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Reviews For: Alpha 87A

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - HF & HF+6M

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Review Summary For : Alpha 87A
Reviews: 98MSRP: 6500 + shipping
Description:
The Ultimate Linear Amplifier
Product is not in production
More Info: https://www.alpharfsystems.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00984.8
W4ZW Rating: 2006-06-21
Simply Superb Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my ALPHA for almost 11 years now and it still works great. Only one trip back to Alpha for a repair in all these years. Quiet, potent, and fool proof. It's simply superb!
N6AJR Rating: 2006-04-29
still the best Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have used it for 6 or 7 montths now and I like it even more. it is the best amp I have ever owned, ( out of als 500, als600, la1000nt, sbe's, clipperton l's, ameritron 811 and 811 h's, and more.

I wish I had bought this one first, I would never have needed any thing else,, they are that good.
N8NN Rating: 2005-07-18
Clarification of Previous Posting Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I must clarify my posting of June 24, 2005 concerning blower noise on my Alpha 87A. I purchased my amplifier in October 2000 from Alpha Power Inc, Longmont, CO. The company is now owned by WoMOM, Molly Hardman of Boulder, CO. It would be unfair to attribute my poor experience with the 87A to the current company, Alpha Radio Products, which did NOT manufacture my amplifier. My experience should not reflect on the current company owner who is working on maintaining a reputation for high quality products and service.
W7JK Rating: 2005-06-06
Excellent Customer Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I recently experianced a problem with my out of warranty Alpha 87A and I am pleased to report that Alpha's support was excellent. I was able to get my 87A repaired with out having to ship it to them because of the technical tips and advice that was provided over the phone and via e-mail. Alpha's techincian Glenn AE0Q was particulary helpful.
W4VOL Rating: 2004-11-04
5/5 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Alpha 87A is an outstanding amplifier! Key down full legal output 1500W continuous and barely warms up. Solid construction. Tunes to a new frequency in any band within about 1 second -- all you have to do is say Hello or tap the key and bingo, you are tuned up! Absolutely no TVI or RFI with this rig. Full legal output on all bands, including 10 meters. I have a comptuer speaker and big woofer within 3' of the Alpha, and no interference to the speaker, and none in phones, TV or radio. Excellent engineering, and Molly, Gordon and the staff at CrossLink are super people, providing excellent support any time I have had any question. Well worth the wait, and shipped on time, when Molly said it would I liked my first one so much that I bought another one just to have as a spare! I highly recommend Alpha. (Also like their matching Wattmeter -- it is fantastic.) The 87A is an improvement on the 77, because the 87A is autotuned, smaller and quieter. Solid heavy-duty commerical construction all the way. As I said, an outstanding continuous duty legal limit amp. I highly recommend Alpha. Get one and you'll be glad you did!
WA4OEJ Rating: 2004-02-25
Excellent Amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my Aplha 87A for over ten years, and it is, by far, the best amplifier that I have ever owned. It is FIRST CLASS quality. I have previously owned Gonset, Drake, and Amp Supply amplifiers and this one is, no doubt in my mind, the best. The automatic tuning is GREAT. It is the last amateur amplifier that you will ever need to buy.

I have had 3 or 4 times that I needed service and I have found the people at ETO/ Crosslink very knowledgable and helpful. They know their amps!

I strongly suspect that one of the previous reviews was done in haste without fully appreciating that the amp was performing as it was supposed to and that his transceiver was at fault. I could be wrong, but I believe that he gave a review that was not warranted.

While this amp is a little pricy, it is worth it.
N6PEQ Rating: 2004-01-12
Outstanding! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my Alpha 87A for 4 years now. Not once have I had a problem with it. The 87A has run perfectly. It runs cool and quiet, and puts out a great sounding signal. My only regret is that don't own 2 Alpha 87A's! That's my next project to get past the wife. :)
K6RIM Rating: 2003-12-06
Reliable High Power Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have enjoyed the 87A for over five years now. Previously had the 89 for around five years, as well. Neither amplifier ever exhibited any malfunction whatsoever. Pretty hard to beat that reliability. Love the auto tune of the 87A - great for quick contest QSYs. Highly recommended!
K5WAG Rating: 2003-05-05
Problem Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased my 87a new. The first failure occured when the amp was just setting and disconnected from all equipment including ac power.Got a ra number sent it back to alpha at my expense. By the way you have to pay freight charges both ways.It worked fine for 10 days and a hard fault occured again.Traded it off for a 99 as the money back time had passed due to traveling time.
W4GIW Rating: 2003-05-05
OUTSTANDING Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Alpha 87A has turned my Icom ProII into a 1500 watt transceiver. I move from band to band as if they were all the same. With a Mosley 40 thru 10 beam with one feed line, no antenna changes are required so I just point and click the mouse using the TRX manager. The 87A is expensive but is vastly better than the Icom PW 1 it replaced. The only distraction is the 1 second noise it makes on changing bands. Sounds like it grunts when the 3 motors turn but they tune quickly and accurately. The Amp is ready to go on a new band in less than 2 seconds. Stations say I sound better with it on than running barefoot. I do think having to use only 25 watts to drive it and running it at less than half its capacity makes for a very linear amplification and a very clean signal.