I've owned a Satellit 800 for about 4 years. I've been using
it a lot lately and have started to notice a very odd, annoying
phenomenon with the tuning knob. Basically, when you turn it in one
direction, the frequency goes in the opposite direction, and it takes
several seconds and several tries to get it to go in the right
direction. Anyone else encounter this?

Apparently I'm not the only person to have experienced this:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...0d1c302f7b3f29

"the most annoying problem being that theres some back-frequency
jumping occasionally when the tuning knob is being turned clockwise"

I can only assume that I went 4 years without noticing this because I
relied more on the slew buttons, keypad, and memories to get around
than on the tuning knob (unless the problem is recent).

Is there a fix?

Igor

Dear Igor,

This is one of the problems I have had with my own Grundig Satellit
800 which I purchased new from Universal Radio and received in early
June 2000. My radio "lasted" three and a half years before I noticed
several problems, the same tuning knob problem you're having being one
of them.

I sent the radio back to Drake (it was by then, of course, out of
warranty) and it was returned apparently fixed. Unfortunately within a
year some other problems showed up including the tuning knob (encoder)
problem again. Back again to Drake - back to me apparently fixed. But
no - the sync circuit became obviously misaligned within another year
- and the tuning knob problem turned up again just like a bad penny.

Back again to Drake and again it came back apparently fixed and THIS
time it appears to have stayed fixed. (If you're keeping track, the
last fix took place in December 2005.)

Obviously, by this time, I was somewhat disenchanted with this radio
which I previously had liked very much. I STILL think its design is
one of the best ever! But its quality of parts and construction leave
a LOT to be desired. I am afraid its longevity will not reflect the
price paid for it.

In 2004 I purchased an AOR AR7030 Plus which was especially customized
for me by the factory; the purchase was through THE SHORTWAVE SHOP in
the UK. THIS radio is built like the proverbial tank.

Since I own this AOR and since I am somewhat less confident in the
durability of the Grundig Satellit 800, I do not use the latter with
anywhere near the frequency (no pun intended) that I did previously,
much preferring to listen via the AR7030 Plus, a MUCH better receiver
and one which is constructed to a very high standard (better sound
quality too).

Note that, in my opinion, price has little to do with quality of
construction - my Sony ICF-SW7600G/GRs are also built to a very high
construction standard and I won't be surprised if they are still going
strong long after my Satellit 800 is residing in the local landfill.

I believe that a "fix" for this encoder problem has been posted
somewhere on the web (I just checked the files at the Yahoo Satellit
800 group but no luck there) but I think that your best bet would be
to send the radio back to Drake. Telephone them, ask to speak with
Bill Frost, and tell him your problem. He will probably tell you to
send the radio to them and enclose a letter of explanation. Do this
and address the letter to Mr. Frost. Hopefully he will assign a
competent technician to work on your radio (and let's hope that the
tech is not having a "bad day!").

I do have to tell you that each time I sent the radio back to Drake it
cost me about $150.00 including shipping both ways. That's about
$450.00 in total for repairs to a $500.00 radio!

So, the next time my radio starts performing less than optimally, I
shall either "live with it" or dispatch the radio to that above-
mentioned landfill. My "fixing" days with this receiver are done.

But, as this may be the first time you've had a problem, it may be
wise and cost-effective for you to send the radio to Drake at least
this once as I indicated.

Best of luck,

Joe

On Jun 7, 2:00 am, Igor wrote:
I've owned a Satellit 800 for about 4 years. I've been using
it a lot lately and have started to notice a very odd, annoying
phenomenon with the tuning knob. Basically, when you turn it in one
direction, the frequency goes in the opposite direction, and it takes
several seconds and several tries to get it to go in the right
direction. Anyone else encounter this?

Apparently I'm not the only person to have experienced this:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...0d1c302f7b3f29

"the most annoying problem being that theres some back-frequency
jumping occasionally when the tuning knob is being turned clockwise"

I can only assume that I went 4 years without noticing this because I
relied more on the slew buttons, keypad, and memories to get around
than on the tuning knob (unless the problem is recent).

Is there a fix?

Igor

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:02:31 -0700 (PDT), Joe Analssandrini
wrote:

snip

I do have to tell you that each time I sent the radio back to Drake it
cost me about $150.00 including shipping both ways. That's about
$450.00 in total for repairs to a $500.00 radio!

So, the next time my radio starts performing less than optimally, I
shall either "live with it" or dispatch the radio to that above-
mentioned landfill. My "fixing" days with this receiver are done.

But, as this may be the first time you've had a problem, it may be
wise and cost-effective for you to send the radio to Drake at least
this once as I indicated.

Joe: You had to send it back THREE times? Sounds like a nightmare.

I'll have to seriously consider whether I want to send it in to get
fixed (assuming I can't solve the problem myself), or just live with
it. I do really like this radio overall and this is the only trouble
that it's given me to date, so it probably is worth $150 to have
repaired.

Through the course of your repairs, did Drake ever explain to you what
was behind the trouble with the tuning knob?

I tried searching for stuff on the web about this issue but couldn't
find anything. I guess the Satellit 800 doesn't have the cult
following that other radios do.

Igor

Igor wrote:

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 15:02:31 -0700 (PDT), Joe Analssandrini
wrote:

snip

I do have to tell you that each time I sent the radio back to Drake it
cost me about $150.00 including shipping both ways. That's about
$450.00 in total for repairs to a $500.00 radio!

So, the next time my radio starts performing less than optimally, I
shall either "live with it" or dispatch the radio to that above-
mentioned landfill. My "fixing" days with this receiver are done.

But, as this may be the first time you've had a problem, it may be
wise and cost-effective for you to send the radio to Drake at least
this once as I indicated.


Joe: You had to send it back THREE times? Sounds like a nightmare.

I'll have to seriously consider whether I want to send it in to get
fixed (assuming I can't solve the problem myself), or just live with
it. I do really like this radio overall and this is the only trouble
that it's given me to date, so it probably is worth $150 to have
repaired.

Through the course of your repairs, did Drake ever explain to you what
was behind the trouble with the tuning knob?

I tried searching for stuff on the web about this issue but couldn't
find anything. I guess the Satellit 800 doesn't have the cult
following that other radios do.

Search the Sangean ATS803A and Realistic DX-440 resources (Yahoo group,
websites, Usenet archives) -- the rotary encoder can exhibit the same
symptoms and there are recommended cleaning and rework suggestions together
with good photos on the net.

Michael

On Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:27:09 -0500, msg wrote:

Search the Sangean ATS803A and Realistic DX-440 resources (Yahoo group,
websites, Usenet archives) -- the rotary encoder can exhibit the same
symptoms and there are recommended cleaning and rework suggestions together
with good photos on the net.

Thanks. Now that I know that I'm probably dealing with a bad rotary
encoder, that should narrow things down quite a bit.

Dear Igor,

Yes, my radio has been back to Drake three times. And no, they never
actually explained what had gone wrong with my receiver. They did
itemize the parts replaced (some of which I had not asked for - but
they determined that they needed replacing) and they did correct all
of the problems I did report. It's just that the repairs did not
"hold" the first two times. The radio seems to be fine now but, as I
said, I do not use it anywhere nearly as much as I had before I bought
the AOR AR7030 Plus.

I have been given to understand that the problem with the tuning knob
(the encoder is, in fact, a mechanical one NOT an optical one which
would have been far more reliable and long-lasting) has to do with
some built-in lubrication. In any event, when it starts going "bad,"
when you tune "up" the frequency jumps "down" at first. My original
tuning encoder was replaced with the newer ball-bearing one on Drake's
first "try" at repairing the set. I cannot recall if it was replaced
on the second try (I think it was) or just "repaired," but I know that
it definitely was replaced on the third "try."

All in all, the Grundig Satellit 800 is a great design but
unfortunately it is poorly executed. Based on what I have read about
the newer Eton E1[XM], it appears that this problem is endemic with
Eton-marketed receivers and is due solely to cost considerations. In
other words, they want to "put it out" as cheaply as possible yet make
the most profit possible. Quality considerations appear to be "way
down the list." They evidently feel that putting out a substandard set
and paying for warranty work is cheaper for them than to make a radio
properly in the first place. After all, many users will not even
realize that their set is performing poorly and will never send it
back.

If I were you, I'd have my set fixed just this once but never again
(unless, when you got it back, it was apparent that the repair was
unsatisfactory; Drake does warrant its repairs for, I think, 90 days).

Of course I'm not trying to tell you how to spend your money. I will
tell you that, unless Eton changes its ways, and I see evidence of
this in publications and online discussion groups, I shall not be
purchasing any of their products no matter how tempting.

"Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me."

Best,

Joe

On Jun 8, 12:05 am, Igor wrote:

Joe: You had to send it back THREE times? Sounds like a nightmare.

I'll have to seriously consider whether I want to send it in to get
fixed (assuming I can't solve the problem myself), or just live with
it. I do really like this radio overall and this is the only trouble
that it's given me to date, so it probably is worth $150 to have
repaired.

Through the course of your repairs, did Drake ever explain to you what
was behind the trouble with the tuning knob?

I tried searching for stuff on the web about this issue but couldn't
find anything. I guess the Satellit 800 doesn't have the cult
following that other radios do.

Igor

On Sun, 8 Jun 2008 11:35:06 -0700 (PDT), Joe Analssandrini
wrote:

The radio seems to be fine now but, as I
said, I do not use it anywhere nearly as much as I had before I bought
the AOR AR7030 Plus.

Getting something like the AR7030 Plus is certainly tempting if these
are the types of problems one can expect with "cheaper" sets (not that
I consider the Satellit 800 to have been inexpensive).

I'm not sure how useful a tabletop model would be to me, though, since
setting up an outdoor antenna isn't an option where I live. I'm also
not sure how much I would like the LCD menu-driven approach of the
AR7030.

In any event, when it starts going "bad,"
when you tune "up" the frequency jumps "down" at first.

Yup, that's exactly what's happening. And when you try to tune up
after the the frequency has gone down, it refuses to do so for several
seconds; getting it to go past the frequency from which you were
trying to tune up is like swimming against the tide.

What I find really vexing about this is that I've only used the radio
lightly in the 4 years that I've owned it. It's not like I was
spending 2 or 3 hours a day turning that knob. I strongly suspect that
the encoder may have been faulty from day one, but that I didn't
notice it. If I noticed it, I probably assumed it was a quirk or some
minor software glitch rather than a serious problem.

Based on what I have read about
the newer Eton E1[XM], it appears that this problem is endemic with
Eton-marketed receivers and is due solely to cost considerations.

I'm sorry to hear that. The Eton E1 is about the only product out
there that looks like it could be a direct replacement for the
Satellit 800 feature-wise.

Honestly, aside from the encoder problem, I think my Satellit 800
still has many years of service left in it, so I'm not thinking about
replacement. If I had to replace it, though, I'm not sure what I'd go
for. There's a few decent, inexpensive portables out there, and some
professional-grade rack-mount stuff that I could never afford (even if
I wanted it), but everything in the middle seems to have dried up.
Your AOR is one of the last few consumer desktop receivers one can
purchase new.

If I were you, I'd have my set fixed just this once but never again
(unless, when you got it back, it was apparent that the repair was
unsatisfactory; Drake does warrant its repairs for, I think, 90 days).

Of course I'm not trying to tell you how to spend your money.

Nothing you've said has come off as patronizing. You've given me good
advice and I enjoy reading your posts.