Cardboard box and bubble wrap as it worked as the unit was in excellent shapes..

My advise is don't buy it. but if you decided to at least have the dealer power it up for you in the shop.
Kevin
ZS6MAW Rating: 2005-12-30
Great But... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have bene using an MFJ269 for a few months. Works great but then...I made the big mistake which I was SO CAREFUL of not making! I had teh red button in when switching on the unit. Could not see any major problems but fear SWR readings might now not be accurate - Anyone knows what the symptoms are when this is done (Violating this MFJ warning - which by the way in my opinion is not very good designing!)
N1GXC Rating: 2005-11-05
No Problems Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought an MFJ-259B about six months ago and have never had a problem with it. I now have a need for UHF so I picked up a MFJ-269 from AES. Both units are just fine. I inspected both prior to use and no problems were evident. I use my units with a 12v / 5ah AGM battery rather than do the AA batteries thing. The units also work fine with the MFJ wall wart. I'm very much into antenna design and I can afford just about any analyzer. These do everything I need to do at a realistic price. OK, they are not 'top of the line' analyzer's but they are a good value for the money.

Dan N1GXC
KB7HK Rating: 2005-03-03
269PRO WORKS WELL! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I decided to order a 269PRO since Burghardt's has them at $329USD. On arrival, I noticed that It was in a sturdy professionl type case(very different from the regular 269), with 12 rubber cushions, 4 ea. on the back and two sides, and an elongated front case that protects the unit and helps keep it from falling. The firmware shows up as a 269PRO with a ver4.45. Range is simalar to the 269, except the UHF goes from 430 to 520mhz. Everything I do on uhf is above 430. The unit works great. I checked out the way it was assembled when I put in the NiMh batteries. It appeared to be well made. I went through the main modes and found it easy to use and surprisingly accurate.
The heavier case is really a big plus.
Of course, I read the manual before using it so I knew about the UHF button issue. Maybe the newer manuals cover this better, it was mentioned 8 times.
Anyway, tuning my antennas' will be a lot easier this spring. I'm still playing with the advanced modes, they are quite cool.
Based on my initial tests and inspection I recommend this unit.
KB7HK
VK5SN Rating: 2005-01-28
Have been lucky Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The users have always been complaining about MFJ's notorious QC issues. I have been lucky. Never had problems with mine thankully. Great tool for all my antenna projects and expeditions!
N2LJD Rating: 2004-09-15
Adequate Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Analyzer works on HF as advertized, VHF/UHF are far more limited, understandable for size and price of unit. Unfortunately, you have to be a detective to realize that limitation from reading the website description. Battery installation is simply obnoxious, and battery life is very limited; fortunately, with NiMH batteries and MFJ "QC" the unit will probably die before the batteries do. Beware the connectors! Cheap connections; can't take abuse. Must use TLC connecting and disconnecting. Satisfied for the price, but will replace with higher value, better quality unit next go round. Pros and cons equal out to an OK (3).
KG6UAX Rating: 2004-04-02
SO far so good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought one and so far it is accurate and working. Reading these review worries me, since it seems they have some serious quality control problems, but hopefully those have been resolved.

It's good to know about the UHF switch -- the manual says to push buttons in a particular order, but doesn't mention that it toasts the unit if you don't. That is just plain bad engineering.