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help restoring a Connoisseur turntable for my daughter

thank you Bob and Goeffroy in fact I can confirm because I found the ref under the plate cover (I feel a bit dumb...)
I found a seller of belts. I also need to change head I guess.
the motor seems to work
what do I need to check?
 
Download and print a strobe sheet from somewhere online - make sure it prints pretty close to the correct size - you may have to fiddle with the % print size. That will allow you to check/set the speed. If that is OK, you are done although the spidle may need cleaning and lubticating - I do not know the TT so can't comment on that.

Head? Cartridge? If so, yes - loads of recommendations here on PFM.
 
That is a fairly interesting cartridge; a Satin M117 of some description, which IIRC was a high-output moving coil with a replaceable stylus. That in itself being highly unusual! If you decide to replace it with a ubiquitous AT95E or whatever don’t just bin it, I suspect the right buyer would pay money for it. No idea of value, but I remember them being well regarded in their day.
 
That is a fairly interesting cartridge; a Satin M117 of some description, ................................................ If you decide to replace it with a ubiquitous AT95E or whatever don’t just bin it,

Hifi Shark finds quite a few scattered across the world, including the UK, prices around £100-250. New stylus £40.
 
It looks like there are still NOS styluses out there e.g. here on Thakker, though annoyingly they seem to be one of many companies that won’t ship to post-Brexit Little England (I tried buying something a couple of days ago and couldn’t checkout as UK wasn’t an option).
 
Download and print a strobe sheet from somewhere online - make sure it prints pretty close to the correct size - you may have to fiddle with the % print size. That will allow you to check/set the speed. If that is OK, you are done although the spidle may need cleaning and lubticating - I do not know the TT so can't comment on that.

Head? Cartridge? If so, yes - loads of recommendations here on PFM.
BD103 has a none illuminated strobe built in. You'll notice the window/mirror on the front LH side in the second photo. The only annoyance here is that one must shine a 50Hz mains powered light in to really see what's what.

Both the operating instructions and original flyer are available on Vinyl Engine.
 
Check the bearing for oil
Agreed. Same sort of sleeve with spindle on ball as Rega adopted, meaning that only 3 small drops of 80-90wt gear oil are necessary, i.e. just enough to cover the ball, post a thorough cleaning of bearing well, spindle and ball with meths. Suggest running all three drops down one side of the bearing well, and then letting the spindle drop straight in (gently) and only spinning to distribute the oil once the spindle has come to rest on the ball.

The difficult part will be getting the new belt on, that is, unless you have the original tool (see manual). Not impossible without, but one risks stretching a new belt out if one isn't careful. Just make sure that the belt doesn't come into contact with any bearing oil.
 
BD103 has a none illuminated strobe built in. You'll notice the window/mirror on the front LH side in the second photo. The only annoyance here is that one must shine a 50Hz mains powered light in to really see what's what.

I did wonder if there was a strobe bottom left, but without anything on the edge of the platter................ useless.

Any strobe sheet online will work - the best strobe is a GLS lamp (as in "old-fashioned" tungsten in a bottle lamp), but fortunately all other mains lamps that I have used have been 50Hz or a multiple thereof, including compact fluorescent., so they work (I have not tried LED.)

(Smart Alec's - note - all but incandescent lamps have running gear in the cap and some designs/technologies are more efficient at other than 50Hz, so the running gear may operate at other than 50Hz.).
 
I used to have that exact same Satin, a 117 indeed, 40 years ago!
It sounded great but mistracked on my organ records. Was replaced by a V15 era IV at twice the cost.
I remember taking off the magnetically attached tip to clean it.
Thanks for a nice walk down memory lane!
 
I did wonder if there was a strobe bottom left, but without anything on the edge of the platter................ useless.

Any strobe sheet online will work - the best strobe is a GLS lamp (as in "old-fashioned" tungsten in a bottle lamp), but fortunately all other mains lamps that I have used have been 50Hz or a multiple thereof, including compact fluorescent., so they work (I have not tried LED.)

(Smart Alec's - note - all but incandescent lamps have running gear in the cap and some designs/technologies are more efficient at other than 50Hz, so the running gear may operate at other than 50Hz.).
The strobe pattern is printed on the bottom of the platter, similar to Thorens TD124, 125, etc, hence the mirror beneath the window.
 
I used to have that exact same Satin, a 117 indeed, 40 years ago!
It sounded great but mistracked on my organ records. Was replaced by a V15 era IV at twice the cost.
I remember taking off the magnetically attached tip to clean it.
Thanks for a nice walk down memory lane!
An interesting generator design, but notoriously unreliable.

Satin-M117-M-18-Internal-workings-diagram-japanese.png
 
The strobe pattern is printed on the bottom of the platter, similar to Thorens TD124, 125, etc, hence the mirror beneath the window.

In that case, the strobe may be easily resurrected.
They frequently use a neon, which have almost infinite lives, but the electrodes get sputtered onto the (inside of the) glass bulb and eventually all but extinguish the light. If the TT uses a neon, a replacement would cost a few pennies.
 
In that case, the strobe may be easily resurrected.
They frequently use a neon, which have almost infinite lives, but the electrodes get sputtered onto the (inside of the) glass bulb and eventually all but extinguish the light. If the TT uses a neon, a replacement would cost a few pennies.
Seems I was wrong about the strobe. Appears to have a small neon bulb fitted.
 
Strobes typically turn on when a platter is started. If nothing, then it may be the bulb, and/or a resistor that has failed. The manual has the strobe circuit schematic printed on. Regardless, adjusting the pitch control slider should still alter the speed whether you can easily observe the strobe or no. (i.e. the strobe circuit isn't part of the speed control circuit). The window over the bulb appears to have been disturbed which suggest that this may have failed some time ago. Have you a multi-meter which which to test the bulb and bulb circuit?

I'd give the old Satin a listen to first. If it does work it may only be in need of a new stylus. Listen out for equal channel balance and a reasonable good sound (could sound a bit rough and sibilant should the tip be worn out). I see that yours is 117Z which has a spherical tip. DaCapo Audio list NOS Satin styli from Japan at €65.60. These more or less have an indefinite shelf life as they don't employ rubber dampers which can perish whether used or not. Then again, a nice audio-technica is a sure bet, and you could sell the Satin on easily should it have problems. BTW, this is a high output MC (aka HOMC) of 2.5mV output that is intended to work into a standard MM phono input.

The tonearm headshell is a friction fit (i.e. no locking collar or specific screws) and pulls straight off from the arm tube, however, the manual warns that one must hold the arm tube firmly so as not to damage the arm bearings. Suggest being extra careful here, or simply mount a new cartridge in-situ without removing the headshell, as, after all these years, it may be difficult to remove (and replacement parts will be unobtanium). The cartridge mounting screws are standard Japanese issue slotted types, only the screws are pointing upwards with the round nuts fitted up top. A small flat-blade screw driver will have these off in seconds. The things to be extra carefull with are the headshell wires as you'll notice that green also connects to headshell metal. This indicates that the internal ground scheme is via Rch-ve, which is then split out to its own dedicated earth wire out back (unless this is fitted with a DIN lead which incorporates earth connection as part of the single plug).

EDIT: The manual also suggests the following:

"A small amount of oil should occasionally be applied the the pad of the top motor bearing."​

Presumably, this pad is of felt and accessible beneath the drive pulley at or round the base of the motor spindle where it emerges from the motor housing. I'd use a light oil here, something like Singer sewing machine oil, perhaps applied via hanging a drop off the end of a toothpick or similar. At least enough drops to get this pad damp with oil.
 
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If I am interpreting the pic' correctly, the neon strobe lamp looks all but new, so there is likely to be a dud connection or dropping resistor.

Neon lamps are discharge lamps so would normally test open circuit as the breakdown voltage would normally be 60+V.

Is the strobe assembly not a switch next to the lamp, side-by-side? If it is, the switch could be dud too.
 


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