Selena Vega 215 - dead on FM

[Zelandeth]

Finally (after a few months!) got around to getting some batteries for this thing. My word D cells are both expensive and heavy.

All the shortwave bands seem to work, even though I can't find a great deal on them, and medium wave seems to work just fine - and I can find quite a lot on. Especially with my drum of speaker cable antenna attached.

FM on the other hand appears to be completely and utterly dead. Not a whistle, crackle or anything. The set goes "pop" when switched on, as with all the other wavebands...but that's it. Total silence reigns.

Initial inspection tends to make me believe that Billy the Bodger may have been at work...Most likely due to the leg of a capacitor or something that ain't connected to anything...which my big ugly finger in the image below is pointing at.

http://zelandeth.artamir.org/compute...ycomponent.jpg

Anyone got any ideas as to what the problem is likely to be here...aside from that there's nothing that's *obviously* wrong in there...and it doesn't look like the easiest of sets to work on.

[paulsherwin]

The first place to look would be the big turret tuner which selects the different wavebands. You'll probably have to dismantle this to clean it properly, and you're right, this isn't easy to do. If the radio has spent its life switched to FM (quite likely) the contacts may be badly oxidised. You may need to adjust the contacts also.

These radios have excellent AM performance because they have a tuned RF stage. FM isn't as good as you might expect from such an upmarket set but should work well enough.

Paul Stenning has service info for the 210/212, which also covers the 215. Given that you suspect bodging has taken place this would be a good investment of £1.99.

These sets have a phenominal component count and the circuit design is very complex,

Good luck, Paul

[wireful3]

Hello Zelandeth
I would not be too suspicious about bodges yet. The wire with pink sleeving going nowhere looks familiar. I have a different Vega set and it has the same wire sleeved but connected nowhere. I didn't discover what it does but seeing yours makes me suspect that it is a monitor point. I have a Selena too and it is very impressive so I would agree with Paul. I can't confirm that it too has the wire to nowhere but guess it has.
Although I have had no problems with the turret tuner I gather it can be a problem so cleaning the contacts is a good first step.

Best of luck.

[Tom_I]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Paul Stenning has service info for the 210/212, which also covers the 215.

I'm not sure that it does, Paul, although the general layout of the models is obviously very similar. It doesn't specifically mention the 215 anywhere on the service sheet, and that IF board in the photo is quite different from the one in the 212. Mind you, having said that, the audio amp board in my 212 is nothing like the one shown in the service sheet, so life is far from straightforward with these sets.

Also, if anyone does invest in this service sheet, be warned, before you go completely insane trying to interpret it, that the drawings showing the PCB layouts are mirror images of what you see when you look in the back of the set. They show the component layout as if viewed with x-ray specs from the solder side of the board. Very strange.

Several members of this forum have expressed enthusiasm for these Soviet multi-band sets, but I am not one of them, principally because I have two examples, and neither of them works properly. My 212 works fine on all AM bands, but like Zelandeth's, not on FM. There is something there, but it's very quiet. I've checked out a lot of things, but I think the problem is with the FM tuner module, which is the bit in the metal can to the left of the battery box. The diagram appended shows the internal layout of the set. That may also be the problem with your set, Zelandeth, but equally it may not be.

You can remove the cover from the FM module if you pull the chassis out of the wooden case, but to delve any further means removing it altogether, which means slackening the tuning drive cord and removing the pulley from the FM tuner in such a way that you can get it back together again. I did it, but didn't manage to trace the fault, gave up, put it all back together, and put the set back in the loft for another day.

So that's really no help at all, is it? Anyway, if there are any experts at fixing these sets out there, there are at least two people here who would love to hear from you.

Tom

[stephanie]

Originally Posted by wireful3

The wire with pink sleeving going nowhere looks familiar. I have a different Vega set and it has the same wire sleeved but connected nowhere. I didn't discover what it does but seeing yours makes me suspect that it is a monitor point. I

I've seen that on a lot of 1970s AM/FM radios, like the ones that were brought in from Hong Kong and Japan. I also thought it was one of those test point, but I don't deal with transistor radios so...

[howard]

Hello Zelandeth,

I have several of these and they all have that wire sticking up - I guess it is there for setting up the set.

I have fixed two of these, and one had failed on FM and that was due to a wire having come off the VHF tuning capacitor.

I can send you a B215 circuit diagram should the B212 circiut not be the same. The B212 still uses a few germanium transistors, the B215 has silicon transistors, an IC and a ceramic filter.

Howard.

[Zelandeth]

Okay, done a little bit of poking and prodding this evening. It turns out that FM is actually working...but is very, very, very faint. There's one strong local station coming through, clear, undistorted...but only just about audible on full volume. Looks like I'm going to have to get the FM tuner out. Blast.

You guys were right though, this thing is extremely sensitive when it comes to AM reception. Interesting what you can find when you start "rummaging" through the other bands.

[ajs37]

Originally Posted by Zelandeth

Okay, done a little bit of poking and prodding this evening. It turns out that FM is actually working...but is very, very, very faint. There's one strong local station coming through, clear, undistorted...but only just about audible on full volume. Looks like I'm going to have to get the FM tuner out. Blast.

You guys were right though, this thing is extremely sensitive when it comes to AM reception. Interesting what you can find when you start "rummaging" through the other bands.

Your thread prompted me to dig mine out and check it over - it has exactly the same problems as yours! - I would be interested in how you get on with the FM tuner!
Cheers
Andy

[Tom_I]

Hi folks

Some progress at last. This thread prompted me to go back to my Selena 212 which has this FM problem. As I said earlier, I had become convinced that the FM tuner module was faulty, so today I slipped the tuning drive off and piled in.

The Trader service sheet 3330 from 1978 is really not very good. There are no test voltages given, and the audio amp circuit is completely different from the one in my set. I mentioned earlier about the component diagrams being mirror images, which also doesn't help. In tracing the FM tuner circuit, I found there is also a mistake in the circuit diagram, and some of the component values are wrong. For example, R1 in the FM tuner is given as 1 ohm, whereas the component fitted is 1.5k.

Anyway I couldn't find anything wrong with the FM tuner. The voltages all looked plausible, and I couldn't find any components wildly out of spec, and the transistors seemed OK. Somewhat disheartened, I decided to reassemble everything, and put it back on the "pending" pile. At which point I noticed that I hadn't replaced two 5uF electrolytics on the IF board. I slipped in a couple of 4.7s, and away she went!

These were C115 and C117 in the detector region of the circuit. I can't think why I didn't replace them before.

In fact, in the 212 there are only four electrolytics on the IF board (that's the one that faces you when you take the back off the set), so first off, try replacing them all.

The set now has bags of volume on FM, and I am beginning to realise what people see in these radios.

I'd be interested to hear if this works for anyone else.

Cheers.

Tom

[Zelandeth]

Hmmm....might have to investigate that. I did discover that you can actually get into the FM tuner without taking it out, though it's rather awkward. Enough to allow for loose connections to be checked for with the "prod test" anyway. Needless to say, that didn't change anything.

Will have to check those caps when I get back to the flat tomorrow evening.

(net access there is on the fritz just now...hence me having not been around for ages).

[Asgard324]

Sorry to bring up this old thread again but a question: Does anybody still have the schematic diagram or even the service manual available for the Selena B212? If it is in Russian, no problem for me

Thank you very much in advance.
(I am asking on behalf of a fellow in a German radio forum who has the same problem as described above but exchanging electrolytic capacitors on the IF board did not help him.)

[Tom_I]

The Trader service sheet (in English) for the Selena 210/212 is available by email from Paul Stenning's website for £1.99. Click the "Vintage Radio Service Data" panel at the top right-hand side of this page. Note the comments about this service sheet in post #9, though.

Tom

[Chris55000]

Hi!

Here is the B215-B216-B217 Circuit Diagram! Its three PDF bits so'll need to be sellotaped together I'm afraid! Unfortunately some of the schematic on the top RH corner got lopped off by whoever scanned this - not me! - I think the chopped-off bit is the internals of the O/P IC!

Approximate DC and nominal AF voltages for an audio O/P of 500mW are given, and you'll find if you look carefully down the LH side of page 1 there's a difference table detailing the waveband coverage for each model - and the different capacitor values foir the FM front-end for these models are stated as well! I believe the Russian FM broadcast band is about 65-75 Mc/s!

English notes to the diagram are given at the bottom RH of page 3 and dotted in one or two other places as well! The Russians use 'B' to indicate 'Volts'.

Hope this helps restorers of these sets - my Gaffer has a nice one!

Chris Williams

[MrWhippy]

Hi,
New member here. I usually frequent the vintage hifi forums but a recent purchase of a SELENA B215 has brought me here. The unit looks great but just as the originator of this thread found with his Selena , I have no FM. !

Do i follow the fix mentioned above and replace "C115 and C117 in the detector region of the circuit. "

Thanks for any help

[Zelandeth]

I haven't actually tried it yet, but they're cheap and easy components to change, so it can't hurt to try.