[Elecraft] Antenna Analyzers

[Vic Rosenthal]

Stephen W. Kercel wrote:

> There is an interesting piece in the May 2005 QST. It has product 
> reviews on four different antenna analyzers.
> 
> Two that were included are the MFJ-269 and the Autek VA-1. I have heard 
> endless horror stories from many hams about both, abysmal quality 
> control, virtually useless tech support and so on. None of these 
> negatives are mentioned in the QST product review.

You hear the horror stories, not the ones in which people successfully use these 
products.  I have an MFJ-259B and an Autek VA-1.  They have their weaknesses, 
but compared to the higher-quality AEA unit, for example, they are very 
inexpensive.  This is a tradeoff many hams are willing to make, given the fact 
that they don't earn their livings using these tools every day.  I know that 
they have enabled me to do all kinds of jobs that would have been much more 
difficult without them.

Maybe I've been lucky.  I do want to say that I've also heard 'horror stories' 
and some (OK, not all) have been from people who don't have a clue how the tool 
works and what its limitations are, while others are the guys who have a 
permanent 'attitude' (just read some of the postings on eHam.net if you want to 
see what I mean).

-- 
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco