[Amps] AlphaMax/AlphaRemote

[John Nelson]

>Been reading your mailing on the Amp reflector recently subject Alpharemote
software. I'm happy owner of an 87A since a few years. Bought mine used and
the amp is made in 1992. I have been thinking of a software upgrade, getting
that auto tune feature as well as remote functions. Have you run into any
kind of problems with that software? I would be very pleased learn about
your experiences in using it. Was it factory installed in your amp or did
you install it by yourself?<

Hi Tord, Well, I initially added the AlphaMax option to my 87A in 1999 and
screwed up big-time when reassembling it, getting a connector orientation
wrong. The result was a couple of fried PCB tracks, a bad smell in the shack
and an inoperative amplifier. I called Alpha Power for help in
troubleshooting. The technician was extremely knowledgeable about the unit
and went out of his way to be helpful.

It became clear that the amplifier needed to go back to the factory. At my
request they changed the damaged PCB instead of repairing it and also did a
couple of modifications to bring the unit up to current standard. They also
installed the AlphaMax option. The company took the view that all this work
fell within the terms of the guarantee and only charged for the cost of the
AlphaMax upgrade, although I had said that I would be happy to pay for any
work done. If I recall correctly the amp was back with me in a matter of
about a fortnight, and has been totally reliable ever since. I also received
an e-mail from Alpha Power a week or so later asking whether the amplifier
had got back in good shape and was now working properly. So full marks for
their customer service, which I've always found to be excellent.

Actually, the AlphaRemote software is a very easy install and if I had taken
more care with the front-panel connector it would have worked fine. That was
entirely down to me, with no ifs or buts.

Three years down the line, I find that I hardly ever use the AlphaMax
facility. I can achieve a better match to my TH7 on all three bands by
careful manual setting-up, and on 28MHz in particular the AlphaMax tends to
'hunt' and persist in looking for better tuning and loading settings into
what is already a perfectly good VSWR (about 1.15:1 at worst in the DX
segment). It also doesn't work very well into a 3.5/7MHz trapped dipole and
tends to end up on both bands with the amplifier noticeably under-loaded,
although the dipole was carefully set up with an MFJ-269 and looks like a
good match around the rag-chewing frequencies on which I almost invariably
use it. In contrast, tuning and loading the 87A up into the dipole manually
works perfectly well. That said, I hardly ever use the amplifier on those
bands.

As for the AlphaRemote software, it's not very good at all in my opinion and
really doesn't add anything to the functionality of the amplifier. Amongst
other shortcomings, the control-panel image is very small and can't be
resized. Someone familiar with VisualBasic (sadly not me) could probably do
something considerably more useful with the 87A's output data.

73 John
GW4FRX