Broadcast stereo coder 2 — Circuit description and construction by Trevor Brook Surrey Electronics The complete coder is shown in Fig. 10 Ic, and IC; provide regulated and short-cireuit protected plus and minus 15.volt lines. The output voltage of these iics has reasonable temperature stability, which is desirable for the negative line, since it provides the reference for oscillator amplitude. ‘Though short-circuit protected, the regulators cannot withstand reverse polarity at their outputs, so Dye and Diz prevent damage, should the two supplies be inadvertently shorted together. The 19 kHz sine-wave oscillator described in part 1, IC), has one addition, the chain of diodes Dy.1« across the output. There is the chance that, when starting, the oscillator output could hit the supply rails and thus go beyond the linear region of the multiplier, IC, When the multiplier is overdriven its output, instead of rising further, distorts and begins to fall, ‘which means that the comparator no longer receives an input in proportion to the oscillator amplitude and the oscilla- tor stay’ locked into a condition where it oscillates at the supply clipping point. Diodes 11 to 14 clip the oscillations below the multiplier’s serious non-lin- arity level without affecting the oscil- lator distortion when running normally, at the designed output of 1 volt r.m.s. Multiplier IC, has its X+ and Y+ inputs tied together, so that it acts as a linear frequency doubler with Ro, providing trimming of 19 kHz feed: through rejection. The rejection figure obtainable worsens as the multiplier's maximum permissible input swing is approached, hence the reason for driving at 1 volt. The loss occurring in the multiplier is, recovered by IC, and, since it must provide over 30dB gain, a wide band- width op-amp is used, a 531. A 748 can just about manage the job but it ‘introduces a significant temperature: dependent phase shift, a very undesira ble characteristic in this part of the circuit Notch filter IC, has virtually. unity gain at 38 kHz and is within the capabilities of a 748. Of all the active notch arrangements I have tried, the ‘Wien bridge seems the most repeatable. No very high impedances are involved, the loss at double notch frequency is ess than 0.2dB, the corresponding phase shift is small and stable, and a notch deeper than 30dB can be'obtained at 19 kHz, Two adjustables set the time constant of one bridge arm and the circuit Q and both are adjusted for the deepest notch, Perhaps IC, and its associated circuitry is a lot of trouble to avoid a simple LC rejector; but cus- tom-wound inductors are also a lot of trouble, have poor tolerance and the possibility of causing distortion if ferrite cored. Capacitor 16 couples the 38 kHz into the balanced modulator and blocks the accumulated d.c. offset. Though only a volt or so, it is unlikely to be tempera- ture stable so Ray establishes a stiff grounding for the multiplier. The value of Cig is chosen with Rj, to cause small phase shift, yet provide some welcome roll off at low frequencies, since the 531 is a disgustingly noisy little animal. The ‘comparator sensing point is also taken from here, again with no worries about superimposed dc. Left-channel audio passes through Ry and Cy, where it receives pre-em- phasis of 30js. Capacitor 17 may be omitted for a flat frequency response or alink could replace R,yon the board and Ry be placed by a switch bank with various capacitors to give a choice of pre-emphasis. A straightforward audio amplifier IC; drive the first filter section through its correct source impedance, Rg, The filter is terminated by Ry, and feeds into a compound emitter follower, ‘Try Trs: single-transistor emitter fol- lowers cause too much distortion, even at signal levels below 1 volt as here. Resistor 48 is the source impedance for Fig which is terminated by Ry Ar rangements on the right channel are identical apart from F,,' terminating resistor which is split between a preset Rgy, and a fixed resistor. These filters are normally intended for use as a stereo pair, but on an experimental coder there appeared a surprisingly large phase shift between the M and S signals as 15 kHz was approached. This turned out to be due to crosstalk (at ~604B) between Weber ik, the two halves of the filter which produced a spurious signal of different phase on the ‘silent’ channel. The cure adopted here is to feed each channel back through the second half of its original filter block and keep the left and right channel blocks well apart. ‘The A and B signals emerging from Fyy and Fy, are fed via their phase shifting networks, Rj» Cas, Cz and Rrs, Cyy Cyy to the output adder IC,,. The different values for Cy, and Cz, is explained by different paths through the differencing amplifier and differ- ence in circuit board capacity for the two channels, ‘The differencing amplifier, ICy, uses a 748 rather than a 741, since less phase shift is introduced at ‘the higher audio frequencies and the change with tem- perature of the remaining phase shift is lower. The second drawback of the multipliers used here is that they produce a small amount of second harmonic distortion and, though this is immaterial in the doubler configura- tion, it is relevant when using the balanced modulator configuration. Such distortion on the audio port will produce second harmonic distortion for difference signals below 7.9 kHz and beat tone distortion for frequencies between 7.5 and 15 kHz. On the 38 KHz port, the effect will be to give an output, with associated sidebands, at 76 kHz. Like feedthrough, these effects worsen as the multiplier is driven harder and here the carrier level, and audio level for a full difference signal, are set 6dB below the multiplier’s non-linearity point, The audio takes precedence and goes to the X port, which has the better linearity specification. The objection to driving the balanced modulator at even lower levels is that noise would become obtrusive. The double-sideband. suppressed-carrier difference signal from ICyg is fed to the adder at the correct level via Ry. ‘The gain of 15dB required from IC; the output adder, for the S signal, is possible from a 748 and the noise level of these devices is also good enough for this position. The signal components may be switched individually by the ii, switch mounted on the board, S,.,+18 av - 10. Circuit diagram of complete 2 3 z é é tia Fig. and Ry» is present to stop the 748 going unstable should all the switches be tured off. A balanced output is pro- duced by IC}, which is a unity gain inverter. The sine-wave pilot signal is taken directly from the oscillator output, passed through a trimmable phase shift network C),, Ris, Rie and then atten- uated suitabiy by Ryy Rig before reach- ing the adder. Mono/Stereo switching is achieved by a reed relay mounted on the board immediately by the adder, which disconnects the pilot and S signal. The reverse diode and capacitor around the relay coil completely remove any click due to the switch but some click remains as the reed contacts make or break. There is no dc. offset being switched and no capacitor charging as the contacts close and the click only ‘occurs if the pilot is switched on at the iil. switch. The reason is that the 19 kHz sine wave is being interrupted instantaneously: another way of think- ing of it is 100% amplitude modulation, and a continuum of sideband energy will extend from dc. to infinity. The peak level of the click at the coder ‘output viewed on a 'scope with a 15 kHz filter and no de-emphasis is —30dB. Some coders leave the S signal on when in the mono mode but it is no trouble here to remove it and it seems good practice to do soi stereo performance is ‘not compromised Thellttle arrangement around the red and green Led.sallows mono and stereo indicators to operate along with the reed relay, while only using a single pole switch contact, which closes for stereo, This allows’ for easy remote switching. The green Le.d. passes full relay current in stereo and the red Led 4raws a small current in mono which is insufficient to hold the relay in, yet subjectively gives the same brightness because of the greater efficiency of red leds. Construction To achieve a compact layout, as well as to avoid links and keep signal tracks short in the interests of reducing crosstalk within the coder, the p.. board has to be double sided. The whole coder, including its power supplies and mains transformer, is accommodated on a board 165 by 165mm. To avoid hum pickup it is essential for the board- mounted mains transformer to be magnetically shielded. Though the board track layout is designed to avoid ground loops, many ics have built-in loops which make them susceptible to hum induction when in a magnetic field in the same plane as the i.c. chip. This applies particularly to the multipliers and regulators used here, and a cylin. drical Mumetal can for the mains transformer provides over 30dB reduc- tion in its hum field, a more than adequate margin. The heatsinks pro- vided for the regulators run hardly ‘warm to the touch and only reach 30°C78 above ambient under supply overload conditions. However, their sides provide convenient points for glueing down the large smoothing capacitors to prevent them from vibrating and their leads fracturing under severe mechanical shock. Clear Bostik 1 is suitable for the Purpose. All the trimmers are visible-setting, single-rotation types. None of them is doing more than providing a very fine trimming adjustment, so multiturn types are not justified. In addition, being able to see the position of a preset is extremely useful as an unusual setting frequently leads to discovery of an incipient fault. Resistors which have a bearing on ain, phase or important time constants are 2%, with thick film types being preferred for the lower values where they are available, since they have a lower temperature coefficient (£100ppm) than the 2% metal oxide types (+250ppm). Similar comments apply to capacitors where 1% silver mica types are used for the notch filter and pilot phase corrector with a low temperature-coefficient polycarbonate type for Cig Stripboard construction is not likely to be successful, but printed circuit boards are available from the address at the end. Ground tracks; radiate along the board from the output™ adder and there are in addition several, apparently redundant, ground tracks forming ground guards to reduce board leakage and intertrack capacity. The positioning of circuit sections on the board also contributes to minimal 19 or 38 kHz pickup along the audio paths or by the output amplifier. The long-tail pair comparator transistors in the oscillator are mounted together and a drop of glue between them will do no harm, While the difference signal is at a fairly high impedance, the capacity of its line has to be kept low to avoid loss or phase shift of the upper sideband and this is done by IC, being directly next to the adder, The board pins connecting the plus and minus 15V lines through the board to their distribution tracks across the top can be omitted until correct func- tioning of the power supplies has been checked. To simplify initial checking it is a good idea to omit the pre-emphasis capacitors as well, Cy;, Cy, so the coder can be set up with a flat frequency response. Parts list Ry 1.8K BBK=2% Cy, 33n10v Ry 18k Sokz2% 1net% Ry tee 39k ch 335 R, aoc 22k cr 4m 21% Re iM ee 4mm 21% Re 1M anes2% Ce 330 RS 470 33k. cy in 5% Ry thee 1% tesa Gi 5800p = 1% Re iw 470 cly iw 85% Rt 47k 43k22% cy oiBa @ Vek 2% TooKe2% Ci 50d =19% Ry B.2k+2% 470k*2% Cy yw £5% ny 82k 2% iets 6 Bn RY 22k ATOK%2% Co 3.39 Rie 330k + 2% 8.2k a Ww 25% 0 100k B2kt2% . Ce 10p, Ry 10k= 29% B2kz2% Cx 20p Ry 4702 2% ee oe a7 Ry 47025 33) oe 20 toezase = ha ae Sikes 33, ia ak 22k Iss 6 8« Ka on Stkeam om So Re 8 2k=2% a7ke2% & 5 Re ark 2% Re B2es2%0 | Re aye 2e ne 3a Rn Zasom aor Ron 33k Bn 108 O14 INGTa Rs 33k Ba 68k Dis 14001 Rao Ook+2% Reo 47+ 2% Dyes re iota Re SeKeo% Ie a ASO BBk=2% Ory 2 B 68k ©. Re 18k:22% 88k 0 R 1Bk=2% ot = 33k 5 Re anee2% Ah tr Hisas ea lake 2% a7 nae 5c309" Ry aneae Brow Te iad toes 2% wiaw Te sczsac a Ook 136 Ro ane 1 oem Ra BBk=2% ¢ ™ 5¢309, Re gaczon ~ Ci 22004/40v F 38k 2 1000 Re 22k S 100n Te L131 or Re ike2m 2200. 40v | TDAIAIS Re arera% Ch 1000 3 748. Re 33k é 47m iC Mc 4961 Ry ike2% CS agnst% 1S 531 Rey 4722% 3.3 nes Ra TooK=2% 40dn lok M1951 Wireless World, June 1877 Printed circuit boards A set of p.cbs comprising one double-sided board, which measures 6 x 64in, and two smaller single-sided boards is available at £7.50 inclusive from M. R. Sagin at 23 Keyes Road, London N.W2. X, 19kH2 erystal, RC 13U ‘Surrey Electronics, The Forge, Lucks Green, Cranleigh, Surrey) Mains transformer Surrey Electronics). F, F,, BLR2O1 1N fiters Harrogate Radio Ltd 2/3 Sykes Grove, Harrogate, W. Yorks). Heat sinks, Redpoint TVS :Elecrovalye, 26 St. dude's Road, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey Relay. dil. switch, trimmers and trimmer ‘capacitors can be’ obtained. from Doram Electronics, PO Box TR8, Wellington Road, Industral Estate, Wellington Bridge, Leeds 12 The next article will describe the alignment of the decoder. @ continued from page 38 Matrix H decoder component suppliers ‘The integrated circuits used in the BBC ‘matrix H decoder are normally available only to QS licencees of Sansui Electric Co, By ‘special arrangement, Sansui hhave agreed to supply the’ i.cs to constructors on the understanding that they are for private use and not for resale. (At the time of writing, Sansui's QS licensing arrangement does not allow manufacturers or kit suppliers to deviate from the Variomatrix circuit.) Price is £9.98 per set of four i.cs plus vast. from Sansui Audio Europe S.A., Spares Department, 39 Maple Street, London WI. Printed circuit boards for both the variable matrix and the phase shift circuits will be available at £6 inclusive per pair from M. R. Sagin, 23 Keyes Road, London NW2 Acknowledgment Thanks to C. B. B. Wood, Head of BBC Engineering Information Department, and P. S. Gaskell and P. A. Ratliff of the Engineering Research Department, authors of BBC report RD1977/2, whose information has been freely used, especially that of the listening tests, and to R. Ito of Sansui Electric Co, for their help during the preparation of the article on the purpose-built Matrix H decoder,