Try bringing in an external tuning voltage. If by varying this voltage you
can get an IF output from the front end (and receive a channel at that
point...) then you know the front end transistors etc are OK and you either
have a bad PLL chip or no oscillator sample going to the PLL chip.
Mark Z.
I was going to try a 20 turn preset Saturday but got waylaid - a job for
today. Everything checked ,so far, pinning-wise has agreed with the TEA
datasheet and they are available but
a/ no confirmation that the Sony and TEA are the same
b/ desoldering 80 pin .5mm spacing IC is fine , it is the soldering in of
the new one I would be wary of, despite my express removal technique leaves
an alignment "ghost" in the original solder pattern.
Just one more thing to check. Once you tune in a station, remove the
tuning voltage source. If the station stays tuned for a few seconds,
then you'll know the problem isn't caused by leaky varicaps. If the
frequency immediately drifts, the varicaps need to be replaced. Chuck
Interesting point to check, willdo
Incidently the radio data system works back to the display so even less
likely corrupted serial link going the other way.
Cutting my applied tuning voltage , the station goes off tune immediately.
I've not managed to get my head around the control system - a chicken and
egg situation ? Could a leaky varicap lead ,around the houses , to failure
to have an applied tuning voltage through the chain of VCO / PPL etc ?
I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but if there was leakage
that caused the tuned frequency to drift immediately, we mainly
replaced the whole tuner. (The VT line must be disconnected at the VT
terminal on the tuner before doing this test.) Exceptions were
Pioneer tuners or RCA televisions where the tuner was a section of the
main board. Of course, any part which can go leaky on the VT line can
cause this symptom. Chuck
I vote for the PLL chip. If the varicap were leaky, you'd see some voltage
there as you tried to tune; I've seen this just limit the tuned frequency to
say 95.1. If the cap were very leaky, even applying an external voltage
wouldn't get you a station. The varicap bleeds off quickly mainly because
it's capacitance is very low to start with. Most PLL chips have a couple
buffer transistors between the tuning output of the chip and the actual
front end. You can look there, but my guess is you'll see nothing.
Mark Z.