Broadcast Technology UT5010 series PAL+NICAM receiver

Some of what's said here is also applicable to the later UT5100 series.

This is a 1U rack-mount unit which dates back to around 1992. Inside is a broadcast-quality PAL TV receiver-demodulator which outputs four channels of composite video, NICAM digital data, and demodulated FM/NICAM audio.

Caution – these contain AC line filters, and are over 30 years old at this point. Replacing the AC line filter (a Schaffner FN365-2/05) is mandatory. Failure to do so may result in the filter failing – and in doing so, it will emit a cloud of acrid smoke which not only smells awful but leaves a disgusting tobacco-coloured stain on everything it touches.

Apply RF via the Belling-Lee type UHF antenna port, and power to the IEC input. Video (CVBS) is output from the 75-ohm BNC terminals on the back panel.

Audio is emitted from the XLR jacks: Audio A left/right, and Audio B left/right. There is also a quarter-inch headphone “monitor” audio port on the front panel, with level control.

  1. Push one of the preset-selection buttons to pick a preset.
  2. Use the tuning up/down controls to tune in the input signal.
  3. Select AFC on/off using the AFC button. AFC on (red LED lit) will allow the tuner to tune ± 4 MHz around the selected UHF channel to follow a wandering signal (e.g. a VCR).
  4. Press “Store” to save the preset.

An auto-store mode is also available – this scans through all available channels and stores the first ten under the Program Select buttons. To trigger this, hold “Tuning Up” and push “Store”.

The range of the RF level display is approximately 100µV (+40dBµV, 2 segments) to 1mV (+60dBµV, 9 segments).

The control port (DB9 female) accepts 5V TTL-level parallel signals, with the following pinout:

Pin Function
1 A3
2 A2
3 A1
4 A0
5
6 0V
7
8 LOAD
9 +12V Unreg

The +12V Unregulated output must be regulated to +5V before use.

Protocol:

  1. Set the remote command on the A0 to A3 pins.
  2. Trigger the command with a low-to-high edge on the LOAD input.
  3. The LOAD input should be left low at any other time.

Function table:

A3 A2 A1 A0 Function
0 0 0 0 Programme 1
0 0 0 1 Programme 2
0 0 1 0 Programme 3
0 0 1 1 Programme 4
0 1 0 0 Programme 5
0 1 0 1 Programme 6
0 1 1 0 Programme 7
0 1 1 1 Programme 8
1 0 0 0 Programme 9
1 0 0 1 Programme 10
1 0 1 0 Tuning Up
1 0 1 1 Tuning Down
1 1 0 0 Store
1 1 0 1 AFC On
1 1 1 0 AFC Off
1 1 1 1 No operation
Switch Function Up (on) Down (off)
1 Error rate 1 see next table
2 Error rate 2 see next table
3 Dual mono routing (*) Language 2/2/1/1 Language 1/2/1/2
4 Control priority NICAM FM
5 NICAM default FM Silence
6 Audio 1 output NICAM FM
7 Audio 2 output FM NICAM
8 Mono FM system FM1 FM2

(*): Controls routing of dual-language (NICAM/FM) audio to the audio XLR connectors. The table shows the Language 1 or 2 outputs as viewed from the rear of the unit.

Error rate switches

Switch 1 Switch 2 NICAM mute NICAM unmute
Up Up >240 (F0) <60 (3C)
Up Down >160 (A0) <40 (28)
Down Up >80 (50) <20 (14)
Down Down >40 (28) <10 (0A)

“NICAM Mute” and “NICAM Unmute” are the number of errors per 128ms, shown in Decimal (Hex) format.

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  • Last modified: 2021/06/10 13:27
  • by philpem