kgallen

Yes but you’ve got to add gain somewhere. If you can’t do it at the source you’ll have to do it at the MD. The intrinsic noise and relatively limited fidelity of the FM transmitter will absolutely swamp any noise you’ll add at the MD with +8dB. ^^^^ wot the boss says. Enjoy your radio broadcasts and your MD, you’re in good hands.

Does the tuner sound quiet through the speakers on the amp too at your usual volume knob setting, compared to your other sources (CD/tape/vinyl)? It's fairly common for me to need to add some gain at the MD end and it's not uncommon to need +6dB or more, although usually I'm using coax or optical input.

If you’ve got a technician that understands MD decks, otherwise I fear you will get a machine that is more broken than now. Forums like this have numerous stories along these lines. If your tech knows stuff in this field, go for it. If not, and you’re not the type to ‘tinker’ then I’d put your money towards sourcing another machine instead.

You will need a decent iron (25W or more) and some decent solder wick as there is a lot of old solder to remove which will suck away heat from the iron. When you solder the new switch make sure to get the joint hot to avoid a dry joint and ensure to get the switch square as the holes in the PCB will be big to take the solder tag contacts on the switch. It’s easy enough but as with anything you need the right kit and technique!

Hi @bluecrab The switches have arrived and they look perfect. Do you want me to send you one (FOC)?

Hey, watcha sayin’ ????? 😡🤣

There are the following screws in assembly order (looking from front where required): 2 domed screws that hold the switch PCB to the front panel metalwork 1 domed screw (left) and 1 countersunk screw (right) that holds the front PCB into the front plastic 4 domed screws (2 each side) that hold the front panel assembly into the case lower metalwork 4 countersunk screws that from the underside hold the front panel to the lower case the lid screws, 2 each side plus 2 (I think) across the front and 1 in the rear This was from memory so I hope I got them all!

Not familiar - family photo when you've had a play!

I tried to take some better photos of the markings on top of the switch for future reference. There are no markings on the sides of my switch but are seen on some examples on the internet. Note: The Sony part number is stamped in this example. I don’t believe it’s a custom part though. We’ll see when the ones I’ve ordered come in and I can compare.

@bluecrab I've just grabbed a few of those switches from that UK seller. When they arrive, if they look identical to the one in my machine, I'm quite happy to post one over to you if you fancy the repair job. Even if you don't, with the part you should be able to find someone who can do the repair for you, it's not a big job to extract the front panel from the machine and get access to the switch PCB - because that's what I did to take my photos above. If you source locally, try and make sure it's a genuine Alps part. I found some suppliers in China but on closer inspection it was an unbranded part. As this is a switch on the mains supply, I wouldn't advise a "knock-off" part as you don't know the quality of the construction. The E10 doesn't have an earth connection (it's "double insulated"), so you don't want a poor quality switch here as it's in a metal body and screwed to a metal chassis in the machine... If nothing else, I could just send you the spring... 🙂

US but not threaded: https://www.iccfl.com/product_info.php?products_id=23621

Switch only Sony part number 1-572-267-21 (Ref Des S901 on the schematics). But it's made by Alps, model SDL1P-A TV-5 (although mine is marked TV-3). Searching around it seems a "common" type of switch for TVs, amplifiers, that sort of equipment. Simple soldering job, only 2 terminals. Here's one, UK only though, but seems like a standard part can be had with threaded holes. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153884727081?hash=item23d43e9729:g:uygAAOSw4iJehODb&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwHXDYgnppPiEI0xQNNYJiYpNXnCNe8BCn8nylFzfGHRWCkWAyWScnMSlEkOVZisfodriInwZcJ9PV6fCyCY8lAqRPRFf37sFJz%2FT95i21M%2Bo%2BR8%2FGC8xe%2BjH7nNwqmd%2Fdu4fMCOvQes4vhRc2pKxwfumhcx5MiOYDc9SuEqmL9dRThxGlpvTwl9jkT4jTMTnzzxue4u7yHwwbQnid03YG0pdRigqcMgGOX6UIOKbmXvjWQg5JsET3L7E984zDdKg%2BA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9yi2ZTwYQ

Some piccys. Click to get bigger version. Out (off): (Latched) In (on): Markings, overall PCB, schematic:

I will attempt to photo one of mine shortly to see if the spring is external and you might be able to substitute something similar. Let me see what I can find out…

It’s just a standard on/off slide switch and if I remember correctly it’s mounted directly behind the front panel, not actuated by a push-bar. So the actually ‘mechanism’ is part of the switch which will have a latching cam arrangement and a spring to put tension in the operation. Not unlike a click on/off biro type pen. From your description of the symptoms it sounds like the spring is missing, but as it will be mounted around the actuator stem I can’t see how it would ‘just go missing’.

Nearly. Two E10, four E12 and one E12 that has some E10 bits! (And is actually the one I use most as it sits under my work laptop dock 🤣👍).

Yea it’s just like a standard click-click on/off switch rather than a ‘soft touch’ one like on pretty much all Sony consumer decks. So when ‘on’ the button stays in.

With the right part it wouldn’t be a hard one, it’s a ‘proper’ clunking on/off.

And a VU meter in for the bargain! 😆

Not really. Type-S is an improved MDLP decoder. Net-MD is a USB interface. Net-MD came around the time of Type-S so most Net-MD portables will have Type-S codecs but there are some Type-R Net-MD portables out there. Deck wise the 780 and 980 are Type-S and Net-MD, that’s about your lot.

If it does play ok then the laser is good for read. If you try to record over a disc but that disc ends up blank, then the write laser power is ok but there is an overwrite head (or circuit) fault. If it won’t record as above then it’s hard to diagnose from a distance. If you’re not into diagnosing and repairing electronics then a replacement drive is the easiest approach.

Sounds like a bad write head 😞 This is the small flappy arm that hovers on top of the disc and provides the magnetic field for writing the disc as the laser underneath heats the bits to the Currie point. Its not specific to just writing the TOC. You could check for obvious damage/wire breaks but repair may be down to finding a replacement drive from another machine. (Same drive in European MDS-JE510). Can you get a recorded disc to check the machine will read and play discs? Sounds likely as it can read a disc ready for recording. https://www.minidisc.wiki/equipment/sony/deck/mds-s38

@sfbp I’ll send you a tub - I sent you that SPDIF splitter before, I don’t think that cost an arm and a leg (although times have changed!). Good idea @BearBoy 👍 Happy Christmas 🤣

Don’t know. Looking up EM-30L it’s described: Lubricating grease developed for plastic components NLGI Grade 1 PAO based grease with a base oil viscosity of 90 cSt at 40C, lithium thickened, uses white solids and PTFE as solid lubricants. https://www.dupont.com/products/molykote-em-30l-grease.html Googling a bit, especially TapeHeads, some suggest lithium grease is not great for plastics. But commentary is divided. 😆

Too much grease will just collect dust and make the OP stick so the less the better! That lead screw assembly is very close tolerance, it doesn’t need loads of lubricant. Good luck!