MFJ-259B Antenna Analyzer

Not too much ham radio news to report.  Just getting back on the air, after working midnights and being sick for a while.  I'm working on getting all my wire antennas fine tuned, as I now have access to a MFJ-259B analyzer.  This model is considerably cheaper than the next model up, and goes from HF through 2 meters.  I just made a quarter-wave 2 meter, and it tuned great with very minor adjustments.

I have mixed feelings on the analyzer.  Some screws were shorter than the others, and the banana plug for ladder line broke when I plugged it in.  The edges of the case have some scratches.  It appears that a screw holding on the SO-239 connector is either stripped of a nut has come loose.  I'll check, however there is another one holding it in, so o.k. for now.

With these issues noted, it appears to work alright.  My first impression was so-so, but as I use it more and more, I am increasingly pleased with the performance.  I am going to expand a 40m OCF to 80m, as well as fine tune some EndFedz antennas, and some portable dipoles--a 20m, and a 10/20/40m.  Hopefully, it will do alright with these.  I do like the small size of it.  I suppose as with any mass-produced equipment offered "affordably", there are compromises (?).  MFJ retails it for $289, but Gigparts had it on a Dayton Hamfest sale for $215.  That is tremendously more affordable than the one made by Comet.

eHam reviewers give it around 4.1/5.0 stars.  People who like it, absolutely love it.  I have talked to numerous hams at HRO, GigaParts, and radio manufacturers, and many of them have this model and praise it highly.  I think the performance is probably there.  I just think that they don't pay enough attention to preserving outside aesthetics, and I'm not sure about the soldering abilities...not that mine are any better.  If it works, that is the issue.  My Yaesu radios, Signalink and power supplies all came in pristine condition.  The metal case has some scuffs, but it appears that it was powder coated before the corners were bent.  A final note of confidence: When I called MFJ to tell the tech about the couple of shorter screws and broken banana plug, he seemed genuinely upset.  A bag of screws and plug were promptly mailed to me.  I'm hoping I don't need it, but they have the No Matter What warranty.  I'll update as I get it used more in the field, and can report on it.

I managed to re-route some coax, and figured I'd give the 259 a decent workout.  My 6m was about perfect on the meter.  I had tuned it on my rig's SWR meter, and the amount the results matched were amazing.  Based on small frequency differences around 50.125 MHz, it read 1:0-1:1 to 1 with 50-52 ohms.  The 40m OCF did pretty well, but it needs closer attention.  I have also tuned up a LNR) EndFedz 40/20.  It made tuning it so easy.  I got mid-band down to a 1.0-1.1:1 SWR at 50 ohms.  I did notice that sometimes the analog meters don't precisely match the digital readout.  But, the meters are only off by a very small amount.  I can't believe how easy it is to work on antennas now, compared to making adjustments with my radio's SWR meter.