The CL post was old. It was not local. Diamond Oregon - where is Diamond Oregon? No wonder the two rare German radios had not sold, Diamond is in the shadow of Stein's Mt., near the Malheur Bird Sanctuary made famous a couple of years ago by the "occupation" - - - out in the Great Basin, basically a swamp in the desert of Eastern Oregon.
So we jumped in the Radio Rescue Vehicle and headed East. We got to Burns and turned South. Stein's could be seen in the distance. The valley is lush surrounded by dry, desert hills. It is a paradise for birds - and mosquitoes.
We stopped along side of the deserted road. Boy! There are sure a lot of gnats (needing my reading glasses). Thousands of - hey wait a minute - mosquitoes! We could not get back in the truck fast enough, followed by the swarm. CLOSE THE DOOR! Maybe that is why the radios were still there. All of the potential buyers had been eaten.
I guess that I was occupied swatting since I forgot to take any pictures of Diamond. Maybe I just did not want to remember. I am sure that it is a nice place, sometimes, but you could not pay me enough to live there.
So we jumped in the Radio Rescue Vehicle and headed East. We got to Burns and turned South. Stein's could be seen in the distance. The valley is lush surrounded by dry, desert hills. It is a paradise for birds - and mosquitoes.
We stopped along side of the deserted road. Boy! There are sure a lot of gnats (needing my reading glasses). Thousands of - hey wait a minute - mosquitoes! We could not get back in the truck fast enough, followed by the swarm. CLOSE THE DOOR! Maybe that is why the radios were still there. All of the potential buyers had been eaten.
I guess that I was occupied swatting since I forgot to take any pictures of Diamond. Maybe I just did not want to remember. I am sure that it is a nice place, sometimes, but you could not pay me enough to live there.
Did I say that there were 2 radios? I meant three, two that I wanted and - a console.
The Saba Freiburg Automatic 3DS is pictured above sitting on a Arabella console which I was talked into taking for $50. There just wasn't much time to negotiate. By this time I was feeling about a quart low. Nothing a gallon of cortisone couldn't fix - I hoped.
The Saba Freiburg Automatic 3DS is pictured above sitting on a Arabella console which I was talked into taking for $50. There just wasn't much time to negotiate. By this time I was feeling about a quart low. Nothing a gallon of cortisone couldn't fix - I hoped.
We found the 12-tube 3DS sitting on top of a Saba 410 Automatic made for the US market in 1963, stacked like cord-wood in the corner of a bedroom. We discovered that the placement was more strategic than chance when we lifted the 3DS off of the 410. But the price was right ($250 each, about 1/2 the asking price).
Prior to this year I had never run into a radio that had a thick, factory , polyurethane finish and at the time I thought it had been refinished, but no, it just needed to be refinished.
The poly was so thick that it cracked lengthwise at least 3 times. So thick that it had pulled the veneer up along the cracks. Ouch! Another good reason to hate poly.
But, hey, the radio still had the sales tag on it, right in front of a woofer where it would bob about like in the wind, but more on that later.
We were out of there.
But, hey, the radio still had the sales tag on it, right in front of a woofer where it would bob about like in the wind, but more on that later.
We were out of there.
Fearing the worst about refinishing the 410, I started on the 3DS Automatic.
None of the radios worked - "They did work" when the sellers family brought them home from Germany. They weren't in the US military, so I am not sure how they would have acquired the US model 410 IN Germany. Maybe a person could just buy the export model. From experience I knew that finding export models of famous US manufactures in the US is rare. Finding either of these radios anywhere today is also rare and potentially costly. I was happy with the radios - and - so far showed no signs of having contacted malaria, or EEE, or ebola - - - scratch that.
None of the radios worked - "They did work" when the sellers family brought them home from Germany. They weren't in the US military, so I am not sure how they would have acquired the US model 410 IN Germany. Maybe a person could just buy the export model. From experience I knew that finding export models of famous US manufactures in the US is rare. Finding either of these radios anywhere today is also rare and potentially costly. I was happy with the radios - and - so far showed no signs of having contacted malaria, or EEE, or ebola - - - scratch that.
Remove the chassis from the cabinet without damaging any of the Saba "green cone" speakers or breaking a dial string, of which there are several.
The good news was that this cabinet only needed a little glue, here and there, and some touch-up on a few scratches.
The good news was that this cabinet only needed a little glue, here and there, and some touch-up on a few scratches.
After a few years a person becomes familiar with US made parts, enough that testing certain components is a waste of time - "THAT type of cap is always bad" - not many US parts here. There really aren't a wide variety of parts used in this chassis, just a lot of them. Still, much of the same applies. For instance, ALL of the caps with the dark blue labels are BAD After testing a few I knew that they all had to go. Good thing, they are easy to re-stuff. I do not recall having to replace any resistors on this one . Not so, the 410. I suspected the little red/polystyrene caps, having seen a few bad ones before, but, these were OK too.
These "paper" caps had glass tubes, just like some of the replacements that I build, so restuffing (rebuilding) them was easy. They were sealed with tar.
This radio had what appeared to be, original, European produced tubes, some of which had become weak. A few of these have direct, US made replacements. Some have US replacements that are similar. I replaced the weak tubes with exact replacement types by the appropriate manufacture. For example, a Telefunken ECC83 would be replaced with a Telefunken ECC83 rather than a US 12AX7, which would work just as well. I like to keep unusual radios as original as possible while still being reliable.
It also needed a handful of the hard to find European panel lamps. Little grain-of-wheat lamps can be installed or even fitted into screw bases but lately I found some direct replacements. Cleaning of contacts, of which there are MANY, and lubrication can take a few hrs. Did I mention - DO NOT Break a dial string (!)? Yeah, I learned that on the 400 I worked on earlier:
https://www.russoldradios.com/blog/40-old-radios
All of the electrolytic filters were restuffed with 450V Nicheon caps. There are some motor-run caps in all of these motor driven, automatic models. I only replaced the ones on the 400 (link above) since the originals tested OK and finding the correct AC cap in my parts stash was unlikely. ESR seemed to be low (OK) so, if one of the tuning motors began to run slow I would replace them later with correct AC types.
This radio had what appeared to be, original, European produced tubes, some of which had become weak. A few of these have direct, US made replacements. Some have US replacements that are similar. I replaced the weak tubes with exact replacement types by the appropriate manufacture. For example, a Telefunken ECC83 would be replaced with a Telefunken ECC83 rather than a US 12AX7, which would work just as well. I like to keep unusual radios as original as possible while still being reliable.
It also needed a handful of the hard to find European panel lamps. Little grain-of-wheat lamps can be installed or even fitted into screw bases but lately I found some direct replacements. Cleaning of contacts, of which there are MANY, and lubrication can take a few hrs. Did I mention - DO NOT Break a dial string (!)? Yeah, I learned that on the 400 I worked on earlier:
https://www.russoldradios.com/blog/40-old-radios
All of the electrolytic filters were restuffed with 450V Nicheon caps. There are some motor-run caps in all of these motor driven, automatic models. I only replaced the ones on the 400 (link above) since the originals tested OK and finding the correct AC cap in my parts stash was unlikely. ESR seemed to be low (OK) so, if one of the tuning motors began to run slow I would replace them later with correct AC types.
Really, there wasn't anything challenging about the chassis restoration. Now for the alignment which can be very challenging.
First, take a look at the test cables I built, above. You might be able to get by with a bunch of clip-leads - no, you are going to blow everything up, better build the cables. One cable (not shown) is just a speaker cable extension. You really need the speakers for alignment and you don't want to remove them from the cabinet if it can be avoided. The top cable gives you all of the test points that you will need for alignment, As you can see it is terminated into a 7-pin miniature tube socket, so you need to find a 7-pin male connector. The lower cable allows remote connection to the multiplex adapter port. This is very helpful for working on the adapter. The connections are speced out in the manual. If you do not have the manual I would strongly advise you to not attempt alignment. This cable will work with the 410 as well. (Interesting note that I had been told that the test port on the 400 was for a multiplex adapter like on the 410 - it isn't.) The test/alignment cable will also work with the 400US. Alignment documents can be a little hard to find. Saba did not encourage field alignment, at least on the earlier models.
First, take a look at the test cables I built, above. You might be able to get by with a bunch of clip-leads - no, you are going to blow everything up, better build the cables. One cable (not shown) is just a speaker cable extension. You really need the speakers for alignment and you don't want to remove them from the cabinet if it can be avoided. The top cable gives you all of the test points that you will need for alignment, As you can see it is terminated into a 7-pin miniature tube socket, so you need to find a 7-pin male connector. The lower cable allows remote connection to the multiplex adapter port. This is very helpful for working on the adapter. The connections are speced out in the manual. If you do not have the manual I would strongly advise you to not attempt alignment. This cable will work with the 410 as well. (Interesting note that I had been told that the test port on the 400 was for a multiplex adapter like on the 410 - it isn't.) The test/alignment cable will also work with the 400US. Alignment documents can be a little hard to find. Saba did not encourage field alignment, at least on the earlier models.
When aligned properly, there radios have a search/AFC function that is partially mechanical. A motor constantly makes frequency adjustments and the action is visible in movements of the tuning knobs. When people visit, I like to turn on the radios and ask them to retune to a different station. Unless a person gets a firm grip on the knob the radio will resist and retune to the original station. If the control is moved enough to loose the original station, it will automatically move on to the next station in the direction that the manual adjustment was made - or you could just push one of the search buttons.
Though few of these radios still have the remote, or they never had one, they had the capability to use a wired remote which included tuning, volume and other functions, depending on model. I have only seen pictures of the remote.
Though few of these radios still have the remote, or they never had one, they had the capability to use a wired remote which included tuning, volume and other functions, depending on model. I have only seen pictures of the remote.
Above is a shot of the tweeter configuration on the single channel (mono) 3DS. Why they did not maintain this configuration into the stereo units like the 400 and 410 is not clear to me.
Above is the stationized dial and the tuning eye which is an EM34 that has 2 "shadow angles" one on top and one below. The indicators close sequentially as the signal strength increases. In this picture both indicators are closed on a strong station.
Above is a demo of the 2-segment eye tube used on the 3DS.
This video should give you some idea of how he automatic tuning works. Watch the tuning knob on the right
Moving on to the 410.
I needed to start the cabinet restoration on the 410 Continental as I was restoring the chassis knowing that removal of the poly finish was going to be a really ,slow, pain. This is the second poly finish on a German radio that I have had to deal with this summer. The first was a Grundig stereo with matching speakers. It suffered the same fate as the 410, long splits in the poly finish that also damaged the underlying veneer.
When finished I gave the Grundig to a friend. It was a good prep for striping the Saba. I have dealt with thin poly finishes before by applying many coats of stripper slowly removing the finish. The poly is very resistant to chemical strippers and the veneer would not stand up to much physical abrasion especially with the existing damage. So, you can sand the cabinet when it is removed but sanding the poly off was out of the question.
When finished I gave the Grundig to a friend. It was a good prep for striping the Saba. I have dealt with thin poly finishes before by applying many coats of stripper slowly removing the finish. The poly is very resistant to chemical strippers and the veneer would not stand up to much physical abrasion especially with the existing damage. So, you can sand the cabinet when it is removed but sanding the poly off was out of the question.
I ALWAYS strip cabinets outdoors. In this case, that is even more important. I usually apply stripper in the cool mornings to reduce evaporation which allows the stripper to remain active longer. This job was going to take days and that turned out to be enlightening.
I started in the morning and after 2 or more applications, not much progress was made. The sun was approaching noon and the temperature was rising . I was both annoyed and impatient so I applied the stripper again. It began to bubble and steam quite vigorously. I though that this was going to be a waste of stripper - - but the poly began to peal up! What resulted was large pieces of the foam-like substance I am holding above. It still took a day and most of a gallon of stripper but I managed to get the poly off.
A note:
Good strippers are hazardous in many ways. "Green" strippers are usually too weak to remove poly finishes - or any finishes - and if they do work the resulting material is no longer "green" since it includes the old finish, not to mention the fact that you generally have to use much more of the ineffective stripper to accomplish anything. Most of the MEK strippers have been removed from the shelves at the big box stores. This is likely an attempt to avoid litigation from injuries caused by improper use - or - possibly, proper use. If they are worried about it, you should be too. If a job can't be done avoiding contact with the material and fumes - DON"T DO IT.
I started in the morning and after 2 or more applications, not much progress was made. The sun was approaching noon and the temperature was rising . I was both annoyed and impatient so I applied the stripper again. It began to bubble and steam quite vigorously. I though that this was going to be a waste of stripper - - but the poly began to peal up! What resulted was large pieces of the foam-like substance I am holding above. It still took a day and most of a gallon of stripper but I managed to get the poly off.
A note:
Good strippers are hazardous in many ways. "Green" strippers are usually too weak to remove poly finishes - or any finishes - and if they do work the resulting material is no longer "green" since it includes the old finish, not to mention the fact that you generally have to use much more of the ineffective stripper to accomplish anything. Most of the MEK strippers have been removed from the shelves at the big box stores. This is likely an attempt to avoid litigation from injuries caused by improper use - or - possibly, proper use. If they are worried about it, you should be too. If a job can't be done avoiding contact with the material and fumes - DON"T DO IT.
So, do you think that I used poly on the cabinet restoration? Hell no! I used lacquer. If there is ever the desire to return to poly it can be applied over the well cured lacquer in a thin application and the lacquer is likely to save the veneer from a repeated poly failure.
A couple of notes on the cabinet:
This cabinet is very much like the one on the earlier 400. The only significant difference, besides the finish, is the use of white-wood strips used to high-lite the leading edge (front) where as the 400 used brass (colored) metal trim. The wood is easier to fix but I think the metal looks better.
Saba named series of radios after German cities. The top of the line was named Freiburg. This must have been an annoyance to the lesser named towns, or maybe not. Anyway this US import model was called THE 410US Continental but the cabinet is stamped Frieburg which makes sense because it is very similar to the domestic (German) Freiburg models . This US model is similar to the Continental 410USE for the European market.
This cabinet is very much like the one on the earlier 400. The only significant difference, besides the finish, is the use of white-wood strips used to high-lite the leading edge (front) where as the 400 used brass (colored) metal trim. The wood is easier to fix but I think the metal looks better.
Saba named series of radios after German cities. The top of the line was named Freiburg. This must have been an annoyance to the lesser named towns, or maybe not. Anyway this US import model was called THE 410US Continental but the cabinet is stamped Frieburg which makes sense because it is very similar to the domestic (German) Freiburg models . This US model is similar to the Continental 410USE for the European market.
See what I mean about the speakers. The 410 has 5 speakers with the mids (side) clearly being superior to the 3DS but they used a single forward facing tweeter which, to me, would seem to conflict with the newer stereo design. But you really cant take advantage of stereo with rhe speakers so close together anyway. But what do I know, It still sounds great.
Hey, I have a cure for that speaker separation issue - later.
Hey, I have a cure for that speaker separation issue - later.
Chassis look familiar? I guess that they had a good thing going, all they had to do was make it stereo. The output went from two EL84s running in PP to ELL80s, one per channel (stereo). FM was mono unless the 5 transistor multiplex adapter is plugged into the factory socket.
I found an owners manual for the US model which was in English. It had service information/alignment that was translated from German. This is good BUT the translation is literal. It can take a while to understand the meanings, for example: "Tune L283 subcritical" which means detune L283 from it's peak. Inversely "Tune L283 critical" means, peak the output. This can take a little interpolation but it was a lot easier than trying to read German.
I found an owners manual for the US model which was in English. It had service information/alignment that was translated from German. This is good BUT the translation is literal. It can take a while to understand the meanings, for example: "Tune L283 subcritical" which means detune L283 from it's peak. Inversely "Tune L283 critical" means, peak the output. This can take a little interpolation but it was a lot easier than trying to read German.
The FM multiplex decoder uses 5 germanium transistors that often suffer from tin migration (tin whiskers). These can be replaced with modern types noting that the ground to the metal can may not be used. A Chinese replacement decoder is also available. Also, the tuning eye on the right is activated by an FM pilot, so it is either on or off rather than indicating level or position (rt or left as in modern stereo receivers)
That 330K, 1/4w carbon resistor (orange orange Yellow silver) had become intermittent, mostly working when I was looking at it and going open the minute I turned the chassis over. The lead wire had become loose as can sometimes happen with this type of resistor. When it was open there was no audio on FM (it is in the IF string).
Saba Villingen 400 Automatic Stereo (13 tubes)(left) and the Saba Freiburg Automatic 3DS (12 tubes, 18 watts of audio)
Saba Villingen 400 Automatic Stereo (13 tubes)(left) and the Saba Continental 410US (14 tubes) (right)
I moved the Christmas(?) sale tag slightly to the left to try to keep it from dancing around in front of the woofer. It also rattled a bit. Only drawback is a slightly less-faded spot where it was.
I moved the Christmas(?) sale tag slightly to the left to try to keep it from dancing around in front of the woofer. It also rattled a bit. Only drawback is a slightly less-faded spot where it was.
The best way to get good stereo separation? - - - use two receivers. Running each receiver in mono mode gives you twice the power/overhead somewhere around 18W per channel. This may look a little odd but the results are awesome.
I still need to try to cast some replacement side-speaker grills. These seem to be easily broken and I need 3 of them.
I would like to thank Thorsten Michael Ritzka for his help with finding schematics
It has been a very busy summer - sorry. Watch for a posting on the $65 Scott Phantom restoration, soon.
I still need to try to cast some replacement side-speaker grills. These seem to be easily broken and I need 3 of them.
I would like to thank Thorsten Michael Ritzka for his help with finding schematics
It has been a very busy summer - sorry. Watch for a posting on the $65 Scott Phantom restoration, soon.
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