Small, battery operated rf transmitter for portable audio devices for use with headphones with rf receiver

Abstract

A portable FM stereo RF transmitter having an audio plug extending therefrom directly or via a cable and which mates with the earphone or output jack of an audio source such as a portable battery operated CD or tape player and having no external antenna. The portable RF transmitter modulates audio signals from the audio source onto an FM carrier and transmits them to an FM receiver mounted on a headset worn by a user. The RF transmitter uses its own ground circuit and the ground circuit of the audio source as two elements of a short dipole. The two ground circuits are electrically isolated at RF by an RF choke but connected together at audio frequencies by the low impedance of the choke at audio. The choke's leakage inductance also reduces the capacitive reactance of the dipole antenna for better power dissipation. A transformer coupling the RF output to the dipole transforms the impedance of the dipole to a value closer to the output impedance of the RF transmitter. A phase lock loop controls the carrier frequency to remain in the center of the channel even as the battery voltage drops.