Inovonics AARON 656 FM/HD Radio™ Dual Tuner Rebroadcast Receiver

Inovonics AARON 656 is a professional FM/HD Radio™ dual-tuner rebroadcast receiver for transmitter sites, relay stations and broadcast networks. Its SDR-based receiver supports analogue FM and HD Radio services, including HD1–HD8 programme sources, while Maximum-Ratio Combining technology evaluates two antenna inputs and their combined signal to help maintain reliable reception in weak-signal and multipath areas.

Reliable Rebroadcast Reception

The Inovonics AARON 656 provides the tools needed to receive, process and retransmit a programme source from one compact 1RU unit. It includes adjustable IF and MPX bandwidth, stereo/mono blending, high-cut filtering and spectral-noise reduction to optimise off-air FM reception. An onboard scanner and comprehensive alarms help engineers monitor signal conditions and identify reception problems at unattended sites.

Beyond off-air sources, the receiver accepts analogue, AES-digital and IP-streaming programme inputs, with 4 GB of internal memory available for local backup playback. Its configurable priority system can switch between a primary source and up to three backup sources, with independent audio, RDS, processing-preset and trigger settings. This provides a resilient broadcast chain when the primary off-air or network source is interrupted.

The integrated five-band audio processor includes high-pass filtering, phase rotation, AGC, levelling, stereo enhancement, parametric EQ, multiband compression and limiting. A built-in RDS/RBDS encoder can carry static or dynamic data from TCP/UDP feeds, HD PAD, streaming inputs or backup files. Programme outputs include balanced analogue XLR, AES digital, MPX on BNC and an MP3 stream for remote confidence monitoring.

• SDR-based dual-tuner receiver for FM and HD Radio services
• Receives FM plus HD1–HD8 programme sources
• Maximum-Ratio Combining with dual 50-ohm N-type antenna inputs
• Onboard five-band audio processor and RDS/RBDS encoder
• Analogue, AES digital, IP streaming and internal backup-player inputs
• Four configurable backup sources with priority-based failover
• Up to 4 GB of internal memory for emergency audio playback
• Balanced analogue XLR, AES digital, MPX BNC and streaming outputs
• Web-server remote control, SNMP, alarms and email notifications
• Front-panel headphone output for local confidence monitoring

Inovonics AARON 656 can be paired with the Inovonics rebroadcast receiver range for multi-site monitoring strategies, or used with an FM transmitter and site-control system to form a reliable relay-station chain. For sites where the received MPX signal is sent directly to a transmitter, the 656 provides an adjustable 75-ohm BNC composite output; its RDS encoder and local backup capabilities help maintain service continuity when incoming programme sources fail.