Republic of Yemen

Sana‘a University
Faculty of Engineering
Communications and Electronics Engineering

FM demodulation
presented by:_
Hani Al-Nowairah(14/2010)
Mosab Al-Faqih (165/2010)
Ahmed Kalfood (20/2010)
Supervised by :-
Eng .Dr./Ahmed Harmal
Sana'a 2014
Make this Simple FM Radio Circuit Using a
Single Transistor

When it comes to making an FM receiver it's

always thought to be a complex design, however
the one transistor simple FM receiver circuit
explained here simply shows that it isn't the case
after all.

Here a single transistor acts as a receiver,

demodulator, amplifier to constitute a wonderful
tiny FM radio.
Make this Simple FM Radio Circuit Using a
Single Transistor

It's basically based on a superregenerative

audion receiver circuit where the use of minimal
components becomes the main feature of the
unit.
 Make this Simple FM Radio Circuit
Using a Single Transistor
However fewer components also means a few •
compromises involved, here the receiver
requires a large metal base for grounding the
unwanted signals, and for keeping the noise
factor to the lowest, and also this system
would work only in places where the
reception is rather strong and thus may not be
suitable in areas where the signal strength is
thinner.
 How the One Transistor FM Radio
Receiver Works
 As mentioned above, the circuit is basically a single
transistor superregenerative RF oscillator with a constant
amplitude.

 Here we have tried to enhance the design such that the

amplitude becomes considerably magnified in order to turn
OFF the transistor completely during the oscillations.

 This called for an increase in the feedback capacitor and

also to use a transistor specifically designed for handling
extreme high frequency ranges such as a BF494.
 How the One Transistor FM Radio
Receiver Works
 Further modifications include an inductor with the
emitter of the transistor, and a capacitor across the
emitter resistor of the transistor.

 Due to this the transistor is switched ON as soon as the

base emitter voltage of the transistor falls significantly,
resulting in an abrupt cut off in the oscillations.

 However this prompts the emitter capacitor to

discharge, allowing the collector current to yet again
resume its flow, initiating a fresh cycle of oscillation
 How the One Transistor FM Radio
Receiver Works
the above happening forces the circuit to flip flop
between two situations, oscillator OFF and
oscillator ON, resulting a sawtooth frequency of
about 50kHz at the output.

Each time the circuit flips across the above

ON/OFF states, results in a significant stepping up
of the amplitude which in turn constitutes
greater amplification of the received signals.
The procedure also gives rise to noise but only as
long as a station is not being detecte
Single Transistor Radio with Audio
Amplifier
 Single Transistor Radio with Audio
Amplifier
To make the above circuit self-contained, an
additional transistor stage may be introduced for
enabling the radio to play the music loudly over a
small loudspeaker.
The circuit is self explanatory, just the inclusion of
a general purpose BC559 transistor along with a
few inexpensive passive components can be
witnessed in the design.
Single Transistor Radio with Audio
Amplifier
 How to Make the Inductors

 The involved coils or the inductors are very simply to wind.

 L1 which is the oscillator coil is an air cored inductor,

meaning no core is required, wire is super enamelled type,
0.8mm in thickness, diameter of 8mm, with five turns.
L2 is wound over R6 itself using 0.2mm super enameled
copper wire with 20 turns.
 How to Set Up the Circuit

 Initially when the circuit is switched ON, the output will

be accompanied with substantial background noise
which will gradually tend to disappear on detection of
am FM station.
 This may be done by carefully tuning C2 with the help
of an insulated screwdriver. Try to keep the tuning at
the edge of the band of the particular FM station, with
some practice and patience this would get easier with
time.
 Once tuned, the circuit would respond to that
reception every time its switched without the need for
further alignment.
 How to Set Up the Circuit

 As indicated at the beginning of the article, the circuit

should be installed over a wide circular meta plate,
preferably a solderable material, and all the ground of
the circuit soldered on this plate.
 This is important to keep the circuit stable and avoid
drifting away of the received stations and also for
cancelling unwanted noise.

 The antenna in the proposed single transistor FM radio

receiver circuit is not crucial and in fact should be kept
as small as possible, a 10cm wire would be just
enough.
 How to Set Up the Circuit

Remember, the circuit also acts a like an

effective transmitter circuit, therefore keeping
the antenna size bigger would mean
transmitting noise across the ether and
disturbing your neighbors radio reception.

The upside being that the design can also

used as a walkie talkie within a small radial
distance....more on this next time.