A letter from MFJ owner Martin F Jue K5FLU went out yesterday:

Dear Fellow Hams and Friends,
It is with a sad heart as I write this letter.

As many of you have heard by now, MFJ is ceasing its on-site production in Starkville, Mississippi on May 17, 2024. This is also the same for our sister companies Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics.

Times have changed since I started this business 52 years ago. Our product line grew and grew and prospered. Covid changed everything in businesses including ours. It was the hardest hit that we have ever had and we never fully recovered.

I turned 80 this year. I had never really considered retirement but life is so short and my time with my family is so precious.

I want to thank all of our employees who have helped build this company with me over the years. We have many employees who have made MFJ their career for 10, 20, 30, 40 and more years.

We are going to continue to sell MFJ products past May 17, 2024. We have a lot of stock on hand. We will continue to offer repair service work for out-of-warranty and in-warranty units for the foreseeable future.

Finally, a special thanks to all of our customers and our dealers who have made MFJ a worldwide name and a profitable business for so many years. You all are so much appreciated.

Sincerely Yours, 73s
Martin F. Jue, K5FLU

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][ de N2QFD ][
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Re: MFJ Shutting Down
By: n2qfd to All on Fri Apr 26 2024 07:06 am

As many of you have heard by now, MFJ is ceasing its on-site production in

I'm proud to say that I first learned of this from reading this message on an actual BBS. But it is sad news. :-(
--
digital man (rob)

Rush quote #81:
Catch the witness, catch the wit, catch the spirit, catch the spit
Norco, CA WX: 56.6°F, 79.0% humidity, 1 mph ESE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs

From my TNC-X to my 40m Zepp out back I've got my share of Mighty Fine Junk about the place too.
It's almost on par with the loss of Radio Shack here but I can't fault the guy wanting to hang it up either.

I think I have an MFJ antenna matcher and another small SWR meter in the closet too... Always looked forward to seeing the table at the hamfest but here none of the vendors come anymore, it's just a tailgater affair.

--------------------------------
][ de N2QFD ][
][ Queen City BBS ][
][ queencitybbs.ddns.net:607 ][

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Re: Re: MFJ Shutting Down
By: n2qfd to Digital Man on Fri Apr 26 2024 03:05 pm

From my TNC-X to my 40m Zepp out back I've got my share of Mighty Fine Junk about the place too.
It's almost on par with the loss of Radio Shack here but I can't fault the guy wanting to hang it up either.

I would have thought that COVID would have been a boon for HAM radio sales (safe stay at home activity, conspiracy theories, apocalypse preppers)... but maybe it killed off too many old timers?

Yeah, can't fault him for retiring. I wonder if they'll have a big sale at Hamvention in May. <wrings hands>
--
digital man (rob)

Sling Blade quote #2:
Karl (re: killing Doyle): I hit him two good whacks in the head with it.
Norco, CA WX: 63.6°F, 57.0% humidity, 4 mph WNW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs

I would have thought that COVID would have been a boon for HAM radio
sales
(safe stay at home activity, conspiracy theories, apocalypse
preppers)... but maybe it killed off too many old timers?

I wondered if maybe they were not able to keep their business staffed
during that time, i.e. with local lockdowns keeping workers home.
Otherwise, I agree that I would have expected it to be a similar boon for
HAM radio as it was for the (brief) uptick in BBS interest.



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Re: Re: MFJ Shutting Down
By: Blue White to Digital Man on Sat Apr 27 2024 08:15 am

I would have thought that COVID would have been a boon for HAM radio sales
(safe stay at home activity, conspiracy theories, apocalypse
preppers)... but maybe it killed off too many old timers?

I wondered if maybe they were not able to keep their business staffed
during that time, i.e. with local lockdowns keeping workers home.
Otherwise, I agree that I would have expected it to be a similar boon for HAM radio as it was for the (brief) uptick in BBS interest.

Ah, yes, I didn't think about that aspect: workers might've been paid to stay home and not make radios/accessories. :-(
--
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #27:
As long as there's, y'know, sex and drugs, I can do without the rock and roll. Norco, CA WX: 69.8°F, 51.0% humidity, 14 mph W wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs

Hi N2qfd,

On Friday April 26 2024, N2qfd said to All:

A letter from MFJ owner Martin F Jue K5FLU went out yesterday:

[...]

I turned 80 this year. I had never really considered retirement but
life is so short and my time with my family is so precious.

When it comes time to hang up the boots and enjoy the remaining years, it's time. His done a lot for the hams in the years of running MFJ.

I have a couple of there products here. 1. Antenna Tunner, 2. The multimode TNC. Both great products and just do what the box says.


\/orlon
aka
Stephen

Rocking FSXnet with an Amiga 4000 and Zeus BBS.

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