[BC] Accurian Insides

[stanleybadams]

I was tooling around the internet looking for reviews and information on the
Accurian, as I received mine this week but have not turned it on yet.
Here is what someone posted on a web site  (www.avs.forum.com)  by the name
of Eric.  So I am giving credit where credit is due 

I finally had the courage to open up the radio and look inside (Hint: some
screws are hidden under the speaker grilles).

There is a Samsung module that plugs into a PCB named "Table-Top Version
2.2". The Main PCB contains the Power Supply, Amplifier, and connectors for
the display, speakers, keypad, etc. The Samsung HDRMDVM0101 module contains
the heart of the radio. The module has a 20 pin and a 50 pin connector to
interface to the Main PCB. The module also has a JTAG connector for the
ATMEL Processor.

ICs on the module include:
ATMEL Mega128L Low Power AVR RISC Processor with 128K Flash
TI TMS320DRI350AZTS5 DSP for HD Radio Baseband and Analog Decoding
TI DRI8201 Intergrated AFE
Spansion S29GL032M90TFIR4 3.3V 32Mb Flash x8/x16 Bottom Boot Sector
ESMT M12L128324A 3.3V 4MBx32 SDRam
1803A 24bit 96K Stereo Audio ADC
1782 24bit 96K Stereo Audio DAC
LM833 Dual Op Amp

This is a Software Defined Radio where the AM or FM signal is converted to a
10.7 MHz IF and then digitized. The digitized IF gets downconverted and fed
to the DSP where either AM, FM or HD signals are decoded and sent to the
Stereo Audio DAC. It appears even the Aux Input is digitized.

Several companies offer modules based on the HD reference design so I would
not be surprised if most HD radios use the same scheme. Plug a module into a
I/O board and put a custom user interface/configuration in flash.


Obviously, the speakers can be replaced or the audio fed into a stereo
system, but as you see they are modules such as this Samsung, or what TI or
others would build.  It is a single unit radio that has the real guts in the
decoders, not in the RF section.  Somebody ought to build a good American
made copy of this thing, don't you think?


Stanley Adams
Memphis