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PROJECT REPORT
ON

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BY

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Under the supervision of

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Submitted
In fulfilment of the requirements of the Bachelor of Technology degree

To the
Electronics and Communication Department

Session 2010-2011

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

Jaipur Engineering College Jaipur

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This is to certify that the work, which is being presented in the Project, entitled ÿ
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  submitted by ³Da gha´ student of‘ 
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Æ ‘ from college # $‘ ‘ Æ‘ # $‘ in partial fulfilment for the
award of degree of  ‘ %!‘
 " is a record of work carried out by her under my
guidance and supervision and has been found satisfactory and approved for submission during the
academic year 2010-2011.
This work has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any other degree.

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Mr. Sarkar Guided by:
Head of the Department, ECE, Ms. Kumari
JEC (Faculty Lecturer)
Department of ECE,
JEC

Date:
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Success can be achieved only by hard work and proper guidance. I would like to express my
sincere gratitude to everyone who have been a source of information and inspiration to me during
the development of my project on ÿ
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I am immensely grateful to )!‘  *  (+ ‘ !‘ ‘ $ ,Æ,‘ #Æ,‘ # $) for
giving me constant guidance and valuable suggestions.
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I am extremely grateful and remain indebted to my guide ‘  ‘  "‘ ' ‘ for
giving me the proper guidance which was required inevitably for the successful completion of my
project. She gave me all the knowledge required to overcome the various problems. I know her
guidelines will definitely help me in future.
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I hope this project, which is a fruit of long dedicated hours and consistent dedication, will be
appreciated. I acknowledge my sincere thanks to all the staff members for providing me the
infrastructure and facilities to carry out my project successfully.
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The aim of the project is to develop a Miniaturised low power FM Transmitter to be used in
specialised applications such as a hearing aid for a tour guiding system and room monitoring (such
as a baby listening device). The overall module should be miniature to enable portability.
Frequency modulation has several advantages over the system of amplitude modulation (AM)
used in the alternate form of radio broadcasting. The most important of these advantages is that an
FM system has greater freedom from interference and static. Various electrical disturbances, such
as those caused by thunderstorms and car ignition systems; create amplitude modulated radio
signals that are received as noise by AM receivers. A well-designed FM receiver is not sensitive to
such disturbances when it is tuned to an FM signal of sufficient strength. Also, the signal-to-noise
ratio in an FM system is much higher than that of an AM system. FM broadcasting stations can be
operated in the very-high-frequency bands at which AM interference is frequently severe;
commercial FM radio stations are assigned frequencies between 88 and 108 MHz and will be the
intended frequency range of transmission.

The main report will reflect on 4 issues, background to frequency modulation, electronics
component characteristics, basic transmitter building blocks and finally an analysis of the finished
design as regards construction and performance.

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1 1 Frequency Modulation Background 6
2 1.1 Introduction 6
3 1.2 Technical Background 6-7
4 1.3 FM Theory 7-9
5 1.4 Technical terms associated with FM 9
6 2 Electronic Component and their Properties 10
7 2.1 Resistors 10-11
8 2.2 Capacitors 11-13
9 2.3 Inductors 13
10 2.4 Resonant Circuits 13-14
11 2.5 NPN Transistors 14-15
12 2.6 Transistor Amplifiers 16
13 2.7 Battery 17
14 3 Basic Building Blocks for FM Transmitter 18
15 3.1 Introduction 18
16 3.2 General Overview 18
17 3.3 The Microphone 19
18 3.4 The Oscillator 19
19 3.5 Reactance Modulator 19
20 3.6 Buffer Amplifier 20
21 3.7 Frequency Multiplier 20-21
22 3.8 Driver Amplifier 21
23 3.9 Power Amplifier 21
24 3.10 Antenna 21
25 4 Simple FM Transmitter 22-23
26 5 Three Stage FM Transmitter 24
27 5.1 Circuit Description 24-26
28 5.2 Working in Brief 26
29 5.3 Components 27
30 6 Conclusions 28
31 7 Recommendations 28
32 8 References 28
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The comparatively low cost of equipment for an FM broadcasting station, resulted in rapid growth
in the years following World War II. Within three years after the close of the war, 600 licensed
FM stations were broadcasting in the United States and by the end of the 1980s there were over
4,000. Similar trends have occurred in Britain and other countries. Because of crowding in the AM
broadcast band and the inability of standard AM receivers to eliminate noise, the tonal fidelity of
standard stations is purposely limited. FM does not have these drawbacks and therefore can be
used to transmit music, reproducing the original performance with a degree of fidelity that cannot
be reached on AM bands. FM stereophonic broadcasting has drawn increasing numbers of
listeners to popular as well as classical music, so that commercial FM stations draw higher
audience ratings than AM stations. The integrated chip has also played its part in the wide
proliferation of FM receivers, as circuits got smaller it became easier to make a modular electronic
device called the ³Walkman´, which enables the portability of a tape player and an AM/FM radio
receiver. This has resulted in the portability of a miniature FM receiver, which is carried by most
people when travelling on long trips.

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Very Low frequency VLF 100,000-10,000 m

3 - 30 kHz

Low frequency LF 10,000 - 1,000 m

30 - 300 kHz

Medium frequency MF 1,000 - 100 m

300- 3,000 kHz

High frequency HF 100 - 10 m

30 - 30MHz

Very High frequency VHF 10 - 1m

30 - 300 MHz

Ultra-high frequency UHF 1m ± 10cm

300- 3,000 MHz

Super-high frequency SHF 10cm - 1cm

3 - 30 GHz

Ex-high frequency EHF 1cm - 1mm

30 - 300 GHz

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The main frequencies of interest are from 88MHz to 108MHz with wavelengths between 3.4 and
2.77 meters respectively.
With a bandwidth of 200Khz for one station, up to 100 stations can be fitted between 88 &
108Mhz.
Station 88Mhz to 91.2Mhz are for non-commercial stations (educational) which could be a good
area to transmit in, but in recent years the band from 88MHz to 103Mhz has been filled by a lot of
commercial channels, making the lower frequencies very congested indeed.

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Radio waves have a wide range of applications, including communication during emergency
rescues (transistor and short-wave radios), international broadcasts (satellites), and cooking food
(microwaves). A radio wave is described by its wavelength (the distance from one crest to the
next) or its frequency (the number of crests that move past a point in one second). Wavelengths of
radio waves range from 100,000 m (270,000 ft) to 1 mm (.004 in). Frequencies range from 3
kilohertz to 300 Giga-hertz.

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Angle and Amplitude Modulation are techniques used in Communication to transmit Data or
Voice over a particular medium, whether it is over wire cable, fibre optic or air (the atmosphere).
A wave that is proportional to the original baseband (a real time property, such as amplitude)
information is used to vary the angle or amplitude of a higher frequency wave (the carrier).

Carrier = A Cos Ɏ(t)

Ɏ(t) = 2ʌfct +Į

Where A is the amplitude of the carrier and Ɏ(t) is the angle of the carrier, which constitutes the
frequency (fc ) and the phase (Į) of the carrier. Angle modulation arise the angle of the carrier by
an amount proportional to the information signal. Angle modulation can be broken into 2 distinct
categories, frequency modulation and phase modulation. Formal definitions are given below :

Phase Modulation‘
 : angle modulation in which the phase of a carrier is caused to depart
from its reference value by an amount proportional to the modulating signal amplitude.

Frequency Modulation‘  angle modulation in which the instantaneous frequency of a sine
wave carrier is caused to depart from the carrier frequency by an amount proportional to the
instantaneous value of the modulator or intelligence wave.

Phase modulation differs from Frequency modulation in one important way. Take a carrier of the
form
A Cos (Ȧct +ș) = Re{A.e ^j(Ȧct +ș)}

PM will have the carrier phasor in between the + and - excursions of the modulating signal. FM
modulation also has the carrier in the middle but the fact that when you integrate the modulating
signal and put it through a phase modulator you get fm, and if the modulating wave were put
through a differentiator before a frequency modulator you get a phase modulated wave. This may
seem confusing at this point, but the above concept will be reinforced further in the sections to
follow.

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Suppose the baseband data signal (the message) to be transmitted is ‘

And is restricted in amplitude to be

And the sinusoidal carrier is

Where ¦ is the carrier's base frequency and
is the carrier's amplitude. The modulator combines
the carrier with the baseband data signal to get the transmitted signal,

Xm(t)= Vpk Cos(2ʌfmt)

VFM = A Cosș(t) = A Cos[2ʌfct +Mf sin(2ʌfmt)]

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As with other modulation indices, this quantity indicates by how much the modulated variable
varies around its unmodulated level. It relates to the variations in the frequency of the carrier
signal:

Where is the highest frequency component present in the modulating signal · (
), and is
the Peak frequency-deviation, i.e. The maximum deviation of the 



‘ ¦  from
the carrier frequency. If , the modulation is called 


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approximately . If , the modulation is called 

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approximately . While wideband FM uses more bandwidth, it can improve signal-to-noise
ratio significantly.

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The main difference is in the modulation index, PM uses a constant modulation index, whereas
FM varies (Max frequency deviation over the instantaneous baseband frequency). Because of this
the demodulation S/N ratio of PM is far better than FM. The reason why PM is not used in the
commercial frequencies is because of the fact that PM need a coherent local oscillator to
demodulate the signal, this demands a phase lock loop, back in the early years the circuitry for a
PLL couldn¶t be integrated and therefore FM, without the need for coherent demodulation was the
first on the market. One of the advantages of FM over PM is that the FM VCO can produce high-
index frequency modulation, whereas PM requires multipliers to produce high-index phase
modulation. PM circuitry can be used today because of very large scale integration used in
electronic chips, as stated before to get an FM signal from a phase modulator the baseband can be
integrated, this is the modern approach taken in the development of high quality FM transmitters.

For miniaturisation and transmission in the commercial bandwidth to be aims for the transmitter,
PM cannot be even considered, even though Narrow Band PM can be used to produce Wide band
FM (Armstrong Method).
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Now that Fm has been established as a scheme of high quality baseband transmission, some of the
general properties of FM will be looked at.

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Simply put means that if 2 stations or more are transmitting at near the same frequency FM has the
ability t pick up the stronger signal and attenuated the unwanted signal pickup.
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The carrier swing is twice the instantaneous deviation from the carrier frequency.
FCS = 2.¨FC
The frequency swing in theory can be anything from 0Hz to 150KHz.

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Electronic component are classed into either being Passive devices or Active devices. A ) 0‘
(0 ‘ is one that contributes no power gain (amplification) to a circuit or system. It has no
control action and does not require any input other than a signal to perform its function. In other
words, it is called ³A components with no brains!´ Examples are Resistors, Capacitors and
Inductors.

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A  is a two-terminal electronic component that produces a voltage across its terminals that
is proportional to the electric current through it in accordance with Ohm's law:

å=

Resistors are elements of electrical networks and electronic circuits and are ubiquitous in most
electronic equipment. Practical resistors can be made of various compounds and films, as well as
resistance wire (wire made of a high-resistivity alloy, such as nickel/chrome).

The primary characteristics of a resistor are the resistance, the tolerance, maximum working
voltage and the power rating. Other characteristics include temperature coefficient, noise, and
inductance. Less well-known is critical resistance, the value below which power dissipation limits
the maximum permitted current flow, and above which the limit is applied voltage. Critical
resistance depends upon the materials constituting the resistor as well as its physical dimensions;
it's determined by design.

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Four-band identification is the most commonly used color-coding scheme on resistors. It consists
of four colored bands that are painted around the body of the resistor. The first two bands encode
the first two significant digits of the resistance value, the third is a power-of-ten multiplier or
number-of-zeroes, and the fourth is the tolerance accuracy, or acceptable error, of the value. The
first three bands are equally spaced along the resistor; the spacing to the fourth band is wider.
Sometimes a fifth band identifies the thermal coefficient, but this must be distinguished from the
true 5-color system, with 3 significant digits.

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Black 0 0 ×100
Brown 1 1 ×101 1% (F) 100 ppm
2
Red 2 2 ×10 2% (G) 50 ppm
3
Orange 3 3 ×10 15 ppm
4
Yellow 4 4 ×10 25 ppm
5
Green 5 5 ×10 0.5% (D)
6
Blue 6 6 ×10 0.25% (C)
7
Violet 7 7 ×10 0.1% (B)
8
Gray 8 8 ×10 0.05% (A)
9
White 9 9 ×10
Gold ×10-1 5% (J)
-2
Silver ×10 10% (K)
None 20% (M)

The three main factors when choosing a resistor for an intended application are:
Tolerance
Power Rating
Stability

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In electronics   ‘ $  is a capacitor constructed of alternating layers of metal and
ceramic, with the ceramic material acting as the dielectric.

A ceramic capacitor is a two-terminal, non-polar device. The classical ceramic capacitor is the
"disc capacitor". This device pre-dates the transistor and was used extensively in vacuum-tube
equipment (e.g., radio receivers) from about 1930 through the 1950s, and in discrete transistor
equipment from the 1950s through the 1980s. As of 2007, ceramic disc capacitors are in
widespread use in electronic equipment, providing high capacity & small size at low price
compared to other low value capacitor types.

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There is a three digit code printed on a ceramic capacitor specifying its value. The first two digits
are the two significant figures and the third digit is a base 10 multiplier. The value is given in Pico
farads (pF). A letter suffix indicates the tolerance:

Ƒ ´ 0.25pF ‘ ´ 20%
(‘ ´ 0.5pF )‘ +100 -0%
#‘ ´ 5% 5‘ -20 +50%
‘ ´ 10% 6‘ -20 + 80%

2 $7 a label of "104K" indicates 10×104 pF = 100,000 pF = 100 nF = 0.1uF (aka 0.1mF) ´
10%

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An  " ‘ $  is a type of capacitor that uses an ionic conducting liquid as one of its
plates with a larger capacitance per unit volume than other types. They are valuable in relatively
high-current and low-frequency electrical circuits. This is especially the case in power-supply
filters, where they store charge needed to moderate output voltage and current fluctuations in
rectifier output. They are also widely used as coupling capacitors in circuits where AC should be
conducted but DC should not.

Electrolytic capacitors can have a very high capacitance, allowing filters made with them to have
very low corner frequencies.

The principle of the electrolytic capacitor was discovered in 1886 by Charles Pollak, as part of his
research into anodizing of aluminum and other metals. Pollack discovered that due to the thinness
of the aluminum oxide layer produced, there was a very high capacitance between the aluminum
and the electrolyte solution. A major problem was that most electrolytes tended to dissolve the
oxide layer again when the power is removed, but he eventually found that sodium perforate
(borax) would allow the layer to be formed and not attack it afterwards. He was granted a patent
for the borax-solution aluminum electrolytic capacitor in 1897.

The first application of the technology was in making starting capacitors for single-phase
alternating current (AC) motors. Although most electrolytic capacitors are polarized, that is, they
can only be operated with direct current (DC), by separately anodizing aluminum plates and then
interleaving them in a borax bath, it is possible to make a capacitor that can be used in AC
systems.

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The first major application of DC versions of this type of capacitor was in large telephone
exchanges, to reduce relay hash (noise) on the 48 volt DC power supply. The development of AC-
operated domestic radio receivers in the late 1920s created a demand for large capacitance (for the
time) high voltage capacitors, typically at least 4 microfarads and rated at around 500 volts DC.
Waxed paper and oiled silk capacitors were available but devices with that order of capacitance
and voltage rating were bulky and prohibitively expensive.

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You may remember from science class that adding electrical current to a coil of wire produces a
magnetic field around itself. This is how the inductor works. It is charged with a magnetic field
and when that field collapses it produces current in the opposite direction. Inductors are used in
Alternating Current circuits to oppose changes in the existing current. Most inductors can be
identified by the "coil" appearance. Others actually look like a resistor but are usually green in
color. A. Air Core, B. Iron Core, C. Powered Metal Core.‘

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In the last section the resistor, inductor & capacitor were looked at briefly from a voltage, current
and impedance point of view. These components will be the basic building blocks used in any
radio frequency section of any transmitter/receiver. What makes them important is there response
at certain frequencies. At low frequency the impedance of an inductor is small and the impedance
of a capacitor is quite high. At high frequency the inductor¶s impedance becomes quite high and
the capacitor¶s impedance drops. The resistor in theory maintains its resistive impedance at low &
high impedance. At a certain frequency the capacitor¶s impedance will equal that of an inductor¶s.
This is called the resonant frequency and can be calculated by letting the impedance of a capacitor
to that of the inductor¶s and then solving forҏ Ȧ (angular velocity in radians per seconds) and then
finding the resonant frequency Fc (it is normally represented as Fo, but in relation to FM it
essentially represents the oscillator carrier frequency) in Hertz.
Ȧc = 1/¥LC
fc = 1/2ʌ¥LC
There are two configurations of RLC circuits, the series and parallel arrangements, which will
now be looked at below.
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At low frequencies the capacitor impedance will dominate the overall impedance of the series
circuit and the current is low. At high frequencies the inductor impedance will dominate and the
current will also be low. But at the resonant frequency the complex impedance of the capacitor
will cancel that of the inductor¶s and only the resistance of the resistor will remain effective, this is
when the current through the circuit will be at a maximum.
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The parallel circuit above (known as an LC tank) takes the same advantage of the resonant
frequency but this time the impedance will be at a maximum and the current will be at a minimum
at FC. This is due to the fact that the minimum impedance in a parallel circuit dominates the
overall impedance of the tank.

 0‘(0 ‘are components that are capable of controlling voltages or currents and can create
a switching action in the circuit. In other words, we can say that ³Devices with smarts!´ Examples
are Diodes, Transistors and Integrated circuits. Most active components are semiconductors.

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PNP bipolar and P channel J-Fets are widely used at low frequencies, the preference for high
frequency systems lies with the NPN and N channel J-Fets. This is due to the electrons being the
majority carriers in both the BJT¶s and J-Fet¶s conduction channel. ‘

The NPN BJT is the most commonly used and for the rest of this discussion will be the transistor
that will be focused on.

‘ Transistors are non-linear especially when biased in the saturation region.

‘ The bias current acts as a controlled flow source which steadily opens up the collector
emitter channel enabling charge carriers to flow, this can be analogous to a slues gate, this
rate of flow is controlled by the current gainҏ = IC/IB .
‘ The Input impedance drops as the biasing current being sinked to the collector increases.
‘ As the base current increases to allow more collector current through, the current gain also
increases.
‘ The collector-emitter voltage has a maximum value that cannot be exceeded at an instant
in time.

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The most interesting property is the junction capacitance from the base to emitter and base-
collector, the Figure 2.9-2 shows that for the 2N3904, the base-emitter capacitance is larger than
the base-collector, because of heavier extrinsic doping and it¶s forward biasing the depletion
region is naturally smaller than the base-collector¶s. As the frequencies are increased the two
capacitances will drop. Because the capacitors are effectively in series, the smaller one dominates
(base-collector capacitance). The capacitance is also influenced by the rate of change in base
current magnitudes.

A resistance exists of typically in the order of tens of ohms at the base, this parasitic is caused by
impure contact between the base¶s polysilicon to silicon junction. This coupled with the r¶e
resistance and the current gain makes up the input resistance of the transistor. Rin =ҏ ( Rbase + r¶e) ;
as stated previously the r¶e will inevitably drop as the frequency increases, therefore Rin (base)
will inevitably be equal toҏ (Rbase ). Thismakes the system rather unstable, as Rbase is essentially
parasitic impedance. To increase stability RE, (which is normally RF bypassed), will have to be
introduced.

Another inherent flaw which might be used to some advantage in the high frequency response of
the NPN model, is that of output collector signals are be fed back to thebase. This increases the
likelihood of continuous oscillation at high frequencies.
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Now that the basic electronic components have been considered, a look at the 3 transistor
amplifiers is worthwhile prelude to the next section, which contains references and examples of
these amplifiers. The three amplifiers are called Common Emitter, Common collector and
Common Base.

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r¶c and r¶e are the junction resistances at the collector and emitter respectively. r¶c is seen as
infinite (reverse bias junction), r¶c is equal to the threshold voltage VT divided by the emitter
current.

IC = IB + IE, IB is relatively small compared to IB the base currentҏ- ICҏ§ IE .

All capacitor¶s used here are DC opens and AC shorts. The supply ideally has no
impedance and therefore no voltage dropped across it. So it is an AC ground

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When creating a system for transmitting a frequency modulated wave a number of basic building
blocks have to be considered, the diagram below gives a very broad impression of the transmitter
and it¶s individual parts.

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To Antenna

  
 

Audio Input
Exciter/modulator frequency multiplier power output section

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‘
‘ Carrier Oscillator generates a stable sine wave for the carrier wave. Linear frequency even
when modulated with little or no amplitude change.
‘ Buffer amplifier acts as a high impedance load on oscillator to help stabilise frequency.
‘ The Modulator deviates the audio input about the carrier frequency. The peak + of audio
will give a decreased frequency & the peak - of the audio will give an increase of
frequency.

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‘ Frequency multipliers tuned-input, tuned-output RF amplifiers. In which the output
resonance circuit is tuned to a multiple of the input .Commonly they are *2 *3*4 & *5.

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‘ This develops the final carrier power to be transmitter.
‘ Also included here is an impedance matching network, in which the output impedance is
the same as that on the load (antenna).
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Microphones are acoustic to electrical transducers. The four best known variations of these are the
moving coil (µdynamic¶), ribbon, piezoelectric (µcrystal¶), and electrets (µcapacitor¶). The electrets
type will be discussed because of their incredibly small size and high performance at audio
frequencies.

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The carrier oscillator is used to generate a stable sine-wave at the carrier frequency, when no
modulating signal is applied to it . When fully modulated it must change frequency linearly like a
voltage controlled oscillator. At frequencies higher than 1MHz a Colpitts (split capacitor
configuration) or Hartley oscillator (split inductor configuration) may be deployed.

A parallel LC circuit is at the heart of the oscillator with an amplifier and a feedback network
(positive feedback). The Barkhausen criteria of oscillation require that the loop gain be unity and
that the total phase shift through the system is 360o. In that way an impulse or noise applied to the
LC circuit is fed back and is amplified (due to the fact that in practice the loop gain is slightly
greater than unity) and sustains a ripple through the network at a resonant frequency of 1/2ʌ¥LC.

19‘   ‘ ‘

The nature of FM as described before is that when the baseband signal is ero the carrier is at its
³carrier´ frequency, when it peaks the carrier deviation is at a maximum and when it troughs the
deviation is at its minimum. This deviation is simply a quickening or slowing down of frequency
around the carrier frequency by an amount proportional to the baseband signal. In order to convey
the characteristic of FM on the carrier wave the inductance or capacitance (of the tank) must be
varied by the baseband. Normally the capacitance of the tank is varied by a varactor diode. The
varactor diode when in reverse bias has a capacitance across it proportional to the magnitude of
the reverse bias applied to it. The formula for working out the instantaneous capacitance is shows
that as the reverse bias is increased the capacitance is decreased.

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The buffer amplifier acts as a high input impedance with a low gain and low output impedance
associated with it. The high input impedance prevents loading effects from the oscillator section,
this high input impedance maybe looked upon as RL in the analysis of the Colpitts Oscillator. The
High impedance RL helped to stabilise the oscillators frequency.

Looking at the Buffer amplifier as an electronic block circuit, it may resemble a common emitter
with low voltage gain or simply an emitter follower transistor configuration.

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Frequency modulation of the carrier by the baseband can be carried out with a high modulation
index, but this is prone to frequency drift of the LC tank, to combat this drift, modulation can take
place at lower frequencies where the Q factor of the tank circuit is quite high (i.e. low bandwidth
or less carrier deviation) and the carrier can be created by a crystal controlled oscillator. At low
frequency deviations the crystal oscillator can produce modulated signals that can keep an audio
distortion under 1%. This narrow-band angle modulated wave can be then multiplied up to the
required transmission frequency; the deviation brought about by the baseband is also multiplied
up, which means that the percentage modulation and Q remain unchanged. This ensures a higher
performance system that can produce a carrier deviation ofҏ 75Khz.

Frequency multipliers are tuned input, tuned output RF amplifiers, where the output resonant tank
frequency is a multiple of the input frequency. The diagram of the simple multiplier below shows
the output resonant parallel LC tank which is a multiple of the input frequency.

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The driver amplifier can be seen to do the same function as the buffer amplifier, i.e. a high input
impedance, low gain (close to unity) and low output impedance between the frequency multiplier
and power output stages of the transmitter. The circuitry is the same as discussed in the Buffer
amplifier description.

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The power amplifier takes the energy drawn from the DC power supply and converts it to the AC
signal power that is to be radiated. The efficiency or lack of it in most amplifiers is affected by
heat being dissipated in the transistor and surrounding circuitry. For this reason , the final power
amplifier is usually a Class-C amplifier for high powered modulation systems or just a Class B
push-pull amplifier for use in a low-level power modulated transmitter. Therefore the choice of
amplifier type depends greatly on the output power and intended range of the transmitter.

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The final stage of any transmitter is the Antenna; this is where the electronic FM signal is
converted to electromagnetic waves, which are radiated into the atmosphere. Antennas can be
vertically or horizontally polarised, which is determined by their relative position with the earth¶s
surface (i.e. antenna parallel with the ground is horizontally polarised). A transmitting antenna that
is horizontally polarised transmits better to a receiving antenna that is also horizontally polarised,
this is also true for vertically polarised antennas. One of the intended uses for the transmitter is as
a tour guiding aid, where a walkman shall be used as the receiver, for a walkman the receiving
antenna is the co-axial shielding around the earphone wire. The earphone wire is normally left
vertical; therefore a vertically polarised whip antenna will be the chosen antenna for this particular
application.

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Apply power to the circuit and put a iron rod into the inductance loops to chance its value. When
we find the right point, adjust inductance's looseness and, if required, number of turns. Once it's
OK, you may use trimmer capacitor to make further frequency adjustments. You may get help of a
experienced person on this point. Do not forget to fix inductance by pouring some glue onto it
against external forces. If the reception on the radio is lost in a few meters range, then it is
probably caused by a wrong coil adjustment.

The problems with this one transistor circuit are ±

‘ The internal capacitances of the transistor also changes with the temperature of the transistor.
The tuning capacitor also changes values slightly with temperature. So, one experiences a slow
frequency drift till the transmitter reaches thermal equilibrium with its surroundings. This can
take 5-10 minutes. If one does not use a closed box for the transmitter, a draft of air can shift
the frequency of operation after thermal equilibrium is reached.
‘ We already recognize that changing the transistor's operating point changes the internal
capacitances. If one is using a transformer power supply, any slight hum will directly modulate
the oscillator. If one is using batteries, the frequency of operation shifts as the battery runs
down. This effect is called "Frequency Pushing".
‘ The Antenna has to be connected either directly to the tank circuit or via a small sniffer
capacitor. The Antenna now forms part of the tuning circuit. If you approach the antenna, the
frequency of the oscillator shifts slightly. This effect is called "Frequency Pulling". (In fact
some circuits use this feature to make a movement detector or metal detector)
‘ Sometimes the Mic does not present sufficient Audio input to modulate the VCO to the
maximum allowed 75 KHz. In this case, even if the carrier signal is strong enough to reach a
receiver, the low modulation means a weak, noisy signal.
‘ There is no "pre-emphasis" applied.
‘ The one transistor circuit can only output a miniscule 1-5mW RF signal that possibly travels
10-20 meters, due to limited power supply voltage, limited modulation, very loose coupling
with the Antenna. (There are ways to make the One Transistor circuit go 200 meters, but then
you land up with a highly unstable circuit that will forever keep on changing its output
frequency)

After the initial adrenaline rush of hearing one's voice across the ether wears off, the more
technically inclined get to work in removing the above deficiencies.

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This FM Transmitter has 3 R.F. stages. A variable frequency VHF Oscillator, a class C R.F. driver
and a class C R.F. amplifier with harmonics filter.

This three stage, 9V FM transmitter (Tx) with a range of up to 1 meter in the open. It uses an RF
transistor in its output stage and two BC547¶s for the first two stages. Distance of transmission is
critically dependent on the operating Conditions (in a building or out on the open), type of aerial
used (single wire or dipole), operating voltage (12V is better than 6V) and if the circuit is peaked
for maximum performance. This is constructed on a single-sided printed circuit board (PCB).

9c‘Æ ‘( $7‘

The circuit is basically a radio frequency (RF) oscillator that operates around 100 MHz Audio
picked up and amplified by the electret microphone is fed into the audio amplifier stage built
around the first transistor. Output from the collector is fed into the base of the second transistor
where it modulates the resonant frequency of the tank circuit by varying the junction capacitance
of the transistor. Junction capacitance is a function of the potential difference applied to the base
of the transistor T2. The tank circuit is connected in a Hartley oscillator circuit. The final stage
built around T3 amplifies the output RF signal. Let us look at the individual blocks of the circuit
more closely:

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Electrets are permanently charged dielectric. It is made by heating a ceramic material, placing it in
a magnetic field and then allowing it to cool while still in the magnetic field. It is the electrostatic
equivalent of a permanent magnet. In the electrets microphone a slice of this material is used as
part of the dielectric of a capacitor in which the diaphragm of the microphone forms one plate.
Sound pressure moves one of its plates. The movement of the plate changes the capacitance. The
electrets capacitor is connected to an FET amplifier. These microphones are small, have excellent
sensitivity, a wide frequency response and a very low cost.

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This is a standard self-biasing common emitter amplifier. The 22n capacitor isolates the
microphone from the base voltage of the transistor and only allows alternating current signals to
pass.

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Every transmitter needs an oscillator to generate the RF carrier waves. The tank circuit, the
transistor and the feedback capacitor are the oscillator circuit here. An input signal is not needed to
sustain the oscillation. The feedback signal makes the base-emitter current of the transistor vary at
the resonant frequency. This causes the emitter-collector current to vary at the same frequency.
This signal fed to the aerial and radiated as radio waves. The name 'tank' circuit comes from the
ability of the LC circuit to store energy for oscillations. In a pure LC circuit (one with no
resistance) energy cannot be lost. (In an AC network only the resistive elements will dissipate
electrical energy. The purely reactive elements, the C and the L, just store energy to be returned to
the system later.) Note that the tank circuit does not oscillate just by having a DC potential put
across it. Positive feedback must be provided.

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This RF stage adds amplification to the RF signal. It needs an RF transistor to do this efficiently.
We use a etex TX320. L2 (an RFC -radio frequency choke) and the 10p capacitor in parallel
with it are designed to reduce harmonics from the circuit. Output power from this stage will be
max when it is tuned to oscillate at the same frequency as the previous stage. This can be done
with the peaking circuit‘ provided and described separately below. A small (10pF) coupling
capacitor on the aerial is optional to minimize the effect of the aerial capacitance on the final stage
LC circuit. (We have not used one in this circuit.)

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Greater range from the transmitter can be obtained by replacing the half-wave antenna (the length
of wire about 160cm long) with a dipole antenna. This is basically two wires attached to two
points in the circuit which are oscillating 180o out of phase with each other. Two such points are
the antenna point and the positive rail (the +9V track.) You can experiment by cutting the antenna
wire in half, leaving half soldered into the antenna point and soldering the other half to the +9V
pad. Point the two wires in opposite directions.

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Output power is also increased by using a higher operating voltage. 9V is better than 6V. The
maximum operating voltage for this Kit is determined by the TX320. This is 15V but if you try
this then the values of some resistances will have to change.

We can get more range as a trade off against stability by:

‘ reducing R5 to 100R
‘ reducing R7 to 47R
‘ increasing C7 to 470p

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The range of this FM transmitter is around 1km. at 9V DC supply. This FM transmitter has
3R.F.stages. A variable frequency V.H.F.Oscilalator, a class C.R.F amplifier with harmonics
filter.

Power supply is 9 to 12Volts.R.F. Output power is 150 mill watts. With telescopic antenna (75cm)
range is up to 1km. Range can be extended upto3km, by using multi element Yagi antenna having
dipole, reflector, and director elements.

Frequency of transmitter is to be set within 8 to 108MHz F.M.band by adjusting the first trimmer.
Adjust output trimmers for maximum range of transmission.

To power this transmitter, use 9V battery. Do not use mains derived supply. Suggested Yagi
antenna design using aluminium rods are shown here. Us 75 Ohm Co-axial cable between
transmitter and antenna. Inner we o able connected to PCB.

The first stage is a microphone preamplifier built around BC548 transistor. The next stage is a
VHF oscillator wired around another BC548.BC series transistors are generally used in low
frequency stages. But this also works fine in RF stages as oscillator.

The third stage is a class µA¶ tuned amplifier that boost signals from the oscillator. Use of the
additional RF amplifier increases the range of the transmitter. Here coils L1=7turns 22SWG,
L2=6tuns22SWG, L3=5turns22SWG, L4=5turns22SWG enamelled copper wire wound on a 4mm
dia. Air core.

VC1 s a frequency-adjusting trimpot.VC2 should be adjusted for the maximum range. The
transmitter unit is powered by a 9V PP3 battery. It combined with readily available FM receiver
kit to make a walkie-talkie set.

9/‘&*‘‘!7‘

Q1 is the oscillator, and is a conventional Colpitts design. L1 and C3 (in parallel with C2) tune the
circuit to the desired frequency, and the output (from the emitter of Q1) is fed to the buffer and
amplifier Q2. This isolates the antenna from the oscillator giving much better frequency stability,
as well as providing considerable extra gain. L2 and C6 form a tuned collector load, and C7 helps
to further isolate the circuit from the antenna, as well as preventing any possibility of short circuits
should the antenna contact the grounded metal case that would normally be used for the complete
transmitter. ‘

The audio signal applied to the base of Q1 causes the frequency to change, as the transistor's
collector current is modulated by the audio. This provides the frequency modulation (FM) that can
be received on any standard FM band receiver. The audio input must be kept to a maximum of
about 100mV, although this will vary somewhat from one unit to the next. Higher levels will
cause the deviation (the maximum frequency shift) to exceed the limits in the receiver - usually
´75kHz.

With the value shown for C1, this limits the lower frequency response to about 50Hz (based only
on R1, which is somewhat pessimistic) - if you need to go lower than this, then use a 1uF cap
instead, which will allow a response down to at least 15Hz. C1 may be polyester or mylar, or a
1uF electrolytic may be used, either bipolar or polarized. If polarized, the positive terminal must
connect to the 10k resistor.

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100R brown black brown : 1

470R yellow violet brown : 1
4K7 yellow violet red : 1
22K red red orange : 1
39K orange white orange : 1
47K yellow violet orange : 2
1M brown black green : 1
‘
‘
91/‘Æ $ 7‘

Trim cap 5-20pF, red : 1

5.6 pF ceramic : 1
10p ceramic : 2
47pF ceramic : 3
1nF ceramic : 1
20nF or 22nF ceramic : 2
100nF monoblock : 2
RF transistor TX320 : 1
Small signal transistor BC547 : 2
6 turn tinned copper coil : 1
6 turn enamelled coil : 1
8 turn enamelled coil : 1
9V battery snap : 1
Electret microphone : 1
PCB-mounted SPDT switch : 1
Antenna wire : 1.6m
k32 PCB : 1
Peaking circuit : 1 packet of components

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:‘Æ ‘
The Miniaturised FM transmitter is essentially a Design and Implementation project. To approach
a project like this a parallel path has to be taken in regards to the Theory and the practical
circuitry, for a successful conclusion in any project these paths must meet, and this only happens
when they are fully understood. This is why a good grounding in the basics of Communication
theory and Analogue design must be achieved before ever approaching a project like this. To start
off looking at block diagrams of basic transmitter was a must, even if it seemed abstract and
obscure the underlying meaning of each block can be found out one by one which made the
overall project challenging and rewarding.

‘
‘  ‘

The design used for this project is essentially quite a simple one, and it is this simplicity which
partly brings it down when it comes to the overall reliable performance. The main area of
instability is in the oscillator part of the circuit. Shielding (section 5.5) the oscillator helped in part
to counteract this.

After learning a lot from this project, there would have been a few things that could have been
done to the final design to improve its performance.
‘ Use negative temperature coefficients to compensate for typically positive- temperature-
coefficient tuned circuits.
‘ Follow the oscillator with a buffer amplifier to reduce the effects of load changes.

‘! ‘

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