TDA7088T and CD9088CB

The TDA7088T (and the Chinese Clone CD9088CB) are mono FM radio receiver ICs for battery operated pocket radios. The TDA7088T was manufactured by the Philips Corporation and was available in the early 1990s. It was one of the simplest for radio enthusiasts wishing to build their own FM radio because the external component count was astonishingly minimal. An advantage of this radio solution IC is that you will not need any specialized IF coils or ceramic filters. You also have the advantage of using the built-in search tuning facility (using a varicap diode BB910), or connecting a mechanical variable capacitor if required, and there are nice clear circuits for both options. It has all the necessary stages built-in, from antenna to audio output, and it all operates from as little as 1.8 V.

Comparing the pinouts of the TDA7088T and CD9088CB, we can see that both ICs are in fact identical, and when I compared the working circuit diagrams, they too were identical with the same component values. The only difference was that the Chinese clone has documentation in Chinese and they have changed the names of the pins slightly. Both ICs are available on eBay, however the clone is much cheaper and comes from China. There is also a cheap radio kit available that uses the clone IC.

Application Circuit with Mechanical Tuning with AFC

Comparing the application circuits for mechanical tuning, we see that both ICs use an identical circuit with identical component values.

The clone IC has the same circuit and component values.

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