MFJ 259B Antenna Analyser
Without doubt, the most indispensable piece of equipment to have in your toolkit when playing around with wire (or indeed any other type of) antennas is an MFJ 259B antenna analyser.
This clever piece of kit can perform many functions and makes tuning the antenna a breeze.
Not only can you use it as a “smart” SWR meter, it can also be used as a frequency counter, RF signal generator, RF resistance and Reactance Analyser, Coax Analyser, Capacitance and Inductance Meter.
It can also read inductance in UH and capacitance in pF at RF frequencies.
The large easy-to-read two line LCD screen and side-by-side meters clearly display the information.
The MFJ 259B gives you a complete pictures of your antenna’s performance.
It’s easy to read Complex Impedance as series resistance and reactance (R+jX) or as magnitude (Z) and phase (degrees).
You can determine velocity factor, coax cable loss in dB, length of coax and distance to a short or open in feet – very handy for finding cable faults on long runs.
Super easy to use! Just set the bandswitch and tune the dial. SWR and Complex Impedance are displayed instantly!
Hi Rod
Came across your website, as I was looking for a Manual for the MFJ-949E Versa Tuner II, I obviously found the Manual and 🙏 Thanks to you I found it on your website and have downloaded it.
Excellent Website you have and lots of interesting information.
73
G6ZDP
Thanks for the feedback Kev, I have quite a variety of other manuals available but are not online, so if there’s anything you need, just give me a shout if it’s not on the site.
The display on my MFJ-259b is dark until I put my finger on the display – just lightly – and then the area around my finfertip lights up so I can read that part of the display. Is there something I can do to fix this, or does the display need to be replaced?
I would imagine there’s a bad connection between the LCD display and the PCB. Normally the display is connected using a flexible plastic ribbon cable, or more likely a zebra strip, I can’t say which as I’ve never taken a 259 apart. If the display uses a zebra strip it is possible to carefully dismantle the display and clean the edges of the strip with alcohol.
Would this solution work? Well, in all honesty I really don’t know but it may be worth a try.