Thanks for the quick reply.
The "old equipment" I am referring to is pretty primitive and quite
old.
The only really good pice of equipment I wonder about replacing is an
Heathkit IM-4190 directional coupler for 100-1000 mhz. It was not
available for long and it has served me well on 144 & 440 mhz.

John Ferrell, W8CCW

On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 12:13:06 -0800, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

"Swiss Army knife" is a good metaphor. In your pocket, it's always
available and handy for that simple job. It's got a saw good for fast,
rough cutting, but no competition for a chain saw for speed or a scroll
saw for precision. The file will cut metal, but it's not a Swiss file
set or a wood rasp either. And so forth. Likewise the MFJ. I use is
frequently for a quick measurement, and that's often good enough. But
when I really need precision, out comes the GR bridge, network analyzer,
and whatever other real tools are required.

Ironically, the thing it does worst, in an urban setting at least, is
actually measure antenna impedance. Like any broadband impedance meter,
it's dismally bad at that particular job because RF from broadcast and
other sources drives it bonkers.

So by all means get one. You'll find you use it a lot. But don't be too
quick to unload your other gear.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL