[Amps] Maintenance-free

[Jim Brown]

Hi Cathy,

That can be seen several ways. One thing I love about my early '80s 
vintage Ten Tec 425s is that, thanks to its simplicity and that it's 
built with simple parts, it's easy to work on.  Most parts failures can 
be found with a Simpson 260.

But also because of the keying logic circuitry, and because of which 
components fail when something arcs, and because of the interlocks, you 
often have no idea where to start.  The Alpha error codes are described 
in the manual, and they DO give you clues about what went wrong. I'm new 
to Alpha -- I just bought an 87A, and prior to doing so, studied the 
manual. Yes, the control circuitry is quite complex, and I wouldn't want 
to work on it. But that control circuitry can prevent a lot of damage, 
and can make tubes last longer by going into protect mode when grid 
current rises. The Titan simply gives me an idiot light, and if I'm not 
watching it, as is often the case when I'm contesting with two radios, I 
can toast a tube or two!

73, Jim K9YC

On Mon,2/27/2017 6:05 AM, Catherine James wrote:
> After a few hours of fiddling with my SB-220, I am now comfortable working on it and expect I can keep it running as long as I can get parts.  Reading about these "99 errors" and need to reset microprocessors on more modern amps leaves me cold.  I have zero interest in trying to do maintenance on something with that level of complexity.