LamerDeluxe (tm)
500+ Head-Fier
(I posted part of this information in the D-88 thread as well, but the information here has been extended and is useful for any skippy players)
I just saved my insanely skippy D-88 by adjusting it's tracking!
The symptoms were:
- taking a long time to start playing a track, with the head skipping back and forth.
- skipping without a cause
- oversensitivity to any motion at all, causing skipping
- taking seconds to resume after skipping.
- refused to play in any other position than fully leveled
I had already cleaned and relubricated the worm wheel, guide rail and spindle. And I cleaned the lens. This improved things slightly.
I thought it might be a tracking problem, but the pots weren't labeled. Puppyslug told me to just note the initial positions of the pots and see what adjustments would improve things. After all, I didn't really have anything to lose.
The pots were numbered 501-505. I looked at my D-303 which does have labeled pots and to my surprise the numbers were similar.
These are the pot numbers and their function:
501 - TG - Tracking Gain
502 - TB - Tracking Balance
503 - FB - Focus Bias
504 - PLL - Phase Locked Loop
505 - FG - Focus Gain
Number 504 apparently doesn't always have the same function across players, but you shouldn't adjust it anyway. For the rest the D-88, D-303, D-35 and D-777 have been confirmed to be using these numbers for the pots.
For my player, adjusting Tracking Balance (502) immediately fixed the skipping problem. I adjusted it left until it started skipping and then right the same way and left the pot at the value in the center of those two extremes.
I adjusted the other pots by lightly tapping the player to see if it would become more or less sensitive to skipping.
My player now switches to other tracks without delays or skipping and isn't very sensitive to shocks anymore, I can shake it a bit and tap it without it skipping.
After doing this I found a Dutch text on the internet describing how to adjust these pots without using a scope. I've translated it to add it here:
***
Adjusting is not that hard, the best way is to use an oscilloscope, but by listening also works well.
I'll run down the pots:
pll: With this you adjust the frequency of the pll (phase locked loop), it's needed for tracking and spindle adjustment among other things, you definitely shoudn't touch this, because the right value can only be set with a frequency meter.
f bias: The bias adjustment of focusing. Listen carefully to the player when it's playing a CD and adjust it until it's the most 'quiet' (Ed: I guess that means the least amount of noise or distortion). Using a scope: Watch the RF signal and adjust it until the signal is the most 'sharp'.
tg: Stands for tracking gain. Turn it all the way back until the point where the optical block starts to oscillate (can be heard by a high frequency tone). From this point turn it a quarter turn up.
fg: Stands for focus gain. Turn it back, the block becomes noisy, from this point, turn it up a little bit. This one should really be done with a scope, because the Fe signal (focus error) shouldn't be more than 100mV.
trv: Stands for tracking balance. Cannot be done by listening, with a scope the Te signal (Ed: tracking error) should be in the middle during search with audio (no dc offset).
Without scope: Set pot to the center position, see if it can find all the tracks quickly, otherwise keep adjusting until it does.
***
I hope this information will help other people out in saving their PCDPs. It already helped VWap save his D-35 and hopefully his D-777 as well.
I just saved my insanely skippy D-88 by adjusting it's tracking!
The symptoms were:
- taking a long time to start playing a track, with the head skipping back and forth.
- skipping without a cause
- oversensitivity to any motion at all, causing skipping
- taking seconds to resume after skipping.
- refused to play in any other position than fully leveled
I had already cleaned and relubricated the worm wheel, guide rail and spindle. And I cleaned the lens. This improved things slightly.
I thought it might be a tracking problem, but the pots weren't labeled. Puppyslug told me to just note the initial positions of the pots and see what adjustments would improve things. After all, I didn't really have anything to lose.
The pots were numbered 501-505. I looked at my D-303 which does have labeled pots and to my surprise the numbers were similar.
These are the pot numbers and their function:
501 - TG - Tracking Gain
502 - TB - Tracking Balance
503 - FB - Focus Bias
504 - PLL - Phase Locked Loop
505 - FG - Focus Gain
Number 504 apparently doesn't always have the same function across players, but you shouldn't adjust it anyway. For the rest the D-88, D-303, D-35 and D-777 have been confirmed to be using these numbers for the pots.
For my player, adjusting Tracking Balance (502) immediately fixed the skipping problem. I adjusted it left until it started skipping and then right the same way and left the pot at the value in the center of those two extremes.
I adjusted the other pots by lightly tapping the player to see if it would become more or less sensitive to skipping.
My player now switches to other tracks without delays or skipping and isn't very sensitive to shocks anymore, I can shake it a bit and tap it without it skipping.
After doing this I found a Dutch text on the internet describing how to adjust these pots without using a scope. I've translated it to add it here:
***
Adjusting is not that hard, the best way is to use an oscilloscope, but by listening also works well.
I'll run down the pots:
pll: With this you adjust the frequency of the pll (phase locked loop), it's needed for tracking and spindle adjustment among other things, you definitely shoudn't touch this, because the right value can only be set with a frequency meter.
f bias: The bias adjustment of focusing. Listen carefully to the player when it's playing a CD and adjust it until it's the most 'quiet' (Ed: I guess that means the least amount of noise or distortion). Using a scope: Watch the RF signal and adjust it until the signal is the most 'sharp'.
tg: Stands for tracking gain. Turn it all the way back until the point where the optical block starts to oscillate (can be heard by a high frequency tone). From this point turn it a quarter turn up.
fg: Stands for focus gain. Turn it back, the block becomes noisy, from this point, turn it up a little bit. This one should really be done with a scope, because the Fe signal (focus error) shouldn't be more than 100mV.
trv: Stands for tracking balance. Cannot be done by listening, with a scope the Te signal (Ed: tracking error) should be in the middle during search with audio (no dc offset).
Without scope: Set pot to the center position, see if it can find all the tracks quickly, otherwise keep adjusting until it does.
***
I hope this information will help other people out in saving their PCDPs. It already helped VWap save his D-35 and hopefully his D-777 as well.