I wanted to be able to upload concerts that I recorded directly
to my computer via a digital connection, I was about to buy a
MDS-JE780, but
then I read Darren Tulk's article about adding digital outs to low-end Sony
decks. I took a leap of faith and bought a
Sony
MDS-JE470 Minidisc deck and ordered a transmitter, in the hopes that the mod
would be the same for this newer model as it was for the
MDS-JE440 and
MDS-JE330.
Introduction
As far as I can tell the internals use the same PCB on the
MDS-JE470 and the
MDS-JE780. There
are a bunch of blank spaces on the board which is where I assume all the added
parts of the 780 go. On the 470 there is a mounting points already labeled 'T"
and "R" for the optical connecters. You want to use the "T" mounting point
(which I assume stands for transmit)
Very small gauge wire, I used some 30 gauge wire from 'The Shack'.
Some kind of drill, I used a drill press for mine but you don't have to. I
was going to be hardcore and use a mortising bit to make a square hole for the
transmitter but it didn't work, so I just made a larger round hole.
Procedure
Take the unit apart by first removing the screws on both sides of the
cover.
There are four connecters that you have to remove: 1 for power, 1 for the
control panel, and 2 for the unit that reads the disc, you can probably
slightly manhandle the power connecter but be very careful not to bend the
other 3 connectors.
Unscrew the screw on the back cover holding the connecter plugs to the
rear
cover.
Remove the 2 screws holding the board to the frame of the unit.
There are 2 ways to solder the transmitter in, you can use solder wick or
a solder sucker to remove all the solder from the connection or you can do as
I did and just heat the connections lightly until the transmitter slides in.
Be very careful not to use a soldering iron that is too hot however because
you cold fry the transmitting unit or heat the board so much that the traces
come up from the board.
Run a wire from a positive 5 volt power source to
the center pin of the transmitter on the bottom side of the board, I
just poked around with my multimeter until I found the one that is circled but
I assume that any 5 volt source will work.
To make the hole in the rear panel, I removed the panel and eyeballed the
horizontal location of the transmitter, and took a ruler and drew some pencil
lines on the inside of the back panel along the top and bottom of the hole for
the optical receiver. There is probably a better way to do this but I am too
lazy to do it. after you make the big hole drill a smaller hole above the
center of the big hole on the same horizontal plane at the hole above the
optical receiving unit.
Screw everything back together, be very careful
with the connecters that I talked about earlier.
Rejoice with your new ability to output an optical digital signal!
