Alpha 87a question

[William Drouillard]

William: Be VERY Gentle with that Alpha 78...Most certainly using it on AM or the grid drive level on SSB.
Those 8874 tubes, have been out of production going on over 20 years now.
They are almost on the unobtanium list.
They are near the $1000 USD each range if/when they come up For Sale.
Many of those amps with the 8874 tubes were converted to 3cx800's for that very reason.
Good luck
All the Best
Gary

Thanks Gary I am very gentle with it , I don't use it on AM just SSB but have been for 5 years or more without problems but thanks again for your input I will keep it in mind , I never did understand why these high end amp companies put these restrictions on the amps , it's like buying the top of the Cadillac and the dealer telling u can only drive it in the country side not the city because it will blow up.

Regards Bill

 

[543_Dallas]

If it were a manual tune amp without the bells and whistles I wouldn't stress over the tubes. If they crap out convert it to a more obtainable tube(s), buy plenty of spares and roll on.

 

[W4KVW]

Thanks Gary I am very gentle with it , I don't use it on AM just SSB but have been for 5 years or more without problems but thanks again for your input I will keep it in mind , I never did understand why these high end amp companies put these restrictions on the amps , it's like buying the top of the Cadillac and the dealer telling u can only drive it in the country side not the city because it will blow up.

Regards Bill

Because they were doing the RIGHT thing & trying to keep them Off of the 11 meter band.I agree with them 100% & wish all of the companies did the same thing.Without so many amplifiers all over the 11 meter band it would still be a pretty good band but since that's never going to happy it will stay the side show that it is today & continue to be known by so many as The Children's Band & that's a real shame knowing what it once was when I started on the band in 1965.It's just a Dead Horse that just keeps getting beaten more every single day. {:>(

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[William Drouillard]

Because they were doing the RIGHT thing & trying to keep them Off of the 11 meter band.I agree with them 100% & wish all of the companies did the same thing.Without so many amplifiers all over the 11 meter band it would still be a pretty good band but since that's never going to happy it will stay the side show that it is today & continue to be known by so many as The Children's Band & that's a real shame knowing what it once was when I started on the band in 1965.It's just a Dead Horse that just keeps getting beaten more every single day. {:>(

SIX-SHOOTER

Well with all due respect sir , if u want to be governed by companies and government that's your choice I will not be.
Thank you.

 

[DainBramage]

They did it to comply with the law as written.
I also wish MORE companies made it difficult/impossible to convert Amateur amps to Tx on the CB freq's.

 

[543_Dallas]

In Soviet Russia, amp drives you.

It's an unnecessary precaution. You can order a genuine cb amp with a credit card these days.

 

[W4KVW]

Well with all due respect sir , if u want to be governed by companies and government that's your choice I will not be.
Thank you.

Since I spent 30 years of my life as a State Law Enforcement Officer I find it important to Comply with Local,State,& Federal Laws & if everyone did our Country would be in far better shape than it currently is.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[w9cll]

No Alpha on CB break break, they put a lot of stops in there to prevent someone like you from doing what you are trying to. Order an RM off amazon and leave the Alpha for the bands it was intended to use on.

 

[543_Dallas]

I wonder if they went the extra mile and made the plate choke resonant on 27.205.

 

[Crusher]

543, Henry did just that on a 3kd amplifier with a 3cx1,200D7. Wish I still had that plate choke. Lol. Lotsa brown turns on that coil. But still not as good as a plate choke I changed on a 3000 rf deck. Monoband, homebrew amp. Only 4.66uH on plate choke. Only had a 200pf 15kv doorknob for a bypass cap which was toast. Guy couldn’t figure out why no matter how hard he drive it, it only did 4kW pep.