got some feedback to report on the replacement unit.
first, my local ham shop contacted mfj and had a replacement unit shipped to them very quickly........which i appreciated. i think this shows a commitment to support their distribution channel and end users.
after using my analyzer on a uhf antenna project for about 20 minutes, i rapidly discovered that the swr function wasn't operating properly. next i reviewed the instruction manual for any tips on what i was doing wrong. to my horror, i realized that i may have violated one of the many rules regarding the use of the uhf functionality. long story short, you have to follow very exact and specific instructions as far as what buttons need to be pushed in what order while being mindful of when the power is on and when it isn't. it was at this point i realized that i damaged the unit by having the red uhf button depressed for uhf usage while not having the band switch set to uhf......i was curious if the uhf antenna i built was resonant on 2 or 6 meters so i turned the band switch. on the plus side, the problems i was experiencing were not on the hf or vhf areas of this analyzer.
after calling mfj tech support, my fears were comfirmed. apparently i blew a transistor in the meter circuit. the tech even knew the exact part on the schematic which told me that this was a common problem. i told the tech that it was too bad that a little engineering couldn't be done to prevent the damaged i caused by my simple error. he agreed.
next we talked about getting the unit fixed. to my relief, the tech agreed to repair the unit under warranty but told me that they currently had a 3-4 week backlog. after explaining that i was in the middle of a project, the tech agreed to expedite the repair. after sending the unit to mfj second day overnight delivery, they repaired the unit in one day and sent it back ups ground which was ok by me. unit appears to be functional for now with a replaced meter.
bottomline, it appears to me that mfj is trying very hard to improve their products and is concerned about their distributors and end users as witnessed by their tech support.......which is worth a score of 4 or 5 in my book. on the negative side, their equipment appears to be plagued by many quality problems that include assembly (detailed in my previous evaluation) and design issues such as this.......with is worth a score of one for poor. hopefully my final score of "ok" fairly reflects my experince with mfj's analyzer and their tech support staff.
good luck and 73's.
todd kb0wnw
烧管子，不好的征兆！
