Blank PALs are available on eBay, as well as programmers for them, so if the
ETO data were made available, it might be burned into new PALs.
On Fri, 14 Oct 2016 19:41:41 -0400, "Dick Green WC1M" <wc1m73@gmail.com> wrote:
>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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