[IRCA] Accurian receiver review - part 1 of 4

["Bob Foxworth" <rfoxwor1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Review of Radio Shack Accurian 12-1686 HD receiver
by Bob Foxworth    - in 4 parts

I bought a RS Accurian HD radio for evaluation on
a promotional sale and rebate which ended last Saturday.
I bought it at a R-S store in the Citrus Park Mall,
in a factory boxed carton. The young sales clerk
knew what it was and did not mistake it for X-M/Sirius,
and said they were selling "lots" of them, though I
have to put that in some context. They said I could
return it within 30 days, which I might yet do. With
the rebate this made the net $100, within my pricing
model.

The box contains the receiver (and remote), power
supply, and 1 AM and 2 FM external antennas. The
receiver is approx 7.5 inches high x 12 in. wide x
6 in deep (max) and presents a slightly curved
panel with 2 speakers, one in each side and a control
area in the middle. There was a slight temp. rise
from the top air vent. The brick power supply is appx
4-3/4 x 2-1/4 x 1-3/8 inches and accepts a standard
PC 3-pin cord on one end and has a cable feeding a
barrel connector on the other, which goes to the rcvr.
The power supply output rating is DC 5V at 5 A.

The receiver tunes AM 530 to 1710 in 10 kHz steps,
with a rollover at the ends, and the FM tunes 88 to
108 MHz. The AM loop is a plastic rectangular frame
appx 5-3/4 in wide x 5 in high with seven turns
of maybe 28 ga stranded wire solenoid wound on the
frame. There is no tuning or resonating cap. The two
ends of the winding lead to a appx 6-1/2 foot mini
coax leadin, terminating in two tinned wire pigtails,
heat-shrunk at both ends. These tinned leads are
placed into the antenna input pushclips by the user.

There is a choice of two FM antennas, either a single
unipole of length 4 ft 10 inches, or a dipole (not
folded) made of mini twinlead with a feedline of
4 ft 10 inches and the tee is 31 inches each side.
Each FM antenna terminates in a F connector and has
plastic hanger eyelets.

The instruction book is 13 pages, well illustrated
and moderately technical at a user level, but has
no real technical internal operational receiver info.

end part 1 of 4


_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx