MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
mailchi.mp
MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
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Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#2For anyone confused like I was, this isn't about mailchimp shutting down, but rather a company named MFJ, which apparently makes amateur radio gear.
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#3For anyone confused like I was, this isn't about mailchimp shutting down, but rather a company named MFJ, which apparently makes amateur radio gear.
TONS of it. Everything you could need. Need a key for Morse code? A Morse code trainer? An antenna tuner? Antenna? Power supply? Test equipment?
They had EVERYTHING.
If you’re a ham this is sort of like CDW or NewEgg closing, but they’re #1 by a massive margin and well loved. No one else had the variety of stuff they did as I remember.
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#4I'm not a Ham, but my grandfather (W8IGY) was, and I credit him for letting me know a larger, more technical community existed "out there" than what was apparent from the small rural town I grew up in the pre-internet days.
Ham radio's time has come and gone, but I still treasure the memories of listening to him talk to people all over the world.
MFJ shutting down is likely one of the final nails in the coffin, but I'll be sad to see it go.
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#5For anyone confused like I was, this isn't about mailchimp shutting down, but rather a company named MFJ, which apparently makes amateur radio gear.
They offer a huge catalog of low cost equipment. Some of it is very popular and much of it is pretty niche. Quality is occasionally an issue: you buy their stuff with expectations commensurate to the price or you risk being disappointed. That is a feasible business model with hams, however. Then again, maybe not?
I can't think of any one thing they make that isn't available elsewhere. Some of their bread and butter tools, like their classic antenna analyzers, are completely out classed by newer alternatives today. For a long time, however, MFJ was the only affordable source for things like that.
One of the niche MFJ products I bought is a 20 meter telescoping vertical antenna element. That's like an old fashioned car radio antenna but 5.2 meters long. Even that is made by competitors today.
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#6It seems as the decision of the owner. He's got old and wants to spend time with the family. Would not it be worth to try to transfer to the workers in exchange for some share of profits?
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#7It seems as the decision of the owner. He's got old and wants to spend time with the family. Would not it be worth to try to transfer to the workers in exchange for some share of profits?
Apparently not.
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#8I'm not a Ham, but my grandfather (W8IGY) was, and I credit him for letting me know a larger, more technical community existed "out there" than what was apparent from the small rural town I grew up in the pre-internet days. Ham radio's time has come and gone, but I still treasure the memories of listening to him talk to people all over the world. MFJ shutting down is likely one of the final nails in the coffin, but I…
> Ham radio's time has come and gone, but I still treasure the memories of listening to him talk to people all over the world.
Those people all over the world are still there. Every day. The airwaves are full. Yesterday I was handed off between a dozen Italians working contacts in the US.
I have to hand it to European hams. They don't leave anything on the table at all. Some of the gear they fabricate is world class stuff. I just bought this amazingly well made feedline choke from a French ham on Ebay. I've made these myself and know exactly how hard it is to make them that well. RigExpert out of Ukraine is something as well: they just took over the higher end portable analyzer market.
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#973
Re: MFJ is ceasing its on-site production
#10I'm not a Ham, but my grandfather (W8IGY) was, and I credit him for letting me know a larger, more technical community existed "out there" than what was apparent from the small rural town I grew up in the pre-internet days. Ham radio's time has come and gone, but I still treasure the memories of listening to him talk to people all over the world. MFJ shutting down is likely one of the final nails in the coffin, but I…
Respectfully, this isn't true at all. We just do different stuff these days. We experiment with meshes, lora, digital modes (sometimes with internet backhaul, sometimes not), and other things like that. I just built a 5w 440 repeater small enough to mount in my VTOL and fly overhead for two hours.
Ham isn't dead, it just looks different than it did for our grandfathers.