MAKE: PROJECTS

Super Simple iPod FMTransmitter

By Sean Michael Ragan Difculty: Difcult

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44

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Weekend Projects - Super Simple FM Transmitter

FM transmitters can be complicated to build, but not this one this iPod FM transmitter
about the easiest you can possibly make. And though the science of radio is well
understood, theres a magical, emotional quality about it that we dont often stop to
appreciate. You will not forget the rst time you pick up a transmission broadcast from a
device you soldered together, yourself, from a few bits of copper, carbon, plastic, and wire.
I am indebted to Jim and Kat of Sonodrome for rst introducing me to that experience,
through this very circuit, which I rst built on a pre-etched PCB from a kit they offered for
sale as recently as 2011.
This design was originally popularized by Japanese multimedia artist Tetsuo Kogawa. The
circuit itself is a slight variation on Kogawas simplest FM transmitter design, and the
method of building it is sometimes referred to as Manhattan style. Ituses a piece of
copper-clad circuit board but, rather than etching the circuit traces through the copper
layer, a large piece of continuously-plated board is used to make all the circuits ground
connections, and small sections of plated board are glued to the surface to form nodes or
pads that are insulated from ground. Besides being a convenient way to assemble
circuits using minimal tools, this building method encourages you to think about circuits in
an interesting way as groups of connections that are either grounded or oating above
ground.

202

44

41

2 transmitter uses ten on-board components and will transmit a monaural audio signal
This
about 30 feet. It is possible to extend that range by adding an antenna, and Mr. Kogawas
website has more information about how to do that.

NOTE:Depending on where you live, operating an FM transmitter even a very shortrange one like this may be illegal without a license. Unless you attach an antenna, its
very unlikely that anyone will notice or complain about any transmissions you may make
with this device. On the other hand, its very difcult to predict, before construction is
complete, just where on the FM band this transmitter will broadcast. Use due caution
during testing, and make sure you understand the law in your area before attaching the
battery.

PARTS

FM Radio Receiver RadioShack #12586

Transistor, NPN, 2N3904 RadioShack
#276-2016
Battery clip, 9V RadioShack #270-324
Phone plug, mono, 1/8" RadioShack
#274-286
Stranded copper wire, 22 gauge, red
and black RadioShack #278-1218
Capacitor, ceramic disk, 0.01F (2)
RadioShack #272-131

STEPS
PROJECT STEPS
1. Form the coil.
2. Cut the board.
3. Mount the coil.
4. Add capacitor C3 and resistor R2.
5. Add the electrolytic cap, resistor R1, and capacitor C2.
6. Add the transistor.
7. Add the 10pF caps, resistor R3, and the battery clip.
8. Attach the phone plug.
9. Tune it up!
10. Mount the battery.

Capacitor, ceramic disk, 10pF (2) from

RadioShack #272-801
Battery, 9V, rechargeable Ni-MH, or
alkaline RadioShack #23-748 or #23853
Solid copper wire, 18 gauge, 4" length
RadioShack #278-1223
Hook-and-loop strips RadioShack
#64-2363
Resistors, 1/4W (3) 1 each: 470, 10K,
and 27K, from RadioShack #271-0312
Copper-clad board, about 5cm 5cm
RadioShack #276-1499
Capacitor, electrolytic, 1F33F such
as RadioShack #272-1026. Mine came
from RadioShack assortment #272802.

ADVERTISEMENT

Step #9: Tune it up!

Attach your 9V battery to the battery clip and insert the phone plug into an audio source like an MP3
player or smartphone. Start a song or other easily-recognizable audio track playing, then turn on your
radio and scan through the FM band to locate the transmission.

TIPS:
Start with your receiver right next to the transmitter.
A digital tuner with precision down to 0.01MHz may be helpful.
Be patient and careful. Scanning is a bit tedious, but if you get impatient you may miss the signal
altogether and mistakenly believe the transmitter isn't working.
If you scan the entire band and can't locate your signal, try changing the orientation of your receiver's
antenna with respect to the board and scanning again.
It's best to run your audio source on battery power when you are rst isolating the transmitting
frequency. If you have to run it from mains power, make sure electrically noisy devices like
uorescent lights, TVs, and computer monitors are not active on the same circuit at the time.
You can tune the transmitting frequency by changing the spacing between turns in the coil. Closing the
spacing will lower the transmitting frequency, while opening it up will raise the transmitting frequency.
You can also use a variable capacitor for tuning (see Step 7).

SEAN MICHAEL RAGAN

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates.
Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to
MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared
in ReadyMade, c't Magazin fr Computertechnik, and The Wall
Street Journal.

seanmichaelragan@gmail.com

smragan.com // Etsy // shapeways // Thingiverse

155Comments
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Jointhediscussion
AmitabhSongara 2yearsago

sir
canyoutellhowwecanchangethefrequency

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22

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WH>AmitabhSongara 2yearsago

youcanchangethefrequencyifyoureplaceC510pFcapacitorwitha222pFvariable
capacitor.
7

Reply Share

NickVanderplop>WH ayearago

oranyothervariablecapacitorwithasimilarrange
1

Reply Share

RizwanQayyum>WH ayearago

Inductorvalue??

Reply Share

WH>RizwanQayyum ayearago

approximately42.74nH
http://www.66pacific.com/calcu...
http://www.daycounter.com/Calc...
ijustusedacoilinductancecalculatorontheabovepageswithdatafromthis
site
turns4
diameter:6.35mm(0.25inches)
length:12mm(0.472441inches)
3

Reply Share

Boguslav>WH 3monthsago

Youhaveonemistake.Approximately,inductanceis84,25nH.Forcalculation
youneeddiameterofthewire,butnolength.Takelinkwithcalc:
http://cxem.net/calc/inductor_...84.284.2NY

Reply Share

Koby 2yearsago

thisisawesomeI'mgoingtomakeone.Butwherewouldyouconnecttheantenna?
14

Reply Share

ZidaneTribal>Koby 2yearsago

youwouldhookuptheantennatotheemitterofthetransistor.atleastthatswhatthediagram
showsandhowihaveithookedup.haventtestedthedistanceyet.
9

Reply Share

caswell 2yearsago

Hi,Ihavebuiltthesupersimpleradiotransmitter,itworksbutthesignalistoonoisyorscratchy,what
canIdotoenhance,Isuspectmycoilistheproblemasitisnoteven,itisalsofoundtoolowinthe
FMspectrum,howcanImoveituptothemixberangeofthespectrum,thanksalot,enjoyedbuilding

FMspectrum,howcanImoveituptothemixberangeofthespectrum,thanksalot,enjoyedbuilding
it......caswell

31

Reply Share

michaelgeorge 2yearsago

Thisisanamazingcircuit.itworksproperly:)
butitwouldbebetterifyouexplainedthefunctionofeachcomponentindetails.
WouldyoutellmewhatthefunctionofC4is?
Thanksinadvancesir,
10

Reply Share

Jake 2yearsago

IthasbeenveryhardformetofindsolidcopperinmyareacanIusetinnedcopperinstead?
9

Reply Share

NathanaelBeall>Jake 10monthsago

useastandardcablewire,(forTVinstallation)thereusually18awg
1

Reply Share

ZidaneTribal 2yearsago

imadethismyself,butitseemsthatwitha9vbatteryicanonlyusevolume36atmostwithout
significantdistortion.idontknowmuchabouttransistorsandtheirvoltageratings,butihookeditup
using18voltsanditwasrunningfineandicoulduseahigherinputvoltageaswell.hoever,after
aboutanhourthe29vbatterieswerewarmhowwouldicheckthecurrentdraw?itriedtheamp
probeonmymeterbutitdidntwork.
6

Reply Share

FireControlman2ndClassUSN>ZidaneTribal 2yearsago

currentdrawwouldbeP/E.powerdividedbyvoltage,soyouhavetodothemathandfindthe
currentthroughthecollectorandgofromthere
1

Reply Share

AnupUpadhyaya 2yearsago

WherecanIfindthehardwareused?CanIfinditinsideaCDplayer?OrinsideaRadio?
P.S.:Iamnotaelectronicsstudent.
10

Reply Share

JohnDaniels>AnupUpadhyaya 4monthsago

Youcouldprobablyfinditallinaradio,butanyelectronicspartsstoreshouldhaveeverything
youneed.RadioShackisthetraditionalplacetofindthisstuffintheUS,butthesedays
they'rehitandmiss.Amazon.comprobablyhasitbutyoumighthavetobuylargequantities.

Youdon'thavetobeanelectronicsstudentifyoujustlookatthenumbers.Usuallythevoltage
ratingontheseparts(forexample25v)isthemaximumvoltageyoucanapply.Sincethisuses
a9vbattery,anythingabove9vwillbeokandanythinglowerthan9vcouldburnout.The
resistanceorcapacitanceratingisthenumberthatyouneedtomatch(forexample103kon
theresistorand22uFonthecapacitor).Ihopethishelpsyoufindtherightparts.
Yikes,I'mjustnoticingthatyoupostedthisayearago.Ihopethiscanstillhelpyoualittleor
anyoneelsejuststartingout.

Reply Share

AidanPayne ayearago

WherewouldIattachanantennathathasmultipleconnections,likeontakenfromanoldradio?
4

Reply Share

IrfanuddinShafi>AidanPayne ayearago

Onetocapacitorc5andthegroundtogroundplane.

Reply Share

SaurabhSingh 2yearsago

isanysubstitutionof2N3904transistor.Ifexistsplsreply.
4

Reply Share

GarethAndrews>SaurabhSingh 2yearsago

2N3904/BC547/PN2222/2N4401areallNPNtransistors,
don'tknowifthey'llworkbutitsworthatry:)
1

Reply Share

FokkoPerton>GarethAndrews 4monthsago

Bc547or537bothworkacharm,they'remoreeasilygettableinmycase.
1

Reply Share

WH 2yearsago

Thisisfantastic.Thankyouverymuchforpostingit.Itworksverywell.Iuseitinthecarinorderto
connectmyphonetotheradiosoicanplaywhateveriwant.Withoutantennatherangeisjust1or2
meterssoitdoesn'tcauseanyinterferenceatall.Wheniattachedan82cmlongcopperwireasan
antennatherangewentupto100morso.Imayconnectthecircuittothe12Velectricalcircuitofthe
car.Iassumeitwilljustincreasetherange.
4

Reply Share

ThilinaJayasingha>WH 2yearsago

Isitworksrealy.i'mnotmakeit.Butiwantoknowwhatfreaquencycanheardyou?plzreply
meassoonaspossible.
1

Reply Share

WH>ThilinaJayasingha 2yearsago

WH>ThilinaJayasingha 2yearsago

yes,itworksbutthefrequencyissensitive.Inprototypeboardi
firstgot91MHzthenibuiltthecircuitoncopperboardandthefreq
wentdownto86MHzwhichisoutoftheFMrange.Inmyexperiencethefrequency
alsodependsonthebatterylevelandwhetherornotanantenna(thatcanbean80cm
longcopperwire)isconnectedtotheoutput.Icheckedtheoutputfreqwithahighfreq
oscilloscope.
Ifyouusea222pFvariablecapacitorinplaceofC5youcanchangetheoutputfreq.
Thelessthecapacitancethehighertheoutputfrequencybutthelesstheoutput
performancewillbe.Youcancompensatetheperformancedropbyaddinganantenna
butitaffectsthefreqalittle.
4

Reply Share

lim 2yearsago

couldyoucanshowalldetailsfortheresistor!Cuzifinalyearwantodoit
4

Reply Share

concerned_legal_citizen 2yearsago

Sean,Ijustfinishedbuildingthefmtransmitter.Ididgetittowork,however,itisverysensitive
touchinganyofthecomponentsontheboard.Iaddeda3inchantenna.Togetthetransmittertowork,
Ihavetoadjustthecoilandthenbackawayabout6feettohearitworking.Istheoneyoubuiltthis
sensitivetofrequencychangesandproximitytoyourbody?
3

Reply Share

ToadofToadHall 2yearsago

Veryinteresting.Quiteillegal,ofcourse.
But,ohdear,didn'ttheyteachyoutolookafteryourtools?
3

Reply Share

DhaveGatchalian 2yearsago

caniusebc548transistor?
2

Reply Share

Cubeofcheese 6monthsago

Ihave18guagewire,butoutisnotsolid,woulditstillwork?
1

Reply Share

Lukas 9monthsago

Amazing,amithefirsttorealisethatitworksjustfinewithoutanypower/battery...
Thismeanticouldmakeatinyadapterformyphonetoplaymusictoanyradio!

Reply Share

Reply

Share

Gaurav>Lukas 5monthsago

HeyLukasthatwasindeedremarkable.Wouldbegreatifyoucouldpleasesharethiscompact
PCBcomponentlayoutwithus...

Reply Share

Lukas>Gaurav 5monthsago

SorryIdidn'tnoticethecomments..Tobehonest,Allididwasplaceallthe
componentsinalineasyoucanseeinthepicture.ButImadesurethatthe
componentsnexttoeachothermadeconnectionsinordertoavoidtoomanyjumper
cables.Iusedaprojectboardratherthanacustompcb.Ijusthavetopointoutthatthe
audioinputprovidesenoughpowertoemitaweaksignalwhichifoundcanonlybe
capturedbymorepowerfullradioswithaverylowrangeofabout1m.However,thisis
prettyremarkableconsideringitdoesNOTREQUIREabatterytoowork!Unfortunately
idon'trememberandidonthavetimetocreatethelayoutwhichiusedtobuildthe
transmitterinthepicturebutgiveitatry!Playaroundwiththelayout.

Reply Share

Gaurav>Lukas 5monthsago

HiLukas...thanksfortakingtimetoreply.Canyoupleasesupportbyatleast
clickingaTOPandBackImageofyourassemblyformykindreference.
AlsoIamsurprisedwhenyousaythatthiscircuitdoesn'trequireanypoweras
itworksona9Vbattery!!!
Thanks,
Gaurav
India

Reply Share

Gabriele>Lukas 6monthsago

Youcansendmetheschematicandcomponentsthatyouused?IIwantatestformyphone.

Reply Share

JS7457 ayearago

imakeitanditsocool!!doitwithacooperboard!Verygoodqualityforme!
102,5Mhz!Iusea0.05mmsolidcooperwire,4turns!
1

Reply Share

raiden ayearago

canuplzzztellmethepricipleonwhichitworks....plzzzexpliantheworkingofthemodel......itisfor
myphysicsproject........plzzreplyfast
1

Reply Share

Finnley 2yearsago

Icouldnotgetminetoworkdoyouhaveanysuggestions

Icouldnotgetminetoworkdoyouhaveanysuggestions
1

Reply Share

davidson>Finnley ayearago

canweseeyours?

Reply Share

NoahStewart 2yearsago

Hasanyonecreatedastereoversionofthis?
1

Reply Share

ShrivardhanKantharia>NoahStewart ayearago

yesihavebutit'snotworking

Reply Share

FIREphaenix 2yearsago

Isitpossibletomakeitanysmaller?
1

Reply Share

GarethAndrews>FIREphaenix 2yearsago

size?yes.components?notreally.

Reply Share

FIREphaenix>GarethAndrews 2yearsago

shame

Reply Share

vishwanathk ayearago

Sir,
InsteadofcoppercladboardihaveusednormalPCBiamnotgettingoutputinmycircuitalsoihave
usedC1as0.01ufhasvariablecapacitorisnotavailableinmyregion.PLEASETELLMEHOWTO
GETOUTPUT...
thankyou.

Reply Share

EdenSimpson>vishwanathk ayearago

HiIrecentlymadeoneofthese,forC1iused1uf.theinputdoesn'tneedtobeveryloudforit
towork.Forlackofcopperboardiusedthe3Dapproachasseeninthepicture.
IusedaBC547asthetransistor.
Myoneis96.1mhzbutitonlyworksifyouholdtheAntenna.?

Reply Share

NathanaelBeall>EdenSimpson 8monthsago

itisusingyourasabigantenna

Reply Share

javier>EdenSimpson ayearago

maybeuhaveabridgesomewere,probablyonground,oyouhavenotatallsoyou
areinsteadwhenutouchit.

Reply Share

Advait>javier 10monthsago

Idontunderstand?
howwillthathappen?

Reply Share

IndiraGanesan 2monthsago

doesthereceiverdetectthenewfrequencywerbroadcastigoritchoosesthepreviouslyavailablefm
radiostationfrequecy

Reply Share

ChetanChauhan 2monthsago

Hey,Iactuallymadethisfmtransmitterformyschoolprojectbuttheproblemwiththetransmitteris
thatitisemittingtheinputateveryfrequencysothereisnoparticularfrequencyrequiredandthereis
lotofnoisewhilereceivingthesignal,socananyonetellmehowtosolvetheproblemoffrequency?

Reply Share

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