[Amps] Alpha 9500 Repair

[Bill Turner]

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On Mon, 14 Sep 2015 23:57:41 -0700, you wrote:

> Aside  from that, they really should have designed it,
>such that components don’t blow up with a simple cathode to grid 
>short, int or hard fault. 
>
>Jim   VE7RF

REPLY:

Agreed. Arc protection is a weak point. 

I have owned two 9500's. The first one, about four years ago, arced
when it was a few months old and blew out the 40 volt supply. The
factory repaired it under warranty and even paid for shipping both
ways. My second one, a used one less than a year old, has been
flawless so far, but I see the factory no longer pays shipping if it
fails under warranty. 

I'm hoping Alpha cones out with a brick-on-the-key solid state amp.
Done right at the right price, that would be a world beater. A pair of
BLF188XR's costs about a third of an Eimac 8877 and is rated at 2800
watts PEP. Going with four of them to be conservative would be my
suggestion and still costs less than an 8877. No warm up, no tuning
but does need an antenna tuner. 

If Alpha is not interested, here's an opportunity for an entrepreneur
to start a new world class company in their garage. The technology is
already known, it just takes someone to put it to work. 

73, Bill W6WRT