FM radio transmitters.

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corporate.joe

Member
Feb 25, 2009
23
1
Girlfriend's car has a factory CD player with no aux input, so I bought a belkin FM transmitter to plug into her galaxy s.

We've found that in rural areas it is acceptable sound quality until you get into or close to a town. Sometimes it even seems to get interference from nearby traffic. Quite a fickle device, at some points it's better to hold the transmitter in your hand or lay it on your lap. Guess it uses your body as an antenna to some extent.

Has anyone had better experiences with similar devices? Are there any DIY hardware hacks to increase the reception/amplify the signal?

I'm thinking maybe cracking the thing open and improving the antenna somehow.

I'd give the model number if I had it in front of me right now.


Joe-

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Spoo76

Senior Member
Sep 2, 2009
307
13
Palm Beach South Florida
Sorry I meant wired. I've never liked wireless for the reason you described. And a few years ago the FCC has made it so FM transmitters like these and in sirrius radios cant send as strong a signal as they once could. Which is why I like the wired. Just give it power and ground and plug it into the cars antenna.
 

corporate.joe

Member
Feb 25, 2009
23
1
I see. It plugs directly into the antenna input on the back of the head unit and then the car antenna piggy backs to it. Yeah that should be much better!
Doubt this small town would have it. Maybe radio shack but doubtful.

Doesn't look like too much trouble once you pull the head unit. Where is it getting power from?

Thanks

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Spoo76

Senior Member
Sep 2, 2009
307
13
Palm Beach South Florida
most 12v switched sources should be fine, though most I see just run it to the fuse panel inside. Most kits Ive seen have an Inline fuse on the 12V wire so you could tap any switched 12V that you feel wont give you to much noise.
should be able to find them at any auto store that has an audio/electronics section or walmart

Maybe this will be inspiration for me to get one for my work truck. Depending where I drive I get great signal or none for my Sirius satellite :D
 

spunker88

Senior Member
Sep 8, 2006
1,318
334
Upstate NY
I've had a few Belkins and found them to be too quit sounding (when you flip to another FM its a lot louder) and too low of range. I'm using a Satechi Soundfly right now, it can read from USB or SD card or be fed by AUX input. It has pretty decent volume output and good range. Also it allows you to use 87.7 and 87.9 which are mostly empty, where as most Belkins won't go below 88.1.
 

eladbo

Member
Mar 3, 2012
19
0
i bought one from DealExtreme a while ago cheap, and did the job but broke down after a while, so just make sure you buy a good device and you'll enjoy it.
 

DavidinCT

Senior Member
Jun 2, 2006
1,607
156
Someplace in CT
I've had a few Belkins and found them to be too quit sounding (when you flip to another FM its a lot louder) and too low of range. I'm using a Satechi Soundfly right now, it can read from USB or SD card or be fed by AUX input. It has pretty decent volume output and good range. Also it allows you to use 87.7 and 87.9 which are mostly empty, where as most Belkins won't go below 88.1.

Satechi Soundfly looks pretty cool, if I deside not to use my phone and use the USB cable (I have a 16gb card that is too slow for WP7 but, would work for music), it will show the name via RDS, that's pretty cool, I'll get the song names showing up on my cars navi screen.
 

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    I've had a few Belkins and found them to be too quit sounding (when you flip to another FM its a lot louder) and too low of range. I'm using a Satechi Soundfly right now, it can read from USB or SD card or be fed by AUX input. It has pretty decent volume output and good range. Also it allows you to use 87.7 and 87.9 which are mostly empty, where as most Belkins won't go below 88.1.