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| Thread ID: 46754 | 2004-07-04 09:47:00 | OT: Handy gadget. FM stereo transmitter for audio. | Bazza (407) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 249797 | 2004-07-04 09:47:00 | Came across this a few weeks ago. It is very small (matchbox size) stereo FM transmitter, that you can send audio to the car or home FM receiver. One can input audio from CD players, MP3 players, or any stereo sources. It will transmitt at frequencies from 88.1 to 88.7Mhz. It is powered with 2xAAA batteries. After several weeks, I'm still using the original batteries. The range is reasonable. No problem from inside the car to an external antenna, and almost all over the house for home receivers. It is a "Procare" Automobile FM Transmitter, from Jaycar, part # AR3110, priced at $45.00. It is a great option for any systems that dont have an audio line input. Highly recommended. |
Bazza (407) | ||
| 249798 | 2004-07-04 12:39:00 | sounds interesting Bazza , what are the inputs ? RCA ? Minijack? TOSlink ? Thanks for the info , Mike W | KatiMike (242) | ||
| 249799 | 2004-07-04 21:49:00 | The unit has a short cable fitted with a 3.5mm stereo plug, that can be inserted into the player lineout or headphone socket. | Bazza (407) | ||
| 249800 | 2004-07-04 22:16:00 | I bought one of the Belkin ones for about $60 at Harvey Norman a few months ago and I'm not very happy with it because when I'm driving around, it tends to get flooded out by the small pirate radio stations in the 88-89MHz range. Based on your comments, it sounds like the one from Jarcar is a much better buy than the Belkin one. |
Alasta (1420) | ||
| 249801 | 2004-07-04 22:37:00 | Maybe Alasta, but I guess the interference you mention could be a problem with any unit while driving in certain areas. The Procare unit has four selectable frequencies in the range I mentioned. This can help to avoid interference, but it's not practical to change frequencies while driving. |
Bazza (407) | ||
| 249802 | 2004-07-04 22:40:00 | I have the Belkin one and it's fine in Whangarei. | CYaBro (73) | ||
| 249803 | 2004-07-04 23:43:00 | That's very opportune Bazza, I was looking for a replacement for my home brew low power AM steam powered valve transmitter for distributing streaming audio around the home. Since fitting energy saving lamps AM reception has too much noise. Does the AR3110 unit have provision for attaching an antenna? |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 249804 | 2004-07-05 00:10:00 | DSE sold both a Silicon Chip magazine kit project stereo sender unit, and a commercially made one until recently. I used one (of each) many years ago. If the problem of "break-through" from local stations exists, it means that the output from the sender unit is too low. FM "capture effect" should all but eliminate the problem if the field strength from the sender unit is sufficient. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 249805 | 2004-07-05 02:15:00 | No Terry, there is no visible antenna, or provision for attaching one. Maybe the antenna is internal, or it radiates from the audio cable? It is of course extremely low power, and as GF says this may be the limiting factor. For home use, some years ago I built a small one transistor FM transmitter. Using a 9v supply & a dipole antenna it had a range of about a mile. But it was only monaural. Maybe you could find kits or circuits to build a stereo version with antenna for home use. Good luck. |
Bazza (407) | ||
| 249806 | 2004-07-05 06:10:00 | Thanks Bazza, the problem is having enough rf output and modulation to provide a good clean signal over the area of a home, but without broadcasting to the whole neighbourhood (which could incur the wrath of the Radio Frequency Interference boys), after all not everyone likes old-time dance band music :) The other way would be to use an inductive loop around the house maybe. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
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