MFJ Began Work as the Low-Cost Alternative, but Has Become Top in Its Field

As an Amateur Radio operator, who has participated in this hobby longer than I care to admit, the best piece of advice that has come my way is this: "Find a brand you like and stay with it." It seems like a simple enough philosophy, but, when you look at the number of items out there that do the same things, you get a headache.

As such, we've received our fair share of comments and stares when we say: "we're sticking with MFJ Enterprises Equipment (www.mfjenterprises.com)!" At first, we received the usual taunts - no need to mention them here - because MFJ's equipment was made to keep costs down but work.

As the years have passed, though, Marty Jue's products have become better and better and his small company has become what amounts to a Ham Radio equipment empire. Indeed, we just reviewed a new vertical antenna that MFJ has manufactured. It's 43-feet tall; works on all the radio frequencies I'm interested in working and it's built like a tank, the MFJ-2990 (www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-2990).

The same is true of the MFJ tuner line. These are devices that bring antenna circuits into resonance so they can be used off frequency. We started with a simple MFJ Versatuner years ago, graduated to the MFJ-986 (www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-986). and 989 (www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-989).and we are now using one of his sophisticated MFJ-991B 300/150-watt automatic tuners (www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-991B). One look inside shows you how far MFJ has come.

We've even owned and used several of his antenna analyzers, a concept that MFJ pioneered some years back that helps you to measure your antenna so you not only get to the right frequency, but you find it in the first place. These devices also measure antenna impedance, reactances, cable length and more. It was an idea that MFJ Enterprises took and made happen. Yes, others had the original idea, but MFJ made it work and did it to the point that many labs use his equipment straight from the box. That's not bad for a consumer goods producer, is it?

In the old days, an MFJ device was inexpensive. It was built that way; little more than a piece of phenolic board, silver layout and solder. It was meant to be inexpensive and work. That has changed to the point today that when you look under the hood of the 991B, your find a sophisticated, multilayer substrate that uses surface-mount technology. About the only thing we think this device might now do is our morning coffee.

We've been told many times, "Use this," or "Use that" and we've just used MFJ's equipment and our station is in good shape - not bad for over 30 years of trying things out, is it?