MFJ 9040 CW MONOBAND RADIO

Below is the MFJ 9040. This is a monoband CW only radio producing in the range of around 4-6 watts.It covers all the cw portion and beyond into the ssb portion of 40m so listening to ssb stations is also possible.Standard the rig comes without filters or an internal keyer. It reports to have an vswr tolerence of 3.1 which is handy if using /p where location can sometimes raise the vswr of an already tuned antenna.

I purchased my 9040 as B stock radio. It came without a box but with manual etc. There seems very little if anything wrong with it so it looks like i got a bargain at £100 as apposed to the normal price of £229. The inside is clutter free with all through hole components which is a bonus as i feel this is easier to diagnose/replace any components in the future if need be. The built in speaker is a bonus and sounds nice and clear. The only annoying thing is the TX/RX relay clacking away but i have set the switching to corrispond with my sending so i only get the initial tx click and the final rx click and can avoid it clicking back and forth during a qso.

On Air

Well there's not a lot to say really , it works as it should. Rx seems very good . There is a very slight drift on power up but i found leaving the radio for 10 mins before use solved this problem. I need to run through the field alignment procedure soon as i need to sort the side tone out and as it was sold as B stock i can't be certain someone hasn't been inside poking so a quick re alignment won't hurt.In many ways it's an upgraded cub and if it's going to give me as much pleasure as my cub has then it's been a good buy.There are add on options for this radio like filters and an internal keyer. I like using a paddle but i have really enjoyed getting back to using a straight key as i have to if using the cub so i may take it all the way and go back to using the straight key. I have found in fact the use of a straight key much easier now i'm working faster than it was when i was working slower.

All in all if your a cw op and only require a basic no frills rig that does the job then for the money you will be hard pressed to do much better. As i stated this is ( to me) an up graded cub and likewise the cub is a great no frills rig. Some shops are selling these as B stock at less than half price which makes it even cheaper than the cub so if you can get a second hand one or A good B stock and are looking for a monoband cw radio without the frills i can highly reccommend this model..I love it and have been sat in the garden the last week chilling out and my poor K1 in the shack has been neglected :-) .