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Reviews For: MFJ-914

Category: Antenna Tuners/Matching Networks

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Review Summary For : MFJ-914
Reviews: 19MSRP: 59.95
Description:
1.8-30MHz Auto tuner range extender
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-914
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00194.3
NJ6F Rating: 2007-04-20
Perfect for Shack and Mobile - as antenna switch 6/HF Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Yes I have two of the FC-20 Yeasu 3:1 tuners.
In the shack: takes care of cases where the coax length match on particular bands is at some wavelength that prohibits max transfer of power to amp when used as a tuned input before the amp for max effecency. This switch eliminates the problem.
In the shack: switch for max noise on a band and be assured that your tuner will be in range and tune it.
IN the Mobile: Where I use it the most - I have it mounted between rear seats in a Camry with coax feed thru easily from trunk with fold down seats. With FT100-D Yaesu I can now use the dummy load position for 6 meter straight transfer to my Larsen 5/8 2 meter mag mount for 6 meter operation. ..........Then simply reach back from the front seat easily and switch to any preset position for whatever HF antenna you are using at the moment...hamstick etc. It easily takes a 17 meter hamstick and extends it out to 20 meters or 15. Same for 20 to a short 40 or 17.
I picked mine up inexpensively off e-Bay. Simply go to band and antenna HF of choice and switch for max noise=best match for tuner and be assured of putting optimum power into antenna. Eliminates that annoying auto tuner hunting situation. Have fun 73 Rich
NT9E Rating: 2005-03-03
Best bang for the buck! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used mine for about 5 years. Bought it to use with my TS-440S/AT and an Alpha Delta DX/A Sloper. When I upgraded my HF xcvr to an IC-756PROII and now use it with an Alpha Delta DX/LB Dipole for 160/80/75/40/40m. Just need it for 160 and 80m. Auto tuners are designed to handle an SWR range of around 3 to 1. With the MFJ-914 you can increase that range to about 10 to 1.

YOU MUST USE A GOOD RF GROUND for the MFJ-914 to work satisfactorily.
KD5S Rating: 2004-06-14
MFJ-914 does the trick Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I use the MFJ-914 tuner extender with my Kenwood TS-2000 and 80-meter dipole, and it does the trick. The auto-tuner now tunes four additional bands that were previously too far "out of reach".
KA6SGT Rating: 2004-02-23
Does what it's suppose to! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Simple by design and construction, yet it does the trick. Used in conjunction with the automatic tuner in my Yaesu FT-920, I can now work everything between 160 and 10 meters on my 600 ohm open wire feedline G5RV. I followed the instructions to the letter and it works great. Plus I can mount the box on a bulkhead for stability.
N6QL Rating: 2002-11-27
Works as advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
There seems to be confusion in this review thread. This unit works as advertised. It works via a switchable tap toroid transform. Of course it's not going to solve world hunger but it does extend the range on whimpy tuners like the FC-30 (used with the FT-897). My only real complaint is the size. If could be made smaller for better portable use.

Ron Curry
N6QL
WA8IKP Rating: 2002-07-19
works as advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a Kenwood TS 570D and a shortened multiband dipole (80-10). All bands were matchable using the rig's built in tuner, except 75. Couldn't get it to tune above 3.9mhz. It was inconvenient to mess with shortening the overall length to raise the resonant frequency. Put the 914 into the system, found the minimum swr with the auto tuner off, and then put the built in auto tuner back on and it matched very well. Was going to try the LDG AT 11MP auto tuner if it didn't work.
AC0X Rating: 2002-01-16
well, its kinda OK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one, and although I don't think it's a terrible piece of equipment, I was never really impressed with it. It won't extend the capabilities of your internal tuner to be equal to a wide range tuner, it just sort of "helps" some. So if you think it'll get your 10m dipole to work on 160 just like a regular tuner might, you'll probably be dissapointed. Plus, there's no "bypass" position, just a "dummy load" position on the switch that directs output to another output jack all together. Even though it may be cheaper than a regular antenna tuner, you'd probably be better served to save up the extra money and buy (or even build) a real tuner instead.
WF8X Rating: 2002-01-15
It works -- mostly. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this item in order to get the auto tuner in my TS-570DG to tune my G5RV in the 4.5 mhz band for MARS opration. It will not do that. After the pre-tuning with the 914, the auto tuner still is uanable to get the SWR below 3:1, so the power out of the 570 is drastically cut back. It seemed to pre-tune the G5RV and an R7 vertical in most other places, including the WARC bands, where the SWR was too high for the auto tuner.
My old MFJ 949 tunes the 4.5 mhz area just fine, so I returned the MFJ-914 and went back to the manual tuner.
VA3CRA Rating: 2001-01-06
Worked Great for me! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The MFJ-914 worked very well for my antenna installation. I'm using a Kenwood TS-450s to a 130-ft. end-fed zepp up 35 ft.

Basically the MFJ-914 has a single rotary switch on the top that has 7 selections. It extends the range of the autotuner on your radio. You just simply, turn off the autotuner on your radio and key down. Then just select one of the 7 positions that tunes the antenna best (according to the SWR meter on your radio). Then turn the autotuner on your rig back on, hit tune, and your ready to go.