1
$\begingroup$

I have a Realistic STA-78 AM/FM Stereo receiver I recently rescued from my grandmother's attic. It hadn't been played in a while, but it appears everything is in working order except the FM dial. It's an old-style scrolling dial, and receives FM stations but the signal is shifted by +1.4 to 1.5 Mhz. The AM stations are fine, with no noticeable offset.

Anybody have any suggestions for a fix?

update: It appears the stations are becoming more accurate over time.

update 2: Originally I had plugged in some small FM wires to the base of the radio, even though it has a built-in antenna. Like previously mentioned, the FM slowly corrected itself with those FM wires. But I recently started having problems with the AM, where it would either only come out of the right speaker, or if it would come out of the left speaker, it was extremely quiet. Additionally, the AM stations were shifted over. In an effort to rectify the problem, I unplugged the FM tuner wires. Now, the AM works perfectly fine, but the AM is again shifted up, about the same amount as it was originally (a little less now, closer to 1.3 Mhz up from usual). As Nate said, it could be capacitors. I'll have it checked soon to see if that's a problem. In the mean time, any other ideas as to the cause? Thanks

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
0

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

While I wouldn't rule out old capacitors or whatnot, if it's anything like some of the radios I've played with through the years, the solution might be a simple mechanical one: can you open it up enough so that you can hold the dial from moving while gently nudging the linkage from the FM circuit tuning mechanism until it lines up?

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ I thought that would make sense, too, but I couldn't really do it. I tried taking the front panel off (and thought I may have bumped the needle off while cleaning it), but there was another pane of glass between the exterior one and the interior of the stations. I also couldn't come in from behind because if I did, the lettering with the stations would have to be removed, and choosing where it should be would just be guesswork. Additionally, the AM station's needle was right. But the problem seems to have corrected itself. I think it had something to do with not being used for 30+ years! $\endgroup$
    – cnd4747
    Dec 25, 2015 at 14:14

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .