Lou:
I know what you're going through: I recently completed the rebuild of an
Alpha PA-70V "steamer" vapor-cooled amplifier from ca. 1970. It's an
absolutely beautiful and novel amplifier, but I wanted all of my replacement
parts to be original. I was successful in this endeavor because I
persistently sought out the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and their
part numbers. I was able to replace, meter bezels, knob inserts and skirts,
power supply rectifiers and step-start components in addition to the
complete plumbing system using all OEM parts.
Another trick I have learned through the years is to speak with someone in
the vendor's sales department and ask that the device or component be
"sampled" out to you. This won't work for a ceramic band switch, due to the
high production cost, but for many other cosmetic and component
replacements, it works quite well, particularly if you work in the
electronics industry and you name-drop your company's name. I did this
with my Switchcraft multimeter pushbuttons and Kurz-Kasch knob components
and didn't pay a dime.
Back to your problem. From here, I would ask that Alpha/Power provide you
with the name and model number of the band switch. Chances are, either the
OEM part is available, or if the original vendor has long since been
purchased by another company, the part is usually still available. I can
help with this, if you ask Steve in the Alpha/Power service department about
the part number. I suspect the bandswitch was made by Centralab, but other
vendors are possible. Also, the web is a great source for manufacturers
data too and oftentimes, Adobe .PDF spec sheets can be downloaded to your
printer. There's real satisfaction in being able to look up a component on
a Sunday afternoon, running a web search, and printing everything you could
want to know about it in minutes. I just did this today with some Modutec
meter bezels for another Alpha amp.
-Paul, W9AC
-----Original Message-----
From: Lou Savoie <k1rak@gis.net>
To: amps@contesting.com <amps@contesting.com>
To: <amps@contesting.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 16, 1998 5:13 PM
Subject: [AMPS] Alpha76PA
>
>Does anyone have bandswitches for an Alpha 76A or 76PA.
>Alpha/Power no longer supplies replacement parts for this
>unit. If not available, does anyone know of similar or
>suitable substitutes for these two bandswitch units. Does a
>later model of the Alpha, perhaps with additional taps for
>the WARC bands, work as a replacement? Will appreciate any
>help, it is too good an amplifier to scrap.
>
>Lou, K1RAK
>
>
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>
>
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