News for Ham Radio Operators

[Dino]

https://swling.com/blog/2024/04/mfj-...e-mississippi/

Dear Fellow Hams and Friends,

April 25, 2024

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

[Oscar Wilde]

Years ago I had a small Radio Shack CB in my truck for road advisories ...and some amusement.
I didn't know anything about radio so I didn't know that it wasn't working as it should.
I didn't know that the pinched coax rendered the unit useless and likely lead to damage
on my first attempted QSO.
I discovered a radio tech on Craigslist, He lived out in the sticks in a mobile home setting next to a 250 ft. tower
I handed him my radio and he gave me sort of odd look like "really". He asked if I had any special attachment to
that particular radio, I said "no" and he tossed it in his trash bin. Said I could buy two more of "those" for what
he would charge me just to crack the case.
I ended up buying a new Uniden Grant, tuned and expanded and thus began my adventure into the world of CB'ers.
One day someone on the radio spoke of PCs and chat rooms and the radio world began to steadily dissipate shortly thereafter.
Kinda sad.

O.W.