244 Service manual? Or DBX calibration procedure

[gbkd80]

It seems to be nearly impossible to find a service manual for the 244, and I refuse to pay for one honestly; especially when most of the service manuals are out there as public domain. Anyway, not that I really need it, but I'd like to know if in that manual there is an outlined calibration procedure for the DBX circuit. I'm getting the 'pumping' phenomenon on just about everything that passes through it, and at first it was no big deal but the more I listen to it it just sounds wrong. I'm assuming there's got to be a way to even that out a bit even if it never fully goes away.

Can any 244 guys point me in the right direction?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

There are times to get the correct documentation that you have to bite the bullet and buy a good paper copy. I do this often at Stereomanuals.com

One example is the Pioneer RT909 that I have taken in. It needed some troubleshooting and the free Pdf file was garbage so I ordered the manual from Rick at Stereomanuals. Once I got into the paper manual the repair was not that difficult. Since that time I have repaired about 20 units from that same manual. Even buying one for a single machine is still a good thing to do as you never know when they will disappear and then you can be in trouble.
I have the 244 manual here and where do you think it came from? That unit is not a beginning repair persons unit as there are many complicated and tight fitting assemblies to get right. I have seen some units with Pinched wires due to improper service work. If they are head wires they are not so easy to find. I restored a couple of them in the last 6 months.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The encode and decode levels can be adjusted once the record levels are correct first. The procedure is not difficult but touching any of the other pots is asking for a lot of trouble as you have to build a stair step generator. Personally there is not a lot of trouble with dBx when you have the deck correctly biased and calibrated for the tape you use. The problem is that some have the calibration way off and then start to play with dBx levels and they will never get where they need to go and they make a mess of it.
If some manuals are hard to find it is because no one has scanned it. I used to send people to Hi Fi Engine but I have found that too many of their manuals are total garbage so if you want a good manual get it from Stereomanuals.com.
If you don't want a good paper manual then you are not serious about fixing the unit. Just remember that once it is messed up then it will cost more to put it back.