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My analog tuner drifts off the station

I have a nice Kenwood KT 615 tuner that I bought off a technician who had cleaned it up and replaced the caps. It works well and sounds great but it loses stations pretty quickly, usually within about 10-15 minutes. This happens for both strong and weak signals and I have tried all combinations of the filter and selectivity buttons with no apparent improvement.

Is there anything that can be done about this or do I need to get a digital tuner that locks on the station?
jrb25
11 responses Add your response
unclejeff
1,313 posts
 
I suspect that the cable that attaches to your tuning knob needs adjustment. It can be either too tight or not tight enough.
usblues
1,217 posts
 
Tell him or another tech of your problem.I did what you did with a 8300[tuneup] basically and no drifting has occured yet[1 year].....they like working on those old Kenwoods,at least this one did.......good luck,Bob
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,785 posts
 
Look for a button on the front panel that says "PLL" (phase locked loop). FM naturally drifts out-of-tune so the PLL curcuit was developed to correct this.
Hope this helps...
don_s
271 posts
 
Your analog tuner drifts off the station???

Is that audiospeak for "one beer short of a six-pack"?
jrb25 OP
44 posts
 
some would say it's a good metaphor for my life.
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
My Kenwood tuner is at Stereo Surgeons in E. Hartford, CT. right now. He came with the highest recommendations. Give him a call and see what he suggests.
sherod
1,690 posts
 
Do you have a good antenna connected to your tuner? At least a decent dipole. Check the connections and experiment with orientation to get the strongest signal. Also, when you got the caps replaced, did the tech "properly" align the tuner? This alignment is very important for keeping the channel locked in.
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
Maybe your tuner is "One toke over the line" I will be here till Thursday, try the fish!
armstrod
613 posts
 
Jrb25,

Since your tuner is solid state and draws little power, I'd suggest you just keep it powered up 24/7. Eventually its temperature will stabilize, and I'm guessing you'll see little or no drift from that point on. I keep mine turned on all the time for that very reason.

David
jrb25 OP
44 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. David, I'll try leaving it on for awhile to see if that helps, thanks.

Jeff.
dixonray
8 posts
 
I have 3 Sansui 9090DB receivers, all of which drift off station after about 15 min. I suspect a capacitor changing value when warmed up. Obviously a Sansui design flaw, or poor line of caps. Again, maybe a transistor is changing value when warmed up. Can anyone advise me where to check? I have a schematic I downloaded a few days ago. Others must have experienced this as well. I live in Phoenix, Az. where the air is dry, and is why I suspect a capacitor.
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