Batboard

I am looking for information from users of MFJ-269C. Does it give good results testing VHF and UHF antennas?

I have the 259 version, works great from HF to VHF.
The only gotcha that I have ever had with it is that it is useless if you are trying to field tune an antenna that is in a high RF environment.

I've had mine for quite some time and it seems to work well. However it EATS AA batteries. Even though the power switch is completely mechanical, it still seems to drain them when sitting completely turned off. That's the kind of thing you expect with a soft power switch, one that always has some current running through it.

I noticed they have another version now that extends the UHF coverage.

Bob M.

kcbooboo wrote:However it EATS AA batteries. Even though the power switch is completely mechanical, it still seems to drain them when sitting completely turned off.

Bob M.

I've had a 259 for years and I've never put AA batteries in it. Always ran on either a portable power pack or plugged in with an extension cord. Taking out all of the screws to get to the batteries was a horrible design.

I bought the Comet CAA-500 Mark II 1.8 to 500 MHZ. I am happy with it. It can be seem on Comet website, QST magazine review, QST video.

I have two units, one for home and one for work.
The one at work I use to check aircraft antennas with, and the home unit checks everything from 80 meters on up.
I have never had a problem, other than the battery holders cracking in one, and that was an easy repair.
BTW, the work unit has been check against a Bird, and IFR 4000, and is as accurate as they are.

I have found that by inserting a shorted plug into the DC input connector on the top of the unit, it preserves the batteries. I have never had to replace the batteries in the unit I have, and I've owned it over a year. It came this way. Simply pull the shorting plug out before powering on the unit. No more dead batteries.

I have also had excellent luck with the unit. I have used them for aligning multi-band trap vertical antennas from 80M-10M, and VHF Low and High band antennas as well. As long as you have a clear understanding of what you are looking at, and verify proper operation against a known good load/antenna prior to beginning, I think you'll find they are worth the money.

A friend of mine has an analyzer made by YouKits, he swears by it and really likes it. It might be something else to consider. It's fully digital instead of having analog meters. I prefer the MFJ unit with the analog meters, especially when tuning for peaks/dips.

Info on those units: https://youkits.com/

Thanks for the tip about the plug. Now to find out what size plug to buy. I wonder if it has to be shorted. Plugging one in should disconnect the internal battery pack, but then again, so should the power switch, but as the batteries do lose potency rather quickly, I suspect there's some leakage path, possibly to deal with rechargeable batteries, which I'm not using.

Bob M.

Bob,

On second thought, it may not be shorted. I will check it when I have some time.

I turned my unit on for the first time in several years. Batteries read 14.6V. Can't complain about that. I must have had a bad cell or two sometime before that.

I also checked the battery type jumper inside: it was set for NO CHARGING. Also, all of the batteries had 2015 dates, so they probably should be replaced at some point.

Interestingly, the manual states that the batteries should be removed if the unit won't be used for more than a month. It's possible there used to be an issue with discharging that may have been fixed. I had to send my unit back to MFJ for a repair and they might have updated things at that time.

In any event I've added a 2.1mm DC power plug to my next parts order. I just hope those come in only one size.

Bob M.