[SEDXC] Alpha 8410

[Ron Lowrance]

Good morning.  As many of you know, earlier this year I ordered the new addition to the Alpha family of HF amplifiers, the Alpha 8410 using a pair of 4CX-1000a tubes.  I thought I would give you an update.  (The amplifier was shipped to me only 28 days past the committed ship date of May 4th).

1).    I received the Alpha 8410 on Friday June 5th via FedEx freight.  The shipping packaging was extraordinary.  I came in two separate boxes; amplifier and power transformer, strapped to a shipping pallet.  Even the FedEx person commented on the extra care that Alpha went to ensure safe arrival.

2).    After unpacking both boxes, again I notice extremely good packaging.

3).    The power transformer was extremely easy to install.  It required 3 plug connections and is bolted to the chassis via 4 bolts.  In addition the transformer fits very nicely with pre-installed brackets to ensure correct positioning and installation.

4).    Initial power up when perfectly.  The amplifier has a 3 minute warm up period indicated on the power meter which depicts and counts down the period of time; 3 minutes.

5).    My initial driving power into the amplifier was via an IC-7800 at 25 watts using a military 50 ohm dummy load.  At 25 watts I saw 1000+ watts output.  The tune- load functions were initially set to the test sheet shipped with the amplifier.  Very slight adjustments were required for maximum output at the 25 watt drive level.   My next level of drive was at 40 watts.  I saw over 1500+ watts output with a very slight adjustment of the tune or load controls from the initial 25 watt drive level.  

6).    Overall first impressions:  Excellent quality of engineering and of course construction.  Tune up to peak output only takes seconds.  It is very easy to drive to get maximum legal limit output.  Overall fit and finish is excellent and the usual Alpha quality. 

7).    The manual leaves allot to be desired.  There are improvements that certainly can be made and two of them are quality and there is no schematic for the amplifier. 

8).    I will refrain from commenting on the comparison of the cost of the amplifier to other amplifiers since this was not a factor in my purchasing decision.

I will be doing on-the-air-tests thhis week if it does not storm, which is predicted and appears is likely.  One last comment, while attending Dayton this year, I stopped by the Alpha display and they had one running on constant CW with a Alpha Power Meter monitoring the output and it was transmitting into a dummy load between 1700 and 1800 watts output all day long.  Very impressive.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

73,

Ron, K4SX