My NAT01 has just started to drift off station. This seems worse at the lower end of the frequency range (e.g. Radio 3 at 91.0 MHz) than at the higher frequencies. I’ve found that if I turn it off and leave it for a few hours and then turn it on again, it holds station for a few hours, but then drifts off again.
Has anyone else ever had this problem and would you know if I can have it sorted out at HQ (eventually)? The NAT01 is my favourite source component, so I will be really keen to get it fixed if I can. It was fully serviced in 2015.
Clive - certainly a job for HQ. Could be as simple as a drift in voltage from one of the rails in the power supply or a re-alignment of the head unit. They have the right test equipment (and expertise with this tuner) to ensure your 01 is back to full health.
Yes, had mine done a couple of years back. Holds station perfectly. I could really tell the difference when they started broadcasting R3 from presenters houses as opposed to the studio.
Hi David, it’s an olive NAT01, which I’ve had from new. The aerial is a Galaxie 17 by Ron Smith, so I get a strong signal. It started to drift last autumn, then corrected itself. But it’s started again, so I think it’s got to go back to HQ. Thankfully I can still listen to the radio through the ND555, which although good, is just not up there in NAT01 territory.
Definitely a service job, and is a problem that will affect all analogue tuner front ends at some point as they age. The tuner will almost certainly incorporate an AFC to ‘lock’ the frequency by phase adjustment into the discriminator as is the case with most high end analogue tuners, but that can work only so far to cancel drift if the variable frequency oscillator is starting to drift badly, likely due to aging capacitors, or failing voltage or feedback regulation for the VFO.
I find my NAT03 drifts a little when warming up if it’s been switched off for a while … but I can live with that.
Thanks for your reply, Simon. It sounds like it should be repairable, but I’ll be a bit disappointed if it needs a full service just five years after it was last serviced. The real issue, however, is when, given the current pandemic. Thankfully I do have the ND555, which is a passable substitute, but offering many many more stations.
Simon, I apologize for being off topic, but you seem to have substantial knowledge in regards to Naim products. My question to you is, what is your take on leaving the amp on or turning it off after a days session. I bought a 250 dr some weeks ago and I have left it on since I installed it. My understanding is that, in addition to better SQ when warm, the components actually take more punishment by turning the amp on/off.
Hi, I am sure my knowledge of Naim products is no more than many here, but I’d be pleased to share my views.
Turning on most electrical equipment tends to stress it more than it remaining on… but there is a balance… as remaining on for long periods of time will age the components.
Therefore if listening every day or every few days it is best to keep on… however if you are going away or not going to listen for say a week or longer then probably best turn it off.
I must be lucky so far as my 01 which is Olive has not yet let me down. One day it will but that’s the nature of elecronics. Interesting your ND555 is a bit of a runner up to the 01. Mine stays on R3 and live feeds from Wigmore Hall and the Proms can be really excellent.
Off topic as well. Will we have the Proms from the BBC scheduled stsrt late July?
Wimbledon tennis is just before and that’s in the balance.
Difficult days at the moment.,
I really doubt that the proms will proceed in anything like their normal way. But perhaps we can hope that there will be some live performances from different venues with no audiences and the BBC must have lots of archive material, if they can get all the artists concerned to agree to them being rebroadcast in a sort of virtual proms revisited.
Best
hi clive, had my olive 01 serviced in august 2019 by naim £600 all in.As said in another post drift tends to happen when first turned on but since mine has been serviced not so much.but the biggest improvement I have had is fitting a galaxy 14 to my chimney stack,wow. I got100dB signal strength at the aerial had to attenuate it by 30dB at the tuner. my advice is get your 01 serviced and get the best aerial you can its a no brainer. ps my first post
