OPERATING MANUAL ALPHA 89 HF LINEAR POWER AMPLIFIER ALPHA/POWER, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS INSTALLING YOUR ALPHA 89 .................................................1 OPERATING YOUR ALPHA 89 ..................................................2 1.0 - INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 3 2.0 - OVERVIEW OF AMPLIFIER CAPABILITIES ...................................................................... 3 3.0 -ALPHA 89 SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................
CAUTION! ! READ BEFORE PROCEEDING! TO AVOID SERIOUS DAMAGE NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING YOUR ALPHA 89 The ALPHA 89 is easy to install, but failure to carry out each procedure exactly as described in this manual is likely to lead to amplifier damage which is not covered under warranty. Damage to other station equipment also may result. Important precautions are given on this and the next page. INSTALLING YOUR ALPHA 89 1.
CAUTION!! READ BEFORE PROCEEDING! TO AVOID SERIOUS DAMAGE NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE OPERATING YOUR ALPHA 89 The ALPHA 89 is easy to operate, but failure to carry out each procedure exactly as described in this manual is likely to lead to amplifier damage which is not covered under warranty. Damage to other station equipment also may result. Important precautions are given on pages 1 and 2 of this manual. OPERATING YOUR ALPHA 89 1.
1.0 - INTRODUCTION This Manual provides all the information necessary to install and operate your ALPHA 89. Schematic diagrams are availa ble on request, at no charge to owners. For your own protection please return the Owner Registration Card immediately and advise ETO of any future address change promptly. 1.1 - OWNER ASSISTANCE Assistance is available from ETO Customer Service (Communic ations Products) at (719) 599-3861, 260-1191, by FAX at (719) 260-0395, or by mail.
3.0 - ALPHA 89 SPECIFICATIONS Frequency Coverage: All amateur bands 1.8-29.7 MHz* plus most non-amateur frequencies 6.0-19.0 MHz and 20-30 MHz. * NOTE: FCC rules do not permit new amateur amplifiers to be operable on 24-30 MHz as delivered within the U.S. & possessions. Owners who send ETO Customer Service a photocopy of their authorizing amateur license will promptly be provided information on "unlocking" 12 and 10 meter coverage. Band Change & Tuning: Manually controlled by the operator.
4.0 - UNPACKING AND PREPARATION (Ref. figs. 1-4, pages 6-7) 4.1 Unpack amplifier and transformer. Inspect both for physical damage. Save all packing material for future use. Warning! Do not ship amplifier in other than factory packing or equivalent. 4.2 Remove cover by removing all screws except the two located in the perforated tube exhaust areas. Inspect carefully for shipping damage. If damage is discovered in either of these two steps notify ETO Customer Service immediately. 4.
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5.0 CONTROL & INDICATOR FUNCTIONS (See fig. 6, page 10) 5.1 RF OUTPUT, GRID CURRENT, and REFLECTED POWER bargraphs are peak-reading and generally self-explanatory. Example: 1.5 kW output (forward power into a 50 ohm load) is indicated when all green LED segments to the left of the 1.5 (kW) label are fully lighted and the first red LED segment is dark. The primary calibration point for RF OUTPUT is at 1.5 kW on 14 MHz. 5.2 TUNF/IP/HV/DRIVF.
6.0 INSTALLATION (Refer to fig. 7, page 11) 6.1 Connect a 50 ohm coax cable 60-72" long (supplied) from the transceiver RF output to the ALPHA 89's RF INPUT jack. 6.2 Connect a transceiver T/R control line which is shorted on transmit and open on receive to the 89's RELAY jack, using a standard "RCA" ("phono") plug. Cable should be shielded type. 6.3 Connect a nominally 50 ohm antenna for the frequency to be used to the 89's RF OUTPUT jack. 6.
7.0 OPERATION If the ALPHA 89 already is tuned and loaded for the operating frequency, it is necessary only to turn on the amplifier, wait 3 minutes for tube warm-up time delay to complete, then switch to OPERATE and apply drive. Before operating on a frequency or band different from that previously used, the 89 must be re-tuned by the operator. Re-tuning is a simple process that takes only a few seconds. 7.1 Preparation forALPHA 89 Tuneup a) Press POWER ON button.
will not deflect from its resting position with less than 5-8 watts; until the amplifier is properly tuned, applying more than 15 watts may cause a protective TUNE fault.) b) Adjust TUNE control to move or "dip" the TUNE bargraph LED as far to the left as possible. c) After step (b)... 1) If the TUNE indicator is to the left of the desired (mid-scale "V") position, adjust LOAD clockwise until the indicator moves to the desired position, OR...
OR e) If RF OUTPUT after step c) is greater than desired... 1) Reduce transceiver drive until Ig drops below 35 mA. 2) Reduce LOAD setting until Ig rises to about 45 mA. 3) Adjust TUNE for maximum Ig. 4) Repeat sections c) and e) as necessary, until desired RF output is achieved with 35-50 mA 1g.
8.0 - FAULTS AND PROTECTIVE FUNCTIONS 8.1 Soft Faults: Two conditions may cause soft faults... a) Improper operating conditions, usually overdrive (and possibly excessive plate or grid current), high load VSWR, or improper T/R control cable connections or timing. b) Abnormal amplifier conditions (e.g., low bias) which may result in damage only in the transmit mode.
9.0 - TROUBLESHOOTING SUGGESTIONS Most apparent problems with the ALPHA 89, especially when first putting one into operation, result directly from failure to observe carefully the procedures given in this manual, especially those given as cautions on pages 1 and 2. A few other points learned from experience are given here. Footswitch use: Users have found that some footswitches exhibit severe contact bounce which can intermittently cause improper T/R sequencing.
10.0 - ALPHA 89 FUNCTIONAL CONFIGURATION Figure 8 on the following page is a simplified block diagram of the ALPHA 89. 1) Principal functional components are emphasized as follows: a) Heavy rectangular boxes represent individual modules of the amplifier, in most (but not all) cases circuit boards (PCBs). b) Signal paths used in both transmit and receive are shown by heavy solid lines. c) Signal paths used only in transmit, by heavy dashed lines. d) Signal paths used only in receive, by heavy dotted lines.
ALPHA PRODUCTS WARRANTY ALPHA/POWER, INC. (API) WARRANTS AS FOLLOWS EACH NEW AMATEUR RADIO PRODUCT OF ITS MANUFACTURE, SOLD AND USED IN THE UNITED STATES, ITS POSSESSIONS, AND CANADA: (1) Workmanship and all components except rf power tubes are warranted for FOUR YEARS from date of original purchase if used exclusively in licensed amateur radio service. WARRANTY IS VOIDED BY ILLEGAL SALE OR USE OF EQUIPMENT (e.g. U.S. sale of export models).
