Realistic STA-90 receiver questions
71Sears
Posts: 22
in Electronics
I recently bought a Realistic STA-90 receiver, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive. But I'm looking for the manual and the breakdown diagram for the receiver. I will attempt to post pics when I get it. Any help finding these manuals is greatly appreciated! Also, what do think of yours if you have one? Was it worth $100 out of my wallet? Just needs the back lights to be replaced but supposedly works.
Comments
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Radio Shack used to make some damn good receivers. My first receiver was a Realistic cassette receiver. It worked fine until it fell off of the roof of my sisters car while I was moving the seat to have room for it. I had literally just got it out of the shop earlier that day and they had finally fixed a problem that plagued it for months. With repeated visits to the shop for the same problem. I very nearly cried!!
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honestaquarian wrote: »Radio Shack used to make some damn good receivers. My first receiver was a Realistic cassette receiver. It worked fine until it fell off of the roof of my sisters car while I was moving the seat to have room for it. I had literally just got it out of the shop earlier that day and they had finally fixed a problem that plagued it for months. With repeated visits to the shop for the same problem. I very nearly cried!!
Wow that's a sad story! I'm hoping that doesn't happen to my STA-77A our STA-90! That goes for my near mint Nova 8B speakers too! I love my STA-77A rated at 18 WPC , but the STA-90 was on ebay and couldn't pass it up! Time for 45 WPC!
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Heard good things about the STA-90. I own the latter STA-95 which is more of a looker but may not be any better, perhaps even a step down from yours-a lot of people love the 90! I had the 95 looked at and it's been bullet proof, fingers crossed, for about five years now!
Also have some Nova 8s, a pleasant speaker overall, but I'm driving those with a Pioneer SX-3900 fluroscan, early '80s.
Is $100 too much? Well, probably not in this day and age as prices rise. When I picked up the 95 which needed work, I got it from a guy in Jersey who was more focused on selling his MONSTER class receivers for a good profit, so I picked up three units from this guy for less than a $100 (STA-95, Vector Research-VR5000, and a Kenwood KR-5400). All three for about 90 something. He just wanted them gone!Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
source: www.radioshackcatalogs.com (1978)
Perfectly OK -- wickedly overpriced when new; not bad for 100 Samoleums today if perfect cosmetically & functionally, I'd opine.
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OMG
I remember when they used to do those systems in their catalog. I made sure I had a Radio Shack catalog every single year from the seventies through the eighties!
I would have had to replace my SCR series receiver anyway,as it had trouble driving my SDA-1B's at anything above moderate volume. When I cranked up the volume I would hear a loud clack from the receiver and then no audio until I turned the volume down. The protection circuitry would disconnect the amp section to keep the amp from blowing up because of the low impedance load that the 1B's presented. It was 60wpc and I got it in 1986. -
I got the SDA-1B's two years later and learned the hard way that you should always buy the speakers FIRST and then the amp or receiver after to suit the speakers. This is when I got my hands on two Carver M-400t's and ran into another issue mentioned in another thread here.
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Heard good things about the STA-90. I own the latter STA-95 which is more of a looker but may not be any better, perhaps even a step down from yours-a lot of people love the 90! I had the 95 looked at and it's been bullet proof, fingers crossed, for about five years now!
Also have some Nova 8s, a pleasant speaker overall, but I'm driving those with a Pioneer SX-3900 fluroscan, early '80s.
Is $100 too much? Well, probably not in this day and age as prices rise. When I picked up the 95 which needed work, I got it from a guy in Jersey who was more focused on selling his MONSTER class receivers for a good profit, so I picked up three units from this guy for less than a $100 (STA-95, Vector Research-VR5000, and a Kenwood KR-5400). All three for about 90 something. He just wanted them gone!
Thanks for the info, I think I did good considering I got the STA-77A for $60
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mhardy6647 wrote: »
source: www.radioshackcatalogs.com (1978)
Perfectly OK -- wickedly overpriced when new; not bad for 100 Samoleums today if perfect cosmetically & functionally, I'd opine.
I found out they were made between 1976 and 1978 with 1978 being more expensive than 76 and 77
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Nice! I have the next model down, the STA-84, that I swiped from my dad, who swiped it from my uncle, and I like it a lot. The tuner doesn't work properly, but the receiver sure sounds nice with an old B&K digital tuner I have, and some little LSi7's.
I couldn't find a manual for the STA-90, but here they are attached as .pdf for the STA-84 and STA-95 that CNH has, along with an image of the specs listed for a few of them. Not the same as the actual manual for the STA-90, but should get you familiar, and give you something to play with.
I've found HiFi Engine and Manualslib to have a few old manuals. Maybe someone over on AK or Vinyl Engine will have one for the STA-90?
And another screenshot of the Radio Shack catalogs page along the same lines of what mhardy shared above for a side-by-side comparison
I disabled signatures. -
... and, for completeness, the STA-95/960 mentioned by CNH.
I loves me the cosmetics of this particular model... and, in spite of myself, I really wouldn't mind acquiring one of these someday. Not in the market nor nothin', mind you; just sayin'...
;-)
(1980)
(1981)
again, catalog scans from www.radioshackcatalogs.com -- a wonderful resource.
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I'm a sucker for Realistic receivers. I've got an STA-77A and a couple of STA-84's, but I don't have a 90... I bet I was watching that very unit you got on the auction site the other day and I thought about trying to get it, but I don't really NEED any more receivers. My uncle has an STA-90 that he bought new in '77. I've always liked the way it looks.
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Nice! I have the next model down, the STA-84, that I swiped from my dad, who swiped it from my uncle, and I like it a lot. The tuner doesn't work properly, but the receiver sure sounds nice with an old B&K digital tuner I have, and some little LSi7's.
I couldn't find a manual for the STA-90, but here they are attached as .pdf for the STA-84 and STA-95 that CNH has, along with an image of the specs listed for a few of them. Not the same as the actual manual for the STA-90, but should get you familiar, and give you something to play with.
I've found HiFi Engine and Manualslib to have a few old manuals. Maybe someone over on AK or Vinyl Engine will have one for the STA-90?
And another screenshot of the Radio Shack catalogs page along the same lines of what mhardy shared above for a side-by-side comparison
Thanks for the info and the side by side comparison sheet of the various receivers! I'm still looking around, I did find the specs sheet, but not the electrical diagram yet.
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I'm a sucker for Realistic receivers. I've got an STA-77A and a couple of STA-84's, but I don't have a 90... I bet I was watching that very unit you got on the auction site the other day and I thought about trying to get it, but I don't really NEED any more receivers. My uncle has an STA-90 that he bought new in '77. I've always liked the way it looks.
The one I got just ended on Monday on eBay. It was at 2 bids of $60 plus shipping, I just had to have it, plus it was a steal compared to what I was being offered! I know for sure I'm never getting rid of either receivers of mine!
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I've opened up the package last night and the receiver came just as described. I'm looking for the proper fuse lamps for the radio tuner part of the backlight. There's 5 total, and they are different fuses from what I've normally seen.
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Pictured
are the two working ones for the signal strength meters -
man, that's in really nice shape!
where are you looking for the lamps? always been curious where to find that sort of thing.I disabled signatures. -
man, that's in really nice shape!
where are you looking for the lamps? always been curious where to find that sort of thing.
I'm in the same boat as you, I'm not sure where to look. I've heard of these lights being called "fuse lamps" or "axial lamps" not sure which term applies to the style I have though.
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Fuse style lamps look like -- fuses.
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/fuse-type-lamps/1406
A similar style (used sometimes in automotive applications and famously found in vintage Fisher vacuum tube receivers) is known as a "festoon lamp" (no idea why).
The lamps shown in the meters in the post above are... interesting. They apparently are soldered in.
Might be hard to find. You'll need to figure out the voltage (which a DMM should be able to help with) and you may need to know the current draw (which will be harder to suss out).
If a fuse style bulb would physically fit, one could solder 'pigtails' onto a fuse bulb and then solder those into the circuit(s). Kludgy but better than darkness.
Are they just in the meters or are their similar types of lamps illuminating the dial, too?
One bright (heh, see what I did there?) spot: It is entirely possible that the dial lamps are wired in series. If so, one burned out lamp will take out the whole string. In other words, if you can ID one open lamp, you may be able to jumper around it (may need a small value 1 watt resistor to limit current) and get the rest to light :-/
In the good old days, one could traipse down to Radio Shack and pick up a couple of pretty much any kind of "pilot lamp" bulbs (albeit at inflated prices). Those days are gone.
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mhardy6647 wrote: »Fuse style lamps look like -- fuses.
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/fuse-type-lamps/1406
A similar style (used sometimes in automotive applications and famously found in vintage Fisher vacuum tube receivers) is known as a "festoon lamp" (no idea why).
The lamps shown in the meters in the post above are... interesting. They apparently are soldered in.
Might be hard to find. You'll need to figure out the voltage (which a DMM should be able to help with) and you may need to know the current draw (which will be harder to suss out).
If a fuse style bulb would physically fit, one could solder 'pigtails' onto a fuse bulb and then solder those into the circuit(s). Kludgy but better than darkness.
Are they just in the meters or are their similar types of lamps illuminating the dial, too?
One bright (heh, see what I did there?) spot: It is entirely possible that the dial lamps are wired in series. If so, one burned out lamp will take out the whole string. In other words, if you can ID one open lamp, you may be able to jumper around it (may need a small value 1 watt resistor to limit current) and get the rest to light :-/
In the good old days, one could traipse down to Radio Shack and pick up a couple of pretty much any kind of "pilot lamp" bulbs (albeit at inflated prices). Those days are gone.
The dial lamps are set up the same way as the meter lamls are, soldered to a circuit board. I'm not sure how to measure/determine the correct voltage and draw from the bulbs as I am new to this! Although my dad is an electrical engineer so I might ask him for some help. This is another reason I'd like to find the schematic for the STA-90! I'll get pictures in a little bit of how the dial lamps are set up. -
If they're 250 mA @ 12V, something like this might work (If it were physically about the same size)...
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DISTRIBUTED-BY-MCM-SIM-TO-25-080-/25-455
MCM Electronics, Mouser, Digikey, Allied (etc.) are good sources for lamps. PartsExpress doesn't have much, nor does Antique Electronic Supply.
MCM Electronics' selection is easy to browse:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/category/Project-Lamps/0000000402
EDIT: Oh, there's an 8V lamp of similar configuration from MCM, too:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DISTRIBUTED-BY-MCM-SIM-TO-25-080-/25-450 -
mhardy6647 wrote: »If they're 250 mA @ 12V, something like this might work (If it were physically about the same size)...
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DISTRIBUTED-BY-MCM-SIM-TO-25-080-/25-455
MCM Electronics, Mouser, Digikey, Allied (etc.) are good sources for lamps. PartsExpress doesn't have much, nor does Antique Electronic Supply.
MCM Electronics' selection is easy to browse:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/category/Project-Lamps/0000000402
EDIT: Oh, there's an 8V lamp of similar configuration from MCM, too:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DISTRIBUTED-BY-MCM-SIM-TO-25-080-/25-450
A buddy of mine told me that I can use 12v Christmas light lamps since the lamps I have are harder to find and more expensive. He said it works perfectly, so I'm going to try just holding the Christmas light to the solder joints of the old lamps and see if I'm even getting power to the old lamps.
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That sounds like a good plan to test the status of the existing lamps/string -- but I thought that the old series-string miniature Christmas tree bulbs were typically 3 volts(?). Thirty or so in series per string to plug in to an AC domestic power outlet.
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haha, man, I was just gonna joke about using a string of Christmas lights after reading Mark's postA buddy of mine told me that I can use 12v Christmas light lampsmhardy6647 wrote: »It is entirely possible that the dial lamps are wired in series. If so, one burned out lamp will take out the whole string. In other words, if you can ID one open lamp
It's fun though, isn't it?
Have you run it yet at all?
I was always pretty impressed with the sound of the STA-84, even after spending time with some modern gear. I like the "atmosphere" some of these old receivers provide.I disabled signatures. -
Actually seeing that quoted makes me realize I mis-phrased everything! What I meant to say was one bad bulb would keep them ALL from lighting, in a series string. If the OP's lucky, he/she (I'm guessing 'he') might only have one bulb that's actually bad!
Thanks (seriously) for the clarification!
Yes, troubleshooting is fun (and I'm not being facetious).
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mhardy6647 wrote: »That sounds like a good plan to test the status of the existing lamps/string -- but I thought that the old series-string miniature Christmas tree bulbs were typically 3 volts(?). Thirty or so in series per string to plug in to an AC domestic power outlet.
I have power to the light circuit board, but the lamps are for sure burnt out. I got a reading of 8 Volts, but I'm not sure about the milliamperes: 100 150 200 250?
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haha, man, I was just gonna joke about using a string of Christmas lights after reading Mark's postA buddy of mine told me that I can use 12v Christmas light lampsmhardy6647 wrote: »It is entirely possible that the dial lamps are wired in series. If so, one burned out lamp will take out the whole string. In other words, if you can ID one open lamp
It's fun though, isn't it?
Have you run it yet at all?
I was always pretty impressed with the sound of the STA-84, even after spending time with some modern gear. I like the "atmosphere" some of these old receivers provide.
I've ran the receiver on a small 3" bookshelf test speaker and bothe channels function perfectly, but I haven't hooked it up to the actual stereo yet. I'm looking to replace the burnt out lamps first before I go and hook up everything else.
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mhardy6647 wrote: »Actually seeing that quoted makes me realize I mis-phrased everything! What I meant to say was one bad bulb would keep them ALL from lighting, in a series string. If the OP's lucky, he/she (I'm guessing 'he') might only have one bulb that's actually bad!
Thanks (seriously) for the clarification!
Yes, troubleshooting is fun (and I'm not being facetious).
I'm a "he" lol. I totally understood what you meant, but I think I'm going to replace all the dial tuner bulbs so all the lighting is even and leave the meters alone. I've narrowed it to an 8V lamp, just not sure what milliamperes the lamps should be
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If you're way off in the current draw (with the replacements) you'll have some issues. Don't ask me how I know this :- (
Most of us are "he"s but not all so I try to be gender-inclusive when I'm not sure ;-)
Good luck with that receiver!
Oh, one other thing -- if you have a DMM, you should check the DC "offset" voltage of the outputs and make sure all is well. I am not sure, but I assume, it's got an "OCL" (output capacitor-less) or so-called "direct coupled" amplifier section.
There's a good sticky at www.audiokarma.org (if memory serves) on basic check-out parameters for vintage ss components if you need info/guidance.
Again, I apologize if you don't need "intro" type information!
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mhardy6647 wrote: »If you're way off in the current draw (with the replacements) you'll have some issues. Don't ask me how I know this :- (
Most of us are "he"s but not all so I try to be gender-inclusive when I'm not sure ;-)
Good luck with that receiver!
Oh, one other thing -- if you have a DMM, you should check the DC "offset" voltage of the outputs and make sure all is well. I am not sure, but I assume, it's got an "OCL" (output capacitor-less) or so-called "direct coupled" amplifier section.
There's a good sticky at www.audiokarma.org (if memory serves) on basic check-out parameters for vintage ss components if you need info/guidance.
Again, I apologize if you don't need "intro" type information!
I'm new to all of this, but I've said before that I know my bulbs are burnt out, so I'll be pulling the soldered in bulbs and soldering fuse holder clips to use the more common fuse lamps to make it easier to replace again and cheaper overall. I'm going to pull a good bulb tonight and figure out the draw from it and get some bulbs and clips on order. -
The DC offset comments have nothing to do with the lamps -- and everything to do with the health and suitability of the receiver's power amplifier to use with a pair of (presumably) valuable speakers :- )
I apologize for being too subtle when I changed the subject!
The bottom line is that the lamps are cosmetic; the performance of the "active" electronics is mission critical.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/amplifier-distortion-dc-offset-and-you.5634/
