SABA 9250 no FM reception.

      SABA 9250 no FM reception.

      Hello everyone.
      My name is Divu, and i living in the Spain. Thank's to Andreas I managed to register in this forum.
      Not long ago, through ebay I bought a Saba 9250. Everything works fine, except the reception in FM band. I can not catch any station, on the whole band. Only a background sound is heard, like this "fssssssssss... ".
      I have another job, electronics for me is a hobby. There is also no workshop in my area that has experience with vintage devices like Saba, Sansui. If anyone has any ideas where to start, please give me some advice. I have the service manual of the device, I can read a diagram, weld, measure transistor, etc. I have no experience with these types of devices.
      Thank's in advance, Divu.
      Hello Divu,

      Welcome!

      The first question obviously is:
      Did you plug an antenna into the FM-antenna socket? Saba 9250 is fully metal shielded. Therefore it always requires an antenna. If there is generally good FM-reception at your location a wire of 80cm may already be sufficient.

      Prior to turning the frequency dial knob for locating reception, did you push the "U" button on the station memory panel? Does the LED on the station memory panel indicate that "U" is activated?


      Because I cannot know if you did this allright, please excuse that I ask these very basic questions, before we dig deeper into the matter.


      And...btw.
      Sorry for beeing so bloody direct, jumping right into the matter rather than starting with a bit of small talk first, i. e that this is a nice receiver, worth of beeing well maintained/repaired, etc.. You may know, that there isn't even a German word for "small-talk". It's not intended to be rude, i's just "typical German". If you are from a northern country you can perhaps understand that. But in England and southern countries as in Spain (and already in Switzerland) it is common to talk first about the weather (no politics), the children (no religion), the grandma (no, not the mother in law), "how are you today" (but no true answer expected),..etc. etc. ... ;)

      Regards,
      Reinhard

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      Hello, oldiefan.
      Thanks for your quick response.No problems with the direct approach. I plugged an antenna into the FM-antenna socket. With the same antena another units (Sansui G7700, and Sansui 9090) working fine. This weekend, I will come home and review everything that you have indicated to me. Then will post the result.
      Regards from Spanien.

      Dieser Beitrag wurde bereits 2 mal editiert, zuletzt von „Divu“ ()

      Your photograph tells differently.
      namely that you didn't push "U" (fm) but U1 (fm1)! That's a hell of a difference!



      Then of course, you cannot dial a station, because you always stay locked into the pre-saved frequency fm1. And if that happens to be a frequency where you have no reception in your region.....hiss, of course!
      It would be good to read the owners manual so that you become familiar with the unit and how to use it.

      regards
      Reinhard
      Yes, indeed ! The idea here is that, upon switch-on, the receiver always goes into U1 --- where you can dial into your favourite station for the wake-up call in the morning, should you want to use the receiver for that ...

      You need the button "U" for the variable tuning. Most likely, all will be fine if you try ...

      Good luck,

      Michael
      Gentlemen's !!!
      I make a photo with FM1 push it. But button nr. 7 its only FM. No matter that button its push it. In "fm" mode i searching by dial button(variable tuning). In other 6 buttons (fm1, 2, 3....) i searching by little buttons situated in uper side of the unit. I have the schematics manual, also have other unit (Saba 9140) and i understand how this unit working.
      The problem its inside...no in operation mode.
      So, you are saying that, even in FM1, you always have the same hiss, no matter how you rotate the little trimmer on the upper side ? If so, then first check whether inside all connections are fine. There are some typical problems (for instance a broken PCB track just before the tuner) one should now check.

      Of course, there can be a real problem, e.g. caused by some surge on the line (lightning damage, or a power surge on the cable input). Do you know anything about the previous history of this receiver ?

      Best regards,

      Michael
      kugel-balu
      I bought this amplituner through Ebay Kleinanzeigen. The seller assures me that it is fully working. I have paid through "paypal friends", so, no warranty. Apart from the problem with FM reception, everything works (MW band, Aux, Monitor, .. also loudness, presence, mutting, etc).
      I have another 2 units of Saba family: Saba 9140 and Saba MI215.

      Regards from Spanien, Divu.
      Can you get some information as to whether FM did work prior to shipping ? If so, I'd look for broken PCB tracks due to transport. I had that several times in the past. Locate them with a strong LED lamp on one side of the main PCB, while looking from the other side, and perhaps gently pressing against the PCB with one finger. If there is a rip in the PCB (which is quite common after transport, unfortunately), repair it with super glue, and solder bits of wire (old resistor pins or similar) acros the fractures in the tracks.

      Best regards,

      Michael
      Thank you all for the support. I have found, just where you said two "broken" traces.
      I have bought through Ebay the book with the tips of Tomy (its on the way).
      Now I have a signal in "FM" band, I pick up stereo stations, but the signal has fluctuations. The "fm-mitte" that indicates the center of the reception has always fluctuations between "-1 and +1".
      Any ideas to solve this and where I have to look (I suppose it is some capacitors). Another question: how can I upload photos directly to the forum (it is easier for me to explain better). Thanks in advance.
      Hi, Divu,

      regarding fluctuation of Tuning: Is it the case with AFC switched off? If yes, you should measure the stabilized output voltage on the Module with the TCA530.
      If the changes in tuning occur only with active AFC, you should check, if the differential voltages of Pins 10 and 11 fluctuate between approx. -0.2 to 0.2V and if this is also the case near the AFC-Outputs of the ZF-module. Here this differential signal is beeing generated.

      ZF-IC and Voltage Regulator TCA530 are both prone to partial defects. But also dead electrolytic capacitors could be the root cause.

      Good luck,
      Christian
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