FM transmitters

[LinuxRandal]

I think a year or two back, there was a thread on FM transmitters. I remember one of them was a Ramsey and there was another recommended. Well now I am interested.


Here is the deal, I have the Digital FM hearing protection with the mp3 input, but the cord gets caught on stuff (so no use in the shop), and my radio stations, are out of range of my house, and recently started streaming on the web. So I would like to stream, short range, my radio preferences, and mp3/oggs.

Who all uses what, and give your likes/dislikes, thanks.

[bfrikken]

My wife has a griffin itrip for her ipond mini. she likes it a lot. we've used it for quite a bit of stuff and in the car on trips.

[Thom2]

Here's the original thread that started it ....

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...ht=transmitter

the link is still valid and the item still available.

I've been running this setup for awhile now and like it a lot, I did have a set of Peltor worktunes for a bit, but returned them as they wouldn't lock a station. The new digitals are out now and with PLL should be a lot more stable, I just haven't had the extra cash lately to order them. I did like the idea of the worktunes for stuff like running the planer and such, it was nice to be able to hear music while doing that long mundane boring job.

This past weekend while doing stuff around the house to get ready for a party, and then while hosting a party I had 4 radios in the station all tuned in and jammin' tunes from my little ipod out in the shop. There is some line noise and such, I'm sure I can get rid of most of it, but haven't bothered investigating. When the music is playing it really isn't noticeable.

Range on that unit that I bought is excellent, just laying on my workbench in my shop with no regard given to antenna placement will give me coverage that would well cover 2 or 3 acres of ground. I'm sure I could cover the whole development if I'd take it to the peak in my attic.

I really do love this setup and am glad I did it, it's awesome to be able to play your mp3's anywhere you want, even 3 or 4 places at the same time.

HTH

[Uncle Hook]

I own and recommend this FM Transmitter from C Crane. C. Crane knows what they are doing as far as radio is concerned.

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/fm-tran...ansmitter.aspx

[poolhound]

I have a belkin and it works OK. They probably all use the same basic electronics and different folks' experineces are more to do with local interference and the realative strength of the station they are either trying to listen to or compete with.

If you currently have bad reception at your house, this may be a good or bad thing. Is it just inside the house or also outside. If you have generally poor reception this could be a good thing as you wont have many other signals competing with your FM transmissions.

Which ever one you choose I would make sure you site it as close to your shop as possible as these little gizmos only have a short range.

Why not go somewhere that has a good return policy e.g. costco and pick one up and try it?

[LinuxRandal]

I have a belkin and it works OK. They probably all use the same basic electronics and different folks' experineces are more to do with local interference and the realative strength of the station they are either trying to listen to or compete with.

If you currently have bad reception at your house, this may be a good or bad thing. Is it just inside the house or also outside. If you have generally poor reception this could be a good thing as you wont have many other signals competing with your FM transmissions.

Which ever one you choose I would make sure you site it as close to your shop as possible as these little gizmos only have a short range.

Tried the Belkin via a gift card pre mp3 player purchase (it didn't work so well, and was the reason I went for the mp3 player). It didn't work well at all (needs an antenna).

The local stations pretty much suck. Played the same 1000 songs for 25 years, then changed format, neighboring clone station, hasn't changed, but they never varied (grew up with them, but there is other music).

Listen to stations out of a college town. This includes an NPR station (two, but one streams only in Windows), and a classic rock station 97.7 (only hits part of the city, 1:30 minutes drive away). There is a 97.3 and I believe that is partally why it doesn't reach all the way here. So it is more distance and station choice, then bad reception (the neighbors duelling rap/country stations come in loud and clear)

[poolhound]

Tried the Belkin via a gift card pre mp3 player purchase (it didn't work so well, and was the reason I went for the mp3 player). It didn't work well at all (needs an antenna).

I had the orginal belkin (little oval grey thing) which worked OK and now have the "TuneBase"

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-TuneBas...078870&sr=1-21

This works pretty good for me I think with all of them it depends on how far the transmitters are from the radio reciving the signal. To work well (or at all) they do need to be prettty close as the power is low and signal strength drops dramtically as you get further away. Not sure if its as bad as logrithmically but it certainly isnt linear.

[plarval]

I bougth a transmitter after reading the original thread. It's great. I can actually get halfway down the block in my car and still get reception from my computer. I have a detached garage, so it's nice that I can play it through any stereo or my mp3 player w/headphones(it has an fm receiver in it, Zen V plus). Works great for parties to have the same music playing throughout the house as well.

[Uncle Hook]

I think with all of them it depends on how far the transmitters are from the radio reciving the signal. To work well (or at all) they do need to be prettty close as the power is low and signal strength drops dramtically as you get further away.

The distance limitations of FM Transmitters definately need to be considered. Another consideration is the location of the digitial audio source.

I transmit digital audio signals from my family room computer to my shop using my home wireless network. In my shop I have a wireless digital audio reciever that allows me remotely view, receive and play internet audio streams and audio files from my family room computer. I use an audio cable to connect the output of my digital audio reciever to the audio input of the stereo music system in my shop. The signal could be input into FM transmitter instead.

I currently own two older products which are no longer made, a Netgear MP101 and SMC EZ-Stream Wireless Audio Adapter. You can read more about their capabilities here.

http://www.dansdata.com/mp101.htm

http://www.gearbits.com/archives/200..._of_the_s.html

I am not up to speed on the latest technology but I have heard favorable comments about the RoKu SoundBridge and the Slim Devices Squeezebox.

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-audi....html?tag=also

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-audi....html?tag=also

You can begin researching what else is available at cnet.com.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-6470_7-0.html