Fm Transmitter
Low Power FM Transmitter
Rod Elliott (ESP)
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[pic]
Introduction
This article should satisfy those who might want to build a low power FM transmitter. It is designed to use an input from another sound source (such as a guitar or microphone), and transmits on the commercial FM band - it is actually quite powerful, so make sure that you don't use it to transmit anything sensitive - it could easily be picked up from several hundred metres away.
The FM band is 88 to 108MHz, and although it is getting fairly crowded nearly everywhere, you should still be able to find a blank spot on the dial.
NOTE: A few people have had trouble with this circuit. The biggest problem is not knowing if it is even oscillating, since the frequency is outside the range of most simple oscilloscopes. See Project 74 for a simple RF probe that will (or should) tell you that you have a useful signal at the antenna. If so, then you know it oscillates, and just have to find out at what frequency. This may require the use of an RF frequency counter if you just cannot locate the FM band.
[pic]
Description
The circuit of the transmitter is shown in Figure 1, and as you can see it is quite simple. The first stage is the oscillator, and is tuned with the variable capacitor. Select an unused frequency, and carefully adjust C3 until the background noise stops (you have to disable the FM receiver's mute circuit to hear this).
[pic]
Figure 1 - Low Power FM Transmitter
Because the trimmer cap is very sensitive, make the final frequency adjustment on the receiver. When assembling the circuit, make sure the rotor of C3 is connected to the +9V supply. This ensures that there will be minimal frequency disturbance when the screwdriver touches the adjustment shaft. You can use a small piece of non copper-clad circuit board to make a screwdriver - this will not alter the frequency.
The frequency stability is improved considerably by adding a capacitor from the base of Q1 to ground. This ensures
Rod Elliott (ESP)
Share|
[pic]
Introduction
This article should satisfy those who might want to build a low power FM transmitter. It is designed to use an input from another sound source (such as a guitar or microphone), and transmits on the commercial FM band - it is actually quite powerful, so make sure that you don't use it to transmit anything sensitive - it could easily be picked up from several hundred metres away.
The FM band is 88 to 108MHz, and although it is getting fairly crowded nearly everywhere, you should still be able to find a blank spot on the dial.
NOTE: A few people have had trouble with this circuit. The biggest problem is not knowing if it is even oscillating, since the frequency is outside the range of most simple oscilloscopes. See Project 74 for a simple RF probe that will (or should) tell you that you have a useful signal at the antenna. If so, then you know it oscillates, and just have to find out at what frequency. This may require the use of an RF frequency counter if you just cannot locate the FM band.
[pic]
Description
The circuit of the transmitter is shown in Figure 1, and as you can see it is quite simple. The first stage is the oscillator, and is tuned with the variable capacitor. Select an unused frequency, and carefully adjust C3 until the background noise stops (you have to disable the FM receiver's mute circuit to hear this).
[pic]
Figure 1 - Low Power FM Transmitter
Because the trimmer cap is very sensitive, make the final frequency adjustment on the receiver. When assembling the circuit, make sure the rotor of C3 is connected to the +9V supply. This ensures that there will be minimal frequency disturbance when the screwdriver touches the adjustment shaft. You can use a small piece of non copper-clad circuit board to make a screwdriver - this will not alter the frequency.
The frequency stability is improved considerably by adding a capacitor from the base of Q1 to ground. This ensures