[CQ-Contest] Alpha 87A Alpha Max

[Jeff Draughn]

So what amp that is comparable to the 87a is not expensive to repair?
Jeff
N0OST

On Wednesday, October 5, 2016, Charles Harpole <hs0zcw at gmail.com> wrote:

> 87a amps are cheap for a good reason.  They do not age well.  Own one only
> if you really enjoy fixing yours monthly, if parts can be found.
> Owner of two at same time, sold long ago.
>
> Note...... band change/tune too slow for SO2R, maybe $3000 is too much.
> 73, Charly
>
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2016 at 8:15 PM, john at kk9a.com <javascript:;> <
> john at kk9a.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
>
> > Alpha 87A's are pretty inexpensive now. I am not sure how it works
> without
> > Alpha Max, I owned one with Alpha Max and it tuned very nicely. My
> comment
> > regarding this amp is that they are very expensive to repair if you send
> > it back to the manufacture so be cautious what you purchase.
> >
> > John KK9A
> >
> >
> > To:     cq-contest <cq-contest at contesting.com <javascript:;>>
> > Subject:        [CQ-Contest] Alpha 87A Alpha Max
> > From:   Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com <javascript:;>>
> > Reply-to:       k9yc at arrl.net <javascript:;>
> > Date:   Tue, 4 Oct 2016 13:47:09 -0700
> >
> > Guys,
> >
> > I'm about to buy an Alpha 87A, early production, without the Alpha Max
> > Firmware. That's the feature that provides auto tuning (as opposed to
> auto
> > recall of saved settings, which was how the amp was originally built).
> >
> > Some questions.
> >
> >
> > 1) How useful is the Alpha Max auto-tune feature?
> >
> > 2) The new owner of Alpha says the upgrade kit is no longer available. Is
> > there an easy way to add it? That is, are the chips generic? I'm guessing
> > that at least one of the two chips is an EPROM. Is it practical to buy
> the
> > chips and copy the firmware from another 87A?
> >
> > 3) Is it worth going to the trouble? I would use it for my high dipoles
> > for 80 and 40M.
> >
> > Thanks and 73, Jim K9YC
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Charly, HS0ZCW
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