Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Alpha 99

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
K5KA Rating: 2002-09-11
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Professional construction.
Commercial performance.
I just bought one of these used (less than 1 year new). You can pay a reasonable price for top quality.
W2MSK Rating: 2002-09-02
Investment Quality Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an investment quality product, equipment that will protect your purchase price. The construction, operational feel and performance is simply outstanding. My unit is capable of over 2400 watts, 1500W with no more than 45W drive! I suspect this amp will hold, if not increase in value over the years. Alpha responds to support inquiries immediately. Buy quality, it always pays.
K4RWW Rating: 2002-08-18
A classic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A quiet, durable, reliable, powerful and pricey amp. A state of the art product. A classic example of getting lasting value for your money. Besides all that, it works great and is significantly better than the 91B and 76A I once owned.
KG6EPV Rating: 2002-08-18
excellent amp! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
i love this amp! the tune up procedure is sweet. it makes legal limit power on all bands with less than 50w drive. you don't have to adjust the drive power when switching bands, they are all about the same. it makes a kilowatt with about 20w drive! quiet too. i love the bandswitch with a seperate position for the warc bands. fast and easily repeatable settings- takes 2 seconds. i love this amplifier! if you can afford it, buy it! you won't be sorry. 73 de kg6epv
KC4YLX Rating: 2002-05-28
Fantastic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received new 99 on 24-May-02. Ran amp all weekend without any problems. Tunes quick by the numbers. Provides legal limit without more than 50 watts drive. Quiet even with the aux fan installed. Quality construction and super layout of front panel. QSK and vac relay is quite also.
I'll post again after having it on the air for a few more weeks but it is KING of the hill. Molly and Gordon are the only Alpha folks I have talked with and both are professional, knowlegable and just plain great! I meet both in person at Dayton and my opinion of Alpha just got better. I'll keep updating my website so check it for more up to date information.

Would I buy another Alpha product? Without blinking an eye I would.
WB9WHE Rating: 2002-04-04
Most impressive Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This amplifier is nothing short of impressive.

Not many products EXCEED the claims of the manufacutrer. The Alpha 99 does. That's why I like it so much.

Asthetically, I give it a 5.0. Its pretty, well layed out and the dual color, peak reading led bargraphs are an excellent feature that is both useful and downright entertaining.

Electrically, I give it a 6.0. This AMP was designed with PLENTY of room to spare. Its got nearly 3db of headroom at maximum legal output. 3 db! It also has grid, screen, high voltage, high SWR, and arc protection/shut down circuits. Open the case and it shorts the HV caps. I've not previously seen an amp this well protected. It also has a tuning function that uses the led bargraph....a very nice feature for quick and easy tune up. However, tune up by the numbers also works very well. Replacement tubes (Svetlana 4CX800 should you ever need them) are less than $200 a pair! Have you priced a pair of 3-500z tubes or Eimac 4cx800s lately?

Mechanically, I give it a 5.0. Its ruggid, and very well constructed. Uses connectors and spade lugs, making things a snap. It willlikely be the last amp I will ever buy. Its a bit big, (16" wide) but it has plenty of room for cooling and for getting at components. The fan is fairly quiet, not an issue, and only slightly louder than my AL-80B. At higher power, transformer winding "hum" was audible (its got a huge tape wound Dahl transformer). However, Glen, Alpha's repair/support Guru, was very helpful and provided some very simple suggestions for reducing the hum to a minimum. Neither the hum nor the fan are a real issue. Note: since I don't use carrier modes, I didn't get the second accessory fan.

On value, I give it a 6.0. because nothing even comes close in this catagory. I almost bought an Ameritron AL-800H with QSK for about $2,500. But then, I factored in the $900 cost of replacing one set of Emac tubes, which brought the AL-800H's 8-10 year cost up to $3,400. Conversely, the Alpha is $3,299 and has a 4 year warranty (1 year on the tubes). Add in one set of replacement tubes at $200, and the Alpha, over 8-10 years, is only about $100 more expensive then the AL-800H. However, the Alpha has a 4 year warranty, has protection circuits galore, out powers and out duty cycles the AL-800H. After 16-20 years, (2nd tube change) the Alpha is actually cheaper to own. Yea, that's right, the Alpha is cheaper to own because replacement tube cost is $700 lower on the Alpha. So, after the first 8-10 years, you spend about $100 more but get a whole lot more amp by going with the Alpha. Most likely, if you are one of those "contester" types, the numerious protection circuits will protect you from yourself and save you an additional $900 set of tubes. Why pay more and get less?

On maintainabillity, I give it a 5.0 its big, easy to vacum, and there is easy access to nearly every component.

So what is not to like? Well, I have a hard time finding anything. I love this Amp. Its a brute that can deliver more power then you can use for more time than you can use it. 1500 watts - any mode- no time limit. Its a brute force amp with the intelligence to protect itself from its own power. (I bet you see that in an Alpha ad someday) If I get ultra picky, the AL-800H does have one feature the 99 doesn't, a front panel ALC control. However, my MK-V does have a front pannel output control which will do essentially the same thing.

Bottom line:
The 99 is a brute force amplifier with the intelligence to shut itself down when many other amps would burn themselves up. (another good ad slogan) Replacement tubes are cheaper then amps with 1/4 the power capibillity. In the long run, it will cost less to own. If you want value, this amp simply cannot be beat - at any price.

WB9WHE
K1TP Rating: 2002-03-11
Speedy Service Reply Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I received a personal email from Molly at Alpha after posting a review of the 99 and a problem I was having....she assured me the return and repair of Alpha 99's has been seldom...I have enjoyed the amp over the past year and expect to have many more years of trouble free performance- the 4 year warranty is nice but the ability to actually talk to someone in service is the best feeling of all..don't hesitate to deal with CrossLink/Alpha....jon
K6WM Rating: 2002-01-16
Brute Force Quality Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had a lot of amplifiers, and nothing compares to the Alpha. This is a brute force amplifier. This amp will do far far beyond the legal limit, and when using digital modes, never a worry about time limits transmitting. The quality is superb. The 4CX800's just idle doing a kilowatt and it is effortless. The tuned input on each band is superb. Set the Tune and Load controls once for max power output, then dial each time the same numbers and use the exciter for output control. Super simple. This amplifier is a clear example of " You get what you pay for ". It totally meets specifications on every band with ease. None of that reduced power on the upper bands.....This is a brute !! Totally pleased.
KE6ASO Rating: 2002-01-08
Outstanding Amp! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received my amp and just used it to log my first DX contact and my first split contact. This amp is a great amp, although it's my first, so I'm not really comparing it to another amp that I've owned. It tunes very easily and always seems to use the same dial settings. As a bonus it's a very quiet amp!
I recommend it to anyone considering and HF amp.
N1EU Rating: 2001-12-11
Quality Amp Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had the Alpha 99 for several months now and have operated three contests and can share some preliminary conclusions. There is definitely a sense of quality construction about the amp. Its metering is superb and very repeatable setting by the numbers. It has quite ample headroom on all bands. The vacuum relay QSK is phenomenal. I'm easily hearing backscatter between characters that just wasn't audible on my previous amp. Suggestions for improvement: relay and fan could be quieter; Band, Tune and Load knob indicators should come right down the knob skirt to the panel to make setting more precise (parallax). One advisory note: the amp can be a bit finicky with SWR over 1.5 and when QSY'ing over a wide band (10M) during contests - I'm still learning how to avoid tripping the fault in those situations. Also, this is not an "instant-on" amp. That being said, all in all it's a fantastic amp.