Its all Dutch to me

[Gordon Steadman]

My Pioneer PD S901 has just been 'fixed' by a local Dutch guy. He is a qualified engineer but spends most of his time fixing ride on mowers which is a big deal out here in rural France.

I think his mind was on 'grass' when he was working on the CD player. He said it was the laser and I managed to find one in Ireland. I wasn't too upset as I saw the prices of lasers on the bay. Mostly between £9 and £20 but........ as the Pioneer is upside down, mine was £100+ of course:eek:

Probably unfair as he says its perfect by the red book!! This was after I queried the strange behaviour of the 'fixed' player.

Anyway, it sounds absolutely wonderful as it used to but........... it will only play commercial CDs properly. Any of my home burnt disks, it either won't play or wont read the TOC but will still play them when 'play' is pressed!!!

Is this normal for a player of this age??? I'm sure it used to play everything I threw at it. Any quick fixes?? Any adjustments a total numpty can make that might fix this??

Any help from you technical geniuses will be appreciated.

[DSJR]

Many of these players need to be properly set up for light gain and focus.If these settings are slightly out, CD-R's won't always read properly. I do remember Linn sending out a dealer notice that many late 90's discs weren't to the Red Book standard and that these may not play on their players. Some early 90's machines would all but track up the side of a house, allowing good playback of bad discs, but later machines weren't as good with these, seemingly deliberately. In any case, error correction is one thing, but interpolation of missing chunks is another...

Can you get a service manual for this machine? This may give you some idea of what may be needed, but sadly, I reckon a proper test disc and oscilloscope may be needed to do the job properly :(

[Gordon Steadman]

Many of these players need to be properly set up for light gain and focus.If these settings are slightly out, CD-R's won't always read properly. I do remember Linn sending out a dealer notice that many late 90's discs weren't to the Red Book standard and that these may not play on their players. Some early 90's machines would all but track up the side of a house, allowing good playback of bad discs, but later machines weren't as good with these, seemingly deliberately. In any case, error correction is one thing, but interpolation of missing chunks is another...

Can you get a service manual for this machine? This may give you some idea of what may be needed, but sadly, I reckon a proper test disc and oscilloscope may be needed to do the job properly :(

Hi, Yup I've got a manual and I can see where the adjustment has to be made but I am not going to risk my usual suck it and see approach with something like this. I assume that the tracking or focus may only be slightly out and in theory, provided I mark where the pots were, I should be able to return it that position.

However, I reckon its too much of a risk as I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I can't take it back to the Dutch guy as he is upset with me for querying his work and has disappeared somewhere in a sulk.

For the moment I will have to put up with this then but hopefully, in due course, I can find a way of getting it adjusted. As I said previously, I know the machine will read everything as it used to be fine.

I am only half convinced that it was really the laser that was the problem as he said that there was another problem he had to fix after replacing the laser.:(

[Figlet108]

Dave is right. I used to have a PD S801 (from new) that was fine until I bought a Donovan box set that had so much crammed onto each disk it exceeded RB spec and wouldn't play them.
The machine was still under warranty and I got it fixed by Pioneer. The paperwork that came back said that the laser had to be 'aligned and focused'.

[Firebottle]

Gordon, it looks like you've got the CDP and I've got the 'scope, we'll have to arrange for the two to meet up.
(That would be strange offspring :eek:)

As you have the manual it should be an easy adjustment, I find it a challenge going in blind but having the manual is so much easier.

Talking of visits, for the interest of the viewers here is a photo from last time at Chez Firebottle when we were comparing phono amps:

http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/tt97/Paramotorpilot/P1030062.jpg?t=1369641283

:cool:Alan

[Gordon Steadman]

Ye gods,

Why is is that every photo I see of me, features the bit at the top without an adequate covering of thatch??

The meeting between the two sounds good. No doubt it will be arranged in due course.:)

[morris_minor]

My Pioneer PD S901 has just been 'fixed' by a local Dutch guy. He is a qualified engineer but spends most of his time fixing ride on mowers . . . . .

Any adjustments a total numpty can make that might fix this??

You could get a no.2 box spanner and lower the blades a little . . . Failing that give it bit more choke. :eyebrows:

[Gordon Steadman]

You could get a no.2 box spanner and lower the blades a little . . . Failing that give it bit more choke. :eyebrows:

Thanks Bob,

Thats about my level. A deep technical edification, thats wot I got:)

[morris_minor]

You're welcome Gordon! (BTW hope you sort it out . . . )