Sound amplifiers and am transmitters...?

Question

I want to be able to pick sound up with only a small speaker and a diode (i have used germaniums) without any amplifier there but then a bunch of amplifiers hooked up to an am transmitter (oscillator) with the input being an ipod. is this possible? So all-in-all, an ipod goes thru a bunch of amplifiers, then to the am transmitter, travels thru the air in highpower freq.'s and is picked up by a diode attached to a speaker. Any suggestions or critiques? thanks a bunch

I mean like short range, a couple feet, im pretty sure they would waste time with me...

Answer 1

Actually, it is legal (at least in the US) to build and operate low power transmitter without a license if you follow strict guidelines: FCC - Part 15: Unlicensed Radio Devices
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/part15.html

Do a google search for "am transmitter circuit" and you will find a bunch. Here's one for your enjoyment:
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/amxmit.htm

You will not be able to drive a regular speaker (practically speaking) without an amplifier. A crystal set can only drive a very high impedance headphone, and even then the volume level is very low.
More info on Crystal sets: http://www.midnightscience.com/

In the olden days of radio, they had something called a spark gap radio, which might be able to do something like that, but
that is very wide band, very high power, and more suitable for Morse code, not music. Also, IF you can pump enough power to drive a speaker with nothing but a crystal set, you ARE going to cause massive interference for lots of people, for very far away. Don't kid yourself... they will find you once you cause interference for things like emergency services or the local HAM operator. Also, power levels are going to be high enough to probably injure or kill you if you don't know what you are doing...

I don't want to discourage learning by experiments, but I strongly recommend keeping it low power.

Answer 2

Your receiver is a crystal set. Sure you can do it, but without a valid station license, you will face years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines from the FCC.