Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECE2011 Introduction to Electrical Engineering

Laboratory Project #5 iPod Wireless Audio Transmitter

Introduction

You are traveling in a friends car and want to play a song from your iPod touch. The tiny speaker
built into it cant be heard at all well over the road noise, and your friends car isnt new enough
to have an MP3 input. If the circuit in this weeks lab were built into a little box with a battery
power supply, you could plug it into your iPod, tune the AM radio to 1400 and play the music out
the cars speaker system.
In this project you will construct and test an amplitude modulated radio transmitter operating
at a frequency in the AM radio band. This circuit will allow you to transmit the audio (from
the earphone out) of an iPod or other MP3 player to a nearby table top or car radio. You will
also construct an AM demodulator that will demonstrate the means that a receiver uses to recover
information from a received signal. The approach used and the waveforms generated by this project
are similar to those used for the AM radio broadcast service and shortwave radio stations. The
basic underlying analog circuitry is also common to many forms of digital wireless transmission
such as found in Wifi and bluetooth systems.
You will make use of the oscilloscope and function generator to observe the signals (waveforms)
that are generated throughout this circuit.
Because of the high-frequency signals that will appear in this project, circuit layout
is very important. Follow the suggestions in this text.
In the following material you will be asked to construct these circuits one at a time. This way,
each can be separately troubleshot! Dont jump ahead and build the remainder of the circuit until
each previous section works or else we may never be able to get it to work in time.

The RF Oscillator

The first circuit you will construct is the RF (radio frequency) oscillator, shown in Figure 1. This
circuit is responsible for generating a (approximately) 1.4 MHz (1400 kHz on the AM radio display)
sinusoid. A single transistor is used as a current controlled current source to supply the gain for this
oscillator. The 33H inductor, L, and the capacitors C1 and C2 implement the positive feedback
network. The conditions for oscillation are met at the radio frequency, = 2f , (f is the frequency
in Hz.) at which the following equation is satisfied:


L =

1
1
+
C1 C2

For a pre-lab you will be asked to calculate the resonant frequency f for this circuit by solving
the above equation.

Circuit layout for this portion of the circuit is very critical. Use minimum lengths of wire
throughout this construction. The components for this entire circuit should lie within an inch of
each other!
Especially important is the use and placement of the power supply bypass capacitors C3, C4,
C5, C6. It may look ridiculous that small .1F capacitors have been placed in parallel with large
10F capacitors, but each has its function. The overall function of these capacitors is to provide a
low impedance path for AC currents to flow between the negative, positive and ground lines of the
power supply. The long wires (1 foot) that run back to the power supply are too long to act as the low
impedance paths that we like to think that wire represents. Furthermore, the electrolytic capacitors,
C3 and C4 are not what they seem to be at high frequencies. To achieve their high capacitance, a
fairly large inductance has also been introduced! At lower frequencies this inductance is not a factor
since its impedance Z = jL and hence close to zero at very low frequencies. However, electrolytic
capacitors will become ineffective as capacitors at higher frequencies, where the somewhat more
pure C5 and C6 have a low capacitive impedance.
All the above power supply bypass capacitors should be mounted near the RF oscillator and
should have very short connections for proper operation.
Dont forget to use your DMM to adjust the power supply voltages to +10 and 10 V before
connecting the power supply to your circuit. It will be very easy to destroy the transistor in this
circuit if these are not set properly.
After constructing the circuit, connect your CH1 scope probe tip to the point marked Vrf by
clipping its tip to a wire inserted at this location and of course clip its ground clip to a wire inserted
into your board connecting to the power supply ground bus. Connect the point marked Vin to
ground (temporarily, you will be using this input later.). Set the scope to trigger on CH1 (use the
menu to select to internal trigger on CH1, auto mode). Set the scope input sensitivity to the 5
volts/div scale and the time base to provide 100ns/div. Use the input menu to also set the CH1
input to AC coupling. This will block the 10 V DC component from the oscillator output.
Now apply power to the circuit. You should see a sinusoid on the screen. Adjust the triggering
and sensitivity settings to give yourself a good, stable waveform on the scope. Now read the
frequency of this waveform from the input display on the ride hand side of the scope display. This
should agree approximately with the calculation you did earlier.

Amplitude Modulation

Now you will use the function generator to supply a low frequency sinusoid that will be used to
modulate the the amplitude of your RF oscillator. Recall that the output of the function generator
is available at a BNC connector on its front panel. Use a cable with BNC connector and alligator
clips to connect to a piece of wire inserted into your protoboard in the experiments that follow.
In the previous experiment you connected Vin temporarily to ground. Now disconnect this point
from ground and connect this point instead to the red-clip output of the function generator as shown
in Figure 2 (where the RF oscillator is represented by the black box in the diagram as indicated to
the left of Figure 1.) remembering to also connect the black ground clip from the function generator
to your circuit ground. Set the function generator to supply a 1 KHz sine wave without DC offset
(either push in the offset knob on those generators that have one, or select the no offset sinewave
on those generators that have this waveform selection option.)
2

Connect the CH2 scope probe to view this signal before connecting it to your circuit. You will
have to change the scope time base to the .1 ms setting, select triggering from CH2, and choose the
scope input selections to show both CH1 and CH2 signals if it is not already doing so. Adjust the
signal generator for about a 5 volt peak-to-peak (voltage difference from the most negative peak to
the most negative peak) signal.
Now turn on the power to the RF oscillator. You should see a waveform like one of those in
Figure 3. Adjust the amplitude of the function generator until you see a waveform consistent with
about 50% modulation. (Some of the function generators will not be able to achieve sufficient
output levels to obtain even 50% modulation. That is alright. In these cases just set the amplitude
of the function generator to max.)
The high frequency oscillations of this signal are now so closely spaced that they would appear
as a blur in between the peak output amplitudes, so the computer in the oscilloscope renders this
region as a diagonal hash pattern. The envelope (the border that lines the top and bottom of the
pattern) formed by these peaks should be clearly visible and can be seen to resemble the input
modulating waveform (though there may be a very apparent phase shift between the two sinusoidal
shapes.)
Ordinarily an AM radio transmitter is operated in such a way that the the amount by which
the envelope modifies the unmodulated waveform, which is called the modulation index, is between
0 and 100 %. At 100 % the peaks of the modulation vary the RF output amplitude from zero to
twice the average amplitude and the envelope thus becomes the largest envelope that still resembles
the modulating wave.
How is the output of this oscillator being amplitude modulated? The theory goes a little beyond
this course, but for future reference it can be summarized in this way: The audio frequency voltage
you are applying to the base of the transistor affects the input Thevenin resistance of the controlled
current source model of the transistor. A transistors input resistance is inversely proportional to
its emitter current. The amplitude of the sinusoid generated by this oscillator is also a function
of this resistance, hence the amplitude modulation. This is not a very good method to generate
amplitude modulation, but it is simple and easy to implement. Why do we say it is not very good?
Look carefully at the envelope of the RF output signal. You will see that it is not quite sinusoidal,
especially at a large modulation index. Furthermore, note that the top and bottom envelopes are
not quite the same. Usually a second circuit, a multiplier is used to modulate the constant
amplitude output of an oscillator.
Now connect a 1 foot wire to Vrf and leave the other end of this antenna unconnected to
anything, just sticking up in the air. This is your transmitters antenna. Have the lab TA bring
a radio over to your lab bench. You should be able to find the signal you are transmitting on the
receiver. Vary the signal generator frequency to prove to yourself that you have found your signal.
When done, remove the antenna so that your signal does not interfere with the efforts of other
groups in the lab to hear their signal.

Envelope Demodulation

Now you will construct a simple AM demodulator, often called an envelope detector. Construct
the circuit shown in Figure 4. As will be discussed in class, this circuit acts like a peak detector.
Whenever the voltage Vrf exceeds the voltage Vout , the diode allows the capacitor to quickly charge
3

to this new value. When the RF voltage swings downwards, the capacitor maintains this voltage
as it only slowly looses its charge through the resistor to ground. Thus the output voltage tracks
any slow changes in the RF amplitude.
Move the CH2 scope probe to the point Vout . Note that the envelope detector has in fact
extracted the original waveform from the RF signal. Try removing the 510 pF capacitor, C7,
temporarily. Note that Vout is now simply the positive excursions of Vrf . The transient response of
the output RC transient circuit plays an important role in producing a true envelope detector.
Now replace C7 and temporarily remove R1. Now the time constant of the RC circuit has
become so large that the capacitor voltage can no longer track the changes in the envelope.

Music Modulation

Now implement the circuit the Figure 5. This is an audio amplifier driven by your MP3 player.
During the following steps you will find it necessary to adjust the volume control on the MP3 player
to obtain a modulation index below 100 % so as to obtain an undistorted audio signal from the
radio receiver.
Use the phone plug supplied by the TAs to connect your MP3 player to the transmitter as
shown in the circuit diagram. Move your CH2 probe to the output of the audio amplifier Va . You
should be able to observe the signal that is generated when you play your music into the circuit. If
not, troubleshoot this circuit or ask for assistance from a TA before continuing.
When the audio amplifier works, disconnect the function generator from Vin on the transmitter
circuit and instead connect the audio amplifier output to Vin as shown in the block diagram in
Figure 6.
When you activate the circuit you should see the envelope of your Vrf signal is now amplitude
modulated by your voice. Adjust the volume until you see a modulation index under 100% (about
50% would be a good target). Re-insert the antenna wire and ask for an instructor to bring the
AM radio receiver back. You should now have a fully functional Wireless iPod transmitter.

Simulator analysis

In Figure 7 we show the core RF oscillator as it would be entered into QUCS. Enter this circuit
into QUCS. Take note to set the switch turn on time to 0 as shown and to change the transient
simulator values to start at 0 seconds and end at 50 microseconds. Also set the transient simulator
Number property value to 1000. Dont forget that to enter microFarads (F ) you must use uF in
QUCS.
Execute the simulation and plot Vrf.Vt. You should see the same oscillation as you saw in the
real circuit (with a small start-up transient in the first 10 s. Copy this circuit to a folder on
another machine that you can access in the future. We will be using this circuit to illustrate some
points in a future homework.
Put a print out of this circuit and the resulting simulation waveform in your notebook.

Conclusions and Extensions

As mentioned before, your circuit resembles that at the basis for most radio systems, including
radio and TV broadcast, Ham radio, cell-phones, navigational radio (GPS), satellite transmission,
Wifi, Bluetooth etc.
Use of the radio spectrum is regulated by national and international law. In the
US, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) grants licenses to individuals and
companies to use particular carrier frequencies with specific modulation schemes for
well defined purposes! Setting up a radio station on you own can run up a high cost
in fines and a possible prison sentence!
There are iPod transmitters available commercially. These usually transmit to the FM radio in
a car. Using the FM broadcast system allows for transmission of the full stereo signal instead of
combining them into a single signal as was done in this lab. An FM transmitter uses a different form
of modulation. Instead of modulating the amplitude of the sine wave in accordance with variations
in the input signal, instead, it is the frequency of the sine wave with is varied while its amplitude
remains constant.
You will learn a great deal more about modulation and communications systems in future
courses on the topics of signals and communications.