Do many here use the mfj 971 ? Just wondering how capable tuner it is and what the weight it is ?
Looked on a few websites but can not find the weight.
Cheers , Matt 2E0FGX
It looks like @M0SRF owns one, so I guess he will be able to tell you the weight and several other things you may want to ask him.
73,
Guru
Great , not seen much on his YouTube channel recently , guess activations quienting down for some in the winter.
Have a couple of radio holidays planned this year and thought a smaller one like this may be ideal
Matt
Hi Matt,
In case you want to consider this other one as an option, let me tell you that I have and use at home a MFJ-902H. It’s very small as it doesn’t even have an indicator. Since most of modern rigs include an SWR meter, I think having a meter in the ATU is something we can forget about. When I tune my endfed at home, I look at the SWR meter on my IC-706.
In my SOTA kit, I have an MFJ-941B and it has a meter, but I really never look at it when adjusting for SWR and I look at the SWR meter on my FT-817 instead.
73,
Guru
Hello Matt,
The MFJ-971 is an excellent piece of kit. As you can see from my video it takes coax fed, end fed wire and ladder line so quite versatile. If you look at the button on the rear of the tuner it is 6W and 30W selectable though you have to move a couple of jumpers inside the tuner. Its easy enough and doesn’t affect the warranty. If you look at my qrz photo you will see that I use it as my main tuner at home. I honestly cant recommend it enough.
I changed jobs recently and have been working long hours and I only get Sunday off. Activity on my YouTube channel will pick up soon and as well as VHF I plan to use a couple of HF bands in my future videos. I have a week in the Lake District booked for May and a week in Anglesey booked for September and plan some activations for both.
73 Chris M0RSF
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I use this tuner for several of my antennas. It’s pretty light, I’m more aware of its volume than its weight in my pack. I like being able to switch meter from qrp to higher power reading. I like having needles vs. LED light to go by. Had it out for lots of avtivations and it has held up well so far.
Peter KD0YOB
Cheers Chris , my idea is mainly one for SOTA but also portable/ holidays and the like but also have a try at home . I’m yet to try anything with a balanced tuner so thought try a doublet at home and then perhaps upgrade to bigger tuner if need be for home use .
All the best in your new job , I did have to chuckle on one of your videos with the hayes outdoors shortcut! I also have a channel under my callsign. Not just radio related and fairly new at creating videos .
All the best , 73 2E0FGX
I see your point but I dont trust the inbuilt swr meters in the trancievers themself and do prefer a external one …call me spectical but it’s just peace of mind .
I do want to give a go tuning up a fence and see if I can get on 160m portable !
73 2E0FGX
Matt - I have used my MFJ 971 on 82 activations so far without failure. Agree with KD0YOB that its volume, not weight is more noticeable. I use 5 Watts, a 40 meter inverted vee (fed with balanced window line) and a 33 ft vertical (no radials or counterpoise, fed with coax through a 9:1 balun). The tuner adjusts both antennas very easily to a 1.0 SWR for use on 40, 30, 20 and 17 meters. - Don, AC7P
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cheers Don ,
my idea is to try a small doublet from lightweight wire . space is no issue , i use a 44l rucksack only to fit my 6m pole inside and extra layers etc, i have plenty of room normally .
73 2E0FGX
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