It looks like MFJ is closing shop. That is to bad.
MFJ Ceasing Production
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trentbob
Silent Key W3BUX
GlobalNorth
Active Member
Fewer manufacturers is not a good thing.
Very sad to see so many decent companies/corps. folding up like this. So many employees getting their termination letters.
I was an RF engineer for Pathcom (Pace CB radio) 1980, just up and folded
Wound up with the same classification at Wilson electronics antenna and portable radio division. Sold out to Regency about 1985 and took the name.
Still made under their trade names, but taken decades to come back around.
We will miss you Martin.
I was an RF engineer for Pathcom (Pace CB radio) 1980, just up and folded
Wound up with the same classification at Wilson electronics antenna and portable radio division. Sold out to Regency about 1985 and took the name.
Still made under their trade names, but taken decades to come back around.
We will miss you Martin.
I am not surprised at all. Their level of service was "Less than Desireable" and the quality and accuracy of the instruments was horrible. I sent two instruments to them last September for warranty repair for recalibration and it took almost 6 months and I only got one of them back and the accuracy was worst than before I sent it in. Every three weeks I called to check the status and I was given a BS excuse and a two ETA to ship. In January I gave up and wrote off the possibility of ever getting it back and I really didn't care if I ever got it back. Surprisingly, one of them showed up on my door step in February.
After receiving the instrument, I was curious if it was recalibrated and I found the accuracy was worst. I ended up giving the instrument away.
After receiving the instrument, I was curious if it was recalibrated and I found the accuracy was worst. I ended up giving the instrument away.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
The writing is on the wall. SCAMdemic was engineered to put small/medium businesses out of business. Supply chain interruptions caused by this fraud hurt otherwise healthy shops, combined with absurd inflation, then you have lots of competition from Chinazon undercutting an already slim profit margin business, and hams are the cheapest of cheap customers on the planet. These are the same sad folks who piss and moan about spending more than $30 on a Bowelturd.
MFJ made some good stuff and some not so good stuff over the decades, but they were a staple one could always go to, like a Radio Shack for hams. They built or sourced many things that are go to's in a ham shack: antenna analyzers, antenna switches, tuners, power supplies, Ameritron amps...so much stuff comes from them.
It's truly a huge loss but I get it: there isn't much profit in selling to cheap hams who became even cheaper over the past decades thanks to a rigged market filled with trash readily available from the one big retailer that will be the last man standing: Chinazon. Change my mind.
MFJ made some good stuff and some not so good stuff over the decades, but they were a staple one could always go to, like a Radio Shack for hams. They built or sourced many things that are go to's in a ham shack: antenna analyzers, antenna switches, tuners, power supplies, Ameritron amps...so much stuff comes from them.
It's truly a huge loss but I get it: there isn't much profit in selling to cheap hams who became even cheaper over the past decades thanks to a rigged market filled with trash readily available from the one big retailer that will be the last man standing: Chinazon. Change my mind.
It amazes me that cheap people continue to buy cheap and never learn and pay more over time in both money and their time involved than buying a quality product in the first place and essentially be done.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
Hams by nature are cheap animals. MFJ brought to market many things like test equipment and tools, that if bought from professional sources would command professional prices. An MFJ antenna analyzer cost $300-400. Is it lab grade? Hardly. An Anritsu Site Master is several thousand dollars. Is it accurate? Of course it is. One designed for hobbyists, one designed for industrial use.
MFJ provided a lot of stuff that now is available on Chinazon for similar prices. For now. The way Amazon works is prices will go up as more and more of these "no longer available anywhere else" items start surging. That is their goal: eliminate all competition and collectively raise prices to optimum cockbag levels.
Every time we lose a retailer, it's more than just a source of equipment. It's the loss of a small to medium sized business which used to be the cornerstone of our economy. In amateur radio, we've lost many more SMB's than have replaced them: AES, Universal Radio, now MFJ. Think about the people that work there, they made a living serving fellow hams the way the locally owned diner serves food to you and I. Those are vanishing from our landscape as well. It's almost as if it's engineered this way...but that's another discussion for another place.
MFJ provided a lot of stuff that now is available on Chinazon for similar prices. For now. The way Amazon works is prices will go up as more and more of these "no longer available anywhere else" items start surging. That is their goal: eliminate all competition and collectively raise prices to optimum cockbag levels.
Every time we lose a retailer, it's more than just a source of equipment. It's the loss of a small to medium sized business which used to be the cornerstone of our economy. In amateur radio, we've lost many more SMB's than have replaced them: AES, Universal Radio, now MFJ. Think about the people that work there, they made a living serving fellow hams the way the locally owned diner serves food to you and I. Those are vanishing from our landscape as well. It's almost as if it's engineered this way...but that's another discussion for another place.
PewPewChris
Noob
For someone just starting to explore the hobby, that has always been in the back of my mind...is this a dying hobby? I'm 47 so I've got some time left on this planet (hopefully anyway)...will there be 15 hams out there to talk to come my 50's? lol
I'm partially kidding, but curious for folks "on the ground" in the hobby, is there any fresh blood getting into the hobby? I'd be very curious to know after the age of the internet, what the average age of a ham radio starting out is.
I'm partially kidding, but curious for folks "on the ground" in the hobby, is there any fresh blood getting into the hobby? I'd be very curious to know after the age of the internet, what the average age of a ham radio starting out is.
Blackswan73
Active Member
MFJ used to have nice products. I have a 24 hour wall clock that was discontinued around ten years ago that is now a collector’s item, and a 901 tuner that will tune just about everything from a coat hanger to a set of bedsprings. The 901b which replaced the original is a much cheaper poorer quality product than the original.
B.S.
B.S.
I bought one of their 40m CW transmitters back in the 70's and for decades purchased many items from them. I wish Mr. Jue the best and thanks for all you've contributed to our hobby. Happy retirement too.
Unless the HAMs drop the ridiculous test for the Technician License, I think the younger radio enthusiasts will lean towards GMRS. I can see having the tests for the General and Extra.
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prcguy
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I’m sad to see some American brands like Hy-Gain, Cushcraft, Ameritron, etc, disappear overnight due to one man retiring. I won’t miss other things MFJ made that gave them the nickname of Mighty Fine Junk.
KB2GOM
Active Member
I've found the 1886 loop works pretty darn well for MW DXing, and I've tested some of MFJ's preselectors that I thought worked well.
99.9% of hams are cheap..some really cheap. I dont think Im cheap, maybe its because of the buisness Im in...lol.bought a new KENWOOD TS-590...never took it out of the box before I bought a TS-890....at least its out of the box and hooked up...even made a contact or two...
and yes it was/is puck and choose on which priducts were/are worthy at MFJ....
and yes it was/is puck and choose on which priducts were/are worthy at MFJ....
GlobalNorth
Active Member
I still have a small MFJ LCD digital clock that dates back to the early 1980s.
trentbob
Silent Key W3BUX
So Marcy, early this morning I went through the complete and current catalog and this item is on my wish list, kind of wonder how long it's going to last before it's out of stock.. Very cool.
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