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MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
- wglb 2y agoThis company will be missed by many hams. When I buy stuff I go to dx engineering. Top quality.
- silisili 2y agoFor anyone confused like I was, this isn't about mailchimp shutting down, but rather a company named MFJ, which apparently makes amateur radio gear.
- MBCook 2y agoTONS of it. Everything you could need. Need a key for Morse code? A Morse code trainer? An antenna tuner? Antenna? Power supply? Test equipment? They had EVERYTHING. https://mfjenterprises.com/ https://mfjenterprises.com/ If you’re a ham this is sort of like CDW or NewEgg closing, but they’re #1 by a massive margin and well loved. No one else had the variety of stuff they did as I remember.
- rmason 2y agoI'm a ham and I've used some of their products over the years. It is indeed a sad day. I am surprised that someone didn't want to buy them. It is a niche but a handful of small companies (and divisions of large ones) do quite well servicing the amateur radio market.
- cogman10 2y ago> I am surprised that someone didn't want to buy them. I mean... how big is the market for ham radios? I've not really met an enthusiast that wasn't at least 10 years older than I am.
- topspin 2y agoOne thing to remember about ham radio is that there is a bit of natural bias in the demographic: a lot of the stuff involved requires a certain minimum amount of things that older people tend to have. Property being one of the keys. HF antennas, towers, etc. are essentially outlawed by HOAs and entirely infeasible for renters. Some of the equipment is pricey as well. You can do a lot at low cost and without property, but some of the more compelling parts of ham radio are hard to reach.
- germinator 2y agoEh. It might be a part of it, but the hobby just lost its luster. It used to be this magical way to connect with friends and strangers. Now, cell phones and the internet make it a lot less magical. Other aspects of the hobby aged poorly too. The ham community (and the regulators) were slow to embrace use cases that might have been interesting to younger people in the 21th century - say, mesh networking. Instead, the kids were supposed to follow in the footsteps of the old-timers and get excited about slow-scan TV, RTTY, and collecting QSL postcards. Frankly, I don't know of any other hobby with a comparable amount of gatekeeping. It sucks because the increasingly idle spectrum will eventually get auctioned off for commercial use.
- hallway_monitor 2y agoI agree. Got into it during COVID - it was really fun learning about radios, RF, building antennas and stuff. But when it actually came to using it....there's not much to do unless you really get a kick out of making contact with random people who are far away and getting points for that to win contests. It is nice to know that I can communicate thousands of miles with no infrastructure but currently I don't have a need for that.
- mikewarot 2y ago>spectrum will eventually get auctioned off for commercial use Which is a tax on anyone who ends up using it. Selling the airwaves was a huge mistake.
- 2y ago
- etn 2y agoMy neighbor, around 1984 or so had what appears to be the LP-1009A antennae right by my bedroom. No one believed me when I told my family and friends that I could hear a person speaking French from my record player.
- aaronbrethorst 2y agoWhere were you?
- actionfromafar 2y agoNext-door to a radio station.
- topspin 2y agoThey offer a huge catalog of low cost equipment. Some of it is very popular and much of it is pretty niche. Quality is occasionally an issue: you buy their stuff with expectations commensurate to the price or you risk being disappointed. That is a feasible business model with hams, however. Then again, maybe not? I can't think of any one thing they make that isn't available elsewhere. Some of their bread and butter tools, like their classic antenna analyzers, are completely out classed by newer alternatives today. For a long time, however, MFJ was the only affordable source for things like that. One of the niche MFJ products I bought is a 20 meter telescoping vertical antenna element. That's like an old fashioned car radio antenna but 5.2 meters long. Even that is made by competitors today.
- CamperBob2 2y agoThat's a good point. I'm sure the NanoVNA and similar gadgets have utterly demolished the market for dedicated antenna analyzers, and those really were MFJ's bread-and-butter products.
- dbcurtis 2y ago> Quality is occasionally an issue Understatement of the century. Mighty Fine Junk -- it's been a looooong time since I've wasted any money on MFJ rubbish. Life is too short.
- plowjockey 2y agoI also heard "Mississippi's Finest Junk" as well. To be fair, I found the MFJ items I had to be able to the job. It was never best of breed but was always serviceable.
- plowjockey 2y agoActually, comparing the price to the quality/functionality, MFJ stuff is usually priced at a premium versus the kit or one-man-shop devices that they copied. Pricing also seldom changed in response to lower demand (thinking of the venerable MFJ-1270 TNC as interest in packet radio fell off in the late '90s and early '00s). Then there is the case where MFJ bought the rights to Coastal Chip works TNC-X and TNC-Pi and the prices went up significantly. MFJ has been a one-stop-shop for a lot of ham radio gadgets and accessories but were seldom the best value on the market as the pricing reflected their "No Matter What" warranty. Other than an older Ameritron amplifier, which may predate the MFJ acquisition, I see nothing with the MFJ logo looking around my "shack". I moved on from MFJ many years ago and sought better alternatives. Some years ago I bought a Rig Expert AA230-ZOOM analyzer that is far more capable, stable, and compact than any of the MFJ analyzers I had used prior. I also have a NanoVNA that I use for 70cm that is beyond the range of the AA230-ZOOM. Other items in the shack are better built and better performing than their MFJ counterparts such as a West Mountain Radio DC power strip and Palstar and LDG tuners. I am concerned about the fate of Ameritron and Hy-Gain. These two product lines have a strong history that pre-dates their acquisition by MFJ and it would be a shame to see them disappear from the ham radio marketplace.
- michaelbuckbee 2y agoI'm not a Ham, but my grandfather (W8IGY) was, and I credit him for letting me know a larger, more technical community existed "out there" than what was apparent from the small rural town I grew up in the pre-internet days. Ham radio's time has come and gone, but I still treasure the memories of listening to him talk to people all over the world. MFJ shutting down is likely one of the final nails in the coffin, but I'll be sad to see it go.
- topspin 2y ago> Ham radio's time has come and gone, but I still treasure the memories of listening to him talk to people all over the world. Those people all over the world are still there. Every day. The airwaves are full. Yesterday I was handed off between a dozen Italians working contacts in the US. I have to hand it to European hams. They don't leave anything on the table at all. Some of the gear they fabricate is world class stuff. I just bought this amazingly well made feedline choke from a French ham on Ebay. I've made these myself and know exactly how hard it is to make them that well. RigExpert out of Ukraine is something as well: they just took over the higher end portable analyzer market.
- alostpuppy 2y agoHow does one get started?
- topspin 2y agoIt's different for everyone. For me, ten years ago, I got interested in quadcopters back when making them yourself was the norm. There is a lot of radio involved, especially at long range. That sent me down the rabbit hole. There is a kindly person on YouTube you might watch: KB9VBR. He operates out of US parks. A lot. Vast numbers of contacts for that sort of operation. He sells antennas on EBay as well.
- wrycoder 2y agoGo to arrl.org and join up. Read both their magazines every month. Locate your local ham group and start going to their meetings. They will help you to quickly get a license. What happens next depends on your interests. The choices are vast and interesting.
- FpUser 2y agoIt seems as the decision of the owner. He's got old and wants to spend time with the family. Would not it be worth to try to transfer to the workers in exchange for some share of profits?
- epcoa 2y agoApparently not.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- MBCook 2y agoThey’re shutting down their factories, so they’d have to setup new ones elsewhere. That would have costs too. Clearly it wasn’t profitable enough anymore, and maybe wouldn’t be after moving overseas or something.
- neilv 2y agoYeah, the letter didn't say whether they'd tried to sell the business, or find other management for it. That's definitely a question that comes to mind. (There might not be buyers, the business might not be sustainable, the company space might be built into their home, they might have to sell commercial real estate for medical expenses or to get their estate in order, etc. Or maybe they're preoccupied with personal matters, and not up to investigating alternatives.)
- rhplus 2y agoThe other aspect is that the core value of the company might be the intangible goodwill value that the owner-operator himself brought to the table.
- K7PJP 2y agoHe was trying to sell the company. The scuttlebutt is he declined an offer from DX Engineering, which is a shame because that would've been perhaps the best match.
- poopsmithe 2y ago73
- wly_cdgr 2y agoI saw that he signed off with that in the letter. What does it mean? Founding year? Callsign? Channel?
- doom2 2y agoIt means "best regards". In Morse code transmissions, a lot of words and phrases are shortened to commonly understood abbreviations and pro-signs. You can see an example here: http://lidscw.org/resources/cq-qso-template http://lidscw.org/resources/cq-qso-template and a list of such abbreviations here: https://cwops.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CW-Abbreviations.pdf https://cwops.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CW-Abbreviation...
- swalberg 2y agoIt's a short form of "best regards". In message handling there was a table of numbers that could stand in for phrases to save time. That one made it to common ham lingo.
- plowjockey 2y ago"Best regards" As I understand it, '73' comes from the landline Morse/news wire reporting tradition.
- wly_cdgr 2y agoThanks all!
- defrost 2y agoThere's a lot of old Hams retiring out of the game in their 80s and 90s now. I recently attended the funeral of the wife of an Australian Ham ~ 90 who relayed Space Shuttle communications to NASA for astronauts and their families including some sensitive "possible farewell" type calls. This was the same person who lead me into fun projects reverse engineering the early Navstar GPS packets before they were public, and tapping into Cold War VLF transmissions out of Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt. Someone who spent their early teens defusing live bombs in England during and post WWII, and present during the Mau Mau rebellion.
- minetest2048 2y ago> reverse engineering the early Navstar GPS packets before they were public Any write ups on this? GNSS reverse engineering seems interesting
- defrost 2y agoPossible but unlikely on the net, I was very young at the time although happy to tackle the puzzle parts, the people doing the hardware and other projects of that time were a kind of post war loose knit quango of former commonwealth | european south east asian post z-forces collective. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Wong_Sue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Wong_Sue * was in and out and round about, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Beadell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Beadell dropped in and taught kids how to use a theodolite, other people of interest did stuff and we all generally submitted notes to archives. * As you can see, lots of stories with fuzzed details <shrug>
- 082349872349872 2y agoNice to see that Bonnie and Lassie made the marker plate.
- ahazred8ta 2y agoWhen my dad was in Thule in the 1950s, the base engineers built a full double rhombic for HAM / MARS. It was glorious.
- jonifico 2y agoIt's a bit sad to make such a decision when you're almost 80. Realizing the importance of time with your family so late gives you so little time. A few years ago, I read about the regrets of dying people, and many of them related to spending more time with their families... That was one of the reasons I decided to close my company last year (after 20 years; I'm 45 now) and start over, working with just a few customers, making less money but having more time. Now, I only work part-time to have the chance to spend more time with my loved ones.
- klysm 2y agoYeah but you can only do that if you have money
- threeio 2y agoI’d debate that Martin likely went to work every day of his life enjoying what he did… for -decades- he got to invent, market and see an entire global ham radio market use his products… he’s one of the good guys, taking a corner of Mississippi and bringing in electronics manufacturing jobs from a niche hobby. Are they the most reliable? Eh no.. but that’s also half the fun of ham radio… fix it yourself. Now, if I had just purchased a DOA 2kw amplifier maybe not but ;)
- WheatMillington 2y agoYou have to be in a position of extreme privilege to even make a decision like that. I'm barely getting by and yet work more than I should. I don't have the option of just working less.
- ChrisArchitect 2y agoCould we update the title to something like... A Heavy Sad Heart - MFJ Enterprises to cease amateur radio product production
- DoreenMichele 2y agoThe correct title is: MFJ: A Heavy Sad Heart It seems like that might help? (I know nothing about ham radio but insiders seem to recognize MFJ.)
- plowjockey 2y agoIt didn't take long to get acquainted with them as the company would send a complimentary catalog to new licensees and to those who upgraded their license class. At least that was the case years back.
- ChrisArchitect 2y agoAll good (was updated from "A Heavy Sad Heart" shortly after posting)
- ChrisArchitect 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MFJ_Enterprises https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MFJ_Enterprises
- wrycoder 2y agoI wonder what the ARRL is going to do for advertising. Half their ads were from MFJ and Ameritron. And sad for all the people in the Starkville area who have had jobs there for so many decades.
- topspin 2y ago> I wonder what the ARRL is going to do for advertising. Half their ads were from MFJ and Ameritron. They just stopped printing their monthly QST magazine at the start of 2024. It's digital only now.
- plowjockey 2y agoMostly digital. For an extra $25 per anum one can still get the print QST mailed as it always was but for the regular membership dues QST is digital only. However, the membership dues also include digital access to National Contest Journal, QEX, and On The Air. Perhaps it was at my suggestion along with others but ARRL has enabled PDF downloads of all content via the digital provider. These PDFs are fully text searchable and much smaller than a "print to PDF" version that was a collection of graphical images for each page.
- clbrmbr 2y agoMy first HF rig was an MFJ 40m CW kit that I built with the Bergen Amateur Radio Association. What a mighty fine group that was. I got some excellent mentorship, in amateur and other matters. Thank you M.F.J.! you’ve left a legacy of fond memories with this last generation of radio amateurs.
- plowjockey 2y agoThe first MFJ product I bought was a 941-C Versa Tuner circa 1984 or so. A few years later I tried to load my 80m dipole as a Marconi antenna with 100 Watts. With only about 35 feet of vertical feedline that didn't work so well. In the process the torroid transformers overheated and melted the PVC forms the transformers were housed in. A few years later I ordered replacements from MFJ and these had a larger torroid, Teflon insulated wire, and sandwiched between phenolic wafers for mounting. I sold it a few years later after procuring a second hand 949-D tuner. I also had a 986 Differential Tee tuner for a number of years that I replaced with a Palstar AT1500DT differential tee tuner. I routinely had to pull the 986 out and clean and lubricate it. I've had the Palstar about 15 years and have yet to open it up. The Palstar was priced about 50% higher than the MFJ but the quality is an order of magnitude better. With the Palstar I only cried once, as the saying goes.
- imroot 2y agoI have a ton of MFJ in my shack, and some MFJ hooked up to the radios I'm using on a daily basis; MFJ's loss will be felt in the amateur and public safety industries. Edit to add: Whenever I've had issues with one of their products, they literally walked me through disassembling and testing their products on the phone together -- and the staff there working the phones was knowledgeable, kind, and the type of folks you'd hear in the background at their tables/booths at hamvention and other radio-focused events. This isn't just a loss for everyone who uses MFJ, this is going to be felt amongst retailers as well as folks who are in that community. Their products were built well, tested to work, and rock solid: truly generational gear.
- HeyLaughingBoy 2y agoWow. I was reading MFJ ads in ham radio magazines since the early 80's. Didn't even know that they were still around.
- KboPAacDA3 2y agoMartin personally gave me a tour of the factories back in 2002. I got to see first hand things being made from parts. I overheard him pitching an idea to an engineer, and then a year later seeing the product reviewed in QST. I still use the clock he gave me.
- Tempest1981 2y agoMFJ had the coolest iambic keyer: https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/morse/0804.html https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/morse/0804.html
- wly_cdgr 2y agoI have never heard of this company but after reading this letter and visiting their website, it is very clear they were the real deal. My sympathies to all involved & affected.
- cjk2 2y agoDespite being a ham for a number of years (no longer) I never needed anything MFJ sold. I’ve heard this from a couple of people. I wonder if their market just dried up.
- weinzierl 2y agoAfter decades of moving manufacturing to Asia we currently see a considerable countermovement in the US and Europe. I have a hard time estimating how this will play out. Ten years from now, where do you believe will the majority of manufacturing happen? Will it be more or less distributed compared to now?
- atarvaneitor 2y ago#HamRadio Live! 80 Minutes Live With Martin F Jue Who is Now Celebrating His 50th Year At MFJ! (2022) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9RBz41Q8o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9RBz41Q8o