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Reviews For: N4UQ Alpha Amplifier Repair & Upgrade Service

Category: Amateur Radio Equipment Repair

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Review Summary For : N4UQ Alpha Amplifier Repair & Upgrade Service
Reviews: 52MSRP: Varies
Description:
Excellent repair and upgrade service for the Alpha 76, 77, 78 & 374 amplfier line.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.n4uq.com/index.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00525
W6ONV Rating: 2009-05-23
Outstanding! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
While talking to my father in February, 2009 he had not given away all his ham equipment and still had his Alpha 76PA in storage. Right away I got excited and asked if I could use it. Thankfully when my parents visited he brought the Alpha with him. It took a week or so, but I got the Alpha connected up, unfortunately it did not last long and something blew.

After some searching on the Internet and talking to a few other hams I was turned on to N4UQ and the services he offered. I e-mail him and explained the situation and he offered his expert opinion on my Alpha. I immediately took the Alpha to a local UPS Store and had them package and ship it 3-day service.

Once Dick got it on the bench he detailed what he saw and what would need to be accomplished after being stored for such a time. He explained what modifications should be done and I gave him the go ahead to complete all the work he suggested. It did not take long to receive another e-mail telling me the Alpha was done and running great!

He shipped it back to me and I received the invoice of the work completed. All in all it took less than 2 weeks door to door for the work to be accomplished, including shipping. The price was well worth it, considering it is an Alpha. I quickly mailed a check off to Dick and have been very happy with the performance of the unit.

I highly recommend his services! He was great in every step of the process from explaining the services on his web site and via e-mail prior to receiving the unit. Once he got it on the bench and opened it up he was thorough and explained what he was going to do. I even got all the replaced parts back, bubble wrapped. He is the ONLY was to go when it comes to work on the Alpha. God forbid I have to call on his services again, but if I do I won't think twice about using him. Great work Dick. Thanks!
K4ZRJ Rating: 2009-05-08
This is as good as it gets! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Dick took my Alpha 78, converted it to a pair of new 3CPX800A7s which he supplied at a very reasonable cost, added the WARC band mod which included new front panel lettering for the new band switch positions, replaced two burned loading capacitors, updated the power supply with several mods that he developed, and changed the RF-in connector to an SO-239 - all in just a few days. He is a true professional in all respects and a real gentleman. If you have an Alpha amp that needs any type of work, Dick is the man to go to. I cannot recommend him highly enough!
KK5CQ Rating: 2009-04-05
KK5CQ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hey guys,if you own one of the Alpha 76 series amps and the tubes are getting soft,for the money that you will pay for a used set of 8874 tubes that are in the neighborhood 0f 25 to 30 years old,you can send the amp to the Alpha doctor Mr. Dick Byrd and have it converted to 3cpx800 tubes and it will coast at legal limit all day long with tons of head room,this guy knows his business when it comes to Alpha amps,Dick even replaced a screw that wasn't the right one in my 76 amp,the amp has never been as smooth operating as it is now,Dick will keep you informed all the way through the procedure and his turn around time is super fast and of couse the workmanship is FLAWLESS.Dick is the only guy that I would trust with my amp,give him a call and you will be plesantly surprised at his prices and his accommodating attitude.Thanks again Dick for making my old 76A NEW again...
K9BUB Rating: 2009-03-26
Unsurpassed Customer Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I found an Alpha 78 amp on qth for trade. I traded my mint FL-7000 and some money for the Alpha 78. From the outside the Alpha looked mint. So I took it home. I sent Dick a couple of email asking questions about the amp since I knew absolutely nothing about it and did not have the manual. So in the second email Dick sent me his phone number and so I call him to ask some questions before powering up the amp to make sure I would not make any mistakes. So I called Dick and he walked through powering up the amp to testing every feature and function! Now remember I have not paid him anything and he helped me with everything! We spent several hours on the phone!!! As we went through completely testing the amp we found that one tube was not working and the amp this guy sold me had a few others things wrong also. So Dick told me to send him the amp. I took out the transformer and packed the amp well and shipped it to Dick. He kept in constant touch via email until the amp was completely repaired!! He even fixed the tube that was not working! He had the amp for only 2 days and he fixed it and shipped it back!! It was so fast I did not even notice that the amp was gone! And the price was very reasonable!!! The amp works perfect and no problems noe!!! So if my tubes die I will be sending my amp to Dick for his cx800 upgrade! So if you have an Alpha dont hesitate to send it to Dick!!! 73 Bill
WB4GNT Rating: 2008-11-15
None better! The Alpha GURU! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Dick upgraded my personal Alpha 77Sx with mods I did not know existed, and all work like a champ!
He also did the chassis paint upgrade for me. Goodbye "sticky" Alpha paint!
Also, my company has sent "basket case" Alphas to Dick on several occasions, and all came back looking and working like new. This is the guy that Alpha calls when they have a problem they can't figure out. Truly, none better, anywhere!
N5OU Rating: 2008-06-25
A True Electronics Craftsman and a fine gentleman Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I sent my 78 to dick for him to repair someone else mods and repairs. He took his time and went through it completely. Also applied all upgrades and the 3cx800a7 mod. Dick is a Alpha Master!
KC2NZW Rating: 2007-09-14
Alpha 76A Mods Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Dick knows what he's doing when it comes to Alpha Amplifier's.
I sent my Alpha 76A to Dick (N4UQ) because i was having a problem with it. Dick done the Modifications needed for my amp and repaired the problem and kept me up to date on the progress of my amplifier either by email or by phone call.
KE0PV Rating: 2007-08-12
Great Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I cannot believe how great this experience was. I shipped my Alpha 374 A to Dick. I had bought it from someone and when I got it home it didn't work. It could have been anything. Dick was in communications via e mail from the minute it hit his door step until I received it back. He not only fixed what was wrong but found a couple of things that could have been future problems. His price was more than reasonable for what he did. If you ever wonder about packing up your equipment and shipping it off to someone there is no reason to have ANY fears here! Thanks to Dick I now have an Alpha working with my 1000D!
N4HH Rating: 2007-07-15
Terrific! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Dick Byrd is the real deal! He recently added a third tube to my vintage Alpha 76A as well as some other upgrades - additional bypassing, meter doubler, low drive mod, etc. He did a beautiful job - very professional and the cost was very reasonable. The amp works better than ever. It's really very simple. If you have an Alpha and want the best service on the planet, Dick is THE man! '73 es gud dxing -- Don N4HH
K2DC Rating: 2007-03-31
Simply Outstanding Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
What a wonderful experience! I had my Alpha 78 for about a year when I managed to hot switch on CW VOX (my fault) and smoked the vacuum relay, so I sent it to Dick. I prepaid for a tested NOS Jennings relay from Allen Bond (Max Gain Systems), and Dick was nice enough to run across town and pick it up for me to avoid any shipping. He replaced the relay, replaced the RCA input jack with an SO-239, installed the plate current meter doubler resistor, touched up all the bypass output tuning networks, and fully tested the amp on all bands. All for about $260 including shipping and insurance in both directions. Communnication is excellent and service and shipping was very prompt. He is always available by phone or email and very responsive. I've talked to him several times with other questions about the Alpha and he always has the answers off the top of his head. He is just simply the kind of person that makes you say to yourself "Now THAT's a guy I want to do business with".