Arcam Alpha 7 Service Manual

ALPHA 7 & 8 TUNER SERVICE MANUAL ALPHA 7 & 8 TUNER SERVICE MANUAL
Arcam Alpha 7/8 FM/AM Tuner Service Manual
Issue 1 Serial Numbers beginning T7U ... and T8U..
(Paul Newton / Andy Howe / Simon Blandford May 99)
Circuit Description
The Alpha 7 and 8 tuners share the same printed circuit
board and technical specification but the main functions
of the Alpha 8 tuner can also be operated by remote
control.
Power Supply
Mains voltage selection is made by placing a fuse, of
appropriate value, in the 115V or 230V position.
The single secondary is rectified and regulated and
supplies four regulators.
• Z7 is always powered when the mains is
connected and keeps the preset memory of the
micro controller intact. The high-value capacitor
(C84) will keep this data safe, for a limited time, in
case of mains power failure.
• Z5 provides the main 12V supply rail for the RF
and audio circuits. This is always connected,
except for the supply to the FM front end, which is
disabled by Q2 when the unit is turned 'off'.
• Z4 powers the LED back light on the display PCB.
• Z6 is the 5V digital supply for the micro controller.
FM Tuner & IF
The FM aerial input is mixed in the front end FE1 which
provides a 10.7MHz IF output. This is filtered and
amplified by ceramic filters CF1 & CF2 and the circuit
based around Q9 & Q10. A third filter CF3 can be put in
circuit by fitting jumpers JP1 & JP2 across pins 2 & 4 and
1 & 3 of SK6 respectively. This effectively narrows the IF
band to improve selectivity. Transistors Q17 and Q21 are
part of the AGC circuit. The position of the jumper link
JP7 to either SK10 or SK11 determines from which point
the AGC circuit is triggered. The default is for the jumper
to be fitted to SK10 which minimizes cross modulation
and prevents the IF amp becoming saturated.
The LA1266 (Z9) demodulates the IF at pin 1 into an
audio output at pin 12. The quadrature coil is a
double-tuned device for best distortion performance.
When a station is tuned correctly the 'On Tune' signal
goes low and drives a green LED on the display PCB.
This signal is also used by the auto-stop detection and
muting circuits.
AM Tuner & IF
The LA1266 (Z9) contains the AM RF amplifier, oscillator
and mixer circuitry.
Switching between FM and AM modes is controlled by
the 'FM' signal from the micro controller which disables
the AM circuitry of Z9 and switches the path of the audio
signal through Z8.
MW/LW switching is performed by switching transistors
Q12, Q14 & Q15.
Each band has its own oscillator and aerial tuning coils,
tuned by a varicap diode all contained within the AM
module L5.
The 450kHz IF signal is filtered by coil and ceramic filter
combination T5.
Birdie Filter
The 'Birdie Filter' (L2) is a four pole low pass filter, flat to
about 53kHz, then with a very steep roll off from then
on.. This is designed to reduce co-channel interference
in FM Stereo and cut down on irritating 'birdie' noises.
Stereo Decoder
Stereo decoding is performed by LA3401 (Z8). The
38kHz reference signal is accurately created by ceramic
resonator X3 and does not require adjustment.
Stereo separation is adjusted for maximum by preset
RV1.
This IC also contains FM/AM audio switching and muting
functions.
Audio Filters & Output
The left and right channel audio outputs from Z8 are
filtered by the de-emphasis network of R1, C1 etc. The
correct de-emphasis network is selected by the position
of jumpers JP3 & JP4 on the pins of SK8. C2 & C102
(220pF) are selected for 50us and C3 & C103 (560pF) for
75us de-emphasis.
The final filter, based on Z3, is a two-pole low-pass circuit
with a cut-off frequency of around 20kHz. Also included
is a 19kHz notch filter, L1 & C4, that removes most of the
residual pilot tone.
Muting
When the power switch is turned off Q5 is switched off,
enabling the mute circuitry of the stereo decoder (Z8) via
diode D9. This removes the need for output muting
transistors and eliminates switching clicks and pops.
At switch-on the mute is enabled while C21 is charged
via Z8.
In normal use the mute inside Z8 is enabled in three
other ways:
Page 1 of 14
Issue 1 May 99