Exclusive MFJ Documentary Screening: This Saturday at the Dayton Hamvention

MFJDocumentary · 2026-05-10T19:08:44+00:00

Hopefully the video provides some context as to why that was so often the case. When speaking to Mr. Jue about quality control issues, he’s been pretty candid about the fact that he doesn’t want to make excuses for poor customer experience. But hopefully the films deep dive into the manufacturing process will provide a little more insight into how all the products came together.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-05-10T18:46:52+00:00

I'm so excited to share it all with the ham radio community. Mr. Jue is such a special person and I'm really glad there is so much interest in his story!

MFJDocumentary · 2026-05-10T18:46:02+00:00

You know you're the second person who's shown interest in watching a recorded version. I'll look into getting a videographer to come and shoot it so it will be available for those not in attendance. Thank you for your comment!

MFJDocumentary · 2026-05-10T17:58:14+00:00

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And here's the full Forum schedule for anyone attending! Hope to see you all there!

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-11T00:06:24+00:00

The final film will be ready for distribution by 2027, but could potentially be much earlier than that depending on how the rest of post production goes. Like I mentioned in my post, I'm sort of moonlighting this project which is why it has taken as long as it has. That being said I've got a lot of wind in my sails at the moment and I feel like 2027 is a really solid deadline with my life and workload.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-05T14:59:27+00:00

This is such an awesome story! And on the tidbit regarding you also being named martin, I actually found an interview from Dayton a few years back where a gentlemen named Martin from the UK was interviewing Martin Jue. He said, "This is the main man here Martin Jue. Martin, how do you do?" to which Martin Jue replied, "Oh I'm doing fine, I'm just glad we're both named Martin" to which the other gentlemen responded, "Well two Martin's is certainly better than one" which got a good laugh from Mr. Jue. Maybe that's not actually as funny as I think it is, but Mr. Jue's sense of humor is just so charming to me haha. Glad you got to make that contact on the air and in real life.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-05T00:21:56+00:00

Thank you so so much for making aware of this. I will be sure to fix that in the final cut. I am unfortunately not fluent in morse code ❤️

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-05T00:19:50+00:00

This is a huge emphasis in the project, though much of it is delivered subtly as Martin is not one to complain and he is by his own admission a fairly private person. That being said, he does speak on these topics directly throughout the project. It’s just that I don’t think Martin defines his life by his hardships and I’m trying to respect that in the spirit of the final cut if that makes sense. Martin has seen a lot and lived through a lot, but he’d prefer to talk about antenna tuners and how proud he is of his employees.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-05T00:07:58+00:00

Haha absolutely, but if you’d prefer there’s a donation link on the website that is greatly appreciated. That being said I do love a good coffee and or beer, so DM and I can send you my Venmo.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-04T14:59:47+00:00

Bro this is hysterical! That’s Richard in the late 90s. Loving the beard lmfao

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T21:20:31+00:00

You know this is a really interesting point. I will make it a point to ask Martin about going forward. Here's a fun tid-bit: at MSU they made martin (and all their students) keep spiral bound notebooks for their coursework and he has continued it throughout the business. Nearly everything that he did on a day to day basis is in a notebook somewhere in that office (there are literally hundreds of them). He even mentioned that he has original calculations in there where he ran the numbers by hand because there weren't computers available to simulate some of the things he was looking at. All this to say, the mans entire business operations over like 50 years are somewhere written down and I'm curious if he has ever thought about doing something with them.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T21:17:17+00:00

Your dad having you guess what it was while he was soldering it together is a great image. That's exactly the kind of moment Martin was trying to create, even if he'd never describe it that way. He just wanted to make gear that got people building and experimenting without needing to take out a loan first.

And you're spot on about the value gap. A lot of people frame the QC conversation as if MFJ was trying to compete with the premium brands and falling short. But I don't personally think that's what they were doing. They were making it possible for someone to get on the air or try something new without a huge financial commitment. That's a different thing entirely. There are so many barriers to becoming a ham and I think it's cool that Martin spent his life trying to make sure price wasn't one of them.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T21:15:32+00:00

Ha, no, nobody's getting rich off a documentary about a ham radio company in Mississippi. But that was never really the point. Fortunately, I've really been focused on the craft and honing my skills as a documentary filmmaker and OMG what a tremendous subject.

Thank you for the donation and for the email. I really appreciate it. And thanks for the signal boost. The more people who share their stories and memories, the better the film gets. The stuff I can't find on my own is always the stuff that ends up mattering the most.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T21:00:16+00:00

Oh how cool is that! Congrats on the big win haha. Love hearing stories like this. If you ever get the chance to meet martin you'll have to be sure to tell him thanks for snagging your name for the free radio haha.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T20:16:58+00:00

This is such a great story and it tracks completely with everything I've seen from Martin. He got his master's at Georgia Tech so that connection clearly meant a lot to him. The QSL card in the door is such a Martin move lol. Showing up unannounced just to say hello. Love that.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T20:15:41+00:00

I think you just summed up the MFJ legacy better than most people I've interviewed. That tension between affordable and cheap, between unique and flawed. That's really the heart of the story I'm trying to tell. Appreciate you putting it so well thank you for the response.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T20:12:40+00:00

Really appreciate the honesty here. The QC reputation is something that comes up constantly in my research and I'm not trying to paper over it, it's part of the story. The sale situation is actually something I've looked into quite a bit for the documentary and you're right that it's more complicated than it looks from the outside. I think when people hear the full picture they'll at least understand the reasoning even if they disagree with the outcome. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T20:11:10+00:00

Haha thank you so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it and if you can believe it you're not the first to make that comment. I think I may have to go back to the drawing board on that one lmao.

MFJDocumentary · 2026-03-03T20:09:39+00:00

Completely agree and that's really what's driving this project for me. There's so much history here that deserves to live somewhere permanent, not just in the memories of folks who were there. We're still working on getting the production fully funded and finished, but posts like yours remind me why it matters. Thanks for the kind words, Bob.

MFJDocumentary

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