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I wouldn't worry about these things, they are a complete waste of time unless you live in the Highlands of Scotland where you can get a free FM frequency. Anyone living in a city will get interference from commercial stations, BBC local and all the pirate stations about. Save your money and get a decent stereo with an aux socket.
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I've got one, and it's really good. It has a choice of 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 and 88.7 if it does go crackly or interference cuts in over a long journey, and I regularly travel all over the UK. I live in a fairly radio-free zone, but in Manchester nearby it seems OK. Maybe it's a good quality one? Charges the i-Pod too, which is useful.
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I've got a transmitter for my MP3 player (same architecture as a Belkin, but £20 cheaper) and found no probs in my area when it's tuned to 99.9. Steps in 0.1 Mhz intervals from about 85-100 MHz, so no problems finding a suitable frequency.
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I live in Manchester and can never find a free frequency, mind you the unit i got was a cheapo internet job. I notice PC World are selling Belkin models - maybe these are better
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My mate got a Belkin one and lives in Liverpool and swears by it. Went to the Trafford Centre the other night and it semed fine too.
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Bought mine on ebay for 1p plus £5 postage came from HK works perfectly identical to the ones being sold by PCW
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Speaking as one who is technologically not much beyond the paleolithic, am I correct in assuming that these devices enable one to listen to one's MP3 player in the car even if one's car only has an old fashioned FM radio-cassette player?
Is the "Belkin TuneCast II Mobile FM Transmitter" the sort of thing we are talking about?
If so, where in the car does one put place the MP3 player?
And what about the merits of the Belkin Car MP3/CD/MD Cassette Adapter?
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The casette adapter is a far superior solution, both in ease of use and in audio quality. Just make sure you get a decent tape converter if your tape player has autoreverse, as otherwise it won't work properly.
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The Belkin alluded to above is the same as mine, except mine doesn't say Belkin on it - hence why it was only £10! This is powered by the cigarette lighter socket, which in my car is by the handbrake, the MP3 sits in the tray next to the handbrake.
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I wouldn't worry about these things, ..... Anyone living in a city will get interference from commercial stations, BBC local and all the pirate stations about.
I bought one in anticipation for my new wheels (stereo is part of dashboard) and have tested i in Cardiff and surrounding areas and had no problems.
It is a high end? one and is tunable across the whole of the UKFM Broadcast band so finding a 'free frequency' is easypeasy.
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I have an iTrip (bought in the US) and found it works ok in some cars and is virtually useless in others. Interestingly, it worked very well in a 3 Series I hired which had the bog standard stereo, but in my own 3 Series with the full screen SatNav I get almost no reception unless I place the iPod on the back seat (I guess it's because in this case the radio receiver is actually in the boot). To be honest I gave up on the iTrip and bought a cassette adaptor which I take on business trips. Actually this is no longer a solution either as most hire cars are now fitted with CD players. Full marks to Ford by the way for putting an AUX socket in the glovebox of the Focus allowing direct connection of the iPod to the car stereo. Shame about the rest of the car though...
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Is that an advert for an illegal device from MacStore that I see below this item?
(The Griffin Itrip auto FM transmitter )
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Seeing as someone woke the thread up.
www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/11/nr_20061123b
23|11|06 Ofcom today announced that the use of certain low power FM transmitters, which wirelessly connect MP3 players and other personal audio devices to radios and in-car entertainment systems, will be legal for use in the UK from 8 December 2006.
Equipment previously available carries a high risk of interference to other broadcast services. However, in response to consumer demand Ofcom has led negotiations in Europe to develop a harmonised technical approach designed to limit the potential of interference to other wireless devices.
The FM transmitters that meet these specifications, and which will be legal to use in the UK, will carry a CE mark indicating approval for sale in the European Union. Their use will be legalised under the Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 which come into effect on 8 December. The regulations set out the technical specifications for FM transmitters.
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>>Equipment previously available carries a high risk of interference to other broadcast services
Complete cow poo IMHO, with 26 years experience in RF design.
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Yes, indeed spam can.... gosh, imagine the danger that's been caused to broadcast services, I bet they've been really worried about it, and really glad about the new regulations.. load of old tat. Why do people feel the need to spin things? It's really simple: these devices were frowned upon for whatever reason, and now they're not. They don't interfere witth any broadcasting ouptput, any halfwit can see they're not powerful enough.
Why don't people butt out of our lives and just let us use devices that enable us to listen to the music we want to listen to? There's enough petty regulation in this poxy country without some daft apeth telling me I am breaking the ten commandments by having a weak transmitter in my car. Naff off and leave us alone, and get on with prosecuting people who are actually causing trouble. Flamin nanny state, does my head in.
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So, if one drives from London to Scotland with one of these things, is there a need to keep retuning to a suitable spare frequency? And does this have to be done manually?
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I hadn't thought of that! I would imagine an RDS radio could well cause havoc for the poor little itrip couldn't it - careful choice of operating frequency required I suppose.
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So, if one drives from London to Scotland with one of these things, is there a need to keep retuning to a suitable spare frequency? And does this have to be done manually?
Yes and yes. I have mine tuned to 88.1 and it works fine where I normally drive, around Notts/ Derbys/ South Yorks; but if I go further afield I can get local stations muscling in on my frequency... The original Griffin iTrips are a pain, you have to reset the frequency by playing a sound signal on the iPod. Which means you have dozens of annoying bleepy sound clips in your ipod, so best to tuck them away in a seperate playlist.
I now have a new iTrip with LCD screen and jog dial to select frequencies, which is better, but still a flawed solution for car audio IMHO.
The better way is to use a stereo adapter but last time I checked they still didnt do one for my car: snipurl.com/13pqj . Some people hard-wire a cable into their stereo, but I dont trust myself with a soldering iron to have a go at that!
My iPod has broken anyway so I am missing out on my last few days of illegal iTrip usage.
;o)
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See:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=46...5
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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