Just a question about my Sharp GF-777

[Retro Addict]

I have noticed that when the radio is playing, the VU meters seem to move more than they should. They move so much, in fact, that the needles go past the numbers and sometimes 'bounce off' the maximum position. If I turn the volume all the way off, I can hear them hitting when they do this. If I have 'radio echo' switched on while the radio is playing, the sound is clearer, and the needles hit the maximum postion most of the time. Has anyone else noticed his with their GF-777, or is it just a feature of mine?

 

[Ghettoman]

i think thats normal,i have a few like that,i even have boxes with leds where all the lights just lit up all the time without even flashing,even the led`s on my old discolite did that,i think its because the radio modulation over the years have got stronger,the the stations output is throwing out more power than it did when these old boxes were made..

 

[2steppa]

Might be an adjustment pot if the signal that is fed from the tuner preamp section is a little higher than it should be.

My GF9696 is like that on both tape and radio, almost flat out on the led meters, I'm gonna look into it one day.

Like GM said, it could be that with modern compression techniques stations can push the audio a bit higher for more of the time (less dynamics than playing a tape) whereas in the old days stations had to be careful about limiting PPL (peak program level) but the overall MAXIMUM LEVEL for FM broadcast is the same as it's always been, 75khz deviation, by DTI/OFCOM rules.

 

[monchito]

thats true and some boxes have an adjustment pot for the vu's if you need to turn them down mostly voltage,, too much voltage can ruin them too

 

[Retro Addict]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I was concerned monchito, that if they kept going too far they might 'ruin' themselves. I'm glad that it's not an unknown fault. I'm a bit reluctant to take this huge box apart. If it was smaller, I probably would have looked into finding a pot to adjust. Thanks again.

 

[monchito]

ok no problem and as always we try to find the best way to deal with fixing these boxes the best way we can,, the needle vu's get more affected with voltage then leds too much on the needle will burn them especialy if the remain pegged too much vu's are basicly like a speaker a coil and magnet and a adj pot for voltage levels leds on the other hand have a circuit with an ic chip which has a builtin voltage regulator for the drive to the leds so they tend to last forever almost ,if caution is taken with vu's can last a lifetime as we see after 25year of service they are still working