
HowtheCircuitsWork
TUNINGSYSTEM
TodaysFMelectronictuningsystemscan
generallybeclassifiedaseithera PhaseLocked
Loop(PLL)SynthesizerSystemorVoltageSyn-
thesizer,SignalLockedLoopSystem.
MclntoshhasselectedtheVoltageSynthesizer,a
SignalLockedLoop(SLL)Systemwhichlocksthe
MR500totheincomingsignaloftheFMstation.
Withthetunertunedtothestationfrequencyand
thecorrectionvoltagebeinggeneratedbythedetec-
tor"zero"crossing,allpartsofthetuner,mixer,
localosc.,IF,etc.areinsidethetuningloopandac-
curatetuningisassured.Aslongasthestation
transmitswithinthetuningrangeoftheMR500,
regardlessoffrequency,theSLLsystemwilllockon
tothestationandremaincenterchanneltuned.
Incontrast,inthePLLsystem,thelocaloscillator
frequencyiscomparedtoa referencewithinthe
tuner,usuallya crystalcontrolledoscillator.A com-
parisoncircuitgeneratesa correctionvoltageto
holdthelocaloscillatortoanexactmultipleofthe
referenceoscillator.Thefrequencyofthereference
oscillatormustbeequaltothestationchannelspac-
ing(200kHzintheUnitedStates)inordertocoverall
theFMchannels.Tuningisaccomplishedindis-
cretestepswhichmakesitimpossibletotuneto
frequenciesbetweenchannels.InareaswhereFM
programsaredistributedbycableornon-standard
frequencies,andinotherpartsoftheworldwhere
stationsmaybeassignedtofrequenciesotherthan
thosestandardintheUnitedStates,properrecep-
tionisnotpossible.AnotherlimitofthePLLsystem
isthatthesystemcangenerateharmonicsandspur-
iousresponsesinthedividerchainandfre-
quency/phasecomparator.Theseunwantedsignals
willaddnoiseinterferencetothereceivedstation.
ThesuperiorityoftheSignalLockedLoopSystem
madeittheobviouschoiceforthedemandingper-
formancerequiredoftheMR500.
OntheMR500,threemodesoftuningareprovid-
ed:MANUAL,SCANandPRESET.
IntheMANUALmodea regulatedtemperature
compensatedreferencevoltageisfedtothetuning
potentiometer.A portionofthisvoltageasselected
bythepositionofthepotentiometerisfedtothe
controllerintegratedcircuit(IC).Itisthenamplified,
filteredandappliedtothetuningvaractors.Proper
tuningisalwaysguaranteedsincetheoutputofthe
FMdetectoratzerocrossingisreferencedto4.75
voltsandisfedtotheS curveinputofthecontroller
througha DCamplifier.Ifa deviationfromthe4.75
voltsiscausedbya shiftintuningorstationdrift,
thecontrollergeneratesa correctionvoltageand
combinesitwiththevoltagebeingfedtothetuning
varactorstomaintainpropertuning.
Whena SCANfeathertouchpushbuttonispress-
eda DCramptuningvoltageisgenerated,risingin
voltageforSCANup,decayingforSCANdown.The
rampcontinuesuntilthezerocrossingofthedetec-
torS curveissensedattheinputofthecontroller.
Thetuningvoltagerampstopsandisthenmaintain-
edwithanynecessarycorrectionvoltageadded.
Thetuningvoltagepresentattheoutputofthe
controllermaybeputintoanyofthesixmemory
pushbuttonlocationsatanytime.Pressingthe
ENTERbuttoncausesanAnalogtoDigitalconver-
sionofthetuningvoltagetotakeplace.Then,while
stillholdingtheENTERbutton,pressingoneofthe
sixnumberedbuttonsstoresthetuninginformation,
indigitalform,withinthecontrolICmemory.
Amomentarypressofa presetstationpushbut-
tonwillinstantaneouslyrecallthestationfromthe
digitalmemory.Thetuningvoltageretainedinthe
electronicmemoryisdeliveredtotheoutputofthe
controller.Toinsurepropertuninga searchand
fetchoperationtakesplace.Thetuningvoltageis
movedplusandminusitsnominalvalueinincreas-
ingstepsuntilthecorrectstationzerocrossing
signalisreceivedfromthedetector.Thestationfre-
quencyiscapturedandonceagainthetuning
voltageismaintainedwithanynecessarycorrection
added.Eachtimea presetpushbuttonispressed,a
mutepulsesuppressesanynoisethatmayoccur
duringthetuningprocess.
DuringtheSCANmode,anoutputfromthecon-
trollerisusedtolowerthetunersensitivitytopre-
ventweaknoisystationsfrombeingheard.
Anautomaticallyrechargedlonglifenickelcad-
miumbatteryprovidesthenecessaryvoltagetothe
memorytoretainitsinstructionswhenACpowerto
thetuneristurnedoff.Thelastmodeofoperation
usedbeforeturnoffandthestationfrequencyarere-
tainedinthememory.Whenthepoweristurnedon
thetunerwillautomaticallyreturntothemodeof
operationandfrequencylastused.
FMTUNER
Antennaconnectionsfor300ohmtwinleadand
75ohmcoaxialcableareprovidedontherearpanel.
ThenormalinputimpedanceoftheFM-RFsectionis
75ohms.A Mclntoshdesignedandmanufacturedin-
ternalbalunmatchingtransformerprovidesa per-
fectmatchfora 300ohmantenna.Connectionsfor
thetwinleadaremadewithpushtypeterminalsand
atypeF connectorisprovidedforthecoaxialcon-
nection.
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