I love it when a detailed and factual critique of a radio device emerges and
defenders of the baby come out of the woodwork.
"Oh, I ran mine in water under frozen ice at 3KW for 43 years continuous, and
before that my cat slept on the vent holes and it ran perfectly all that time,
etc etc etc."
Some people are lucky, that is all, and believe me, we know not every single
unit becomes faulty, but many do and it behooves us to report it to help
someone somewhere, perhaps. 73
Charles Harpole
k4vud@hotmail.com
________________________________
> Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 05:05:53 +0000
> Subject: Re: [Amps] Alpha 87A owner
> From: bob@5b4agn.net
> To: k4vud@hotmail.com
>
> On the other hand, I have owned and abused my 87A for more than 18
> years now. Aside from a couple of small problems easily corrected in
> the shack, it has been a rock solid investment. When I have called
> upon Alpha for support they have always been A1.
>
> I have been wondering why folks would trade an 87A for a 9500.
>
> Bob, 5B4AGN
>
> On 10 July 2012 01:16, Charles Harpole
> <k4vud@hotmail.com<mailto:k4vud@hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
> I own an 87a that is of the 1990 vintage but has been back to the
> factory twice, as late as 2004, and had the upgrades when they did not
> cost that much... not cheap, but not in that range. At one time, I
> owned two... THAT IS, TWO.... of these delicate babies at the same time and
> had the same
> problems with both.
>
>
>
> Problem most important is the PIN diode system, or the dreaded Fault 9.
> I have had replaced all my PIN diodes twice, the latter time including
> a little part which is supposed to protect them. Today, I have
> frequent Fault 9 nevertheless.
>
>
>
> Next problem is the corrosion of all the little plugs/sockets
> everywhere inside the case. Dont ask me how tightly fitted similar
> metal to metal connections can corrode enough to give problems, but IT
> DOES. One 87a owner told me he services all these plugs twice a year,
> and believe me, wrestling this heavy thing around and getting to all
> the plugs is not a fun afternoon and evening.
>
>
>
> Finally, with AlphaMax installed, the amp senses everything like the
> tip of your, er, finger and Faults off for the slightest deviation in
> SWR or it seems a thousand other things that slightly change inside,
> maybe even line voltage dips.
>
>
>
> Oh, yes, avoid running more than 100 watts thru them; rumor has it
> that 200 watts--even when turned off--breaks (or bends) something
> inside. Dont ask me; I am an appliance op.
>
>
>
> If shipping would not kill me, I would already have dumped mine onto
> Alpha and be running a 9500 right now.
>
>
>
> What I do not understand is how Alpha can please the customers of their
> traded in 87a that are coming in and being sold, too. Maybe the factory
> has a magic overhaul, but that has to be costly. Alpha is smart to get
> as many 87a out of the field as possible because, as they have aged,
> their complaint level must have skyrocketed and word of mouth on Alpha
> thus suffers, too.
>
>
>
> I have always been treated fairly by Alpha old or new owners. They do
> not make Yugos and thus their costs are very high for their Porsche
> amps. My advice, gained from expensive and bitter experience, is dump
> your 87a to the factory trade in offer or sell yours to someone you
> dont like... or to a very good technically minded person.
>
>
>
> Charles Harpole
> k4vud@hotmail.com<mailto:k4vud@hotmail.com>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
> > From: wa3gin@comcast.net<mailto:wa3gin@comcast.net>
> > To: wworldwidedx@comcast.net<mailto:wworldwidedx@comcast.net>;
> amps@contesting.com<mailto:amps@contesting.com>
> > Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 20:02:03 -0400
> > Subject: Re: [Amps] Alpha 87A
> >
> > Sounds about right. The older units need significant modifications to bring
> > them up to current. I can't remember for sure but diode switching circuit
> > and parts that are no longer available make it pretty expensive to upgrade
> > the old units. Its not a scam...there is no reason to scam you... ALPHA's
> > 87A trade-in program has been a massive success, so much so that they
> > apparently extended the offer and are selling many many new amps. I don't
> > think they are trying to rip you off... I've had a few Alphas and these are
> > great amps but like anything high end technology, car, plane, boat... they
> > are expensive to own! If I were you I'd trade up... even if the 87A is new
> > old stock..focus on the 'old' aspect. If something does fry... you'll end
> > up with a big bill. If it was me I'd spend a few bucks more and get a brand
> > new amp.
> >
> > Good Luck
> >
> > 73,
> > Dave
> > wa3gin
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kurtis Burton"
> <wworldwidedx@comcast.net<mailto:wworldwidedx@comcast.net>>
> > To: <amps@contesting.com<mailto:amps@contesting.com>>
> > Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 7:38 PM
> > Subject: [Amps] Alpha 87A
> >
> >
> > > Let me get your thoughts on something. I called Alpha to get the sequence
> > > code to unlock the 10 meter band and the gentleman got on the line and he
> > > knew about anAlpha 87A that I got the other day by an earlier
> conversation
> > > and that it was basically a New Old Stock amplifier and he told me and
> > > really urged me to send the amp to them (Alpha) and let them do all the
> > > upgrades. Now here is were it gets interesting, I asked him,
> > >
> > > "Well okay, if I do decide to send the amp...can you give me a ball park
> > > cost on what it would be to update?" He said, "No we can't, you just have
> > > to get it here and let Brad (87A expert) go through it. I insisted that I
> > > may consider sending it but I would really like to have a figure to
> budget
> > > the cost. While on the phone he talked to the "expert" in the back (I
> > > could hear them in the background talking) and he came back on the phone
> > > with a $3,000.00 dollar figure. I was shocked! I then asked? "Can you
> > > send me an itemized list of upgrades you'll be performing on the New Old
> > > Stock Alpha 87A?" Answer: "No, if your amp really is that age (1991)
> > > and has never been back to us and according to our files we have no
> > > records of it ever coming back then it will need a lot of upgrades to get
> > > it to the Alpha recommended standards". Then the gentleman suggest that I
> > > may just consider selling the 87A and get my money back and if I were
> > > really considering spending $3,000.00 for upgrades,
> > > then I needed to consider buying the new Alpha 9500, etc.
> > >
> > > According to this gentleman at Alpha, without the upgrades this New Old
> > > Stock, never used Alpha 87A is a time bomb waiting to give me major
> > > problems. I missing something here?
> > >
> > > Jon
> > > W4LWY
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Amps@contesting.com<mailto:Amps@contesting.com>
> > > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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