MFJ Enterprises Original MFJ-949E 1.8-30 MHz 300 Watt Deluxe Versa Tuner II Antenna Tuner

Just setting up a radio area. using this for both my 10m 5/8w vertical and 20m dipole. I can tune either antenna to what every band. Quick tune just by peaking the reception strength. built in antenna switch is a HUGE key feature. Handles two Coax feeds and 1 line feed at the same time. Built in decent dummy load safe with most stock rig output power. Takes a little getting used to, but the cross needle meters do make it easier to tune. A buddy of mine didnt like these cause the inductor selection is just alphabetical, and doesnt list the band. but you get used to what tuning you need. He did say, from his experience, get a tuner with a antenna selector, and boy was he right, huge asset.

Bought as a gift

I received my tuner promptly, it was well packed and didnt have any shipping damage. Pleased with the overall transaction. My order was fulfilled by GigaParts and they shipped promptly. The actual item, however, is in dire need of improved quality control from the manufacturer. MFJ has a spotty reputation and its pretty clear that they are challenged in striking the balance between quality and low prices. Id rather they spend a little more on the QC process even if it means charging a bit more for the products. As I said, my unit arrived entirely unscathed by any of the shipping it had endured prior to reaching me. When I opened the box containing the tuner, all looked to be in fine condition. That became a different story when I hooked it up to a rig though. I found that the tuner couldnt tune a match (3:1 VSWR was its best) to either its own internal or to an external 50 ohm dummy load. Using the bypass function to the external dummy load, the match was 1:1. Investigating further by looking inside the unit, I found that the variable capacitor for the antenna side of the T had its blades bent, shorting each one to its partner through the entire arc of rotation. There is no way that this unit passed any sort of quality control before it left MFJ, given the fact that there was no physical damage to the shipping box, the unit box or the unit itself. Since Ive opened the unit to investigate this failure, Ive voided the warranty. Ill either repair the capacitor or replace it. Overall, these are not bad units, but, please be sure to give them a good examination before putting them into actual use.

Works great easy to use.

works excellent....thank you amazon..

MFJ has no pre-shipment testing and poor QA inspection. Mine had capacitor plates rubbing together making it not usable. After opening the unit, doing a visual inspection, correcting the problem, it worked fine. No one should have to repair a product at this price point! If you choose to purchase this device, please inspect it before putting your expensive transmitter in jeoparty!

Im satisfied with this tuner because it does what I need to do, so I gave it five stars. As a manual tuner, it is a little awkward to use compared to an automatic tuner, so I dropped a star for ease of use. The box has a power connector in the back to put in 12V to power the light. I dont have easy access to a 12V connector so I have not connected, and the tuner works just fine without any power, since the 12V is only for the lamp.

Works great I use it on 11 meter Im very happy with it thanks

Using this on a multiband EFHW antenna and it works great. I tweaked the antenna to get the SWR between 1.5 to 1.7 and the manual tuning was a breeze. Yes, this MFJ tuner can tune SWR well out of the FT-991A 3.0 range, but investing the time to get your antenna SWR as low as possible makes your entire configuration much more efficient. The Yaesu FT-991A has an internal tuner but I wanted to perform the tuning without going off frequency and engaging the internal tuner and potentially broadcasting on top of someone else. This is especially true for busy days on the bands. I initially tuned on the center of the band and recorded the Transmitter Matching, Inductor Selector, and Antenna Matching values for each band. As you move off center of the band you will find that you almost always only have to adjust the transmitter matching value and I do that while calling. Some people have complained that the edges of the unit shows cracked paint. This is only because of the manufacturing process where the metal is bent to form the case after it is painted. It is easy to clean up if you get one that shows this and it really bothers you. The only other thing I would advise for any new HAM radio operators is to invest in the best coax! I use LMR 400 for my permanent installation and even use an LMR 400 jumper between the radio and the tuner. MPD Digital coax is good quality if you want to purchase it here on Amazon. 73! KD2ZTA

MFJ has no pre-shipment testing and poor QA inspection. Mine had capacitor plates rubbing together making it not usable. After opening the unit, doing a visual inspection, correcting the problem, it worked fine. No one should have to repair a product at this price point! If you choose to purchase this device, please inspect it before putting your expensive transmitter in jeoparty!