Kona702 Posted March 9, 2013 Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Hello All, I just found something at my local thrift store..I went back into the electronics section and BAM!!!! There was sitting a JE320..I was soooo excited!!! I've never seen an MD unit at any thrift store in my area EVER!!!!! I paid $19.97 US for it in awesome condition!!!!! :-) No optical out though! :-( Hey Stephen...if you're reading this can you point me into the correct direction for doing a mod for an optical out?? Thanks and I appreciate it!!! I'm off to do test out the unit and do some recordings to compare it to my 630 right now and Ill let you know how it sounds. TTYL all!!! Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kona702 Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Awesome....doesn't work...it seems like its recording...but it doesn't ever say "Toc Writing" (I don't even know if it should say this...just assuming) It recognizes the tracks directly after a record...tries to play them....and the timer just stays at zero... when I eject the disc and re-insert it...I get the lovely "blank disc" But if I transfer a song onto a disc formatted in "Net MD" mode to my RH10 in SP format..it will play the track fine. The bad part about this is what Stephen told me about HI-MD's..or even any MD transferred via sonicstage in SP format is the same quality as LP2 for some odd reason. (Don't really understand why) Right now I am transferring a few tracks to a brand new Sony Neige 80 min blank MD in Net MD SP mode with my RH-10...I just played them fine with the JE320...but if I try to edit the disc AT ALL, recording a new track....or even naming a track...the JE320 erases all the tracks and I get the "blank disc" message. Anyone have any suggestions? Please HELP!!!!!! Thanks, Sean Starting a new thread on this for the problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted March 9, 2013 Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Hello All,Hey Stephen...if you're reading this can you point me into the correct direction for doing a mod for an optical out??1. You need 5V LED transmitter (forget the 3.3V originally used by Sony; they simply complicate the whole thing 'cos you need a 3.3V LED which is nowadays impossible to find)2. The main connector to the actual MD board (so-called BD board) has pin 9 with the signal you need. +5 and GND are also on the same connector (of course). One or other end of this connecting cable is the best place to take your "vampire" connections from.Somehow you have to connect to the pins on that ribbon cable (CN102). Don't worry about capacitors or inductors in the circuit which the LED spec sheet shows. In later models there's a dip header type connector which pushes on to stake pins, so this is a tad more tricky than that. I'm assuming you found the service manual already. Just possible the other end has the stake pin arrangement, I can't tell without seeing the unit apart, really.A word of warning. Sometimes pin 9 on one end (usually the DOUT pin on the DSP chip which is on the BD board) is labelled (n-9) on the other end (where n is the number of wires on the cable). Ie the numbering is not consistent across the cable but counting reverses when you get to the other end of it.Having just read your post (which was as I was responding to the previous one), you are out of luck. The overwrite head is busted. Common fault.Keep the 320 for parts and buy something else on Ebay with optical out. Should be well under $100, which is where you may get to if you try to replace the overwrite head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kona702 Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Aww that stinks!!! That's very strange that the overwrite head can erase a whole disc with 80 minutes of audio on it simply by naming a track, but it wont overwrite the blank part of the MD to write the recording. (That comment probably was totally wrong, I dont know much about how the magnetic head and the laser work in conjunction) So you don't think the cable to the head could be bad? I guess these heads go pretty frequently from your post Thank you SOO MUCH for the info, Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted March 9, 2013 Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Indeed, the cable TO the overwrite head is probably bad, they go brittle. But you still have to fix it. There are other possibilities too but they all involve replacement. I soldered a broken ribbon cable exactly once (actually it took a hawk-eyed friend who cursed somewhat) but first you have to FIND the break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oroville Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 I don't know if this will help but open up the unit and push the head closer to the disc or back down that's how I fixed one of my md decks did the same. thing good luck Or don't have a disc, in and push it down more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.hoggarth Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Aww that stinks!!! That's very strange that the overwrite head can erase a whole disc with 80 minutes of audio on it simply by naming a track, but it wont overwrite the blank part of the MD to write the recording. (That comment probably was totally wrong, I dont know much about how the magnetic head and the laser work in conjunction) So you don't think the cable to the head could be bad? I guess these heads go pretty frequently from your post Thank you SOO MUCH for the info, Sean The reason is simple - you are erasing the disc, but not re-recording. More specifically you are erasing the TOC, or table of contents, when the edit is written back to disc. The laser does the erasing, the write head the recording. So if the head is bust, the laser just melts your data away... (past the Curie point if you want to be specific). The data is still on the disc, at least the bits you have not erased by overwriting. So if you replace the TOC on another deck (can't be done easily on a portable), you can get the original disc back albeit as one long track. JimI don't know if this will help but open up the unit and push the head closer to the disc or back down that's how I fixed one of my md decks did the same. thing good luck Or don't have a disc, in and push it down more In my experience write heads do not fail electrically. They are damaged physically, as oroville is pointing out. Usually by ramming a disc in the wrong way, or some other mechanical tragedy. Incidentally, the JE320 is not a cut-down sibling of the JE330 as is often assumed. It has more in common with the MDS-JE510 as they share the same drive unit. As in the all-metal one which does the 'eject-shudder' so famous of the JE510. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kona702 Posted March 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2013 I don't know if this will help but open up the unit and push the head closer to the disc or back down that's how I fixed one of my md decks did the same. thing good luck Or don't have a disc, in and push it down more Thanks....Ill open the unit and give this a shot. Another thing, the last time I opened the unit and observed the mechanical operation of the overwrite head, it seemed to scrape across the plastic part of the disc surface when it's inserted..why would sony design it like this? Just seems like a recipe for disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted March 16, 2013 Report Share Posted March 16, 2013 Dont bend it. The movement comes from behind via a servo motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kona702 Posted March 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 ok...I will try to push it down so it makes better contact with the disc surface. But I wont bend it...Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted March 18, 2013 Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 My point is you don't want to push it or bend it at all. If the head goes down too far, all you get is scratched disk and (possibly) ruined OW head.The stepper motor that moves it may be stuck.... Jim's the one with the ultimate wisdom on this and what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kona702 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 oh yeah I forgot to post this.... I ended up snapping off the recording head at least its a nice playback unit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Yes but... the first time u press Tmark or REC, presto a blank disk is created. Just thought you should be warned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kona702 Posted July 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Stephen, I know this...just need to be careful is all.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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