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Reviews For: Alpha 8410

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

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Review Summary For : Alpha 8410
Reviews: 114MSRP: 5395
Description:
The Alpha 8410 utilizes an enhanced version of the bombproof RF deck, found in the Alpha 99 and Alpha 8100. On the 8410’s control board you’ll find a microprocessor that allows us to normalize amplification performance, calibrate the power and gain metering for each specific band, and increase reliability and durability. All of these functions aggregate into a single greater benefit for the user, ease of tuning. The 8410 comes standard with USB and serial ports for remote monitoring and performance data logging. The power supply stack found in the 8410 has been designed for maximum durability and reliability, while allowing for extremely easy voltage tap changes.

This amplifer is handcrafted, designed, and built in Boulder, Colorado, USA, comes with a 4-year warranty.

Tubes: 2 x 4CX1500B Tetrodes
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.alpharfsystems.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001144.9
AB4D Rating: 2016-02-14
Great Quality Ampliifier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently had the opportunity to acquire a used Alpha 8410 that was still under warranty, after recently selling my Alpha 9500. However, it had some known issues that required repair/update. I became intimately familiar with the 8410, to make the repairs.

Construction of the amplifier, as expected is excellent. Operationally, it works very well. Tuning is smooth and consistent. Keying of the amplifier is nearly silent thanks to the vacuum relay. Notably, it's one of the few amps on the market that has an individual band tap for each HF amateur band. It's that attention to detail, which separates Alpha from other manufactures in this class, such as Acom, OM Power, and QRO.

Nevertheless, from my research, I found there are some known issues that can occur with this amplifier. The 8410 I purchased had several of them. When received, it exhibited an unusually high input SWR, and lower than expected output. I performed the necessary repairs to the input circuit, cathode circuit, and upgraded the metering resistors as well.

The previous issues were corrected, but afterwards output was still only around 1250 watts out, indicative the tubes (4CX-1000) had gone soft. I question whether the Chinese 4CX-1000 are as good as Eimac tubes, which seem to last forever. IMO a pair of these should have lasted for a much longer time.

Subsequently, they were replaced with a new matched pair of 4CX-1500b's. Output was then observed to be capable of 2600+ watts. I only used the amplifier for a short period of time in my station. Although the 8410 is great, I quickly found I missed the automatic tuning of the Alpha 9500 I previously owned. Therefore, I sold the 8410.

I believe the Alpha 8410 is one of the finest manual tune amplifier's available. It certainly would have stayed in my station, if I had not wanted to return to a automatic tune type amplifier.


W4VDW Rating: 2015-07-17
BUY ONE OF THESE! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After one year of use, it is perfect, except one MINOR personal peav:

If you run outboard microphones (Groove Tubes, Sterling) with outboard mic preamps, others will hear the inner fan over the air if it kicks on high air output mode, even with a cardioid mic setting. This is also based on where I placed the amplifier in the shack (in reach to quickly change bands).

I bought the extra rear case cooling fan, mounted it inside, and did some sound isolation of the inside squirrel cage fan. I added switching to turn off the squirrel cage inner fan when I want.

This amplifier is THE PERFECT lifetime investment if you make the commitment to stay in the hobby for life - you need to own one!

Buy the rear case fan when you purchase the amp.

Very respectfully,
Buck
W4VDW/YI9VDW

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W4VDW on 2014-06-09

Arrived on Friday. Assembled on Friday within an hour of arrival. Operational on Friday... I didn't even have to do any fine adjustment tuning for each band; it came with a tuning chart that was spot on. I am just simply amazed and greatly pleased with the purchase.

WOW!!!

If you were ever worried over making an expensive purchase, let not your heart be troubled...

This is the best constructed, best documented, best operating amplifier available. Every facite of my Alpha purchasing experience was the most professional and pleasant in my amateur radio experience. I have no doubt, after talking to other Alpha owners, reading all the positive reviews here, that I made a wise choice. This one is a life long keeper!

Alpha, thank you for a well made product and superior customer service experience!
W4ID Rating: 2015-04-01
Four years and stiil impressed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my Alpha 8410 October 2010. I have always been extremely happy with the Alpha and would never be without one after having used this 8410. After over four years of excellent performance, on January 18, 2015 I noticed I was having problems getting 1500 watts regardless of my input power. Normally I always got 1500 for about 35 watts in except on 10 meters which only takes 20-25 watts to drive.
I emailed Alpha with a description of my problem. Glenn AE0Q,replied to my email the same day with a couple of suggestions of what to check. In about 30 minutes I had the cover off and with his suggestions had located the problem. I had to replace the cathode resistors and the two 100 ohm 50 watt resistors on the input. This amp likes the input to be less than 50 watts and a few times by mistake over the years I keyed with 100 watts by mistake. I feel I am the reason for the parts failing and I am a lot more careful in remembering to watch my input closer. I normally just change the bandswitch and preset the TUNE and LOAD control and it is ready and so you can make fast band changes. Now I always check the input power before keying. It took about $30.00 in parts and a few days for the mail to get them here and now the 8410 is as good as new with 35 watts in giving me full power. I am very pleased with the quick response and help in getting my 8410 back to normal quickly. I have owned many other brands of amplifiers and none are built as well as Alpha. I still think Alpha is the best and actually bought another one for my other transceiver. I am still very happy with my decision to buy Alpha.


N5FW Rating: 2015-03-31
A Great amp! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well, it has been a year and some months since I bought the Alpha 8410. Expensive, but worth every dollar. It just keeps chugging along (even with several "goofs" from the operator) ;)
Since installing the amp, I now have upped my country total almost 220 countries from this QTH (in most cases the Alpha made all the difference between logging them and just being lost in the pileup!) If you are looking for a legal limit amp, do yourself a favor and seriously consider an Alpha. I am sure glad I did.
K2MK Rating: 2015-02-05
A beautifully engineered workhorse Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I’ve had my 8410 for 6 months and am very happy with it in every respect. I’ll try to provide information that I haven’t seen in some of the other reviews.

The amp is beautifully double packaged for shipment. I had what looked like a fork lift hole in one box but there was no damage to the internal box. The factory shipped Federal Express and you can set up a specific delivery time on the Fed Ex website for a small fee. One person can easily mount the transformer. Follow the available video tips on how to do it. The calibration sheet is inside of the amplifier. You won’t find it with the manual.

The website photos show a newer style internal blower but the manual supplied with my 8410 and the manual currently posted on the web site still show the previous blower. I mention this first because it looks completely different and second because there are two screws on the bottom of the chassis that need to be removed. They are labeled as blower shipping screws and when they are removed the blower free floats on plastic mounts. The documentation doesn’t mention these screws.

I purchased the external fan kit and it was factory installed. Rather than use the word loud I’ll just suggest that the amp with both the internal and external fans is not particularly quiet. The plus side of this is that when contest operating CW or SSB you’ll probably never hear the internal fan speed increase above low speed. Things could differ without the external fan.

The companion PC program works well for the curious among us. I wanted to see what the temperature did during continuous contest RTTY activity. The Fahrenheit display is useful but I found that the raw telemetry data appears to be in Celsius. When the raw data indicates that the temp is 35 degrees C the fan will jump to medium speed. When the temp reaches 40 degrees C the fan will flip to high speed and I never saw the temp go any higher. I call that a rock solid thermal design. I don’t know what would happen without the external fan.

The safety circuitry seems very intuitive and sensitive. Every bonehead move I have made resulted in an instantaneous “standby” fault with no noticeable power transmitted. I call that fast. On one occasion when I hit the amp with too much input power the amp turned itself off.

With my previous triode legal limit amp I would be very careful of grid current as I would QSY up and down the band. This is a non issue with the 8410. I have never seen the green or red grid current LEDs light even briefly. However, my previous amp seemed a little more wideband in being able to still provide 1500 watts a considerable distance from where I tuned it up. When preparing my tuning chart for the 8410 it took a couple more re-adjustments on 160, 80, and 10 meters than did my previous amp. I probably could have covered those bands with fewer adjustments but then I might only be transmitting 1000 or 1100 watts.

The power output LEDs are adequate if you are happy with 100 watt increments. I prefer to use a digital external wattmeter. I suppose the PC program could be used for this purpose if you have space available on your monitor.

I am very comfortable recommending this amplifier to anyone looking for a really heavy duty amplifier.
K5RU Rating: 2014-11-02
Excellent amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought it new about two years ago, excellent amp and easy to tune, smooth and lots of power, no problems, thanks Alpha for nice well built product.
KB3Z Rating: 2014-06-24
Worked Fine Until The Warranty Expired. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
When my 8410 worked it was a real workhorse. But it seems that after the warranty expired that's when all the troubles began. I would email the problems to Alpha/RFConcepts and Glenn would respond in a timely basis. But, no matter what repairs were being done to the amplifier, it never really solved the issues regarding increased drive to get 1500 watts. RFConcepts determined that it was not a problem with the tubes. After a period of time, I could only get 1300 watts at best. Alpha/RFConcepts service is good, but the price to send the amplifier plus labor, parts and tech fees is rather expensive. It would be nice if they had a service portal here on the east coast! I did sell the amplifier and purchased another well known amplifier. I did learn one thing, that customer service/reasonable prices is key to success today in the amateur radio hobby today.
K9CRT Rating: 2014-06-09
Work Horse Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After owning this amp for 8 months I feel I can give a fair review. I purchased this amp new from Alpha and was able to take advantage of a special where they included either a Alpha wattmeter or a spare set of tubes at NC. I opted for the tubes and my amp was shipped with the 4cx1500 tubes plus as I said an extra pair sealed in plastic double boxed with a tested and performance sheet included with each tube from Penta Labs nothing much more I can add to the other reviews here but perhaps one item. I use the AE9K monitor software that reads thru the USB port on the 8410 and with this software I thought that even on ssb it ran to warm. The blower would kick on and shift to med or high speed often. Why Alpha does not include the fan for this unit I don't understand. I am sure that it doesn't run hot enough on ssb to hurt itself but heat is the biggest enemy in electronic gear. After installing the optional fan NEVER has the blower shifted to med/high. The inside of the amp stays below 90 degrees now and before it would run up into 130-140 area. Just seems like a no brainier to me this fan couldn't cost the company more than a few dollars even though they want $100 for it I bought my fan with better specs and a dirt filter for the fan from Allied for under $30 shipped to my door.

Great product I don't see myself at my age needing another amp or hopefully using those new spare 4cx1500 tubes. As others have said 30w drive = 1500 out. This amp is capable of double the legal limit so running it @ 30w drive lets your transceiver and the amp loaf @ full legal power out.
W5JBO Rating: 2014-02-28
Outstanding operation Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The amp has operated several hundred hours in RTTY mode,within the years time since I purchased it. Couldn't be happier..
Also a great radio room heater during the winter months.
I had used a Collins 30S-1 for decades prior to the Alpha 8410, but couldn't sustain the duty cycle I needed for RTTY..
A great heavy duty amplifier. Buy one and it will be the last one you will ever need..

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W5JBO on 2013-04-08

Bought it primarily for the continuous duty cycle needed in RTTY with a true Texas KW output.
The ease of tuning as per the factory specification sheet when tested at burn-in is on the money.
Really enjoy the QSK when on cw.
former_N4WN Rating: 2014-02-21
Excellent Amp Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Alpha 8410 is the last amp to purchase.
The amp is controlled by a microprocessor that allows the operator to see exactly what is occurring within the amp. (with available free downloaded software.)It is by far the quietest amp I have owned. It has a 3 speed fan and I have yet to see it on high. It rarely switches to medium and I run full legal output. 24 watts in gives me 1500 watts out. I purchased my amp that was 14 months old and was able to transfer the remainder of the 4 year warranty to myself. I think this will be my last amp purchase. +++