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They 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 st

They 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 ago
That'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 ago
  I 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 ago
Actually, 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.

CamperBob2 2y ago

That'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 ago
I 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 ago

Actually, 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.