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Wang Ruohong's column

[Discussion on engine of Desheng PL550 radio]

2006-07-10 14:15:00

Tecsun PL550 digital tuning radio is a new generation of

advanced radio products, it has excellent receiving ability,
powerful control function and convenient and quick operation
performance. 

The designed shortwave sensitivity adjustment, IF narrow

band control, and IF offset control can significantly improve
the shortwave receiving effect. 

As a new generation of digital tuning machines, PL550 has

caught up with and surpassed the first-generation imported
famous machines such as SONY SW-7600GR in terms of
performance and operation, and has higher cost performance.
After many days of use and research on the circuit design of
this machine, I can still find out some of its problems. This
article is only for the reference of Desheng engineers and
radio enthusiasts.

(1) The power switch of the machine adopts two PNP

transistors 8550, one of which is inserted between the 4V
regulator and the pre-stage power supply, and the other is
between the battery and the power amplifier power supply. 

The 4V regulator is always on, simultaneously powering the

digital control circuit and clock.

When the battery is turned on, the 4.8V voltage of the battery
will pass through Q31 e and b poles, R94, Q32 c and e poles
into the ground, and the current is about
(4.8-0.6-0.1)/(560×10 -3 ) ≈ 7.3mA. 

Similarly, the current flowing through the e and b poles of Q26,

R95, Q32 c and e poles is (4-0.6-0.1)/(560×10 -3 )≈5.9mA, and
the two currents have a total of 7.3+5.9=13.2mA.

On the one hand, this current is consumed in vain, which

increases the static current of the radio by 13.2mA, which
affects the battery life; on the other hand, even if the transistor
has a large base current, its emitter and collector voltage
drops cannot be Zero, the dynamic resistance in the tube
deteriorates the voltage stability of the load terminal, which is
harmful to the pre-stage circuit and the power amplifier circuit.

To this end, I used a miniature dual-channel high-efficiency,

low-power, new voltage regulator MAX8862 with a start-up
control terminal to replace the power switch of the original
machine, so that the above problems can be solved perfectly. 

After the improvement, the static consumption of the whole

machine is reduced from the original MW 39mA, SW 36mA,
FM 48mA to MW 27mA, SW 24mA, FM 36mA. 

The 4V regulator of the original machine is still retained and

only powers the digital circuits.

This is a micro-power chip with two linear voltage regulators

inside. The rated output current of the main circuit is 250mA,
the auxiliary circuit is 100mA, the voltage drop of the main
circuit is only 160mV when the output is 200mA, and the static
working current of the whole circuit is 200uA. It is less than
1uA in the off state, so it can be used directly as a switching
element. 

Readers can also use TC1055-3.6V, TPS7336, MAX8860,

etc. as pre-stage regulators, and MAX1792, LT1529, etc. as
power amplifier regulators. 

Note that all devices must be of the SMD type and must be
tightly installed at the appropriate position in the machine,
which requires a higher process.

(2) The machine has 5-level battery power indicator and low-

voltage automatic shutdown function. It is measured that when
the terminal voltage of the battery pack changes from 4.40V to
5.20V, it just corresponds to the change of the 5-level power
display, and the automatic shutdown voltage is 4.35V. 

I analyzed this design to make sure the 4V regulator works

fine, but it's very unreasonable for the battery. 

First, the voltage reduction characteristics of the digital circuit

and the analog circuit of the machine are very good, and it can
work normally even at 3V; the standard capacity of the NiMH
battery is 1V, so the automatic shutdown voltage of 4V should
be designed. (4 batteries) instead of 4.35V! 

Otherwise, the capacity of the battery will be reduced.

I actually measured that the SONY SW-7600G radio

automatically shuts down at 3.4V, which can maximize the
capacity of the battery. 

Corresponding to this, the output voltage of the voltage

regulator in the circuit should also be set at 3.8V, so that the
voltage regulator still has a voltage drop of 0.2V before the
automatic shutdown to ensure its stable operation. 

To this end, I tried to adjust the machine and found the CHKIN
terminal from the cable socket of the circuit board. It is the 4th
pin of the right row from the back of the printed board. It is
connected to a 220K resistor. Solder this resistor to a 470K
potentiometer. Instead, repeatedly adjust the output voltage of
the variable output DC power supply (you must have) and the
470K potentiometer, find the position when the automatic
shutdown voltage is 4V, and replace the potentiometer with
the same resistance value. ended. 
According to reason, the 4V regulator of the original machine
should also be replaced by MAX8860, and its output should
be adjusted to 3.8V, but a slight voltage drop will not affect the
clock, so the original device can also be retained.

(3) The PL550 is designed with a tone switch, which controls

the connection or disconnection of an RC series network at
the input end of the power amplifier. I think the function of the
tone switch is to cut the treble and reduce the noise, not boost
the bass, so, the R should be shorted, these are R86 and
R87, located near the tone switch.

(4) There is an error in the clock of the machine. My machine

is 30s slower every day, and the digital frequency display is
not accurate enough. There is often an error of 1-2KHZ in the
short wave, which is caused by the inaccurate frequency of
the crystal. Please German Attention engineers. It is very
difficult to test the accuracy of the frequency or find a precision
crystal device to replace it under amateur conditions.
(5) The power display of the machine only works when it is
turned off, but in fact we are mainly concerned with the power
on power (terminal voltage). , so a key should be designed as
the "field strength/electricity" display conversion in the power-
on state.

(6) The pass band of the IF broadband filter of this machine is

still not wide enough, and the effect of improving the treble is
not obvious enough, so a device with a bandwidth of 8-10KHZ
should be selected.

(7) The shuttle function of the machine is extremely

convenient for short-wave tuning, and you no longer need to
press the keys to step. However, due to the addition of
squelch control in the power amplifier circuit, each step of the
shuttle will produce a short squelch effect, and a series of
tuning steps are accompanied by a gasping sound, which is
very annoying, and automatically searches for stations. , due
to the effect of squelch, it is easy to let the weak station slide
past and not be noticed. I found the MUTE pin on the socket
on the printed board, and soldered off the R106 it was
connected to. The problem was solved, and the tuning
became continuous all of a sudden. Except for a few
frequency bands, there will be a little bit of step "beep"
interference, and most of the others The frequency bands are
free of interference, almost the same as analog tuning. In
addition, I think the step-by-step positioning feel of the jog
shuttle should be strengthened and more obvious, which is
especially beneficial for FAST tuning and jog shuttle search
preset stations with larger step values.

(8) The problem that the antenna cannot stand upright has

been raised by many users. I filed a large bevel at the antenna
position of the casing, and the antenna could stand upright,
but the casing is prone to leaks and had to be attached with
stickers.

(9) The sound quality of the machine is quite good. Although

the output capacitor of the power amplifier circuit is two
220u10V electrolytic series connected, the impedance of the
speaker is as high as 25Ω, so the bass is still good. I replaced
C106 and C107 with two 470u10V ELNA electrolytic to make
the bass better. The two capacitors are located under the
speaker, and you can easily spot them, but the space is too
small and the height is not enough to install the capacitors flat.

(10)               The last question is that the 6V regulated power

supply/charger equipped with the original machine lacks a grid
filter, which will cause certain interference to the short wave,
so I made a homemade one to replace it, using a metal shell
with a grid filter, Shielded cable output, the effect is very good,
no difference with the battery.