Arcam Alpha 10 User's Manual
Contents
1. POWER SWITCH Switches the unit on and off When it is switched on the power indicator above it will glow green For optimum sonic performance the analogue power supply is kept powered up all the time the unit is connected to a live mains supply Releasing the front panel power switch powers down all other circuitry BYPASS VOLUME PHONES FRONT PANEL BUTTONS Bypass Switch The bypass switch is used to switch between the Alpha 10 tuners audio output and the audio output of a conventional FM tuner attached to the FM Audio In sockets The digital output and the headphones socket will continue to output the audio from the currently selected service on the Alpha 10 tuner Headphones Socket Accepts headphones rated between 8 and 600 ohms fitted with a 6 3mm stereo jack plug If your headphones are fitted with a different plug please contact your dealer for a suitable adaptor Inserting the headphone jack does not mute cut off the audio outputs of the tuner Note Only the audio signal of the currently selected service goes to the headphone socket even in bypass mode It is not possible to listen to the audio from an FM tuner attached to the Alpha 10 tuner via the headphone socket Volume Control Use this control to adjust the volume level of the headphone socket It has no effect on the audio output sockets at the rear of the tuner STORE SELECT SEARCH SEARCHING FOR SERVICES If you are using the t2. REMOTE CONTROL HANDSET Don t forget to fit the 2 x AAA batteries and ensure they are inserted correctly into the back of the remote handset before using it The remote control handset sends a message to an infrared receiver which is located behind the Arcam badge on the front of the tuner Do not place anything in front of this badge or the remote control may not operate the unit The supplied remote control can be used to operate most of the Alpha 10 tuner s functions from the comfort of your armchair It can also control the volume control and input selector where appropriate of all remotely controllable Arcam amplifiers the basic functions of Arcam CD players except the Alpha One and the Alpha 8 FM tuner The TUNER section shown with white buttons on the diagram controls both the Alpha 10 tuner and the Alpha 8 FM AM tuner The codes sent are changed by first pressing the DAB or FM AM buttons To control the Alpha 10 tuner first press the DAB button on the remote This will set the bypass mode to off To select a DAB preset press the appropriate preset number The Alpha 10 tuner only has 7 presets so the 8 16 button on the remote will have no effect as this is for use with the Alpha 8 Tuner To duplicate the action of moving the front panel rotor on the tuner to select a service press the LEFT lt RIGHT gt buttons followed by SEL The display brightness can be adjusted by pressing DISP to cycle through the following 3 se
3. Alpha 10 TE Digital Radio Tuner Thank you for choosing ARCAM USING THIS HANDBOOK This handbook has been designed to make the installation and use of your Digital Radio Tuner straightforward However we appreciate that some of our customers require more technical information When extra technical information is available you will see the following at the end of the section Want more info See technical notes on page 6 Installation SAFETY There are 19 safety items set out on the back page of this handbook For your own safety and to ensure that your tuner works properly we strongly recommend that you read and follow them CONNECTING TO A POWER SUPPLY WRONG PLUG Check that your mains supply voltage agrees with the voltage setting on the rear panel of the unit just above the mains inlet socket If your mains supply voltage is different consult your Arcam dealer or distributor or Arcam Customer Support in the UK on 44 0 1223 203203 Push the plug of the supplied mains lead into the power inlet socket on the back of the unit Make sure it is pushed in firmly Push the plug on the other end of the cable to your mains supply socket Want more info See technical note on page 6 This unit is double insulated and does not require an earth That is why there is no centre earth pin in the mains inlet socket of the tuner CONNECTING TO OTHER EQUIPMENT Note Interconnecting cables are not
4. Abnormal Smell If an abnormal smell or smoke is detected from the appliance immediately turn the power off and unplug the unit from the wall outlet Contact your dealer immediately 17 Damage Requiring Service The appliance should be serviced by qualified service personnel when A The power supply cord or the plug has been damaged or B Objects have fallen or liquid has s d into the appliance or C The appliance has been exposed to rain or D The appliance does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance or E The appliance has been dropped or the enclosure damaged 18 Servicing The user should not attempt to service the appliance beyond that described in the operating instructions other servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel 19 The appliance has been designed for use in moderate climates Issue 5 99 ARCAM Pembroke Avenue Waterbeach Cambridge CB5 9PB England Telephone 44 0 1223 203203 Fax 44 0 1223 863384 e mail support arcam co uk www arcam co uk SHO73E
5. All warnings on the appliance and in the operating instructions should be adhered to 4 Follow Instructions All operating and use instructions should be followed 5 Water and Moisture The appliance should not be used near water for example near a bathtub washbow kitchen sink laundry tub in a wet basement or near a swimming pool etc 6 Racks and Stands The appliance should be used only with a rack or stand that is recommended for use with audio equipment If the equipment is on a portable rack it should be moved with care Quick stops excessive force and uneven surfaces may cause the combination to overturn 7 Ventilation The appliance should be situated so that its location or position does not interfere with its proper ventilation For example the appliance should not be situated on a bed sofa rug or similar surface that may block the ventilation openings or placed in a built in installation such as a bookcase or cabinet that may impede the flow of air through the ventilation openings We recommend a minimum distance of 50mm 2 inches around the sides and top of the apparatus to provide adequate ventilation 8 Heat The appliance should be situated away from naked flames and equipment such as radiators stoves or other appliances including amplifiers that produce heat 9 Power Sources The appliance should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in the operating instructions or as
6. higher number of services If the DAB services in your area are transmitted on L band 1 5 GHz then consult your dealer with regard to the best aerial to use There is a small aerial made by Bosch which is suitable for L Band and Band Ill and has been used with good results The Bosch part number is FOIDEOO 144 Robert Bosch Multimedia System GmbH amp Co KG Dept MU VMK Postfach 77 77 77 D 31132 Hildesheim Phone 49 5121 49 4525 Fax 49 5121 49 2150 E mai ml_mu_support frbosch de Internet www boschmultimedia de FOR MORE INFORMATION For United Kingdom users the BBC publishes a booklet entitled Radio Transmitting Stations which contains details of all BBC transmitters in the UK together with other useful hints and tips This booklet can be obtained on request by sending a large stamped addressed envelope to BBC Engineering Information Dept BBC Radio 201 Wood Lane London W12 7TS Telephone 08700 100123 Internet htip Amww bbc co uk enginfo rpb dab htm For transmitters http www bbc co uk dab For general DAB info The Radio Authority publishes a booklet which contains details of all independent radio stations This booklet can be obtained on request by sending a large stamped addressed envelope to Radio Authority Holbrook House 14 Great Queen Street Holborn London WC2B 5DG Telephone 0171 430 2724 Fax 0171 405 7062 Internet http www radioauthority org uk Operating the tuner
7. marked on the appliance 10 Grounding Precautions should be taken so that the grounding means of the appliance is not defeated 11 Power Cord Protection Power supply cords should be routed so that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or against them paying particular attention to cords and plugs and the point where they exit from the appliance 12 Cleaning Unplug the unit from the mains supply before cleaning The appliance should normally only require a wipe over with a clean dry lint free cloth If it is heavily soiled then a cloth slightly dampened with a water washing up liquid solution may be used Dry the unit afterwards with a dry cloth We do not advise the use of furniture type cleaning sprays polishes as this can cause white marks which are very difficult to remove if the unit is then wiped over with water 13 Power Lines An outdoor antenna aerial should be located away from power lines 14 Non use Periods If the unit has a stand by function a smal amount of current will continue to flow in the equipment in this mode The power cord of the appliance should be unplugged from the outlet when left unused for a long period of time 15 Object and Liquid Entry Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through any openings Objects filled with liquids such as vases should not be placed on the equipment 16
8. service in order to see if there are secondary services At present March 99 the BBC is signalling secondary services as primary in addition to secondary so as to work with tuners that do not support secondary services The effect of this is to make those services appear twice in the list once as primary and once as secondary Note It is only possible to set a primary service to a preset and not any secondary ones attached to it 4 USER MODE ENGINEERING MODE There are 2 modes User Mode and Engineering Mode The unit always powers up in User Mode the operation of which is described in the main body of the handbook Engineering Mode enables the user to view technical information about the currently selected service To access Engineering Mode press SELECT and preset button 7 simultaneously The display will show ENGINEERING MODE briefly Once in Engineering Mode you can go back to User Mode by pressing SELECT amp preset 7 again In Engineering Mode each of the 7 preset buttons show different technical information about the selected service Preset I Ensemble frequency The carrier frequency of the currently selected ensemble Preset 2 Service data rate The data rate of the current service in Kilobits per second The higher the number the better the sound quality Preset 3 Service start and end CU capacity unit numbers This indicates the services position within the ensemble Preset 4 Viterbi error CRC f
9. supplied with this tuner We recommend high quality cables as inferior quality cables will degrade the sound quality of your system Please contact your Arcam dealer or Arcam customer support for details of suitable cables AUDIO OUTPUTS There are two pairs of identical outputs provided Connect one of these to your amplifiers TUNER input using a suitable pair of interconnect cables Insert the red phono plug into the socket labelled R for right and the other phono plug into the socket labelled L for left The second set of audio outputs can be used to connect to a second amplifier set up for multi room use or routed to a tape recorder for off air recording REMOTE CONTROL IN OUT If you are using the Alpha 10 tuner with an Alpha 10 integrated amplifier you can connect the Remote Out socket of the amplifier to the Remote In socket of the tuner with a 3 5mm jack to jack lead This enable you to control many functions of the tuner by pointing the remote control at the amplifier and the tuner could then be hidden out of sight Note It is not possible to control the amplifier by connecting the Remote Out of the tuner to the Remote In of the amplifier AM FM TUNER AUDIO INPUT If you wish the audio output from an FM or FM AM tuner or receiver can be connected to this to save an input on the amplifier When the Alpha 10 tuner is switched off or set to bypass mode this input will be routed straight to the audio output of
10. the Alpha 10 tuner and so allowing signals to pass straight through the Alpha 10 tuner DIGITAL OUTPUTS Both optical and co axial SPDIF Sony PI sockets are provided s Digital Interface Connect these outputs to the digital inputs of an external DAC Digital to Analogue Convertor or the Alpha 10 amplifier with the Dave module fitted or digital recording equipment e g DAT CD Recorder or Minidisc The digital output data includes Serial Copy Management System SCMS codes This allows you to make one generation of a digital recording but further digital copies will be prevented AERIAL INPUT SOCKET The coaxial cable from the aerial should be fitted with a BNC plug Connect this to the aerial input socket on the back of the tuner rotating the front part of the plug to lock it in place INSTALLATION ADDITIONAL REAR PANEL FUNCTIONS Data service switch DAB makes provision for providing dedicated text and other data services in the multiplex datastream This switch can be used to prevent data services from appearing among the available services on the tuner s display The tuner cannot process data services by itself so it makes sense to leave this switch in to disable them RDI out This is an optical data output that may allow future expansion to use certain data services via an outboard device such as a personal computer RDI Radio Data Interface The Data Service switch will need to be out to access the da
11. adphone output Level Output impedance Load impedance Connector Digital audio output Format Sample rate Output impedance coaxial I 15v or 230v AC 30W operational SW standby 2 4V RMS OdB FS lt 100 Q gt 600 Q 20Hz 20kHz variable up to gt 00mW max into 32 O 110 Q nominal 8 600 Q 6 35mm 0 25 inch stereo jack socket SPDIF coaxial amp optical TOSLINK 48kHz 75 Q unbalanced RDI Radio Data Interference output Format Modulation RF input Tuning range Aerial Impedance Connector Decoding Maximum audio data rate Maximum number of stored services Dimensions W D H mm Weight Supplied accessories Optical TOSLINK Bi phase IEC 958 174 240MHz Band II 1452 1492MHz L band 50 Q nominal in operational frequency range BNC 256kbit s MPEG layer Il 128 430x310x100 5 2 kg nett 7 0 kg packed mains lead Remote control inc 2 x AAA batteries Simple indoor aerial Wire Dipole E amp OE SAFETY GUIDELINES This product was designed and manufactured to meet strict quality and safety standards There are however some installation and operation precautions of which you should be particularly aware Read Instructions All the safety and operating instructions should be read before the appliance is operated 2 Retain Instructions The safety and operating instructions should be retained for future reference 3 Heed Warnings
12. ailure count Viterbi rate indicates the amount of error correction that is going on The audio decoding wi normally work correctly with viterbi rates of up to approximately 200 Above this audible degradation of the signal may become apparent The CRC cyclic redundancy check count indicates the amount of uncorrected errors If this is above zero then you will also hear severe audio disruption Preset 5 Signal strength AGC A measure of raw RF strength at receiver front end Preset 6 Transmitter ID information Shows the IDs identities of all the transmitters detected for the current ensemble DAB radio uses multiple transmitters for the same signal and can add together for best results If you turn the rotor you can see how many transmitters are being picked up Preset 7 Audio Mode stereo mono etc shows that the selected programme is being transmitted in stereo joint stereo or mono modes Trouble shooting guide Il Display shows Service not found when an attempt is made to select a service This can happen when the tuner has an ensemble stored that is no longer available For example when the tuner is first shipped it has the BBC ensemble stored and if it is used in another country then that ensemble will not be available In this situation one should perform a search Note that re configuration of services within an ensemble is handled without having to perform a search so if services are added or removed from the
13. d the aerial and this message appears reconnect the aerial and reselect a service to restore operation 3 Display shows No services stored at the end of the search This will happen when the signal strength is insufficient due to either a poor aerial or lack of an available DAB signal 4 Audio is lost and display shows signal weak muted This happens when the signal becomes weak A better aerial will be required Guarantee WORLDWIDE GUARANTEE This entitles you to have the unit repaired free of charge during the first two years after purchase at any authorised Arcam distributor provided that it was originally purchased as new from an authorised ARCAM dealer or distributor The manufacturer can accept no responsibility for defects arising from accident misuse abuse wear and tear neglect or through unauthorised adjustment and or repair neither can they accept responsibility for damage or loss occurring during transit to or from the person claiming under the guarantee The warranty covers Parts and labour costs for two years from the purchase date After two years you must pay for both parts and labour costs The warranty does not cover transportation costs at any time 5 Audio is lost and display shows Service ended or Arcam DAB Tuner This will happen if the selected service is no longer being broadcast In practice this will rarely happen Select another active service 6 Display sh
14. displayed below the service name It is important to note that there are two different PTs transmitted these being static PT and dynamic PT The static PT is the service genre and does not change Radio 4 s static PT for example is Current affairs The dynamic PT changes from one programme to the next and reflects the current programme Typical dynamic PTs for Radio 4 for example are drama news etc When a service is selected the dynamic PT is displayed At other times the static PT is shown This means that Radio 4 say current affairs while scrolling through services then may change to drama when that service is selected The tuner works this way because it cannot update dynamic PTs for a multiplex to which it is not currently tuned It is also important to note that secondary services share their PTs with their parent service For secondary services the tuner displays the parent s static PT Dynamic would not be relevant 3 A NOTE ON SECONDARY SERVICES Primary services can have one or more secondary services attached to them These tend to be temporary sporting events like football matches for example may be broadcast as secondary services Services that have secondary services attached to them are indicated by a gt gt symbol Turning the rotary selector clockwise wi then reveal these services The secondary services themselves are indicated by a lt lt symbol You must select the main
15. en to this service press SELECT again Want more info See technical notes 2 amp 3 on page 6 TO PROGRAMME A PRESET First select the required service see above Press STORE SEARCH followed by the required preset button within a couple of seconds Preset stored will be displayed and the led light emitting diode above the preset ht Note It is only possible to set a primary service to a preset and not any secondary ones attached to it Secondary services are indicated by lt lt in the top right hand corner of the display TO SELECT A PRESET First store the required service as described above and then press the required preset button A total of 7 presets are available TO CHANGE THE DISPLAY MODE The bottom line of the display can be set to one of 4 modes Programme type brief label dynamic label scrolling text data rate shows service data rate and stereo mono mode and signal quality a bar graph Press DISPLAY MODE to cycle through the modes Want more info See technical notes 2 amp 3 on page 6 MENU BUTTON The MENU button can be used to access the compression menu and service sort menu COMPRESSION MENU The first press of the MENU button will bring you to this menu Dynamic range compression DRC of the audio may be applied by the receiver if the broadcaster has made it available for that service The amount is adjustable between off and to 5 5 being the maximum amou
16. ensemble it is not necessary to perform a search This may also happen when an attempt is made to select a service that has been removed from the ensemble Normally redundant services are automatically removed from the list but occasionally they are not If this happens simply select another active service This will remove the redundant services fom the list of available services and from any stored presets The other situation when the tuner may fail to select a service is when the signal strength is insufficient When a service is not selected it is possible to view the signal strength in Engineering Mode provided an attempt has been made to select a service from the required ensemble Generally the meter needs to be past the E in Strength for reliable reception We strongly recommend that an external aerial is always used for the best possible performance If the signal strength is marginal then an indoor aerial will only work some of the time as the signal quality is affected by weather and the time of day Note There will be situations where some ensembles are strong and others are weak With a good aerial you may be able to weakly pick up some ensembles from outside their practical coverage range 2 Display shows No Signal If a signal at the required frequency is missing entirely then the tuner will display this message Note that it may take some time about minute to show the message If you have remove
17. nt The effect of DRC is to flatten out the sound by mi louder and loud parts quieter This can be useful if listening to music in a noisy domestic environment or late at night To set the compression level turn the rotor to set the level and press SELECT The tuner will revert to the service select menu if no further buttons are pressed after a few seconds Once the tuner has returned to the normal menu the compression will be indicated in the top right corner of the display by saying CI C5 This acts as a reminder that compression has been switched on and also that it is available for the current service Note that this degree of compression will be applied to all services where the broadcaster has transmitted compression data It is not possible to store different compression levels for different stations SERVICE SORT MENU The second press of the MENU button will bring you to this menu This can be used to change the order in which services are stored Set to sort by name ie Radio Radio 2 etc or sort by programme type Current Affairs Drama etc then press SELECT to change the setting Once this is done the tuner will revert to the normal menu if no more buttons are pressed after a few seconds Alternatively press MENU again to immediately return to the normal menu Using the remote control ss pm 6666666 00 0
18. ows No service stored when a preset button is pressed Ifa service has not been assigned to a preset button then this message will be shown This will also happen if that service is removed from the ensemble even temporarily because the preset will be deleted If the tuner is used under conditions of weak signal strength then occasionally presets may be lost This is because if ensemble components are only partially detected then the tuner will sometimes decide that a service has been removed and will delete the preset Notes on data rate and sound quality The tuner supports MPEG audio data rates up to 256 kb s which is the maximum rate as defined by the ETS specification for DAB radio Data rates transmitted will generally be lower than this because broadcasters prefer to make use of available bandwidth to include a high number of services Higher compression factors are used to get lower data rates and this makes audio quality worse Most stereo services operate at 192kb s at present and this has been found to give very high quality audio though 256 is even better Some speech based services use mono in order to reduce the data rate and some apply higher compression as well It is also common to find that different services have different audio quality even though they operate at the same data rate This is due to differences in the audio processing techniques used in the transmission chain Generally speaking audio is transmi
19. t the receiver and this appliance to different mains outlets If the problem persists contact your Arcam dealer or Arcam Customer Support on 44 0 1223 203203 Technical notes I This product is normally supplied with a moulded mains plug already fitted to the lead If for any reason the plug needs to be removed it must be disposed of immediately and securely as potential shock hazard when inserted into a mains socket This unit is double insulated and does not require an earth NOTICE FOR U K CUSTOMERS ONLY The mains inlet socket does not have an earth pin but for convenience the mains lead is a standard 3 wire type You should connect the green and yellow wire as described below to prevent the risk of this wire touching either of the other two wires within the mains plug If the plug is removed then the remaining lead must be rewired as follows The blue wire must be connected to the terminal which is coloured blue or marked with the letter N The brown wire must be connected to the terminal which is coloured brown or marked with the letter L e The green and yellow wire must be connected to the terminal which is coloured green and yellow or marked with the letter E or the safety earth symbo When replacing the fuse in the supplied moulded mains plug the integral fuse holder cover must always be refitted Use a 5 amp fuse 2 A NOTE ON PROGRAMME TYPES The programme type PT label is the short description
20. ta streams from these services SETTING UP THE AERIAL Your new Arcam tuner is capable of superb reception but only if it is receiving a good quality transmission signal As the signal is so important for good reception we have created a quick reference guide to setting up the aerial We recommend that a roof mounted aerial is used where possible to ensure the best possible performance The best aerial to use is a Band 3 multi element Yagi array if you are a long way from a transmitter or an omnidirectional or folded dipole if you are close to more than one transmitter In the U K this should be mounted with all elements vertical as the transmissions are vertically polarised Be sure to use a good quality coaxial cable such as URM43 CT 100 or similar For band 3 use you can use either 50 ohm or 75 ohm cable provided it is good quality Always use 50 ohm cable for L band use However a standard Band 2 FM or UHF TV aerial may work provided it is pointed in the right direction We would recommend that this is tried if one is already installed Your dealer can advise on which direction to point the aerial If the signal is strong the supplied indoor aerial may be sufficient It should be hung on a wall with both wires fully stretched out However there will be many areas where one DAB ensemble group of stations transmitted together is strong and others are weak An external aerial is desirable in these cases in order to receive a
21. tted without dynamic range compression DRC being applied unlike FM broadcasts are DAB uses a system whereby the coefficients for DRC are transmitted separately so that the tuner can actually apply the compression itself This is beneficial because the listener can decide whether or not to have DRC most hi fi enthusiasts do not However some DAB broadcasts still have some form of DRC applied to the audio itself and this is generally detrimental to the audio quality If your tuner locks or hangs the unit can be reset by switching the power off and on again CLAIMS UNDER GUARANTEE This equipment should be packed in the original packing and returned to the dealer from whom it was purchased or failing this directly to the Arcam distributor in the country of residence It should be sent carriage prepaid by a reputable carrier NOT by post No responsibility can be accepted for the unit whilst in transit to the dealer or distributor and customers are therefore advised to insure the unit against loss or damage whilst in transit For further details contact Arcam at ARCAM Customer Support Department Pembroke Avenue Denny Industrial Centre Waterbeach Cambridge CBS 9PB England Telephone 44 0 1223 203203 Fax 44 0 1223 863384 e mail support arcam co uk Technical specification Supply voltage Power consumption Analogue audio output Level Output impedance Minimum load Bandwidth 0 5dB He
22. ttings off dim or bright If the display is off then pressing a front panel button or a remote handset button will restore the display for a few seconds and then switch it off again The display mode can be changed by pressing MODE To control an Arcam FM tuner the remote must be set to FM AM mode by pressing the FM AM button This will automatically set the Alpha 10 tuner to bypass mode and route the FM tuner s audio through the Alpha 10 Tuner to your amplifier if you have connected it up in this way ENGINEERING MODE The Alpha 10 tuner has two modes User Mode which is the normal one and an additional one called Engineering Mode Engineering Mode enables the user to view certain technical information about the currently selected service Want more info See technical note 4 on page 6 RADIO INTERFERENCE The Alpha 10 tuner is an audio device containing microprocessors and other digital electronics It has been designed to very high standards of electromagnetic compatibility EU countries This product has been designed to comply with directive 89 336 EEC If the equipment causes interference to radio television reception which can be determined by switching the equipment off and on the following measures should be taken Reorient the receiving antenna or route the antenna cable of the receiver as far as possible from this appliance and its cabling Relocate the receiver with respect to this appliance Connec
23. uner for the first time we recommend that you perform a search to find all the available stations This is because when the tuner leaves Arcam it will have the BBC services stored and these stations will be shown on the front panel display even if they cannot be received By performing the search it ensures that you have access to all the available stations in your reception area Once the search has been done you will only need to perform a new search when new ensembles group of stations go on air or if you move to a different area To perform a search for available services stations Press the front panel STORE SEARCH button then SELECT when prompted A bar graph will show the progress of the search This will take about 3 minutes to complete If no service is found then the aerial is insufficient or if you are already using an outdoor aerial you are outside of the reception area of any DAB transmitters The search can be cancelled by pressing any front panel button or rotating the main knob Operating the tuner TO SELECT A SERVICE Turn the rotor one click at a time to scroll through the available services Press SELECT within a couple of seconds to select the required service If gt gt is shown in the top right hand corner of the display when the service is selected this indicates that a secondary service is also available Moving the rotor one more click will show this secondary service If you wish to list
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search