[Amps] Alpha 87A Auto Band-Switching

[Michael Tope]

One of my Alpha 87A has a problem with the frequency counter that is 
used by the amplifier to automatically switch bands based on the 
frequency of the input signal. Normally this is a desirable feature, 
however, my amp has this problem whereby it will work fine for a while, 
then the frequency counter will start to malfunction. The counter 
appears to produce erroneous readings whereby it thinks its on a 
different frequency than it actually is. This causes the unit will try 
to re-tune right in the middle of a transmission. Eventually it gets so 
bad that it renders the amp unusable.

Does anyone know if there is an easy way to turn-off or the disable the 
frequency counter in such a way that the amplifier won't be able to 
recognize the frequency of the input signal, but it will otherwise 
operate normally (with the exception that you would have to select the 
band manually). I tried doing this with remote control software, but 
that didn't work. I think that just turns off the auto-tuning whereby it 
defaults to the stored tuning parameters for the band determined by the 
frequency counter instead of following the AlphaMax auto-tuning 
algorithm. Eventually I'll want a proper fix for this problem, but I 
need to use the amplifier in the short-term, so I need a band-aid that 
won't involve hours of troubleshooting.

73, Mike W4EF................