Join this channel to get access to perks: / @k6uda Breaking News in the ham radio world.
Пікірлер: 61
@LuisLeon-bi3ob3 ай бұрын
I like MFJ don’t care what anyone says
@MrSnivvel3 ай бұрын
It's disappointing to see any US based manufacturer of any kind of equipment close up business. I can't tell what the percentage of it that was made in US, but if this means more things being made overseas then it's a loss for everyone.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
For a lot of the products they sell, there is no other producer.
@BalticLab3 ай бұрын
Assembled in the USA would be more accurate than made in the USA.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
@@BalticLab For 50+ years, Martin employed hundreds of Americans building, assembling, packaging and shipping 1000s of ham related products. can't fault him for that at all.
@BalticLab3 ай бұрын
@@K6UDA You've got the cart before the horse. Those hundreds of Americans no longer have an employer in part of those business decisions that lead to the inevitable end. While sure, the the employment opportunities and market penetration depth back in the days were awesome, they also hold a responsibility towards their employees. And their customers ultimately. And I'll gladly restate that they would have never even survived this long if Americans wouldn't have such an extreme "made in the USA" fetish. Americans will absolutely prefer that "American" label over quality any time of the day. Don't get me wrong, they have good stuff and in my early days I used lots of MFJ gear. Doesn't change the fact though that it's poor business decisions leading to this end. I mean it always is when a company closes shop, so that claim of mine is kinda irrefutable. Don't know of many companies that had to close down because of smart, strategic business decisions.
@johnnorman77083 ай бұрын
It is so sad to see this. Hopefully the company will be purchased and continued by someone that loves radio.
@bruehlt3 ай бұрын
Losing Ameritron will be a huge loss! Not to mention the tuners that MFJ makes - not many other manufacturers of killowatt auto-tuners out there!!
@markviers9983 ай бұрын
They will be missed! I have a bunch of MFJ products, never had any real issues with any of it.
@kimparkin52543 ай бұрын
MFJ will be missed. We have all relied upon this company for years. Their closure will create a void in ham radio equipment supply. It is tough enough now to find what we need. MFJ's closure isn't going to make it any easier. You will be missed Martin. Thank you for your years of service. Go and enjoy what is left of your life.
@nq0amark1383 ай бұрын
MFJ has been a staple in my shack and I'm sorry to see it all come to the end. It's the end of an era and as I'm ageing myself I can understand why Martin is calling it quits. Best wishes for him and all of us who enjoyed this hobby over the decades who will certainly miss the MFJ brand items that played an important part of our life in the radio hobby.....73 Martin, you were really appreciated my friend, and thanks Bob for the video tribute. ... From NQ0A...
@billh3083 ай бұрын
Good!! I was one of the original employees of West Mountain Radio, screw those copying scumbags.
@paul.phillips3 ай бұрын
I don't understand why he doesn't find someone to take over operations and restructure the company.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
Cash, location, employees, real estate. Who knows maybe someone will step up.
@ms_nop3 ай бұрын
You didn't read elsewhere yet: been up for sale since Nov but no interest. Lots of businesses going belly up in this high interest & inflation environment, MFJ is far from alone. If you look closely at Gigaparts I think they'll be next for dropping their ham radio lines.
@paul.phillips3 ай бұрын
@@ms_nop MFJ made a lot of products over several brands, I can't imagine that none of them were profitable. If any were profitable, there would be interest in acquiring them. Didn't know they were up for sale, and details are probably not public, but it's unlikely there were no interested buyers. It is possible that this is a M&A tactic to bring better offers to the table.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
@@ms_nop Wow. I didn't read that. I imagine some chinese company will eventually buy up most of the assets and take it all apart.
@Jennifer-0073 ай бұрын
Their crap QC has destroyed the name and the good names of all the companies he bought. No one wants that steaming pile of dog shit.
@seankm6nfo9903 ай бұрын
I love MFJ. This is a gut punch. 73
@dannythomas61943 ай бұрын
Thanx Bob. You just broke the news to me here.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
Glad to help.
@JamesHannibalKH2SR3 ай бұрын
What a shame. I always enjoyed MFJ products.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
Me too.
@CQBlindHams3 ай бұрын
He should give it to his employees.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
He may have offered, we don't know the details.
@fizickul713 ай бұрын
I'm pretty sure that intrested parties will find the MFJ line of products a good place to invest their money. The market for mfj's products is still here. Somebody will probably buy that business and continue serving the ham radio community. It's not the end of the world.
@shawnbrunel84713 ай бұрын
I sure hope so. Someone gotta take over the business
@K2HWY3 ай бұрын
Feel really young in the hobby but got a lot from MFJ, they will be missed. Thank you Bob for your channel and all of your helpful info & tips
@CLoak1833 ай бұрын
Terrible news! I remember as a newbie skimming thru their catalogs salivating I've all the cool gadgets they offered.
@williamarquett5948Ай бұрын
Yes no more buying up successful companies with good equipment, cheapening it with inferior Chinese parts and turning it into Mighty Fine Junk!!
@tlcgolden3 ай бұрын
The one word that sticks out is COVID started the ball rolling that killed the Business. Two weeks hiatus turned into the current situation getting this Ham History Lesson in Bio weapon terror victims. Thanks for the years of hard work and great products MFJ.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
Probably more to that than just Covid. Insane interest rate hikes, utilities, short term capitol loan rate hikes, labor shortages from continuing government handouts ect...
@crazyham3 ай бұрын
I'm both Shocked & Saddened to Hear This 🙏 We are moving towards the closure of Ham Radio as we have known it too. In Australia we are transitioning from Apparatus licenses into Class Licenses (Like CB). We need to keep an eye out and also fight against some potential changes that may further disempower we the People.
@miccowolf46013 ай бұрын
He should let the employees take over the business and keep the business going best way to employees are always going to have a job and you know they're going to go work if they own the business
@miccowolf46013 ай бұрын
And if he lets his employees take over the business and you can still buy American-made Goods built by the owners so you know it's got to be good
@shawnbrunel84713 ай бұрын
Norm's rotor service is now under new ownership. I think some of the employees took over the business. So hopefully the same happens with MFJ
@tonymcgee11463 ай бұрын
I never was a big fan of MFJ. So much of their stuff was re-branded, like power supplies. MFJ bought them, put a MFJ sticker on them and added more to the price. I've read a lot about their poor quality but not sure if that is reason for closing; probably Martin just had enough at age 80.
@TwoFeatherChannel3 ай бұрын
MFJ is reading the Tea Leaves.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
And what do you think the tea leaves are saying?
@TwoFeatherChannel3 ай бұрын
@@K6UDA Sell, get out while you can. businesses are closing all over.
@manqueensg4mbit2503 ай бұрын
I have many MFJ antenna and tuners. Too sad to hear that.
@tonymcgee11463 ай бұрын
Tuners were one thing they got right.
@mikefromflorida8357Ай бұрын
MFJ might not always be the highest QC, but they have been a constant American manufacturer of Amateur Radio products. They were there when I first licensed in 1992. Many of their products are more than adequate for the price and availability. It’s time for Martin to enjoy his family. Yes it would be nice if he could find a buyer for MFJ, but I’m sure that process has its own set of hassles.
@WB2GPU3 ай бұрын
I see a lot of BS from hams who know nothing about running a manufacturing business. I worked in electronics manufacturing for most of my career. All the US employers I had are long shut down. The Chinese were literally handed our IP by large corporations that didn't give a shit about American workers or our quality of life here. We happily accepted so-called lower prices when Walmart turned on a dime from trucks with American flags on them to 100% Chinese made goods. The owners got filthy rich beyond our pathetically poor ability to comprehend math and our inability to think long-term. All of MFJ products are quite basic and outdated designs. I can only imagine how outdated their production lines and manufacturing systems must be. For a few million bucks it could be turned around if highly automated. You can't expect the people working there to suddenly become high quality, high automation manufacturers without the knowledge and investment needed to turn the mess around. I am sure they are also on the end of the list to buy components at low prices. The big makers have annual contracts and they absorb most of the production from the high quality suppliers in Asia before a shop like MFJ would even get a shot at buying from them. This is a big deal for us hams because literally half the ads in the final printed QST magazine last December was from MFJ. It must have been their hail Mary pass in hopes of a miracle. I would imagine some of the lines will be picked up, but when you strip out MFJ from the HRO catalog, there goes 20 pages of goods. This will put a big hurting on the last standing retailers in our space. Expert a rush of demand and sharply rising prices on everything related to ham radio.
@billh3082 ай бұрын
And what about MFJ copying and undercutting other "mom and pop" ham radio businesses? Screw em, they get what they deserve.
@hoosierplowboy52993 ай бұрын
I have purchased numerous MFJ products over the past 32 years, never had a problem with them performing. Will miss the several companies and their products, as other higher priced products will try to fill the void...
@johnsonstechworld2 ай бұрын
Some on Twitter was suggesting that they might start production at some other low production cost regions? 73 de Jon, VU2JO
@frankmckinley12543 ай бұрын
Yes it's a real tragedy. From, AK5FM. 🥺
@HamRadio23 ай бұрын
I heard about this yesterday
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
I did too. Just trying to play catch up with video production.
@o00scorpion00o3 ай бұрын
Heard about this toady, very sad, I love MFJ products, I have one of their manual tuners, auto tuner and Loop tuners and I love them. Their Loop tuners are particularly amazing ! What a shame.
@martykitson34423 ай бұрын
sorry to hear that, I don't know a ham who doesn't have some MFJ product in his shack, i have one of their analog tuners in my own station 73 to him kl4gu
@ske1eter3 ай бұрын
I tried to watch this on Rumble but it's not there yet.
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
It up now. Thanks for supporting me on Rumble.
@tomdonahoe35393 ай бұрын
You'd think someone would certainly want to buy a company with this much name recognition!? 😢 73.
@toybuns7753 ай бұрын
Time to stop putting off the G5RV
@K6UDA3 ай бұрын
Yep, get now while they're still around
@calisingh79783 ай бұрын
Who pandemic treaty passing through us dept of health right now, same entity doing the funding and teacher trainings for equity and inclusion. 14 trillion dollar reparations bill passing through ca. Is federal through executive order and UN global covenant of mayors mandate.
@twohandsandaradio2 ай бұрын
Mostly F'n Junk.
@Jennifer-0073 ай бұрын
End of an era of disappointed customers, I’m surprised they lasted this long with that shit QC.
@BalticLab3 ай бұрын
Predicatble development. MFJ primarily thrived on the fact that many Americans prefer to pay for a "Made in the USA" label than for quality. I am sure we all know plenty of MFJ quality (or lack thereof) stories. Don't get me wrong, it's sad. But was nonetheless very predictable. They would have had so much potential, even nowadays, if they'd just focused a bit more on quality. And yes, they might have been there for hams for 55 years, but rethink my second sentence in that regards. Before I moved to the US, I never heard of MFJ, and after I left the USA, I never came across it again in the real world. If the quality would be at least acceptable, the brand would be just as popular outside of the USA. That said, I feel bad for the people behind the business. 73s DE AI5GW