[Amps] Alpha 87A Alphamax upgrade

[Dick Green WC1M]

What hard fault are you getting?

73, Dick WC1M

> -----Original Message-----
> From: kk2ed at comcast.net [mailto:kk2ed at comcast.net]
> Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 9:15 PM
> To: amps at contesting.com
> Subject: [Amps] Alpha 87A Alphamax upgrade
> 
> 
> 
> Good Evening,
> 
> 
> 
> I recently purchased an Alpha 87A, and the original purchaser provided me
> with the Alphamax upgrade kit, which Alpha sent him, but he never installed.
> It consists of a PAL (U8) and an eprom (U7) which are to be changed out.   I
> replaced the PAL and eprom, and installed the berg jumper, as per the
> included instructions.  However, when completed, the amplifier hard faults
> off within 10 seconds of power up.
> 
> 
> 
> I immediately pulled the new eprom, and reinstalled the original eprom, then
> removed the new berg jumper, and re-assembled the amp.  It works perfectly
> with the old eprom once again. As per the instructions, the new PAL can
> remain in place if/when reverting to the older software eprom.
> 
> 
> 
> Just to be sure, I tried the procedure again, with the same results. The
> worst part is the eprom's location, so it requires pulling the front panel
> each time!
> 
> 
> 
> The only thing I can guess is that the eprom lost some "bits" from sitting in
> a box the past 9 years or so.  Or, the eprom was programmed improperly from
> the get-go.
> 
> 
> 
> I have eprom burning equipment here in my shop, so burning another eprom (or
> erasing/re-burning this one) would not be an issue, but the bin image file is
> not available online anywhere as far as I can tell. Therefore, even if I
> read the current eprom I have in my hands, I can't verify it's contents.
> 
> 
> 
> Of course, this had to happen on a weekend, so I can't even call Alpha
> (now RFC) until Monday.
> 
> 
> 
> Would anyone happen to have an image of the 87A's Alphamax-capable eprom
> contents, or at least know the CRC checksum?
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone else experience a similar situation?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> 
> Eric
> 
> K2WD
> 
>