Troubleshooting becker europa

[richard230sl]

Hello!

After some years of driving around with a modern radio, a very nice man gave me a becker europa mono radio as a gift.

I tried hooking it up to a 12v laboratory power supply but there is no life to be seen.

Is there anybody who can give some advise on how to troubleshoot these radio s step by step?

I saw that the black12v plus wire of the radio goes into a small steel cubical box on the back of the radio (see pictures attached) and can see a blue wire coming out of it and running to the circuit board. Should this blue wire be connected to the black one in the cube and provide power to the radio? (Anybody knows what is in this cube?)Measurements with an ohm meter showed no connection between the blue and black, so if this should be the case, then I will try to open the cube and reconnect the power supply.

Thanks for your help;
I know there are specialists around who can fix these radios for us, but I would prefer it if I can learn some more of this technology and do some basic trouble shooting and measurements at home.

Please see pictures of the radio attached, and details (cube (indicated in green) and the blue wire running from the cube to the circuit board

[BobH]

Hello Richard, i'm told this is a heatsink, but i'm not sure what it's protecting if it's on the +ve feed.  I guess you'll need to open the box, perhaps there's a large diode, can't think what else might be in a power feed.  if it is a diode your multimeter will be able to read continuity if you reverse the leads.  I've read that some of these radios can work on 6V, but i wouldn't think it was anything to do with that, i think the voltage is selected by using a bridging link or similar

If you're not aware there is quite a bit of detail on radios in the Technical Manual, link above left and then search for radios when you're on the tech manual main page

Let us know what you find

[richard230sl]

Thanks Bob,
Yes the information in the technical manual is very helpful.
I tested with the diode function on the multimeter but do not find continuity.
In some of the schematics I see a inductor and condensor on the 12v plus input. Maybe this is in the small cube and broken..

The blue wire runs to the on of switch of the radio. There is no power there to be measured when the black wire is powered. I suspect a problem in the very first part of the power supply.

Will keep you updated about the progress

Tips are still welcome!
Thanks!

[BobH]

Hello Richard, so, the heat sink contains some form of filter/smoother for the supply.  Hopefully if the components have failed you can source them to replace

You may be better off speaking to a vintage radio forum for advice, such as these

https://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=369884

Hope you can get it repaired, good to keep old equipment working

[scoot]

Photograph that back side of the radio and post it please.

[richard230sl]

Thanks BobH and Scoot!

Please find a picture of the rear attached.
There was a sticker on the side of the radio saying Becker Grand Prix, but I suppose this is a becker Europa MU mono (?)

The good news is that I was able to get the radio working.
I bypassed the filter on the feedline by putting 12v on the circuitboard where the on of switch is soldered.
The radio showed some life but still did not operate.
I hooked up a bluetooth receiver to the 6 pins Din connector and found out that the amplifier and rest of the radio worked great!
I then re wired the antenna and worked on the autotune mechanism (lesson learned for me as a layman; the buttons must be pushed much deeper and harder then I originally tried)

The end result is; the radio works perfect on tuner and on external input now!

Any tips on what values the inductor and condensor in the cube need to be are appreciated. Also: if people have a high res schematic for this type of radio; that would be welcome (only did find low resolution schematics, or becker europa mu stereo or lmku schematics, but did not find high res europa mu mono schematic)

I am really surprised by the warm sound that comes out of this old little machine!

[BobH]

Hello Richard, looks like one of the Grand Prix radios, see link below

https://www.chromelondon.com/becker-grand-prix-wonderbar-vintage-chrome-classic-car-fm-radio-ferrari-porsche-etype-mercedes-3573-p.asp

These people may be willing to help you regarding the smoothing circuit components, may even be willing to supply them to you

Do you not have the front panel, dial etc on yours?, these may be available as spares if you're lucky

[richard230sl]

Thanks!
I do have a pinstripe faceplate which says; europa. (Cannot find it now)
So either the sticker (see photo attached ;grand prix) or the faceplate have been replaced