iPod AM Transmissions

I finally got my iPod AM transmitter working! It's kind of dirty still, but it does the job just fine for now.

This is the whole setup right here, but with one exception. The 7uF capacitor on this version I made last night was improperly mounted, causing my transmitter to cease transmission. I figured out the problem today and was able to test it with Matt "Fozzington" Vandenburg's radio upstairs in Russell. The result was pretty cool, and the signal is very clean, especially for an AM radio transmission. Range, however, is a problem, as it only works from about two feet away, but I'm going to try and rectify the situation with different types of antennae.

If you want to make something like this, you can just follow this simple little circuit diagram.

I made a small change to this, though. I used a 6V battery supply, as well as a 220 ohm resistor to handle the extra load. The capacitor I used was a 7uF one, instead of the recommended 10uF, but that was only because I had no 10uF capacitors at the time. The magical element here is of course, the crystal, which can be bought at Active Tech, and pictured here.