[MFJ-Ameritron] MFJ-949E Woes...

[KBØNLY]

I have a MFJ-949E that I'm trying to get working in anticipation of receiving my General license.  Today I had a friend over that is an Extra and we found out that it will tune the antenna fine but shows no forward or reflected power on the meter.  If you use the internal dummy load on either Bypass or Tuned there is only a slight deflection of the meter, the forward side rises to approximately halfway between 0 and 10, roughly two needle widths before the short mark before 10.  And the Reflected side drops to a needle width below 0, so the reflected goes down and the forward barely moves upward.  We also put a external dummy load on the tuner and tried it on coax 1 and coax 2 and both in either tuned or bypass and still no power showing on the meter.  However, with an external wattmeter between the radio and tuner we saw 100 watts from the FT-847 driving it.

I have been reading around the net about it and it seems to be a common failure with this model.  Can you tell me what the repair is, I heard mention of the need to replace a couple diodes and to recalibrate it to restore the function of the meter.  This unit was purchased used so I don't have a warranty on it, upon inspection of the inside it is in like new condition like the rest of it, just can't get the power meter to show anything other than described.  If parts need replacing can you give me an idea of equivalents that I can get at Radio Shack, there isn't much else where I live for small parts.

Thanks and 73,

Scott, KB0NLY



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