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Reviews For: Alpha 99

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

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Review Summary For : Alpha 99
Reviews: 79MSRP: 3850 + shipping
Description:
The Ultimate Value in a linear amplifier - Made in USA
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.rkrdesignsllc.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00794.9
N4DEK Rating: 2006-11-19
great amp but.......... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought mine brand new from Alpha and the amp performed as promised but I felt that after paying $4K+ for an amplifier that I should have at least received the correct owners manual but I never did. Alot of promises from Alpha but they never did supply me with an updated manual. Finally got sick and tired of waiting and just sold the amp. Using a Commander now and I love it. And it came with the correct owners manual. Wake up Alpha.
NL7FK Rating: 2006-04-22
I got a tank on my desk! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
All I can say is WOW!!!!

This amp is a tank and works like a fine instrument. I have owned Ameritron, Dentron, and QRO legal limit amps in the past and they cannot even come close to this amplifier. The tuning is one of the easiest I have ever used. The fit and finish of the interior and exterior is supurb. The output is totally amazing. I am getting legal limit with less than 50 watts of drive! The metering is right on and easy to read. The protection circuits work great. I know this because I put them through the test. (Not on purpose mind you.) The manual is easy to read and understand and will take you from unpacking to having a QSO at full power.

I was a bit nervous putting down $4600.00 for an amp with so many other less expensive amps on the market but the sales team at Alpha made my decision easy. When I ordered the amp I was told there was an eight week lag time. I was surprised when the amp showed up at my door in about a month. Once I put the amp in line I knew that I made a good choice.

The amp works like a champ and the extra headroom is nice to have. I actually belive one could key down at full power all day with out a problem this amp is built that good. The blowers on my amp are nice and quiet. The QSK works as smooth as silk. Note that the once optional fan is now standard. The vacume relays are nice and quiet and nearly silent. I love this amp!

Maybe is is true that you get what you pay for.
PA1K Rating: 2006-01-19
great amp, fantastic service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have an Alpha 99, wich is a very good amp.
A few weeks ago the High voltage meter was not working anymore.
I send a mail to Alpha and Molly personal take great care of sending me 5 new resistors one of them was cousing this problem, the other 4 were a modification.
A very clear instruction came with the parts how to replace them.
The 99 HV meter is working great again.
It is sure the best brand of amplifier to buy.
Thanks to Alpha radio products for great service

Bert PA1K
K6IPM Rating: 2005-11-30
Alpha 99 Accolades Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I can't add much more than the previous comments but this is an outstanding amplifier. I have owned mine 5 years and have worked through the pile-ups time after time. The service "Molly" provides at CrossLink is second to none. My Alpha has been in for tune-up once to add the rear cooling fan and to check the finals. Molly turned the unit around within a week. I haven't seen service like that in my entire 53 years of amateur radio. Thanks again to Crosslink for putting out such a fine working product. Alan, K6IPM.
W7IS Rating: 2005-06-03
Top of the Line Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Over the years I've owned a number of Alplha amps and all have been outstanding. I recently purchased a pre-owned 99. The Alpha 99 is without question one of the top manual tune amps on the market today.
The tuning is very forgiving and stable. Alpha has continued to use their heavy duty (and very well designed) output tank circuitry. I noticed the input circuit uses a high quality high power damping resistor to prevent overdrive and allows the amp to meet the FCC specs where it’s required to have 50W of drive for full legal output. Personally I wish the FCC would reduce that drive requirement to 20W so that high gain tetrode amps like the 99 could be used with some of the lower powered rigs on the market today (such as the barefoot K2).
The heavy duty Kilovac vacuum changeover relay is sound isolated in a rubber mounting and there is no noticeable keying noise on SSB. But on full break-in CW, I thought there was room for improvement. They could have used braid rather than solid core wires for connections on the relay as sound can travel down those solid core wires. Also, in the 3000 volt HV power supply, they used 220mfd HV capacitors. This provides 25mfd total capacity. That’s the minimum requirement for HV filtering on a 1500W legal limit amp such as this. It would be great if they went back to full sized 450mfd HV caps so that the amp has more head room with 50mfd total filtering on the HV. The 99 is already a fine performing top of the line amp and those minor suggestions would only serve to make it even more bulletproof.
K9YNF Rating: 2005-06-01
Best bang for your buck! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been a DXer for over 40 years and have owned two used amps, a Johnson Viking Thunderbolt in high school and a Drake L-4B after I had two kids. Both of these amps served me well.

Now, with both of my kids grown and time to really persue those rare ones, I went for my dream amp ... the Alpha 99. NEVER have I been happier with a ham radio purchase than with this amp. It lives up to its reputation! It is built like a tank, yet stylish. The Alpha 99 has put me on the IOTA Honor Roll.Thank you, Alpha!

N2ETJ Rating: 2005-03-10
KEEPS ON TICKIN Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I HAVE HAD MY ALPHA FOR JUST OVER 4 YEARS NOW, JUST BEFORE WARRANTY EXPIRED, SENT BACK TO CORRECT RELAY PROBLEM. FIRST RATE SERVICE, MOLLY IS THE BEST AS IS THE WHOLE SUPPORT TEAM. GOT AMP BACK IN SHORT ORDER. THIS AMP STILL PUTS OUT FULL STEAM PLUS WITH ONLY 40 WATTS DRIVE... LOAFING ALONG. WOULD NOT BUY ANY OTHER AMP, ONCE YOU HAVE HAD THE BEST, TUFF TO GO BACK TO THE REST, AND WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO.
AC5AA Rating: 2005-03-03
Outstanding Amp! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been running mine for a couple of years now - was one of the first ones built by Crosslink. Had an early life failure of the vacuum relay, but no other problems at all. Alpha's support was top notch. This is one heck of an amp - quiet, powerful, reliable, and easy to tune. Highly recommended.
OZ1DTF Rating: 2004-06-09
Super PA Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I guess I add nothing with another 5 rating. Satisfaction here is 100%. The amplifier meets the specification and expectations with margain. Fast bandshift. High gain. A few times I have shifted bands and preset the capacitors - but forgotten the bandswitch! No damage - the protection circuit worked perfectly. Bought it in 1997.
W0MU Rating: 2004-04-13
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received my 99. After owning a 76PA and a 76CA I was familiar with the quality of the Alpha line. After a few changes in owners it was refreshing to see that quality and customer service are still the guiding lights at Alpha.

The Amp is well packed and arrived by UPS in perfect condition.

The amp performs as expected this baby just chugs along at 1500 watts with little effort.

The only complaint I could have is that the instructions to make the amp function on 21, 24.5 and 28Mhz were not included as I had provided them with proof of my license.

I emailed Molly on Saturday and she responded on EASTER SUNDAY with a word doc on the mod!!!

I can't wait to try the amp out in the next contest and with some big antennas once the station gets rebuilt.

You get what you pay for with this amp.