Monday, August 30, 2021

Blaupunkt Sultan 20200 with audio hum

The Sultan 20200 was made by Blaupunkt Ideal-Werke AG, in Berlin. It was built and sold in 1960-61. 


It shares the common circuit layout of 6 tubes ECC85 ECH81 EF89 EABC80 EM84 EL84 which were common in most radios of that era. It is a super heterodyne with 6 AM circuits and 10 FM circuits to receive Broadcast, Long Wave, Short Wave and FM. It has one main speaker and two side speakers but it is not a stereo set as that technology did not yet exist. First trials of stereo were done around 1958 and in 1964 WDR in Germany broadcasted it's first stereo signal. This was by no means the first but the UK and USA were also around this era.

The radio comes with a beautiful vertical magic eye. I really find that they add additional warmth to the glow of the face panels on these old radios.



The magic eye helps you tune the station to perfection. Gen X readers will say, why would I need that? I tune to 98.4 MHz and that is what I hear. Yes, well in those days radios were not so bang on target as they are today. The local oscillator that ran inside the radio to tune to that frequency, went off on a life of it's own as the radio warmed up. So the frequency would appear to drift. The user then had to adjust the frequency again, to get it back on target. The magic eye assisted the user in doing that. The closer you got to the frequency by tuning the dial, the closer the magic eye closed. When you are bang on frequency, the magic eye closes to a minimum. The audio and visual indicator, helped the user to tune the radio quickly back to the correct frequency. Modern quartz or digital oscillators make this a thing of the past.

I purchased this set for my daughter who wanted a small form factor, tube radio with FM and Bluetooth. I looked around the internet  and found this one on https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/ in Germany where I live. It was local and the guy wanted 30 € for it. I bought it and brought it home. To my amazement, it had never ever been worked on and was 100% original. So I hooked it up to my variac and dim bulb current limited supply to see if it would show any signs of life.

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Disclaimer - if you are following along, you are doing so at your own risk. These radios have potentially lethal voltages that can kill you. If you have not already read my blog on making your workplace safe, head over there first and check it out. 

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The radio sprang to life almost right away, however, it had a terrible 50 Hz audio hum across the band. However, strong stations could be heard and the radio was not drawing more than the recommended 300 mA at 220V. Obviously the filter capacitor that smooths the DC voltage had to be replaced. A suitable replacement was found at http://askjanfirst.de/eindex.htm 

It is possible to cut an old cap open and re-stuff it with new components. If you are interested in doing that, take a look at "Carls Backward" blog.


However, I find that if a customer is willing to pay for your time and the components, he is also prepared to pay for a replacement component. Jan also has very competitive prices. His low key operation also removes costs, allowing him to offer parts at eye catching prices.

I attach Bluetooth using a USB Bluetooth adapter with a stereo input jack.


These are readily available from Amazon or any other vendor. There are cheaper models on the market but this one really does sound good. I then purchase a 3.5mm audio cable and cut off the red and white connectors.


Amazon stock these and the cable is ideal to cut and re-solder. Many other cable types are hard to re-solder and do not lend themselves to this application. When you cut off the cinch connectors, you need to combine the stereo signals to one mono signal for input to the TA input on the back of the radio. This can be achieved using a simple circuit:



Instead of trying to come up with a circuit board to convert mains voltage to USB-voltage and trying to hide everything inside the radio, I prefer to use a wall socket outlet with USB. The radio is plugged into this and then the whole thing is plugged into the wall outlet. The USB Bluetooth adapter is then plugged into the charging port.


This has the advantage, that the whole USB circuitry stays outside the radio at a distance from the sensitive receiver circuitry and so removes any chance of interference in the receiver.

Here is a video of the radio after the cap was replaced but before it was restored and cleaned:












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