MFJ closing down manufacturing facilities effective May 17th 2024

While I think selling to DXE would be great, ham radio will do just fine without MFJ.

 

There is much more to the story.
Martin wants an unrealistic amount of $ for MFJ, Ameritron, Mirage, Vectronics, Cushcraft, Hy-Gain and the metal shop.
An offer was made by DX Engineering.
A stipulation was the business remain in Starkville.
The offer was declined. I don’t know the exact reason

 

Agreed!
I worked there part time for four years. I’m retired from Motorola.
I am with the same mindset as you.

 

Or misspellings

 

l era degli om e finita in tempi moderni del digitale internet ormai gli om una razza in via di estinzione perche i giovani ragazzi con un smartphon chattano in tutto il globo senza spendere migliaia di dollari in ingrombranti e costosi stazioni om nei prossimi 20 anni spariranno altre aziende importanti

 

I know MFJ stuff isn't the epitome of quality (you get what you pay for), but it was affordable; I'd wager that most non-critical hams are content with their MFJ purchases because the gear they bought got the job done.

As for DXE buying MFJ, I think it's a mistake--unless they completely overhauled every piece of gear to make them better (inside and out), it would've diluted their brand; it would be like Toyota buying Fiat.

What bodes for the future looks disappointing: Disposable income is shrinking rapidly, so buying ham gear to well outfit a station is out of reach for many people--the alternative is to "cheap out" and buy low-quality Chinese-made gear. This disappoints me because newbies will buy cheap gear, become disappointed with its performance, then will abandon the hobby altogether.

 

Too bad he found out the hard way. Martin is not alone. Labor force has gone to hell in a handbasket, and getting parts is really difficult these days.

 

I plead guilty to the charge of ragging on MFJ regarding quality control. I have a couple of their products that came to me in less than fine shape when they were brand new. For example, I have one of their antenna switches. When I took it out of the box, there were loose screws in the case, but that was easily remedied. I have five different radios hooked up to four different antennas through it. I don't know anywhere else to get such a thing at that price point, unless I just build one from scratch. I also have one of their wall clocks and it works very well. I also have one of their antenna analyzers, which eats batteries, and which I've now replaced with a much more expensive but more stable RigExpert. Nonetheless, the MFJ analyzer was an extremely useful tool.

When I was a younger ham, I had several of their products, including an electronic keyer and a manual tuner, both of which came to me in perfect shape and never gave me any trouble at all.

I am sad to hear of the loss of MFJ as they had stuff you can't find anywhere else. I agree with the sentiment that it would be hard to find a hamshack without at least one MFJ product in it. So this isn't good news for our community. Thanks to them for years of service to our community.

Although I have my issues with the ARRL, I just had to laugh out loud at the people on this thread blaming the League for everything that's not well in ham radio. That's just funny. I wish the answers were that simple, and I'm glad the League exists and functions as well as it does.

 

NY, Chicago, LA has terribly expensive labor market. MFJ location in MS is reasonable for labor costs. I bet a line up would be in MS at $10 an hour labor cost for a job.

 

Good point, Jim, but there have to be workers available even in central MS. Lower labor rates, yes...but availability? Not so much. I heard that he was hiring a lot of college students from the local university, which is a good idea except that is temporary labor only. Since COVID, demand has outstripped supply everywhere...and there are a lot who just gave up and left the workforce or are living off the guvmint.

Millions of men have dropped out of the workforce, leaving companies struggling to fill jobs: It's "a matter of our national identity" - CBS News

 

Large $10 an hour labor force in MS- no. But MFJ does not require a lot of help. I bet 20 workers would be enough. Startkville, Columbus and West Point all within 20 miles of each other have 60,000 people. And, Missouri does not have a lot of college educated people requiring $30 to $60 an hour unlike more progressive states.

 

As far as what some here think Martin should do with his business and employees, WHATEVER THE HELL HE WANTS!!

I worked for two Major American corporations that both vanished, neither one said to me, sorry. They just vanished along with thousands and thousands of employees. Cry me a river, Martin is mean.

And YES the amateur community will indeed sorely miss MFJ, and if not, DXE would have never even considered an offer.

 

What's to keep a company like DXE or another company from buying MFJ products, reverse engineering them, rebranding them and put them out under their name? The company is going away, but there are plenty of employees with the knowledge. So what's going to happen to all the intellectual property?
My MFJ 993-B tuner manual came with a schematic. It would just be a matter of building it, but then you'd need the software used to program it.
Who knows what the future holds? I myself due to eye issues cannot solder. If I could, I'd build an APRS tracker or two.
While great companies like Heathkit, Radio Shack, Lafayette and others have faded into history, perhaps another startup will come along.
Companies that pump out a "new" model of a radio just for the sake of padding their proverbial pockets is to me not a good business practice.
I do know that parts become obsolete and unobtanium resulting in the need for a redesign and new model, but in the case of MFJ, the stuff was afffordable
even if there were some quality control issues. Who knows what the future holds?

 

So, they won't manufacture but will continue to service? This does not make sense... UNLESS they lost lost their manufacturing staff during COVID but the maintenance staff is still there and wants to stay. Which may be what happened.

I'd like to see at least a few of their product lines bought.

 

Please, please stop making so much sense!

There are many who will tell us Boafengs and the whole host of folks who have inflated our license numbers in recent years, who have ZERO interest in the magic of RF are saving amateur radio!