notbob wrote:
I'm studying hard and planning a shack. I hope to be on the air by
June. So, is MFJ stuff any good?

yes, it is quite good. It's not Chinese junk, it's actually all made in
their factory in the US.

If you've been asking yourself why the US car companies need a bailout,
you will get an education buying MFJ. If you already understand and expect
that "made in US" means things are not always 100% right, nuts and bolts
are loose, pop rivets are not all tightly popped, that's what you
will see.

The build quality is not that of aTen-Tec, nor is the design. But it's
a lot cheaper. Ten-Tec survives because they also make commerical and millitary
equipment, they can afford better skilled technicians, higher quality
parts and better quality control.

Martin F. Jue, is one of those people who never stops inventing things. You
can find an interview of him on YouTube, it's well worth watching. Jue does not
have millitary contracts to support his company, he lives off of the ham
radio business.

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.

Be prepared to open your tuner and make sure that all the bolts are
tightened, there are no loose wires and no shorts.

As for service, they always have been willing to mail you a manual with
schematic anywhere in the world, now they are making them available for
downloads.

I recently decided that a 9020 (20m cw transceiver) I had bought in 1994 or
1995 was not receiving as well as it should, and carefully followed the
alignment procredure. It still did not perform as well as my 40m one,
so I went to their "ask a question" web page and asked for help.

I received an email from the guy that designed them. :-)

They also have a policy that you can either return a unit for warranty
service, or request repair parts. Who else does that?

My advice to you, is if you are (or plan to be) the kind of ham that opens
cardboard boxes, sets things up and uses them without ever wanting to look
inside, stay away from MFJ. If you want to be the guy that is involved
with his equipment and understands it inside and out, is not afraid to
fire up his soldering iron to fix a loose wire, and so on, then MFJ stuff
is good for you.

If you are not sure, you can always buy one of their cheaper tuners used
and if you don't like it sell it. Just make sure to buy it from someone
who will let you see it work (as in NOT on eBay).

Good luck.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.
i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found in the Wikipedia.

On 2010-03-23, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
My advice to you, is if you are (or plan to be) the kind of ham that opens
cardboard boxes, sets things up and uses them without ever wanting to look
inside, stay away from MFJ. If you want to be the guy that is involved
with his equipment and understands it inside and out, is not afraid to
fire up his soldering iron to fix a loose wire, and so on, then MFJ stuff
is good for you.

I have no fear of electronics hardware, having done time as an
electro-mechanical tech in Silicon Valley. I still have my trusty
Weller and am gathering parts to build a code oscillator and am also
researching radio kits to tackle. I just wanted a general opinion of
MJF, they being so prolific in a seemingly forgotten corner of basic
electronics. I know zip about radio, so studying for my license has
been both enlightening and fun. Thank you for your comprehensive take
on this company.

nb