notbob wrote in :
I'm studying hard and planning a shack. I hope to be on the air by
June. So, is MFJ stuff any good?
To put it more bluntly, is it moderately priced practical equipment or
just throw-away junk? I'll settle for Chinese made --which I suspect
much of their stuff is-- if it's relatively decent in design/execution
and somewhat sturdy. I can see how the antennas and like hardware
could be decent, but how about the stuff like tuners and other
meters and electronic equipment. Thanks for any feedback.
I have the following MFJ gear:
o MFJ-259 antenna analyzer; I like it a lot. It's not perfect, but it
works well enough for my purposes. Bought used.
o MFJ-906 6m tuner. It works very nicely.
o MFJ-921 2m/1.3m tuner. Works extremely well.
o MFJ-461 pocket CW reader. For solid copy, needs really good signal,
but still useful.
o MFJ-4225MV power switching supply. This is a good, solid, hash-free,
cool-running supply that not only drives my radios, but also is good
for electrolytic etching (see
http://www.steampunkworkshop.com for
more). It's as good as my Samlex SEC 1223 power supply, puts out
less hash, and has meters.
o MFJ-564 iambic paddles. Not great, but serviceable. I need to take
it out of service and completely readjust it.
o MFJ-441 keyer (a gift). Works; I don't need it, as my radios have
keyers built in.
o MFJ-557 code practice oscillator with key. CPO is OK; key is trash.
Wow! I hadn't realized I had so much MFJ equipment.
Overall, it's low-to-middle end: not all junk, but not high-end gear,
either. Some of it is a bit overpriced, I think, but it's certainly not
priced like high-end gear, either.
When I was growing up, and when I was a new ham (think 1950s-1960s), there
was a real need for this sort of gear at this price level, and it just
wasn't available. I grant that lots more components were available locally:
I could walk into parts houses in Houston and get everything I needed,
except Big Inductors, Big Transformers, and Big Capacitors, to make a
linear or anything smaller. Some of this gear is hard to homebrew, and I'm
glad Martin Jue decided to start making and selling it.
--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
Tired old sysadmin