Common Preset Radio Fault ?

I think the answer might be " Throw it out. Buy a new one. ", but I'll ask anyway.

I have a Sony " Mini HiFi Component System " ( what a laugh - model FH-B411 just in case ) which has a push-button preset radio as part of its features. Last weekend without me touching anything it went to white noise on all bands and whatever I did couldn't get it to tune anything. Its CD player and tape deck still work, so the main power supply and amps are working I guess.

My knowledge of electronics is a shining symbol of ignorance, and radio communications is pure black magic to me, but I know enough to be a menace to public safety. So I took the cover off and couldn't see anything obvious like insects or any appreciable dust build-up ( I vacuumed the boards anyway ). The areil connections were good. The auto-tune routine goes on as normal but it goes straight past well known frequencies and doesn't get a hint of anything. White noise all the way. My guess is that it has a frequency generator inside which it uses as some sort of phase-lock thingy to tune into stations. If this is buggered then everything else is useless.

So, as this radio is 9 years old and has been on for about 15 hours a day since new, is it likely that the silicon has simply given up ? Does anyone out there know if this is a common fault that is fixable ?

I'm not a cheapskate, and I would happily buy a new one except this one has ' propper ' wooden speaker boxes and sounds a lot better than any new ones I listened to.

Thanks for any help, abuse or sloppy kisses, Dean.

Reply to
Dean
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How about this. Take a step back in time, get a cassette tape to 3.5mm adaptor (strathfield/dickies, five bucks in a discount bin), and hook up something with radio reception. Cheap and effective; perhaps a line filter if you get a lot of noise.

9 years, 15 hrs a day... Don't expect anything like that from new radios. Do expect a radio that claims huge power, looks good, then read the specs and find that the 400wRMS per channel is at 22% THD...

-mark

Reply to
mark jb

"mark jb"

22% !! You could use one of those to scramble top secret military communications.

Dean.

Reply to
Dean

Was using my car CD player as an example... Rated to 45w/channel, at 22%THD. Reality is you can get it up to 18 / 38 before it audibly distorts.

-mark

Reply to
mark jb

"mark jb"

Ah, interesting. I just remember seeing ads for those ' high-end ' amps boasting about 0.001% THD. But I guess thats for HiFi wankers to worry over. But some of the radio/CD players I listened to in the $100 to $200 range were pretty awful. I blame iPods for dumbing down expectations.

Dean.

Reply to
Dean

Have you accidentally knocked a Single Sideband switch or something like that?

R
Reply to
Roger Dewhurst

"Roger Dewhurst"

No. Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried tuning ' anything at all ' in to no avail. The digital freguency readout tells me I'm on a frequency that I know is a station, but I get SSSShhhhhh ( my impersonation of white noise ). I might have another probe around inside soon....which sounds naughty .

Dean.

Reply to
Dean

assume the lo and the if-2nd lo is ok as you get lots of noise and a freq display

check the rf front end / ant connections and 1st mixer

: > Have you accidentally knocked a Single Sideband switch or something like : > that? : >

: > R : : No. Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried tuning ' anything at all ' in to : no avail. The digital freguency readout tells me I'm on a frequency that I : know is a station, but I get SSSShhhhhh ( my impersonation of white noise ). : I might have another probe around inside soon....which sounds naughty . : : Dean. : :

Reply to
Ed-

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