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kgallen

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Everything posted by kgallen

  1. Great news! For the future reference of others, I assume you just pressed the "Play Mode" button to get out of Program? Regards, Kevin (apologies for not signing off on my first post!)
  2. Sorry for the daft question, but you haven't accidentally put it into "program play" mode have you? I'm not familiar with this particular machine, but an MD-based Sony Hifi I have gives this exact message when you try to play a "program" and you haven't created a "program" with any tracks in it. See page 25 of the manual: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/res/manuals/3866/38666781M.pdf Page 42 lists the error messages and gives: "No program!! You tried to start Program Play when no program exists."
  3. I can't find an MDS-302 service manual anywhere that contains the schematics or PCB layouts. I understand the MDS-S30 is essentially the same machine. I've found an MDS-S30 SM that does contain the schematics... https://freeservicemanuals.info/en/servicemanuals/download/Sony/MDS-S30.pdf
  4. Also can you clarify if the noise is dominant at normal listening levels or only if you wind up the volume on your amp to some very high level? Is the noise present in the same way on the headphone output?
  5. Any notable events to report like bad mains power or storms? Can you record on it and play back ok in another machine? Do all other functions seem to work ok like display, remote, editing functions? I’m trying to narrow down if one of the internal power rails has gone bad. Are you electronics minded/competent? The service manual is here: http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/service/sony_MDS-302_service_manual.pdf (Although unusually there are no schematics which is a snag...p33-52 are missing, I’ll look around.) Kevin
  6. (Sorry for the thread-grab!) Thanks! Interestingly I also have a pair of MDS-E12 (yes, yes, yes I know I had one before, but this cute one came along and the E10 wasn't working, so I just had to.... well you know how it is... 11 machines later...) and even though they are the top rung of this particular range, they don't have Nichicon FG caps in them - although the caps they do have in them do look like a different style to your usual black-wrapped electrolytics. They are fairly plain silver cans, so maybe some other audio grade caps but not Nichicon FG??? We did have a chat about the SCMS defeat in another thread - seems they do keep that one quiet! http://forums.sonyinsider.com/topic/6161-help-anyone-have-access-to-an-mds-e10-pro-deck/?do=findComment&comment=193364
  7. True. Even on their ‘budget’ ranges I would expect Sony is using good quality components. The MDS-E10 I’m trying to fix is stuffed full of Nichicon Fine Gold caps in the audio stages...
  8. Great stuff! Getting the remote is indeed a rare event! 2 minutes hmmm. I wonder if there is some capacitor in the power supply that is a bit aged and taking a while before the supply rails are settling...
  9. There isn’t a fixed default value. Each laser is graded at manufacture against a reference light output and the required current to achieve this is recorded as the IOP value. Each laser will be different. The IOP value is on a label on each laser and is also captured in the EEPROM on the BD board. This is read using I2C by the deck motherboard microprocessor. This is why you can replace the drive unit without changing any settings because the characterisation data required for the laser is carried with it in that EEPROM on the drive.
  10. Ha excellent! Good buy! You see, you're getting suckered in...! It won't be long before you've picked up another machine... and a fist full of MDs and... If it wasn't so late here now I'd be pulling my 530 off the shelf and having a fiddle! (If it make you feel any better I've been spending hours recently with my MDS-E10 trying to work out why the heck it isn't working. I've written pages on here already on my trials a few months back and I'm still no closer to getting the little bugger working... and I've been so far now with an oscilloscope comparing it with a working machine and I'm still none-the-wiser!). Just for you I've just shoved a disc in my 530 which hasn't been on for a couple of months. Nope, it's just spit the disc out without reading it. Let's poke it back in again...! Tries 3,4,5 it reads. Tries 6,7,8 it doesn't. Pah! When mine works you can hear the sled operating inside. When it doesn't read you don't hear anything.
  11. I think I had that theory for a bit with my 530 but I'm not sure it holds out - the laser is only on when the unit is working a disc, so having the unit on to "warm up the laser" should be a non-starter. As for "warming up" the other logic, you'd be correct in that the chips will experience self-heating when the deck is on, but I'm not sure in an idle state the increase from ambient would be that significant. Even in operation I don't think they get even warm. None of the logic or mixed-signal chips (CXD/CXA parts) have heatsinks. Only the linear regulators in the power supply section do. However I'm happy to hear out your theory and see if it stands your soak-test!
  12. Yes you're correct with the power figures. Glad your machine is working more reliably. My MDS-JE530 is sounding more and more like your experience. Maybe I should be brave and really bump up the read power! Looking back at my post, it looks like I went as far as 3 steps up and down, but it didn't really fix the issue. Regarding LPMs, I'm in the same situation. Stephen (user sfbp, infinitely nice and helpful) has said that the Sanwa LP-1 is a usable unit and I've been hopeful to buy one over the past few months. However the only eBay supplier with stock in the EU let me down on an order promising new stock which has yet to materialise after several months. If I order direct from China or Japan I'll be hit with a fairly large customs and/or VAT bill on import which, like with you, make the whole cost basis a little on the excessive side for the use it would get. Still, I do seem to have 11 (eek!) machines now with 2 needing attention. On which note, speaking from experience (I had my 2 original machines 2 years ago, I now have 11), watch yourself. It starts with one machine and before you know it, you'll have a workshop full!!! :-D Regards, Kevin
  13. I'm never fully convinced by upping the laser power on a unit that we don't think has been run to the limits of it's life before we got it. The mechanical inconsistency is interesting. I don't know what the expected service life is of the grease. In my units it looks fine, but I wonder if it becomes more viscous over the years? Would it make sense to work through all of the plastic sliders and racks - those involved with loading the disk - as well as the stainless steel parts related to the laser sled, and clean and refresh the grease? How many "minor steps" did you increase your laser read power? When I was trying to get a "salvaged" 530 working reliably I did do one or two steps up and down, but it did not noticably help.
  14. Great news! Hmmm wondering now if a temperamental MDS-JE530 I have on the shelf is suffering the same stickiness! Let us know how it goes! Kevin
  15. Welcome! Glad to have you join the ‘gang’! Initial thoughts could this be a sticky sled? In service mode maybe spend a couple of minutes using << and >> to move the sled back and forward a few times to spread the grease around. I don’t think you’ll need new grease but in case you get tempted you need to clean the old off and use Molykote (details on another post somewhere from me, I’ll try to find a link). Good luck! Kevin Here we are:
  16. There is no coin cell backup battery or any other separate battery in any of my units E10, E12, JE5xx series. Edit: I was wrong above. There is a Panasonic ML2020 or similar in all "recent" machines (at least since 520, probably before). It's main purpose is to preserve a modified TOC is mains power is lost to the machine before the TOC is updated on disc. I did replace this battery in one of my E10s, but it didn't solve the problem I was having, even though the cell was reading a little low (even after having the machine switched on for a while which charges it). Kevin
  17. Have you tried inserting a disc and ejecting it or will the machine not ‘grab’ the disc? We have recently had a huge discussion on belts here if you’re bored: To all newbies: please put your location in your profile - at least your country. Then we know what time zone you’re in and even someone local who might help out. Kevin
  18. It's lower down on that page - some panels pop up when you scroll down. Works out at just over 10GBP per disc, minimum order 5 disks. Today that's about 12.50USD or 11.00EUR. "5 copies with printing on the top of the MiniDisc, printed J-cards and clear cases £8.49+VAT each = £50.94 Inc. VAT & Delivery". At 200 copies price is about 60% of that (7.50USD/6.50EUR). (Note: UK VAT rate is 20%). So it's not especially cheap but given that's all in with the disc and inlay printing too, it seems quite a nice service. At the higher volume the price comes out quite reasonable such that you could sell them for the 10-15GBP/USD/EUR mark and still make a bit of profit. Nice to see this service available still in late 2019! There's a video on that site somewhere that shows the multi-tile disc printing which is pretty neat. Oh actually it's just further down on that same page. Looking through some of their jobs, I think I want some of those minidiscs just for the artwork, it's fantastic!
  19. Is the desk trying to eject (as in a weak belt)? Can you "help it out" when it's trying to eject? This might be easier with the lid off and the drive unscrewed carefully from the deck, then trying to eject. Of course being VERY CAREFUL to avoid any mains voltages inside the unit around the left hand side front panel where the mains switch is and the rear left where the power supply board is.
  20. If you want to do small runs yourself another option is to dub from a CD-R (written from a PC) to MD using something like a Tascam MD-CD1, which is what I do. The dubbing is 4x speed so it's not too bad for a small batch. It will copy disk and track titles too - although I'd check them afterwards as my Mk1 version of this machine does have a slight hiccup with the odd track name at times! For the product produced by these guys, see the following two links. "Review": and Anders Enger Jensen uses them for his MD releases: http://eox.no/shop/
  21. To confirm does a known good disc play back ok in your 501? Hmmm listening back to your videos, it's something really late on in the signal chain given your DA-DA and -DA demonstrations. If you can make a disc in your good unit with 3 or 4 tracks on it, back in the 501 can you do any non-music operation, like delete a track or label a track? i.e. something that tries to write non-music data to the disc. I'm just wondering if the overwrite head or circuitry driving it is dud. If any of these non-music operations do work then the OWH itself would seem ok and we're looking at the music data path somewhere between the ATRAC encoder (IC101), the shock memory controller (IC110, IC109) and the EFM chip (IC103). The digital loopback seems to be an early stage in the ATRAC chip (IC101) so from your AD/DA experiments we're good at least up to there. Sorry if you're bored of this machine now and you want to move on...! Kevin ps The Service Manual/schematics are here - but it's a scanned copy (done ok) so the pdf is about 55MB so it takes a while to download from the site. https://freeservicemanuals.info/en/servicemanuals/download/Sony/mds-501.pdf I've mostly been looking at the block diagram on pdf page 49 and then the ATRAC/SM/EFM chips to the left/upper left on pdf page 52.
  22. Cheers! Will consider getting one then! Kevin
  23. I think that assessing for good/bad OP seems tricky! I'm thinking I need to get myself a suitable LPM... I did buy a fairly nice 2nd-hand LPM last year but the sensor head is far too large to fit into an MDM (with the OWH "in the way"). Sanwa LP-1 has been mentioned on these forums but can anyone confirm if the sensor head will fit into an assembled Sony MDM mechanism such to make good-enough measurements (spending 200GBP is not throw-away money!)??? Kevin
  24. I doesn't work like that - the resistance setting is based on a set of measurements for each parameter, so there isn't a "proper resistance" - and even if such was provided you've no way to set that, because with the RV in circuit, any measured resistance will be affected by the impedance of the circuitry the RV is connected to (impedance in parallel with the variable resistor). The Service Manual is dated 1994, which confirms the early vintage of this model. Also, given the schematics show many ICs and discrete circuits, it's interesting to see how quickly Sony managed to integrate all of this complexity into the single CXA analogue IC and CXD digital IC device partitions that quickly became the standard architecture in future products.
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