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Congratulations to SWLing Post reader, Audrius Simkunas from Lithuania, who was chosen at random from the comments on our contest post!
Many thanks to the kind folks at MFJ Enterprises who donated this prize and shipping that is worth well over $100! There aren’t many manufacturers and retailers who would agree to ship anywhere in the world.
What a response!
We had 165 comments/entries at 16:00 UTC yesterday when the contest ended. At that time we had a random number generator pull the comment number which lead us to Audrius.
This was a lot of fun, so we’re going to do more of these giveaways. If you have any ideas about a theme, contact me. While I enjoy making more challenging contests from time to time, I also love posting contests that are accessible to everyone regardless of their radio experience.
After posting Ron’s note about the MFK-8100K receiver kit, I touched base with MFJ and they have kindly donated a new 8100K kit to us for an SWLing Post giveaway. Thanks, MFJ!
This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. MFJ will ship it directly to you if there are no Covid-19 shipping restrictions to your country.
Here’s how to enter the giveaway…
Simply comment on this post and tell us about your favorite kit that you’ve built. This can be your first kit, your last kit, or anything in between. Don’t just give us a model name, tell us what made it a fun or special project.
If you’ve never built a kit, but are eager to do so, tell us why you would like to build the MFJ-8100K! Do you have a soldering iron?
We simply want to make sure a kit builder or want-to-be kit builder gets this prize! We’d even invite you to share a short post about building the MFJ-8100 (no obligation–only if you wish).
This means you must enter a valid email address in the appropriate comments field (not within the comment text itself) so that we can contact you.
Of course, the SWLing Post doesn’t sell or share emails–never have, never will–this is only so we can contact you to obtain your shipping address if you win. Feel free to use a throw-away email address if you wish.
This is all about taking us on a great kit-building nostalgia trip, so have fun!
Following up on our recent MFJ post, SWLing Post contributor, Ron, writes:
Another thing about MFJ is they still offer the MFJ-8100 as a kit or built. This is the only regenerative receiver available as far as I know.
Mr. Jue and his guys did a couple of tweaks like limiting band coverage to insure stability, using 1/8 inch 3.5mm stereo phone jacks and use an LM386 audio IC to drive headphones or speaker.
The whole thing is in a metal enclosure to minimize hand capacitance found in most regens.
The QRP crowd likes to use the 8100 with flea power CW rigs, it’s that good.
And it’s been in production far longer than the Heathkit GR-81 or any of the Knight Kit regens, too.
Thank you for sharing that, Ron! I had completely forgotten about this little kit when someone recently asked about the availability of Ten-Tec regen receiver kits (that are, sadly, no longer on the market to my knowledge)! I might have to grab one of these kits–looks like a fun one to build.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who writes:
MFJ has gone through a metamorphosis with their marketing and I thought that some radio readers might find this brief origins of MFJ interesting!
From their September 2020 Newsletter:
MFJ: Labor of Love
October, 1972.
Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon was our country’s president, The Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI, The Godfather was released to cinemas, George Carlin is arrested in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for uttering his ” Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” comedic routine, Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chest match in Iceland, and in the small college town of Starkville, Mississippi a young Martin Jue started MFJ Enterprises, Inc., while still teaching at Mississippi State.
Martin F. Jue built this company back in 1972 with his bare hands. There were no other employees besides himself and he had a full time teaching job at Mississippi State University. The CW-F2 was his first product. It came about through a love of ham radio and in particular Morse code.
Since it is the day after Labor Day we thought we would salute the gentleman that brought us where we are today, The World Leaders in Amateur Radio Accessories! Without Martin Jue’s undying love and hard work for his namesake business, we all wouldn’t be enjoying our years here. MFJ has never had a major layoff or shutdown for any reason. 48 years later from Martin Jue’s single man company, we own four other businesses, have a tremendous product line and some of the most wonderful folks building ham radio toys under MFJ Enterprises, Inc.
Thanks again Martin Jue for your Labor of Love, MFJ the business. We are all grateful to you to be a part of your very successful venture into the world of business and ham radio. Your labor of love is greatly appreciated!
The CW-F2
Produced in October 1972, the CW-F2 was designed for the big boat anchor rigs of the time to help in CW filtering. The CW-F2 could separate two CW signals and make for more enjoyable listening. Mr. Jue used to give extra credit to his students if they helped build some of these.
The MFJ-998RT
Look at how far we have come! SMT, modern metal punching and forming machines. Here are the insides of the modern MFJ-998RT, legal limit automatic remote antenna tuner.
We salute all laborers out there for a job well done, especially our front line doctors, nurses, police officers, our US military, and Army National Guard during these crazy times. We appreciate you and our many customers! God Bless You All!
BTW — If you want to build your own modern CW-F2 kit today, the product is still alive on our Vectronics kit line as a CW audio filter kit.
P.S. VEC-820K is very similar to the first product of MFJ. A CW Audio Filter kit that you can have fun building yourself and relive a little history of MFJ!
MFJ does something that few other US manufacturers can do. They still keep the majority of their manufacturing in Mississippi and they have a solid warranty. You can even reach a human being in customer service and they repair or replace their own gear. They do this while keeping their prices very competitive.
Their gear must be the most widely used here in the States. You’re hard-pressed to find a ham who hasn’t purchased from MFJ.
Their founder and president, Martin Jue, is a top-shelf fellow, too. I’ve met him a number of times. He’s an inspiring guy with an amazing story. His employees love him, too, because he’s fully invested in his company, his community and his hobby. His company has virtually no churn at all–most of his employees have been with MFJ their entire working career.
Last month, I was very proud to add MFJ as a sponsor of the SWLing Post.
Thanks for pointing this out, Frank. You’re right in that I had forgotten about the MFJ receive only loop antenna. It’s a fairly new product in their (massive!) catalog of radio products.
I’m very curious if any other SWLing Post readers have experience with the MFJ-1886 antenna. I’d love a review.
Spread the radio love
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