Hi Trumpy,
They definately would need a darlington configuration to drive the 2N3055/A that hard. Its beta is only spec'd @ 20/70. You might need almost .5A of base drive to drive your output on transmit. Your PD is 115W max (infinate heat sink and all that) so your input/output differential voltage is way too high. It sounds like it might have started out as a full wave center tap configuration that was converted to a full wave bridge in error, giving you too much voltage at your input filter. It's easy enough to make right if the pieces parts haven't let all of their snoke out.
Joe
