FM in SF
June 8, 2008 2:20 PM Subscribe
Using a iPhone to FM Radio Transmitter in San Francisco?
I am thinking of buying one of those devices that broadcasts your iPhone over FM to your car radio so you can listen to it in your car. However, someone told me they are horrible in San Francisco because so many people have them and the signals get crossed.
Anyone have experience with this?
I am thinking of buying one of those devices that broadcasts your iPhone over FM to your car radio so you can listen to it in your car. However, someone told me they are horrible in San Francisco because so many people have them and the signals get crossed.
Anyone have experience with this?
It isn't the FM transmitters in cars, it is the radio stations in the bay area taking up most of the bandwidth. And like mrunderhill says, you might find a blank spot on one block, but a few blocks away you'll get interference. It could be a weak station from Sacramento or something that you couldn't listen to, but it messes up what's going through your iPhone.
The other problem with the iPhone-based transmitters is unless you put it in airplane mode, you'll get that loud buzzing noise every few moments. Griffin just came out with a new one in the past couple of days for the iPhone and I don't know if it filters the buzzing. But all of the FM transmitters for the iPod do have that problem. Actually I take that back. I had one transmitter from my old iPod I tried hooking up to the iPhone when I first got it and it didn't do the buzzing. Unfortunately left it in a rental car and I can't remember the brand but look for it when I'm in Apple stores to no avail.
I'm waiting for a magic filtered cassette deck adapter to use with my iPhone. But since the damn thing has been out a year and no one has released one, I'll probably get a new car with an iPhone jack before one comes out.
posted by birdherder at 2:49 PM on June 8, 2008
The other problem with the iPhone-based transmitters is unless you put it in airplane mode, you'll get that loud buzzing noise every few moments. Griffin just came out with a new one in the past couple of days for the iPhone and I don't know if it filters the buzzing. But all of the FM transmitters for the iPod do have that problem. Actually I take that back. I had one transmitter from my old iPod I tried hooking up to the iPhone when I first got it and it didn't do the buzzing. Unfortunately left it in a rental car and I can't remember the brand but look for it when I'm in Apple stores to no avail.
I'm waiting for a magic filtered cassette deck adapter to use with my iPhone. But since the damn thing has been out a year and no one has released one, I'll probably get a new car with an iPhone jack before one comes out.
posted by birdherder at 2:49 PM on June 8, 2008
As above, they don't work well unless you're in the country.
You might try installing an FM modulator instead. They work on the same over-the-radio principle as the transmitter, but they actually plug into your antenna in the back of your car stereo, so there's a much stronger signal and better audio quality. I used to have a CD changer that worked on an FM modulator fifteen years ago, and it worked great.
posted by middleclasstool at 3:16 PM on June 8, 2008
You might try installing an FM modulator instead. They work on the same over-the-radio principle as the transmitter, but they actually plug into your antenna in the back of your car stereo, so there's a much stronger signal and better audio quality. I used to have a CD changer that worked on an FM modulator fifteen years ago, and it worked great.
posted by middleclasstool at 3:16 PM on June 8, 2008
In the UK we have the same problem as in San Francisco in big cities where none of the selectable transmission frequencies can be reliably guaranteed to be free. In fact I asked for help here on the problem of trying to find a free frequency.
(Signals from other i-pod FM devices give you exactly the same problem as proper radio stations - but only if you are tuned to the same frequency and parked within about 30 feet). The other problem I have is that there are lots of bits of wire trailing about providing power to the i-pod and a signal to the transmitter -for me there always seemed to be a poor connection somewhere.
My eventual solution was to get a new radio with an aux in socket. If you have a car with some weird shape of radio then there will probably be a plate which will allow a normal shape of radio to be fitted in its place. Assuming you get a cheap replacement radio the sound will not be too great - but it will be better than you could get with your transmitter and your musical motoring will be happier.
posted by rongorongo at 3:38 PM on June 8, 2008
(Signals from other i-pod FM devices give you exactly the same problem as proper radio stations - but only if you are tuned to the same frequency and parked within about 30 feet). The other problem I have is that there are lots of bits of wire trailing about providing power to the i-pod and a signal to the transmitter -for me there always seemed to be a poor connection somewhere.
My eventual solution was to get a new radio with an aux in socket. If you have a car with some weird shape of radio then there will probably be a plate which will allow a normal shape of radio to be fitted in its place. Assuming you get a cheap replacement radio the sound will not be too great - but it will be better than you could get with your transmitter and your musical motoring will be happier.
posted by rongorongo at 3:38 PM on June 8, 2008
They're useless. I live in Salt Lake City (a far cry from San Francisco) and even if you find a blank spot that works in one place, it will stop working about 10 minutes down the freeway.
Look at Crutchfield.com for car stereo "aux in" adapters - for many stereo models you can get one for about $40. Or if your stereo is nothing special, you can get a JVC with an aux input on the front panel (and it plays MP3s too!) for about $250.
posted by mmoncur at 8:35 PM on June 8, 2008
Look at Crutchfield.com for car stereo "aux in" adapters - for many stereo models you can get one for about $40. Or if your stereo is nothing special, you can get a JVC with an aux input on the front panel (and it plays MP3s too!) for about $250.
posted by mmoncur at 8:35 PM on June 8, 2008
Even down the peninsula those things have become worthless. In the city? Forget it. The FM band in the Bay Area is too crowded. If you have a cassette deck in the car, go for a cassette adapter. Sound old school, but it works.
posted by dws at 10:01 PM on June 8, 2008
posted by dws at 10:01 PM on June 8, 2008
I use the older version of this one in the city (and country) with no noticeable interference. I'm actually surprised too, since there are stations broadcasting on the one I keep it tuned into, but the transmitter in the car overpowers anything coming from outside. However, for balance, I had another battery powered FM transmitter, and it was completely worthless.
Regardless, I think you'll get that lovely GSM buzz & pop with just about anything. I'm only using a regular iPod in my set-up.
posted by o0o0o at 11:05 PM on June 8, 2008
Regardless, I think you'll get that lovely GSM buzz & pop with just about anything. I'm only using a regular iPod in my set-up.
posted by o0o0o at 11:05 PM on June 8, 2008
If you pull the antenna off of your car, it helps the reception (of the transmitter, not the radio!) in metropolitan areas, but SF is pretty tough. I can get close to the city without much interference, but in the city it's self, reception is pretty crappy.
posted by TheCoug at 3:19 PM on June 9, 2008
posted by TheCoug at 3:19 PM on June 9, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mrunderhill at 2:31 PM on June 8, 2008