SWR Antenna Analyzer MFJ-259C HF VHF 0.53-230Mhz

Provided you get one that works, the MFJ 259 & 269 series antenna analyzers make a great investment for anyone wishing to put the final tweaks on their antenna(s). Sadly like every other MFJ product I've ever purchased, (now 3 for 3) without exception, my 259C analyzer arrived DOA. Dang! The Amazon marketplace seller did a prompt return & hassle-free refund, but did not offer an exchange, only a refund. I ended up having to order a replacement from Main Trading Co. & received a good working unit, but MTC opened it first & tested it before shipping it to me. Obviously they know about MFJ QC issues. I would buy another in a heartbeat, even suggest giving one as a gift, it's a tremendously handy test instrument.

Every radio operator needs one of these.Came packaged great. Easy to use. Install batteries. Hook feedline up, dial the freq you need and then use the tune dial to get to the exact frequency you need to test. Look at the meters. Done. So simple it’s stupid. This will save you lots of headaches especially when installing a new antenna.

addendum to my previous post below: I just called MFJ and the swinging frequency R and X and SWR numbers are ok according to the tech support at MFJ. This analyzer has a lot of tests it can do. Because of the Amazon Support I'm taking off a star but adjusting from 1 star up to 4 star. Old review follows:: 1.) It's important to make sure that the 3 pin diode switch which is inside the compartment up by the on/off switch is on the correct setting on or off, especially if you use unrechargable batteries. (Stated in my downloaded manual as a warning) I figured out that the black sheath around the 2 pins actually lifts off and can be placed down over the correct 2 pins. On this antenna analyzer it was shipped out with the off switch, I had to switch to "on" since I use rechargable batteries. Removing the eight screws that held the back on was easy except for the last one. That was screwed down really hard. So I have pretty much stripped the screw, my husband had to remove that last one. 2) It is past the return date for me. I thought I could get by with the wildly swinging digital values so I waited to long and probably should have returned this analyzer for a replacement instead. So I tried to talk with Amazon product support, he was unable to answer the "how to adjust diode" question. So he sent me a link to another area of product help, that wouldn't go through. So tomorrow, I'll take the analyzer to my ham radio club and see if anyone can help with the wildly swinging digital readings. I'm not really happy with this product.

The unit was adequately packed but when I unwrapped it there was a rattle coming from inside the analyzer. Opening the unit showed a single screw rolling around. A quick look did not show source (not the usual battery tray). One of the intended uses for the Analyzer was to tune a new Hy-Gain AV680 multi band vertical. When the Analyzer was connected to the antenna I noticed that the tuning knob was very sensitive to touch. The frequency wound jump around with pressure on the knob. Also ANY pressure on the input connecter would cause the meters to show no connection. So, I needed to find where the screw came from. A more thorough search (removed battery tray) showed it was one of three screws that are supposed to hold the air variable tuning cap bracket to the circuit board. Replaced the screw and tightened the other two (both loose). The freq was now stable. The input connecter still had a problem. There is a small gauge wire connecting the center connecter pin to the circuit board. Apparently this wire is attached to the center pin first then the circuit board is mounted leaving a small gap between it and the pin. The wire is sharply bent up through a notch in the board and soldered to the board. There were several nicks in the wire, one of these produced an intermittent break when a PL259 was inserted. Connecting a tinned 16ga solid wire from the connecter pin to the circuit board solved this problem. I then finish tuning my vertical antenna without any more problems. So it appears , after surgery, I now have a viable Analyzer. Really no excuse for loose hardware the nicked wire maybe. This problem too could be easily corrected however on future units. Harry S

I would have liked to afford a high dollar analyzer with graphing and computer connectivity options but, I just needed to tune some antennas for HAM use.The 259c is easy to use, the tuning dial is a bit jittery when trying to tune a specific freq but it will do the job. I was able to tune up a 10m and 2m antenna on the truck quickly using the 259c, much faster than the old key the mike and adjust method and being able to sweep the band made it easy to adjust the sweet spot for the frequencies you'll most use.I also tuned up a couple of dipole antennas I built, one for 20m and one for 40m. This made it very easy to adjust the length for just the right part of the bands I use, getting a 1.1:1 match was easy.This does chew through batteries. Get some lithiums and save yourself money in the long run. The trickle charger built in is NOT intelligent so you can overcharge the batteries.All in, this is worth the price and for the casual user like me and does what I need it to do.

It needed repair before it could be used. There was a wire broken inside. So check the inner wiring.

The unit I got had issues. I followed the fairly simple instructions on how to detect shorts in cables and the results were wildly inconsistent and wrong. With a 9' cable it would tell me it was 13' long on one test and then 20 feet long on another.It can run on DC or battery power, which is nice, but it takes 8 or 9 AA batteries that get put in to a hack job compartment. The enclosure on the unit I got was poorly done. They manually cut a section of the housing off and stuck in cheap battery caddies. Not very secure and not weather tight at all. For the $265 I would expect a better job done on construction.