[Yaesu] RE: antenna tuner

[A10382]

The following is only my personal opinion(s)... You have to make up
your own mind on what you spend your money and time on.


MFJ's amateur gear
=================
My personal experience with them has been limited.  However, from the few
units I have had my mitts on:

There seems to have little or poor quality control.  The same seems true
about
any final quality inspection and final test.   Let's see - they make and
sell something that handles up to 1.5KW, where a defect can seriously injure
or even kill someone or the possibility of a faulty unit catching fire.. Hmm
sounds like playing Russian Roulette with a bullet in 2 of the 6 chambers.
Almost sounds to me like they farm out some of the assembly to at home
assemblers and never open the boxes they get back.  Some reviewers have
noted
that they got a new unit that could never have worked - was missing wires,
missing components, or even had unconnected components.

Has anyone on the list ever visited their factory ??
If so, what was your impression ??


>From what I've seen of the innards of the very few of their tuners and amps
I've
handled, they might be OK if you used them well below their rated power.
The
1.5KW tuner I looked at appeared to have the same components as the
previously
owned company's 300W unit.  Reviewers have noted arcing and burnt switches
on their 'Legal Limit' tuners and amps - something I've never seen on the
likes of Johnson Matchbox, Palstar, Drake, or Nye tuners.  I believe they
rely on the fact that people buy a 'legal limit tuner' with the intent on
eventually doing legal limit, but soon realize that their 100W rigs can make
worldwide contacts just fine... and the cost to bring 20A or 30A dedicated
circuit
to the shack to power those 1.5KW amps tend to discourage a lot of users.

Ever wonder why 500-600W amps are so popular ?? They can operate on a
dedicated 15AMP 120V AC circuit.

Even if used below rated power, the rather low quality cabinets, poor fit
and finish, lousy paint jobs, missing or stripped screws, poor quality
labeling, and even cheap stick-on rubber feet tend to put me off before I
even look at the guts or consider the specs and price.

------------------

Equipment Reviews:
=================
The reviews in QST (ARRL's magazine and on their web site) do tend to be
technically accurate but occasionally I find them politically tempered and
toned down with buzz words, innuendo, and some read-between-the-lines
comments.  ARRL does want to be
fair and accurate for its members, but at the same time does not want to
outright insult its advertisers - a very tough job for an advertising
supported publication.

The reviews you may see on eham.net or qrz.com tend to be more spontaneous.
I would not put too much stock into a single reviewer's comments - negative
or positive - unless I knew the ham personally.  However, the majority of
the reviewers
usually seem to rate MFJ's products at least a notch or two below that of
other manufacturers.


YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR -- well, maybe.
=====================================
An old adage is that "You get what you pay for".  However, IMHO, today you
pay almost as much for poorly made junk as you do for great quality stuff
from some other makers.  If 8 out of 9 reviewers pan it, then it probably is
not worthwhile buying - new or used, no matter what the cost..

============
73, Frank


----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert C De Grippo" <kr4da@earthlink.net>
To: <yaesu@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Yaesu] RE: antenna tuner

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