202-R Arrived

As a follow-up on the Festoon lamps in Fisher Tuners 101-R, 202-R and FM-1000 I found these parts listed:
101-R P/N 1-50082
202-R P/N 1-50082-61
R-200 P/N 1-50082-6
FM-1000 P/N 150082-6
In some Fisher Receivers:
500-C P/N 150441-4 early SN 10001-19999
800-C P/N 150082-8 SN 20001-29999
800-C P/N 150441-4 SN 30001-49999
I do not understand why in some model service manuals the part numbers have the leading "1"separated by a dash from the rest of the number and some even have a single or two digits following the main body of the part number. I'm sure it meant something to the people at Fisher, but this many years later its meaning is obscure to me. It is evident that over some model's production runs that changes were made in the dial lamp part numbers. Someone mentioned in another thread that the early dial lamps were supplied from Germany and later ones from Japan, so that could account for some differences.

Joe
 
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Thanks for listing this information Joe. You can add the FM-200B for the same 150082-6 as the R200 and FM-1000.

I was asking as the lamps in my R-200 and FM-1000, which I frequently use look a bit dull and not as bright as they should be. I figured it was possibly the age of the glass but tonight I thought I'd take a look. I'm not sure about my FM-200B as I don't use it. I know I had put lamps in them all many moons ago. Taking the FM-1000 apart I pulled out the fuse type lamp I had put in. In it's place I put an original festoon lamp. Powering it up I found the original much brighter. I'm guessing the fuse types are a higher voltage or just don't work as well at 6.3V.

Here's what I took out....
FM1000 8V lamp.jpg

Here is the original that I installed.....

FM1000 festoon.jpg
 
Love the 202-R! I have had a pristine 202-R in my system (looks fantastic next to the 400cx2) for 15 years now. Living in Los Angeles was great; I spent countless hours listening to KJazz 88.1 through the 202-R. Now I live on a small island with terrible reception, as the 2 or 3 stations that I'm able to pull in hold no appeal. It's bittersweet, as the mighty 202-R is relegated to mere ornamental status these days by virtue of its faceplate illuminating my living room in the wee hours of the night while a record is playing on the hi-fi.
 
The FM-1000 looks much better but I know the LED's in white would be a big improvement so I'm going to order a few.
Here's the tuner lit up with original festoon lamps.... sorry I didn't get any before photos.

FM1000 main lit.jpg

I will attach a comparison photo when I install white LED's. Thanks again Joe for the measurements of your LED replacements :D
 
Love the 202-R! I have had a pristine 202-R in my system (looks fantastic next to the 400cx2) for 15 years now. Living in Los Angeles was great; I spent countless hours listening to KJazz 88.1 through the 202-R. Now I live on a small island with terrible reception, as the 2 or 3 stations that I'm able to pull in hold no appeal. It's bittersweet, as the mighty 202-R is relegated to mere ornamental status these days by virtue of its faceplate illuminating my living room in the wee hours of the night while a record is playing on the hi-fi.


KJazz 88.1 comes in here loud and clear! Very popular station but fairly low powered.
 
Ivan;
I know a number of people who have nice FM tuners and live in areas of poor reception (mountainous areas). More than one of them has invested in a low power FM stereo modulator and feed it with audio from their records or from CDs etc. just to still be able to enjoy the performance of their FM tuners.

I am lucky that I have access to a good classical music station plus college/university stations that do broadcast a variety of music even if it is not 24 hours a day. Weekends seem to be the time that many broadcast folk, jazz and band music of various types.

Vendo81;
I have noticed that the OEM dial lamps have that coating of white paint along one edge that reflects the light back into the edge of the dial glass. I think that is one more reason that they provide more light than the plain fuse lamps without the white paint. It might be interesting to add some white enamel paint to one edge of the fuse lamps to see how much improvement it might produce. The new LED type lamps are made with surface mount LEDs mounted on a small substrate and only project light in one direction. That is part of the secret to their success. You may be right about the operating voltage of the OEM lamps versus many of the newer fuse lamp replacements. I note that many state they are made for 6-8VAC operation. I think the OEM lamps were strictly for 6.3VAC nominal voltage operation just like the vacuum tube filaments. One benefit of changing to LED lamps is that it reduces the AC current draw from the filament winding of the power transformer thus reducing the heat being generated within it.
Joe
 
On the problem I was having with my laptop computer, blowing out the dust with my air compressor seems to have helped significantly. I had done it last year, but evidently there was enough build-up to cause some level of overheating. The CPU seems to be operating cooler and without problems now. I may look at getting a new unit just in case.
Joe
 
Thanks for listing this information Joe. You can add the FM-200B for the same 150082-6 as the R200 and FM-1000.

I was asking as the lamps in my R-200 and FM-1000, which I frequently use look a bit dull and not as bright as they should be. I figured it was possibly the age of the glass but tonight I thought I'd take a look. I'm not sure about my FM-200B as I don't use it. I know I had put lamps in them all many moons ago. Taking the FM-1000 apart I pulled out the fuse type lamp I had put in. In it's place I put an original festoon lamp. Powering it up I found the original much brighter. I'm guessing the fuse types are a higher voltage or just don't work as well at 6.3V.

Here's what I took out....
View attachment 989708

Here is the original that I installed.....

View attachment 989709
I noticed that the dial lamp connector housing for the FM-1000 has the middle area cleared away and only the ends have the brown plastic flange surrounding the spring clips. The cleared away area in the middle allows for the slightly larger glass area to fit without pressing against a plastic wall like some of the earlier designs such as the 202-R. The 202-R I have has its connector housing made as a complete trough with plastic sides all along the vertical length of the housing. If a dial lamp with its glass OD larger than the end contacts is inserted, it will break the walls of the connector housing in the middle. This usually results in at least one end of the housing being damaged to the point that a new lamp will no longer stay clipped into the socket. A similar thing can happen with the FM-1000 style connector housing if a lamp with larger than original lamp end contacts is forced into the existing spring clips made for smaller OD lamp end contacts. Some of the repairs needed can only be accomplished with significant ingenuity applied to the problem.
Joe
 
I noticed that the dial lamp connector housing for the FM-1000 has the middle area cleared away and only the ends have the brown plastic flange surrounding the spring clips. The cleared away area in the middle allows for the slightly larger glass area to fit without pressing against a plastic wall like some of the earlier designs such as the 202-R. The 202-R I have has its connector housing made as a complete trough with plastic sides all along the vertical length of the housing. If a dial lamp with its glass OD larger than the end contacts is inserted, it will break the walls of the connector housing in the middle. This usually results in at least one end of the housing being damaged to the point that a new lamp will no longer stay clipped into the socket. A similar thing can happen with the FM-1000 style connector housing if a lamp with larger than original lamp end contacts is forced into the existing spring clips made for smaller OD lamp end contacts. Some of the repairs needed can only be accomplished with significant ingenuity applied to the problem.
Joe
There seems to be a lot of problems with these lamp holders, mostly with wider based lamps trying to be forced in. The FM1000 had this at one time. If you look closely at my photo you will notice the plastic backing is broken off the bottom, just to the left of the spring clip. I've found quite a few broken in different tuners and receivers.
 
vendo81;
Isn't that sad! I hate to see people abuse electrical and mechanical items. I have seen many antenna connection screws that someone tried to mechanically weld to the wires being attached and used so much force that they stripped the threads on the screws! Forcing a part into a connector it is not designed for will not end well. I had the same problem with the Electra VI tuner chassis I am working on for my granddaughter. One end of a lamp socket had the same type of damage. When I plugged in a new LED lamp in its place it would not stay in place, Dave Gillespie suggested removing the spring clip and rotating it 180 degrees and that worked. However, that connector will forever be a weak point in the unit. I suppose I should be thankful that the LED dial lamps that had been installed in the 202-R had such thin end caps that they deformed rather than breaking the connector housing.
Joe
 
I am finding that cabinets of either metal or wood are virtually non-existent on eBay so far. This leads me to suspect that most of them may have gone into console models. However the one I have does have traditional brown plastic Fisher feet on it, so perhaps it originally came with a cabinet. I have no idea what kind of cabinet though. I may have to make a wood cabinet to put it in. If I do I will provide enough depth to allow for adding the MPX-65 and its Bud chassis behind the existing tuner chassis. The front panel on the 202-R is 15 3/16" wide and 4 13/16" tall and the cabinet needs to be at least 12 inches deep or more if adding a MPX decoder.
Joe
 
Sorry, Joe,

I have seen one metal cabinet on the auction site which is identical to the one which my 202-R came in...about three or four months ago...and I grabbed it to house my FM-50-B.

There is a saying among auctioneers..."There are no friends at auctions."

I don't recall seeing any wooden cabinets on there lately.

My FM-50-B did not have a cabinet but did have the original plastic feet. Ditto my 100-R. I think they came with feet even if they were purchased sans cabinet? Dave? Larry?
 
FEET? NO CABINET. No FEET, Cabinet or Console. Keeps me on my toes, or the balls of my feet, depending on whether I got shoes with them or not. :p
 
heh...makes perfect sense that a tuner originally installed in a console would have no feet...but I meant, if one purchased just the tuner back in the day, with no cabinet?
 
I have been in touch with someone who has an R-200 tuner in a cabinet and he kindly measured the opening and dimensions of the cabinet for that tuner. The lip that the face-plate fits into is 15 1/2" wide by 5 1/8" high. The lip around that is about 1/4" wide and so is the trim forward of the face-plate. The cabinet is 12 inches deep 16 inches wide and 5 3/4 inches tall. I found one wood cabinet on eBay and bought it. It has some minor scratches, but should clean up OK and look pretty decent.

Joe
 
Sam;
I believe that is true. When I worked for a dealer during that time period I remember seeing tuners without cabinets on the sales shelves that had feet. Some had cabinets and of course also had feet. The dealer stocked a few cabinets suitable for the 400/500x/800x models plus some for tuners for customers that wanted them. A friend has a Fisher FM-200-B with feet but no case or cabinet. I am looking forward to getting mine into a cabinet as it is so easy to damage something around here. I seem to be getting more clumsy as I get older!:(
Joe
Cabinet 02.jpg Cabinet 03.jpg Cabinet 04.jpg Cabinet 05.jpg Cabinet 06.jpg
 
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