Palstar ZM30 vs MFJ-259/269

ZM-30 Returned

Well I have a MFJ 259B for 10+ years and it still works. I ordered a ZM-30 and had it for 1 month before returning it to HRO for a refund. It was riddled with bugs that couldn't work right. First when I initially installed fresh batteries and powered it up, I got an error message "NO DDS Signal". this is a signal analyzers send to the antenna to determined SWR, etc. Second when I reinstalled the firmware, the SWR at a frequency I worked was always 7:1. When I checked it with the MFJ, it showed 1.6:1 and so did my Palstar AT-AUTO tuner and the SWR meter on the rig. I reinstalled the firmware again but didn't work. Emails to Palstar went unanswered so the day I sent it back to HRO, Paul responded that there was a bug in the firmware current at that time (last week) and the new one fixed the bugs. All in all, the ZM-30 is a good analyzer if it worked. It's smaller, and has computer download capability to track SWR throughout a band and graph it. If it worked I would have kept it and sold the MFJ but now the 259B is mounted on my system via a 3 way coax switch and that's where it's going to stay until it dies.

Good luck

I just bought a MFJ-259B with the extras kit -used- from a local Ham in my area for $190. I don't understand how to use all of the functions as yet; but it is kinda intuitive and not that hard to operate for testing resonance, impedance, and SWR. I bought it to fine tune the dipole I am putting up.

Had some fun with it checking my IMAX, Diamond 2m antenna, and the 10/11m whip on my mobile. Also checked out some coax that I have - too. It reads and easily displays the answers in a jiffy. It is obviously much cheaper than the Palstar. Why would you need to spend more for an analyzer than you need to - if it isn't delivering anything more?

I've never needed info that my 259b couldn't answer, but I'm not a super tech either.

The 269 goes into the UHF spectrum; it doesn't just stop at ~170 MHz.

None of these analyzers (MFJ or Palstar) are "Lab Quality" instruments, but they're good for what they do, and a whole lot cheaper.

Palstar ZM30

Hello ,
I have had my MFJ 259B analyzer since 1998-still works well.
I thik a lot of amateures under-estimate the quality build of MFJs
gear-I never had a big problem with them,always helpfull Techs
and they Know what their talking about.
Paul

Beetle said:

The 269 goes into the UHF spectrum; it doesn't just stop at ~170 MHz.

None of these analyzers (MFJ or Palstar) are "Lab Quality" instruments, but they're good for what they do, and a whole lot cheaper.

Click to expand...

Would this swr analyzer be considered lab quality?

You may want to consider this one, bang for the buck, I have one, and it works great;

AW07A SWR HF/VHF/UHF Antenna Analyzer /Meter

AW07A SWR HF/VHF/UHF Antenna Analyzer /Meter - eBay (item 120672811609 end time Feb-15-11 16:48:15 PST)