... prepping for Sunshine Mix 2010!!!
I have had several boxes in various states of disrepair and, especially after the last meet, I'm kind of tired always issuing a disclaimer when someone wanted to listen to one of them....
Any of the attendees at the last meet or two may have heard me say things like:
So... I decided to roll up the proverbial sleeves and dig in to the two boxes mentioned above that are the most annoying to me in their present state. That was the Sharp GF-9191 & the Sanyo M9990. Boy, what fun.
JVC PC-3: This is my only 3-piecer, which I acquired in a trade with Freddy (Oldskool 69) in exchange for my minty looking Euro-model Hitachi TRK-8180E. At the time the PC-3 had some temporary replacement speakers in it because the originals had foam rot. The replacement speakers sounded kinda flat, but it made noise loud and the rest of the unit worked great. Freddy had even backlit the little tape window, which was a very nice touch. The Hitachi was perfect, sans deck belts. We agreed to swap belts for original speakers via snail mail. Eventually, we finally shipped our promised follow up items to each other. I then sent the original JVC speakers to Speaker World in Pinellas Park, FL for reconditioning. I got the speakers back last week and put them in the PC-3. WOW!
What a huge difference. The box does sound better. As far as I know, Freddy does not lie! LOL! PC-3 is now ready for Sorrento!
Here are the PC-3 & the Sharp GF-9191
With the easy JVC speaker updates, it was time to tackle the Sharp GF-9191: This came to me via German ebay shipped to my brother, and then brought to the USA in my father's checked luggage when he came back from a visit to Germany two years ago. My dad was impressed with the box and, to his credit, said it looks just like the one he bought me back in 1980 (which was a 9292, and is almost the exact same box). This one was at the meet last year, but it had some glaring issues and was more eye-candy than functional.
Issues:
After opening it up, I first looked at the voltage selector switch. When I moved the switch from 110 to 220V, I could hear the amp want to make a noise... I first thought it was the switch so I proceeded to remove it. I immediately found the problem! Not the switch itself, but the wires that lead from the switch to the transformer were completely deteriorated. (see pic) I cleaned up and re-soldered the cables and that problem is now history.
Voltage Selector with deteriorated solder spots:
With that solved, I was going to try to tackle the phono switch problem. After making 100% sure it was indeed the phono selector switch that was causing my radio to play improperly, I set out to see if I could deoxit the switch or re-solder the connectors for it and see any issues. No luck. The problem was actuall INSIDE the switch. I got so into what I was doing I forgot to take pics of this for you guys, but what I found next was very interesting. Each individual switch is actually mounted into a frame that holds all of the input selector buttons. Removing the entire switch panel is a massive undertaking and I wasn't about to try that without parts on hand. However, after closer inspection (from the other side of where the below pic was taken) you can bend the little tabs that hold in each switch and take the moveable part completely out of the switch.
GF-9191 input selectors. The blue tab without the silver button on it was the culprit:
Inside of that, there are two tiny clamp-like tabs that sit inside the switch. When you move the switch up and down it bridges a circuit and thus routes the signal properly. Something had apparently been mis-aligned with those parts. After about an hour of trying to bend the delicate little tab-parts back to a useable shape and manipulate them back into the push-switch mechanism... I finally managed to get them in there cleanly and that they would still connect the way they needed to. I had my doubts. While I was in there, I took a close look at my belts. The main flat belt is extremely loose and showing cracks all over it. Too bad I didn't have any onhand to swap, but compared to what I was doing, belt replacement is a walk in the park. That can be fixed in a couple of days, after I get replacements. So, I put her back together and the FM radio plays perfectly. I had forgotten how good these sound! Loud and strong, with better bass than my larger 9696, even! When the belts get swapped in the next week, this one will be ready to rock and roll!
The Sanyo M9990. This will be its third trip to a Sunshine Mix meet and it has needed belts (& more than likely a new motor) for the first two meets. I ordered all of the parts last week and they should be installed shortly upon arrival. For good measure, here's a pic of the inside of that box, too..
Here's a few more pic from my Saturday Well Spent, just because!
The GF-9191 pumping out clean FM Stereo!
The GF-9696, my current mainstay box on the back patio. My wife is cool with my hobby, but my dog thinks I'm nuts!
And here are most of my boxes that will be accompying me to the meet, but in their normal habitat:
I have had several boxes in various states of disrepair and, especially after the last meet, I'm kind of tired always issuing a disclaimer when someone wanted to listen to one of them....
Any of the attendees at the last meet or two may have heard me say things like:
- "that one needs belts..." (most common comment, Sharp GF-9191, Sanyo M9990 Panasonic RX-F9)
"you have to hold the cable just right to make that one work" (Sharp GF-9191)
"wiggle the phono switch to make that one play" (Sharp GF-9191)
"that one only works on batteries." (Sharp GF-9191, after the cable wiggle stopped working)
"wait till you hear that one with the original speakers" (JVC PC-3 - comment by Oldskool69 as we were trading for Hitachi TRK8180E for PC-3)
So... I decided to roll up the proverbial sleeves and dig in to the two boxes mentioned above that are the most annoying to me in their present state. That was the Sharp GF-9191 & the Sanyo M9990. Boy, what fun.
JVC PC-3: This is my only 3-piecer, which I acquired in a trade with Freddy (Oldskool 69) in exchange for my minty looking Euro-model Hitachi TRK-8180E. At the time the PC-3 had some temporary replacement speakers in it because the originals had foam rot. The replacement speakers sounded kinda flat, but it made noise loud and the rest of the unit worked great. Freddy had even backlit the little tape window, which was a very nice touch. The Hitachi was perfect, sans deck belts. We agreed to swap belts for original speakers via snail mail. Eventually, we finally shipped our promised follow up items to each other. I then sent the original JVC speakers to Speaker World in Pinellas Park, FL for reconditioning. I got the speakers back last week and put them in the PC-3. WOW!
What a huge difference. The box does sound better. As far as I know, Freddy does not lie! LOL! PC-3 is now ready for Sorrento!Here are the PC-3 & the Sharp GF-9191
With the easy JVC speaker updates, it was time to tackle the Sharp GF-9191: This came to me via German ebay shipped to my brother, and then brought to the USA in my father's checked luggage when he came back from a visit to Germany two years ago. My dad was impressed with the box and, to his credit, said it looks just like the one he bought me back in 1980 (which was a 9292, and is almost the exact same box). This one was at the meet last year, but it had some glaring issues and was more eye-candy than functional.
Issues:
- 1) the tape worked, but only sporadically.
2) the phono switch had some kind of short that prevented the radio from playing properly in L&R channels.
3) It would sometimes work with the power cable, but you had to hold it just right. After a while, it would ONLY work on batteries.
After opening it up, I first looked at the voltage selector switch. When I moved the switch from 110 to 220V, I could hear the amp want to make a noise... I first thought it was the switch so I proceeded to remove it. I immediately found the problem! Not the switch itself, but the wires that lead from the switch to the transformer were completely deteriorated. (see pic) I cleaned up and re-soldered the cables and that problem is now history.
Voltage Selector with deteriorated solder spots:
With that solved, I was going to try to tackle the phono switch problem. After making 100% sure it was indeed the phono selector switch that was causing my radio to play improperly, I set out to see if I could deoxit the switch or re-solder the connectors for it and see any issues. No luck. The problem was actuall INSIDE the switch. I got so into what I was doing I forgot to take pics of this for you guys, but what I found next was very interesting. Each individual switch is actually mounted into a frame that holds all of the input selector buttons. Removing the entire switch panel is a massive undertaking and I wasn't about to try that without parts on hand. However, after closer inspection (from the other side of where the below pic was taken) you can bend the little tabs that hold in each switch and take the moveable part completely out of the switch.
GF-9191 input selectors. The blue tab without the silver button on it was the culprit:
Inside of that, there are two tiny clamp-like tabs that sit inside the switch. When you move the switch up and down it bridges a circuit and thus routes the signal properly. Something had apparently been mis-aligned with those parts. After about an hour of trying to bend the delicate little tab-parts back to a useable shape and manipulate them back into the push-switch mechanism... I finally managed to get them in there cleanly and that they would still connect the way they needed to. I had my doubts. While I was in there, I took a close look at my belts. The main flat belt is extremely loose and showing cracks all over it. Too bad I didn't have any onhand to swap, but compared to what I was doing, belt replacement is a walk in the park. That can be fixed in a couple of days, after I get replacements. So, I put her back together and the FM radio plays perfectly. I had forgotten how good these sound! Loud and strong, with better bass than my larger 9696, even! When the belts get swapped in the next week, this one will be ready to rock and roll!
The Sanyo M9990. This will be its third trip to a Sunshine Mix meet and it has needed belts (& more than likely a new motor) for the first two meets. I ordered all of the parts last week and they should be installed shortly upon arrival. For good measure, here's a pic of the inside of that box, too..
Here's a few more pic from my Saturday Well Spent, just because!
The GF-9191 pumping out clean FM Stereo!
The GF-9696, my current mainstay box on the back patio. My wife is cool with my hobby, but my dog thinks I'm nuts!
And here are most of my boxes that will be accompying me to the meet, but in their normal habitat:
unfortunately, :'-( Your working on something that was designed to be repairable. The current products are pretty much designed as throw aways. 
