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Reviews For: Alpha 9500

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

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Review Summary For : Alpha 9500
Reviews: 122MSRP: 7950. USD
Description:
Fully-automatic 160-10M amplifier, successor to the 87A. Uses a single 8877 tube in grounded-grid configuration. Integrated antenna switching, full QSK with vacuum relay.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.alpharfsystems.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001224.8
N5XES Rating: 2011-05-31
setup/operation Time Owned: N.A.
I do not personally own one, but have convinced a few ham friends to purchase them and have done the transformer installation and setup and for them. Basically a no frills by the book operation. Maybe some big red lettering in the instructions or reminder tags to remove the the transport screw from the fan and also the screw and isolator for the tube, but other than that, simple. As for operation, well, that has taken some intensive reading as for setting yup antennas ports and stuff.the default appears to be antenna #4,but i would like to see #1 used as this is always ,mty 1sr choice when ataching to a multi-port. i now know that it can be progrmmed to defalut to any port, but for me, strat at #1. gettig used to the LED bars graphs tkes some getting used to, I like to see real meters do their thing and prefer real external wattmeters to internal digital bar graphs and scales. i guess, that;s just , the real elecronics technician in me coming out. For me, plate voltage and current, and grid current, s all I need to monitor the amps operation. I prefer to rely on external analog meters for Power and SWR. Now on the other hand, I love the fully automatic tuning. It saves a lot of time.

For the most part, this line of amps far exceeds anything out there, currently in operation!! "Good Job" guys!!!

On another note, if and when, they come up with an antenna tuner, I feel it should have at least, a 35-40uh roller inductor and input/output tune and load capacitors with enough capacity to handle a 560 ft. loop wire antenna, or even longer lengths. Switchable, ganged fixed value caps. would reatly improve the ability to handle long wire loops and end fed wires!!

This is just my professional observation as a former US Air Force Ground Radio Communications Technician(304x4), who has worked with every antenna out there that the military has, or could possibly ever be concieved or contrived for Tactical HF or fixed site communications!!!

I hope to own an Alpha Hf, and Alpha 6m amp in the near future.!

Keep up the qualtiy and the units will continue to sell themselves!!!

Thanks es 73
Tyrone / N5XES

KA1DJ Rating: 2011-05-03
Once in a lifetime amp Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I finally retired my old amp, a Dentron MLA2500 after 33 years and it still can easily do the legal limit and splurged for the Alpha 9500. If it goes for another 33 years, I will be almost 100. I wanted auto-tune so I could QSY to anyplace I had a capable antenna.

I ordered it early January and talked to Molly and she quoted 3 weeks for shipment. Exactly 3 weeks later I received the tracking number and shortly after came 2 boxes, one giant and one heavy. The care in shipping was evident with the double boxed and a separate box with the transformer. Installing the transformer was simple and I had it running within the hour. The manual is excellent. Full color where needed and coated paper stock proves the manual will also last me 33 years. The instructions were very straight forward. The cool thing they did was to create the Default user. This gets you going quick. It has the basic settings for average installations using logical band segments. Once you get the hang of how to configure the amp you can create 2 “personalized” user profiles to accommodate you own configuration for band segmentation, antenna selection and manual tweaking of the tuning if desired.

I did run into an issue that was very puzzling. It would periodically generate a fault 19, which is an out of band input frequency. It only happened on SSB and occurred very intermittently. But, always at the wrong time. I called Molly at RF Concepts and she had me try a number of things without success. She then involved the engineering people and they got it fixed. The solution was the most recent firmware upgrade. Since this upgrade it has never happened again. I have certainly put it through over 1000 QSO’s and never a burp. It just runs and runs and blasts tunnels in the sky to any bit of DX I can hear. And most of all I can zip around from 12 meters to 40 meters and no tuning, I love it.

I am confident that if I make it 33 years, it will be with me. Thanks RF Concepts for a great product and great service.
W5WSR Rating: 2011-04-27
You won’t beat it! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I had the Yaesu Quadra System VL-1000, but sold it and my FT2000 to purchase a used 9500. I love it!
The auto band changes are quick and although I don't run a lot of power, unless it's needed, the 9500 can produce it all day long without problem.
The resale value is high attesting to its build quality and robustness, and the fact that it is produced and serviced in the good old USA is a definite plus. If you are considering the purchase of a high quality legal limit amp, go and buy a 9500. New or used, you won’t beat it!
W4EKU Rating: 2011-04-26
The finest =. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
All I can say is that I have a new friend in the shack and it is the ALPHA 9500. It works better then the creator says it would! it tells me what button to push, and by-golly it really WORKS.

It's quiet,clean, and one to be appreciated.
My hats off to the ALPHA team..
W9LP Rating: 2011-04-02
Outstanding Product, Best Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Lots I can say about the 9500 that's already been said by other reviewers...
- Beautifully designed, compact package for such a beefy amp... XYL-friendly so I get to keep it in our family room;
- 40W drive gets full-legal output on all bands;
- Smooth, accurate auto-tuning function helps set the amp up quickly;
- Lightening-fast band/frequency changes with Alpha's Presets.
- Integrated antenna switching and metering functions allow me to integrate my entire HF station around the 9500;
- Extensive fault detection makes the 9500 idiot-proof... especially important in my case;
- Periodic software updates continue to refine and improve the product.

Attributes of the 9500 that would improve my experience:
- Fan Noise is noticeable but no longer objectionable since a firmware update was introduced to reduce fan speed. I operate within arms-reach of my 9500 so quieter is always better but I know there is a limit to what can be done with an 8877-based amp.
- Vacuum Relays can be a little noisy if operating QSK, but my rig is noisy too. A PIN Diode option would be of interest but not if I would then have to worry about reliability.
- The AR9500 Windows App works as expected but can hang occasionally... not so serious that I've done anything about it. And certainly not essential to the operation of the amplifier.

My 9500 is a pleasure to behold and operate, undoubtedly the best HF amplifier I will ever own, and I expect nothing less from a product that comes with the 9500's price tag. But the true value of this product are the people who stand behind it... Mike, Steve, Molly, Gord, Brad and the rest of the Alpha team at RF Concepts who are so committed to their products and their customers. Thank-you!

When you consider the the whole RF Concepts/Alpha package, product design, performance and support, I can't think of a better deal in amateur radio today. My 9500 delivers lots of enjoyment when I operate, and RF Concepts delivers peace-of-mind all the time. I don't think you can go wrong with this amp or any of the Alpha product line.
PA1T Rating: 2011-03-10
Very good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In 2002 I bought an Alpha 87a and have been really satisfied with the amplifier.
When Alpha came with the Alpha 9500 I decided that two automatic amplifiers for my SO2R station would be very nice and at Dayton in 2009 I ordered one.
At the end of 2009 I got my Alpha 9500 and it is doing a great job. Last year I decided to trade my Alpha 87a for a second 9500. If you are not complete satisfied you won’t do this hi.
Again at Dayton I talked to Molly and she offered me a fair price for my 87a. In September the amplifier arrived and I love it. I can recommend Alpha because the products are very well solid, made by hams and costumer service is very good. “Ask the ham who owns two”
W5SWV Rating: 2011-03-03
A great quiet full gallon amp. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am drooling! A friend of mine just got an Alpha 9500. I was amazed at how quiet it was and still giving the full legal limit with it seemed. I have always ran HB amps and it is a very slow process going from one band to the next. His Alpha coupled to a T8 log beam was amazing. Going from band to band with ease and the amp ready at the first dit of the key. I gotta have one!
K6TU Rating: 2011-03-02
THE contester's Amplifier of choice Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The Alpha 9500 is truly THE contester's amplifier of choice! I'm an avid contester and operate all modes - driving the Alpha 9500 with a FlexRadio 5000.

It's an awesome combination as the amplifier is set to auto follow the radio (band and band segment) via K5FR's DDUTIL. Think instant QSY from band to band - complete with antenna selection.

In heavy duty contest operation, the 9500 just sits there and does its job - no fuss, just full legal limit in all modes.

I'm delighted with my 9500 - its automatic operation enables me to concentrate on the job at hand - making as many QSOs as possible.
N1DL Rating: 2011-02-20
thumbs up! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After using an Alpha 77 for over 20 years I took the plunge and bought the 9500 two months ago to marry with my new FLEX5000.
Great amplifier, love the auto tune and ease of operation.
This amp does not work hard to get legal power out.

Open it and you see the quality of components and construction.

By the way the Alpha team is great in customer support!
N2KI Rating: 2011-02-09
Outstanding! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received my 9500 on the day I returned from P40. What a toy to come back to! The first thing that strikes you is the size of the packaging. Once you open it, you then can understand the quality of whats inside.

The hardware setup is remarkably easy to accomplish and is almost plug and play. While the transformer is quite heavy, just following the instructions will allow it to be mated to the main frame in no time.

The initial setup is very important but yet easy. The four antenna ports available really opens up the possibilities for integrating the 9500 with your station. Once you have it all programmed for your particular operating preferences, you are on the air. There is something to be said for a great amp mated with a great antenna and radio. Great DX!

And so it begins. Don't hesitate. Get yours today. You will not be sorry.