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Author Topic: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS  (Read 1231 times)

N1VJJ

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ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« on: August 18, 2022, 10:26:44 AM »

Does anyone know the status of the new Alpha RF Systems that moved from Colorado to Ohio?  There is a Youtube video on July 11, 2022 taken at Hamvention 2022 where the new owner, Mike Dishop, presented all the new Alpha Products.  In fact, he said presently they have 100 Alpha 9500's under assembly.  The other new products will take a while since they are still having a problem getting parts.  Alpha does not show a phone number on their website, only 2 email addresses.  My email to both has remained unanswered.  Does anyone know if they are in fact open for business at the new location and providing sales, parts and service there?
Thanks,
Joe - N1VJJ
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KA4WJA

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2022, 11:28:14 AM »

Joe,
That's odd, I had a nice email exchange with Mike D. this summer... via  sales@alpharfsystems.com  {btw, sent an email at 1:06pm and got 1st reply at 1:23pm that same day....no BS, true story....quickest damn reply I think I've ever gotten from a manufacturer!  did I just get lucky?  don't know....but I was impressed.}
And, I called Alpha later in July, just to be sure....and their phone number 614-675-2497 was on their site.


Not sure what's going on there....I'm not defending them....I mean in the third decade of the 21st Century it seems very short-sided to not have an updated website, or at least a decent contact page.  :(

Maybe they're pretending they're "French" (where it seems 2/3 of the whole country goes on vacation for the whole month of August)?  :)
Anyway, at least you now have their phone number. 
And, fyi....seems the Dishtronix site does have decent info/updates and contact info...
https://www.dishtronix.com/prometheus.html

https://www.dishtronix.com/contact.html



Oh, and if interested, have a look here:
https://www.eham.net/community/smf/index.php/topic,135584.msg1265049.html#msg1265049

https://www.eham.net/community/smf/index.php/topic,135584.msg1268855.html#msg1268855

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZCFp_WAHa0


Hope this helps?

73,
John,  KA4WJA
« Last Edit: August 18, 2022, 11:34:18 AM by KA4WJA »
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AE0Q

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2022, 11:32:00 AM »

Does anyone know the status of the new Alpha RF Systems that moved from Colorado to Ohio?  There is a Youtube video on July 11, 2022 taken at Hamvention 2022 where the new owner, Mike Dishop, presented all the new Alpha Products.  In fact, he said presently they have 100 Alpha 9500's under assembly.  The other new products will take a while since they are still having a problem getting parts.  Alpha does not show a phone number on their website, only 2 email addresses.  My email to both has remained unanswered.  Does anyone know if they are in fact open for business at the new location and providing sales, parts and service there?   Thanks, Joe - N1VJJ 

I am the one answering all the Service email at Alpha, I'm in Colorado.  I just tested the email listed on the web site and it is working, but we haven't gotten anything from you.  I answer Service email every day and have already corresponded with an Alpha owner in Japan today.

Mike Dishop answers the Sales email, he is pretty busy at the plant in Ohio where all the Alpha physical things are located now.  If you have questions about ordering products, email him but it might take a day or two for him to answer.  I can help with repair information or anything related to servicing Alpha amps.

Glenn AE0Q
« Last Edit: August 18, 2022, 11:34:13 AM by AE0Q »
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N1VJJ

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2022, 12:09:04 PM »

Glenn and John, can't thank both of you enough.
73's Joe
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K7JQ

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2022, 03:06:07 PM »


There is a Youtube video on July 11, 2022 taken at Hamvention 2022 where the new owner, Mike Dishop, presented all the new Alpha Products.  In fact, he said presently they have 100 Alpha 9500's under assembly.
Joe - N1VJJ


I'm really pulling for Mike to make Alpha successful once again, although IMO solid state amps are the future (but that's his business).

But in today's retail environment, an up to date and informative website is a key factor to instill confidence when making a buying decision. The Alpha website for many months now (maybe even a year) has stated "9500 amplifiers are available for immediate delivery". Then click on "BUY NOW", and it takes you to "As of September 2020 we are open for business on a limited basis", along with a statement about COVID-19 and information on service. No way to order a 9500. Really?

Now, I have empathy for the problems COVID-19 has caused...parts availability and employee staffing. But, geez, it's almost 2 years later and nothing has been updated? Reports of emails and landline calls being sporadically answered? Perhaps if the website was upfront and current, all these forum posts of "What's up with Alpha?" would disappear.
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WS7X

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2022, 08:15:32 AM »

Read the Dayton Update ( https://www.alpharfsystems.com/?p=3640)  It explains whats going on with Alpha.  Sounds like they are well on their way to getting up and running in Ohio.  I'm glad they have found a new home and are no longer renting vs owning the building they operate from.    Alpha is a great American company and I'm sure they will continue to make great products.   I too am pulling for them.

WS7X
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VE3WGO

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2023, 02:08:02 PM »

"Alpha RF Systems \ Dishtronix \ Ten-Tec" has reserved space for the 2023 Hamvention.  Should be interesting to see what they have to say about Alpha and Ten-Tec!

The indoor vendor list is at https://www.make-it.ca/hamvention2023-indoor/

73, Ed
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N2ZD

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2023, 09:36:38 PM »


According to a post on groups.io, Mike has decided to not provide parts or service to legacy products such as the 87A. Keep this in.mind when your new 10k plus Alpha amp becomes a "Legacy product" how that will work out for you.  Granted, the 87a is 30 years old, but a great many are still on the air. In the past, Alpha, Dick and others have taken care of their customers. This imho no longer holds true.

   Please see the Alpha 87A group on groups io to see the thread for yourself. Maybe your opinion will differ from mine. I like to give people a fair shake.

Regards, Richy N2ZD

Be!ow is a snippet from the posts.




 

"This is a reply to K9HZ that Mike Dishop N8WFF has asked me to post on this list.  If anyone wants to reply to HIM, please use his email at the bottom.
If you reply to Mike Dishop here, he won't see it.
Glenn AE0Q

-----------------------------------------
Bill, you have misunderstood what I have said to you.  What I attempted to clearly indicate to you is the following:  I can no longer support anything but production amplifiers. The 87As in operation have LONG outlived their expected life expectancy of 15 years.  They are no longer viable for repair.  As far as I am concerned they are a liability.  We only have so much time. We can spend that time fixing old stuff that is hanging on by a thread, or we can use that time to manufacture and develop new products.  We are an original equipment manufacturer just like Yaesu or General Motors.  We can not survive repairing 20 and 30 and in some cases 50 year old units.  Icom doesn’t repair 20 year old radios to my knowledge.

 

You refused to take NO for an answer and then wanted to make the firmware and things yourself. The problem with that is you are not a principal or stockholder of this company.  I can NOT let firmware, algorithms and proprietary knowledge out to you or any other person just because you want it.  There is a reason why only Alpha has a true autotuning amplifier.  A lot of time, money and experience was used to develop that technology and my partners and I paid a lot of money to acquire that technology.  It has value.  You do not bring sufficient  value to the table. The risk to benefit ratio is unacceptable.  Frankly I discontinued communication with you because you don’t listen.  You simply wanted to have your way and became incensed when you did not get it.  If you would like to purchase Alpha and run it your way I’ll be more than happy to discuss that with you. Then you can deal with people posting things about you they don’t like when they are unhappy.  Until then you are stuck with me.

 

You will be pleased to know that you were instrumental in the decision to discontinue support for all legacy amplifiers.   When someone complains that I don’t give them free support any longer for forty year old stuff you can proudly stand up and claim “I caused that”.

 

A reasonable person will understand that we can’t move forward if we are mired down in support for obsolete equipment.  A reasonable person will understand that it is not reasonable to expect a manufacturer to respond to an individual wanting support for something sold 20+ years ago. If we assume that we are all reasonable people, then anyone raising a stink about it must have a serious case of sour grapes or just be a trouble maker or a troll.   Frankly I do not have time to spend on this sort of thing. I do not have time to spend on old things that are past their service life.  If you want support and hand holding then BUY A NEW AMPLIFIER.  Every Alpha comes with a four year warranty except for the tube.  That’s 2200  dollars a year for the peace of mind that you have my support.  At the end of the four years, sell it for 75% of the value and order another new one and you will have four more years of warranty and support. That is what I told you.  I need to make a living and be paid reasonable wages for my work so I can continue to be here. Otherwise Alpha will have to close. Is that what you want?

Steven M. Dishop"
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KD6VXI

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2023, 02:10:14 AM »

Fishop is the poster child of stockholders needing to take all access from the front line buyers away.

Like happened to Musk.

Gee, don't want to support something you clearly have zero intentions of ever supporting again?

Other companies have supplied firmware from EOL ITEMS.  A lot of companies have.  I even have firmware from some Harris equipment.

It's almost like, someone has a pecuniary interest in older Alpha equipment not being repairable so you'd have to buy new.  Which is nearly impossible.

Dishop did one thing in the last five or so years.

He ensured the superstation I have been designing and am near to purchasing equipment for will NEVER have anything he's ever had a hand in manufacturing involved in it.

Period.

What a sycophant.  Seriously.

I'm glad you stick around to be the voice of reason, Glenn.  And what an amazing radio life you describe on your website.

Long live Ehrhorn!

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI
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NA4M

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2023, 06:05:58 AM »


"This is a reply to K9HZ that Mike Dishop N8WFF has asked me to post

-----------------------------------------
"If you want support and hand holding then BUY A NEW AMPLIFIER.  Every Alpha comes with a four year warranty except for the tube.  That’s 2200  dollars a year for the peace of mind that you have my support.  At the end of the four years, sell it for 75% of the value and order another new one and you will have four more years of warranty and support."

Steven M. Dishop"

If this is in fact his business model then Alpha may be in trouble.  IMO few hams will cough up $7-8.8+K every 4 yrs for a expensive new amp.   Alpha's customer base was built on their amps robustness and support for a long-life.   He thinks ham's are gonna buy a new $8K amp every 4 yrs and resell the old one for 75% of new??
The used tube amp market is already depressed and likely to worsen.  Especially with no Alpha support for legacy models.

NA4M
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N2ZD

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2023, 06:51:57 AM »


   I thought I was going to wake up to a wave of attacks lol! I’m glad other people see it my way. What had me thinking in bed last night was all of the ham products still supported as best as possible by other companies, the original company, a company that has been sold to someone else that still supports legacy products etc.
   The 87A was supported by two or three company’s after ETO sold. Many people bought newer Alpha amps that sit along side of their 87A’s so I didn’t see the point. I have 9 amps sitting in my shack.
   I had so many radios I had to start liquidating them only to replace them with other ones lol. It’s a sickness. I’m sure I I asked many of you to raise your hands if you had two Alphas in you shack. We would find many of you raising your hands.
   I do understand his concerns, but one simply has to look at MFJ which pumps out the exact same models they did 20-30 years ago under the same nameplate plus some new solid state amps. So the diatribe to Bill was unnecessary. Either carry the products or license someone else to do so.
   I don’t see Heath Zenith chasing around the people carrying parts for their amps, it doesn’t affect their business now and wouldn’t do so even if they sold amps these days.
   There is room for a New Alpha and a side hustle for parts relating to the old amps. What is it to license EPROM  and pal images and make some dough to further your own endeavors. These days, none of the 87A technology from 30 years ago is even relevant now.
   Who is using processors from the 90’s now? It’s all new technology fueling the latest amplifiers and every day another old amp dies or gets cannibalized to save another.

Regards Richy N2ZD
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W3WN

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2023, 08:43:08 AM »

Hmmm.

Since there is so much outrage, or at least unhappiness, with N8WFF's decision to not support older amplifiers... one thing comes to mind.

Where is the similar outrage, or at least unhappiness, with ICOM, Kenwood, Yaesu, and other manufacturers, who also do not support long out of production amplifiers and other equipment?

Why hold Alpha RFS to a different standard?

Yes, I know that in the past, the predecessors of Alpha RFS had different policies.  That is not the question.  Alpha RFS is not the same company as any of those past entities.
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KD6VXI

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #12 on: February 24, 2023, 10:27:19 AM »

  Alpha RFS is not the same company as any of those past entities.

Exactly.  ETO, etc. went out of their way to help hams.  The new Alpha goes out of their way to tell us we are stupid for not buying something from him, or funding R & D on the newest Ten Tec equipment.

As I said, his attitude and the way he handles his public relations are the reason Alpha and Ten Tec will never be considered.

"I'm sorry, but we can't continue to keep up things with regard to repairs as Alpha has in the past" is a lot different than "You need to buy something from me to support it.".  To the end user, Alpha is what is on the front.  You're right. It's not the same Alpha.  At least Glenn does a great job of trying to help everyone that needs it.

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI
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KA4DPO

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #13 on: February 24, 2023, 11:18:03 AM »

  Alpha RFS is not the same company as any of those past entities.

Exactly.  ETO, etc. went out of their way to help hams.  The new Alpha goes out of their way to tell us we are stupid for not buying something from him, or funding R & D on the newest Ten Tec equipment.

As I said, his attitude and the way he handles his public relations are the reason Alpha and Ten Tec will never be considered.

"I'm sorry, but we can't continue to keep up things with regard to repairs as Alpha has in the past" is a lot different than "You need to buy something from me to support it.".  To the end user, Alpha is what is on the front.  You're right. It's not the same Alpha.  At least Glenn does a great job of trying to help everyone that needs it.

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

You certaily won't get any argument from me Shane, I totally agree with you about the attitude of the owner.  You have to admit though, that the 87A is pretty long in the tooth and some parts might be scarce, or even unavailable. 

I think using GM or Yaesu as examples were not well thought out.  You can send an FT-2000 MP to a Yaesu service center and they will repair it, it may not be cheap, but they will if they are able.

As for GM, I can promise you that they will repair a fifty year old GM product. 
A guy on Alpha 87A Groups.io, refered to it as the 67 Mustang of amplifiers.  How much you want to bet that any Ford dealer will repair a 67 Mustang?

In fact, here is a link that kind of highlights the degree to which the company seems to vassilate on it's policies.  Be sure to read the  Take Aways.

https://groups.io/g/Alpha87A/topic/listen_to_mike_dishop_one_of/96084766?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate/sticky,,,20,2,0,96084766,previd%3D1677196963368782830,nextid%3D1672789753053904259&previd=1677196963368782830&nextid=1672789753053904259
« Last Edit: February 24, 2023, 11:30:22 AM by KA4DPO »
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KA4WJA

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Re: ALPHA RF SYSTEMS
« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2023, 05:04:21 PM »

Hello to all,
Yep, you guys are correct Alpha is not the same as it used to be.  :(   


Now, if we could just get Shane to tell us how he really feels.  hi hi 
Though, no worries here Shane, I tend to agree with you....it's just that I still hope for something better than this, from Alpha... :(


Sure, Alpha still make the only all-mode, no-time-limit, "brick-on-the-key" amateur amps....but, it's clearly not the same company and absolutely not run/managed anywhere close to what we used to think of as "Alpha"!

The days of the 77Dx (considered by many hams to be the best amateur radio amp ever built!) are fond, but distant, memories (except for those of us who still have one, or two, running like a Swiss watch....40+ years on)!

And, even the days of of decent, but smaller amps, like the 78, 86, etc. are also long gone! :(

As well as the joys of dealing with Gordon and Molly having long since passed!  :(

And, "Alpha" certainly isn't ETO any more.
{although, from reading his weird response to a customer even if he somehow thinks, in the back of his mind, that he is the next Dick Ehrhorn....only in his dreams, is Mike D. even going to come close!  And, I feel uneasy even writing their names in the same paragraph.  :( }

I believe some of you all here knew him personally, but I just met him once....I met Dick Ehrhorn, W4ETO, many many years ago (at a hamfest here in Florida), while I was still dreaming of whether I could ever own such works of art and engineering!   Unfortunately Dick passed last year, after battling with Alzheimer's. 
[I remember meeting him at his ETO booth (in mid-late 70's), and drooling over the new 77Dx....but it wasn't until years later that I realized why he also had a Signal/One rig there, learning he was the former general manager (and one of the original founding principles) of Signal/One!]



So, while I'm an optimist and I still hope that Mike D. and his team can make a go of running the "new" Alpha....I also live in the real world.   
And reading the above message along with hearing of their lack of customer service (not "service", Glenn....but actual customer service / customer care), it make me question my optimism.

Richy, I do appreciate your posting of this message from Mike D. 
And, I do still wish the Alpha team the best.

Oh, and Richy, I've got my hands up!
Yep, I am one of those guys who owns multiple Alpha's.....I have two 77Sx's...one at home in my main shack, and one hundreds of miles away at my temporary QTH (oh, and I have an Alpha 78 here as well, as I bought it before I found my second 77)...
So, yep...I own 3 Alpha amps!  And, I guess they are "Legacy" amps?  (although I'd call 'em "Classics")...They all work perfectly!
(and, they all look and work as good or better than when they out of the factory > ~ 40 years ago)
Not sure if this makes me look like a fool, or just someone that likes what he likes?
(and, fyi...if you add up the cost of all three of my Alpha's [including spare tubes!], it still is less than or equal-to the cost of a Power-GeniusXL Amp and Tuner....and, that's THREE legal limit amps!  Although they're all "brick-on-the-key", I don't think I'm gonna' do that with my Alpha 78 at 1500 watts, with 39 year old 8874's.....but the 77Sx's, will do that all day long...) 


73,
John, KA4WJA   
« Last Edit: February 24, 2023, 05:21:02 PM by KA4WJA »
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