Sounds like they have a very limited supply of the AlphaMax PALS and want to
save them for amps sent to them for service, as opposed to making them
available to owners of old 87As that want to upgrade. It's possible they
don't have a supply of the original non-AlphaMax PALs or have only a very
limited supply. If, for example, someone sends them an 87A that took a
lighting hit and the PAL was one of the fried components, but they had no
replacement PALs, they would have a very unhappy customer.
I suspect there are only two reasons to discontinue service: lack of parts
and/or lack of expertise on staff. I suspect as long as Brad is there
they'll continue to repair 87As. But once they run out of parts for the 87A
that can no longer be sourced they're going to have to drop service. I hope
they give owners of 87As priority on buying up any remaining parts.
73, Dick WC1M
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry O. Stern [mailto:jsternmd@att.net]
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2016 5:42 PM
To: 'BRADLEY FOCKEN' <BFOCKEN@msn.com>; 'Paul Christensen' <w9ac@arrl.net>;
amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Alpha 87A Alpha Max Upgrade
Hi Brad,
I spoke to Glenn or Brad about this around 2 years ago and they said they
would not sell the programmed PALS but would replace them in an amp sent to
them for service if found bad. It won't be too long before Dishtronix stops
serving the 87a completely. Maybe I can buy some spares then. BTW, How do
you clone them? They all have a "privacy" or "security" fuse which disables
any attempts to read the fuse map and it was standard practice of most
manufacturers to "blow" this fuse.
73 Jerry
NY2KW
From: BRADLEY FOCKEN [mailto:BFOCKEN@msn.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2016 3:38 PM
To: Jerry O. Stern; 'Paul Christensen'; amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Alpha 87A Alpha Max Upgrade
Hello Jerry,
The pals can be cloned and can be found. Your biggest problem with the 87A
will be tubes and TX pins. The pals rarely ever fail and can be obtained
from Alpha.
Brad Focken
bfocken@msn.com
_____
From: Amps <amps-bounces@contesting.com> on behalf of Jerry O. Stern
<jsternmd@att.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 8, 2016 9:17 AM
To: 'Paul Christensen'; amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Alpha 87A Alpha Max Upgrade
I believe the greatest issue with maintaining the 87A further down the road
are the hard programmed PALs (16 and 20) that as I understand cannot be read
or cloned. Anyone have any success?
73 Jerry
NY2KW
-----Original Message-----
From: Amps [mailto:amps-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Paul
Christensen
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2016 11:58 AM
To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Alpha 87A Alpha Max Upgrade
Jim,
Yes, you can upgrade it without difficulty once you have the
AlphaMax/AlphaRemote chips. I've upgraded several 87A amps over the years.
Maybe check with Mike Dishop or Glenn Pladsen concerning chip availability.
Come to think of it, it might not be a bad idea for those of us who love the
87A to stock up on those chips as well as RAM/ROM. Most all other parts
used in the 87A can be sourced from other vendors, including compatible
substitutes.
If you decide to go through with the amp purchase, also consider bumping up
the Rx diode bias voltage by adding to the Zener string. As I recall,
there's on-line information for the mod and it would bring the amp up to
late-production performance by adding even more SWR protection to the Rx PIN
diodes. I firmly believe the bad-rap given to the 87A/89 PIN design is
attributed to Rx bias. If my information is correct, Alpha did not achieve
the last level of bias improvement until about 2000. That's a full decade
of 87A/89 production that may benefit from a bias circuit upgrade.
Paul, W9AC
-----Original Message-----
From: Amps [mailto:amps-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Brown
Sent: Tuesday, October 4, 2016 2:08 PM
To: Amps Amps <amps@contesting.com>
Subject: [Amps] Alpha 87A Alpha Max Upgrade
I'm considering the purchase of an 87A that shipped from the factory in
1993. I suspect that it does not have Alpha Max firmware. Some questions.
1) How big a deal is this?
2) I know that chips must be changed and that firmware must be loaded.
Are these generally available?
3) Any known issues with doing it now?
Thanks and 73, Jim K9YC
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