My sister just got a new car and gave me her old Accord. My old car had a tape deck so I had the tape adapter for my iPod. The new Accord doesn't have a tape deck. I'm looking at the iRadio and similar products. Any suggestions/recommendations?
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
I had reasonably good luck with the fm xmiter I got a few years back (I think it was a Belkin of some sort that I ordered with my ipod). My one point of warning is that depending on where she lives it may not work perfectly. Since I live in LA every frequency that the transmitter can dial in has either a full-blown radio station or enough bleed over that it can't overpower.
That being said, I'm pretty sure that's going to be limited to something like LA, NY, Chicago, SF... and as soon as I get out of the LA area it quickly becomes very usable. (also note: other builds may be powerful enough that this isn't a problem)
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I have a Belkin FM transmitter, and I'm in the Chicago burbs. I have one station near home I can use with it, but when I get close to my parents' place, I have to switch. There's that many low-power stations (mostly high schools) in the area. However, once I find a station I can hijack, it's wonderful.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
I bought a cheap FM transmitter ($10) and from what I've heard, it works as well or better than the much more expensive Belkin ones. I haven't had any major problems using it in a few large cities (Edmonton, Calgary, and Seattle). I do have to change it's frequency about half way between Edmonton and Calgary due to some interference.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
weird follow up question. I have a fm transmitter that plugs into my cigarette lighter. When I accelerate I hear a whining sound. I heard that it was something called a ground loop.
I heard there are things that are called ground loop filters that you can plug into your iphone and then into your device, but wasn't sure if that would work on the FM transmitter. The transmitter connects to my phone via the dock on the bottom, so I wouldn't think any filter that plugged into the headphone jack and then into the 3.5 in port of the device would do anything.
Does anyone else have any ideas of what do to?
Posted by MattP (Member # 10495) on :
The ground loop filter goes between the power source and the device you want to filter on. In the case of a cigarette lighter adapter you'd need to install it inside the dash in the wiring that leads to the cigarette lighter output.
Higher quality FM adapters will include filtering circuitry to minimize the effect of electrical noise from the engine.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lupus: I heard there are things that are called ground loop filters that you can plug into your iphone and then into your device, but wasn't sure if that would work on the FM transmitter. The transmitter connects to my phone via the dock on the bottom, so I wouldn't think any filter that plugged into the headphone jack and then into the 3.5 in port of the device would do anything.
It sounds like you are saying you have a 3.5 inch input on your stereo. If that is the case, I would skip the FM transmitter and plug directly into that line with a male/male 3.5 inch wire. You could still use the FM transmitter as a charger but switch to the aux input on your deck for the sound.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
no, sadly I don't have a input on my stereo. There is one on the FM adapter. In addition to the dock it has, there is a 3.5 inch input. But since you don't need it for listening to music (the music goes through the dock to the fm receiver) I don't see how it could help.
Though, installing something inside my dash sounds like a real pain. I'm not one of those people that needs to take a car in to get a headlamp or break light changed, but I'm hardly a mechanic.