Some radios have more guts than others. SABA Meersburg 100 restoration part 1

[@mattvoce1091]

I’m excited too. What an incredible piece of engineering.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@rádiosantigos1958]

I only know three guys that could do this kind of huge restoraration: Mr. Carlson, David Tipton and you. Well, maybe Marc and Stefan also. It is good to have guys like you to show us how to do it. Thanks.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks 😊. Michlag seems to have more experience at these than me. See his comment below - he’s done 2 with another one waiting for inspiration 😊

[@EsotericArctos]

Don from Don's Old Radio Shed has done some pretty great restorations as well. There are a few really good restoration channels, but admittedly not a lot, which is probably good as more youtubers doing it would mean even less for us to try as hobbyists. Mind you, I am pretty well priced out of it now anyway

[@rádiosantigos1958]

@@EsotericArctos I agree, I’ve just forgot Don’s channel. He is a very good one too.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Don is another of my regular channels.

[@dl7majstefan753]

What a radio and what a project! I´ll follow this absolutely.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks Stefan 👍

[@EsotericArctos]

You are so right about them becoming expensive. There are several people doing restores now and there is fierce competition for them now. You seem to find them in such good physical condition. I know even radios in poor physical condition are going for such high prices now. I guess they are becoming harder to find. For me, I have been kind of priced out of the restoration hobby now, so I have to get my fix watching you and similar channels.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Ive been told that in Germany it’s quite easy to find these at local events. Once they get onto the auction sites, things get crazy 😊

[@maartenschapendonk6345]

can't wait for episode 2 and 3 and so on. have to be brave have to start do it myself ;)

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 the difficult part is starting. After that it just moves forward.

[@anystereo]

Great timing! I got a ‘3000stereo automatic’ last fall. I really love it. mine has a plug stereo tube module and stereo output to the same speaker setup. I bought it from a guy whose grandpah was in the army and brought it home from Germany. 50-60 years ago. I did some work on it but have been hung up on the if alignment. So I’ll be watching. Watch out for the external speaker plugs -they have tiny switches built in to them and can get stuck- disabling the speakers. All very German and a lot fun figuring it out and getting it going again.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks for the tip on the speakers. I hope this alignment helps you out. I’ll be doing it by the book, so should help.

[@johnstone7697]

I just finished restoring a SABA 400-11 (Freiburg) with a factory installed Fisher MPX 75 muliplex adapter. What a monster that is! 14 tubes total. The pile of replacement capacitors was huge.The radio sounds absolutely fantastic. The one you are working on was known as the SABA 300 in the States.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍 the 400 is the 125 in Europe. Still on the lookout for one of those 😊

[@DavidTipton101]

All those speakers and it appears to be mono, I was waiting to see you pull out another EL84 from somewhere on the chassis. Built pre 1961 I guess. Nice project Manuel and very interesting to watch. I am back home and will catch up on your other recent videos I have missed. Cheers!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Seems almost impossible for one small EL84 to drive all those speakers 😊 This is a perfect example of marketing executives telling the engineers what do do. I can almost imagine the conversation 😂

[@EsotericArctos]

It does state Stereo on the front of the unit. They must have used some clever way to get Stereo from the phono input. Not sure. Would be weird to have Stereo mentioned if it was not stereo. Either that or someone wanted to "Fake" stereo....

[@DavidTipton101]

@@EsotericArctos It does say stereo... 🤔 It appears 'stereo' is achieved by connecting an external speaker. How you get stereo from a single tube will be interesting.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

It’s worse than that 😊 The stereo button cuts off the B+, and you can then use this unit as a speaker for a stereo amplifier 😊 I’ll be looking at it in more detail, but the “puzzle” is that it’s seems so crazy that I was hoping I’d misunderstood something.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

The way I’ve understood it so far (still hoping I’m not seeing something obvious, and will have a “d’oh” moment), you press stereo, and the B+ is cut off after the rectifier, and you have an extra speaker… that keeps all tubes’ heaters glowing, but no active function at all 😊

[@haraldlonn898]

Beautiful radio. Can not wait to se the rest of the videos.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@fransmaessen4990]

Great to see you are going to repair and restore a real radio :). I am a saba automatic fan and have repaired many of my own and also for friends. Will be great to see you work through this one. good luck.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks 😊

[@emilewetzels3475]

Looking foward to your project. I have his big brother the Lindau ( muziek truhe) with the stereo pick-up. It has the same radio as the Freiburg.😊 Even the stereo test singel from saba to test the pick-up stereo. I only have trobbel with stereo and the rihtspeaker on mono both speakers work. Hoop to learn how to repair mine. Aftershave sering all episodes.

[@emilewetzels3475]

Oh and I got hold of a original Saba repair manual😊

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@josephmagedanz4070]

Looking forward to this interesting project. Thanks for sharing!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Pleasure

[@retro_tech]

I'm really looking forward to this series, Manuel! Looks like a fantastic radio. I had never heard of these greencone Saba speakers being special... I have to go in my storage now to check if my Wildbad also has them.😅

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Yes, they are selling at crazy prices

[@OIE82]

That radio is an engineering marvel. Though, I can just hear the arguments that must have occurred during design. 😄

[@electronicsoldandnew]

True 😊

[@Donno308]

Wow this one is going to be interesting! Looking forward to it. I love these German radios and would love to do more if I could get my hands on them. Unfortunately they’re expensive in Australia as well. Cheers

[@electronicsoldandnew]

They’re getting expensive everywhere. I think I should move to Germany or the Netherlands when I decide to ‘retire’, so that I’ll save on the shipping tableware 😊

[@geirendre]

That looks like a fun and challenging project. Can't wait to follow you on this one. Are we maybe looking at a 10-part series here? 😄

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊 maybe. Sometimes things work out better than expected, but not often 😊

[@tomsheppard1666]

That is a proper monster. Very few valves for such a big set. The money went into the features and the mechanical assemblies which are hopefully robust enugh to withstand restoration. Good luck!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thank you 😊

[@Michlag]

Well I had 3 Freiburg 100 in sequence. Done the first two, the third is still awaiting... I don't feel like solving the same puzzle for the third time in a row 😂

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Yes, a break is a good idea. You need to rest those arms from turning this weight around 😊

[@Michlag]

@@electronicsoldandnew open and restore three tuning motors, three volume motors, recap the same caps thrice, oil relais and things thrice... Dismantle, remount... Too much work, too much

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I know what you mean. Those motors are a pain.

[@mackfisher4487]

Manuel your sob radio looks like quite a find, I look forward to finding out its idiosyncrasies. At 15:37, I see what appears to be a date code of 157.1 59, so may be manufactured January 1959.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Yes, these came out in ‘59 and ‘60, so that’s about right.

[@BobAndersson]

What fun: I've downloaded the service manual from electrotanya so I can follow along. I'm going to enjoy this one. I'm still not sure how the "stereo" marketing works with just one EL84 though? 🤔 Edit: I've just seen your reply to another post on the stereo question.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

It seems to be an early form of false advertising 😊 this is definitely mono.

[@danielsaturnino5715]

Happy head scratching!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@tubeDude48]

I understand! My wife doesn't like, (or understand) why I keep so many radio's.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊 a common problem many of us have.

[@miguelostermann9459]

I like your videos, your repairs are detailled and very carefully. A good timing of your new project, I have here a Meersburg-125 for restoration. the Allignment &Repair of the automatic channel search seems rather complicate. In the freiburg-125 manual is a small detailed description for the allignment. A very detailled description is in the german radiomuseum site, search for Reparaturmaßnahmen zur SABA Automatic Steuerung. There is an article from Elke Grund, the author of the 3 books "Radios in den 50er Jahren". Perhaps you have to translate the article in english using a translator-app. Jörg from the channel ve99online has made a series of restoration-videos of the Freiburg-12, esp. the automatic part. Buts again in german language. The Meersburg is not really stereo, only the output stage using the phono input. And is not expandable by an add. decoder module like later models. I am really looking forward for the next episodes, please make an episode about wood working, the painting of the case.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I have seen the German description of the motor alignments when I did the other models I restored. Very helpful. I will be showing the work in quite a lot of detail, including the cabinet. Hope you enjoy the series.

[@williammiller950]

i like it

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@jutukka]

Well, that single ended EL84 output stage is a bit disappointing for a "Spitzenempfänger" because I had a Swedish Luxor Ambassadör radio from the same era and it had a EL84 push and pull output stage giving 10+ watts even if it was mono. And is it real two channel output stage at all in this Saba, if there is only one EL84? I mean my 1959 Grundig SO 151 Konzertschrank has two SE EL84 output stages and OTs because the turntable and the amp is full stereo even if the radio of course isn't stereo.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Definitely not stereo as we know it. They probably just sim the left and right signal to get mono.

[@maartenschapendonk6345]

Could stereo have been an option. Like fm prepared but then Stereo prepared?

[@jutukka]

@@electronicsoldandnew Well, two speaker elements instead of four would have been enough. So you can sell those two extra elements because they are in fact unnecessary. 😁

[@electronicsoldandnew]

No, it would need another tube, another output transformer, balance pot … too much needed.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@boriskolev9513]

very strange... this radio is mono for sure, and maybe the dial glass is not original, because it's obviously from stereo model, I'm curious and looking forward for Miguel to find out 👍

[@electronicsoldandnew]

No, it’s definitely mono, with a single output transformer and EL84 power tube. The faceplate is original, and it definitely has both a mono and a stereo key, as well as the mono and stereo indicator lamps. This is actually the biggest puzzle: the stereo was a gimmick which basically allowed you to use the set as a second speaker for an external and totally independent amplifier. Really weird and a waste if you ask me, but I guess marketing ploys to sell more products are not a new concept 😊

[@boriskolev9513]

@@electronicsoldandnew write me the exact model, I'm curious to see what's in the schematic 😉

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Saba Meersburg automatic 100. The best service manual for this one is at hifiengine.com

[@saddamjafostes4933]

Good afternoon, I would like to know if you could help me. I have been trying to repair the automatic 7 saba radio. I managed to repair the transformer and changed an EL84. When I turn on the radio with the sound low it works fine, if I increase the volume the bass starts to go out of tune, but if I remove the bass it's fine. what could it be? the paper and electrolytic capacitors have all been changed. the speaker is good, I tried it elsewhere. I apologize for the translation, I'm from Portugal and I don't know how to write English

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Pode comentar em português. Pois, sou um 😊 Pela descrição parece-me possível que algum dos condensadores no circuito em torno do comando de baixos tenha sido erradamente substituído por um valor maior, o que é fácil de acontecer, ou então alguma resistência nesse mesmo circuito esteja mal. Começaria aí. Já me aconteceu substituir condensadores por valores diferentes daqueles que existiu no circuito.

[@saddamjafostes4933]

reparei mas ainda não mexi que estao duas resistencias de 1mohm e um de 2mhom estao com 650kohm+-.penso que sera um dos problemas esta mais ou menos situado no meio, so não sei se faz parte dos baixos a ponta delesesta brancode aquecimento. e umas das situações que não consigo fazer é o automatico que pare sempre depois do ponto certo. se tiver alguma maneira posso enviar video. agradeço desde ja pela a ajuda.@@electronicsoldandnew

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Existe uma descrição do alinhamento do automático no manual. Infelizmente faltam-me tempo para poder ajudar muito com seu projecto.

[@saddamjafostes4933]

vou ver se consigo, agardeço a disponibilidade@@electronicsoldandnew

[@saddamjafostes4933]

Boa noite, após varias tentativas continua igual. ja subtitui tambem a ef86 e esta igual. um dos valores que naõ bate muito certo é nas valvulas el84 nos pinos 7 e 9 tenho 300 /290v. e entre a el84 a outra teria que ter 87v e so tenho 9v nessa linha (pino 3)temos um cap 100uf e uma resistencia, ambos foram mudados. ao injectar audio pelo TA esta igual. o que me recomendaria? cumprimentos. @@electronicsoldandnew

[@Kemi0692]

Thats nice! This video will help me get my Freiburg 125 going for sure.🥹

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Hope it helps. Good luck.

[@wojciechtaras]

We keep our fingers crossed. In the case when the clutch is functional, the rest of the renovation is pure pleasure. Otherwise menuet-ukf.blogspot.com/2020/02/sprzego-saby-czyli-relacja-mechanika.html