Help with Technics SL-Q6 programming feature

[jgrandi7]

I received a Technics SL-Q6 from eBay listed AS IS/BROKEN recently, when the only listed issue was a broken stylus. The tone arm was confirmed to work and the platter spun, so I figured it probably just needed a new cartridge/stylus. I bought it for $60, and the seller was nice enough to package the original cartridge, an AT152, which from what I've seen is a pretty good micro-line capable p-mount cartridge. It would take a while for a replacement stylus to arrive, so I have been using a cartridge I have on hand, an AT450LP, in the meantime.
The machine sounds great. Speed is spot on, the tone arm moves smoothly, and I'm really surprised how well it performs. My main problems are with the programming feature. When I press one of the numbered buttons, the led that's supposed to turn red flickers a bit, and I have had to push it a couple times for the led to stay on. The sensor will scan the record, but when it reaches the end, the led turns off, and the tone arm moves back to the start position, seemingly forgetting that it scanned in the first place. I have tried changing the sensitivity setting of the sensor to no avail. Each of the numbers has the same issue where it will light up briefly, and I will have to hold it for a few seconds to stick. Is this a problem I can fix, or something electronics related that would be impossible to fix without getting a new record player. I'm happy with it now, but it would be nice if the feature worked properly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brier_John]

It seems nobody followed up on this. I just "won" an auction on Shop.Goodwill for a SL-Q6. I see the stylus is bent in the photos and am expecting to replace the Stylus and maybe the cartridge as I have not yet found a stylus for the original cartridge. I don't have the machine yet. When I do, I will be testing and cleaning. I will follow up this post with photos and operation of this turntable. I hope it works. But I have the diagnostic manual and am handy. After I confirm that the thing is intact and "works", I will take it apart and clean it up.

It sounds like the "eye" in the machine above is not seeing. Either the eye is dirty and should be cleaned, or it needs alignment. There is a guy on Youtube called Techmoan that has a detailed look at the programmable tracking SL6 and SL-J300R. The later is more like these Q6 madels than the SL-6. He explains how it should work.