grundig: 205a; Satellit Dial LIght Switch

Hello:

How do I activate the dial lights on my new Grundig Satellit 205a?

I thought it was by pressing the bandspread tuner knob. But the amount of in-out movement is very small. And there is no spring return.

I cannot find a way to turn on the lights, but perhaps they are burned out.

I cannot find this information in the operation manual and the schematic is unclear.

Thank You,

Mike Witas

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...you will find that the volume control is spring-loaded (there should also be a 'light' symbol and a downward-pointing arrow to the left of it); if you push in on it, you will feel it move inward and the dial should light up...

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Todd:

Thanks very much for the dial light switch location info. I never would have guessed it.

The radio is in better than average condition and most of the nomenclature and markings are present. But for some reason, the symbols on the upper control panel are almost completely worn off.

I just checked. . . Both dial lights work.

This radio is otherwise clean and would make a good cantidate for a complete re-alignment and maybe a re-capping. It works well on all bands but the regular tuner appears a little more sensitive than the main tuner, and there is just a little more background noise than I think should be present when a SW station is tuned in. Any service tips and hints would be appreciated. This is my first 205.

Thanks again,

Mike Witas

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I'd think it very unlikely any caps need replaced in a Grundig of that era. Even the late 1950s Valve/tube portables often need no new caps, especially Grundig/Philips, some late 1950s UK models use same kind of paper caps (Wax and also Hunts) as late 1940s and these are often too high leakage at even 50V in valve portables but OK in early transistor sets (eg Hunts in Sky Leader) due to 1/10th HT. 

Some Daly and similar Electrolytic caps in early 1960s UK Transistor sets and also the Russian Electrolytics in some early USSR Transistor sets go high leakage or dry out, but I've never seen problems on Grundig or Philips 1960s Electrolytics.

All the capacitors and alignment was fine in this inferior 1960 set. Purely cosmetic issues.

If the stations are at correct frequencies I wouldn't touch any alignment. The cores break too easily.

The higher noise is likely normal on SW  as likely there is an RF pre-amp and SW is noisy also the transistors can be noisy. 

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Mike:

Thanks for the advice. I took the Satellit 205 up to the roofdeck of my 15 story apartment building Saturday evening and it pulled in shortwave stations quite well. I may just be expecting too much out of a nearly 50 year old radio. The stations are indeed at the correct frequencies -  as close as could reasonably expected.  I think my Satellit 210 pulls in a little better and with a little less background hiss. But I realize that the 210 is a more advanced radio. It is in storage and needs some things done to it. So, I did not do an A/B comparison test. 

I didn't check if the 205 has an RF pre-amp stage. I'm fairly certain that my 210 does.

Virtually all my older transistor radios have more noticable distortion, especially on FM, than any newer radio. Keeping the switchable tweeter speaker turned off actually sounds better (many large Grundigs have this feature) because there is less distorted "brightness" in the sound. This distortion may in part be due to FM overload. Also, I've heard that re-adjusting the bias voltage in the audio stage can sometimes reduce distortion like this. However, I'd worry that I'd do more harm than good. I've replaced transistors and other components before, but I am definately not a solid state circuit theory expert. What would be your opinion?

Anyway, the 205 looks great next to my easy chair and that's probably where it will stay until I get the 210 fixed. If I put it near the window, it pulls in reasonably well, even in my concrete building.

Thanks again for your kind advice!

Mike

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Many (most?) VHF-FM stations here are worse than my CE legal micro-power €6 FM Stereo Transmitter as they are over-processed.  Also some stations use too low Bit-Rate MP3 content source rather than 256k (MP2 and MP3 similar for 256k) or lossless formats.

Also many "remastered" and newer CDs are not to Early 1980s  to Late 1990s standards but also over-compressed/processed.

Any over processing will sound worse with "bright" audio (tweeter etc). Compare the distorted sets with an iTrip / FM transmitter gadget fed with good audio at correct level. Note some cheap models only work properly on external power as they only take a single 1.5V cell and minimum chip voltage is 2.75V, (they usually have a 3.3V regulator for external 4V to 6V input).

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