We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

FM transmitter help please

Options
Yes, I know they are possibly all illegal in the uk but not for other parts of the EU and I have a question if someone could possibly answer.

I bought a really cheap one as the car cassette player doesnt work and wanted to play ipod nano through speakers. the one I bought had a choice of 5 channels to choose from and this I think is where the problem is. The car radio cannot seem to be fine tuned so had loads of difficulties actually trying to get a channel in the first place. After asking various peopel someone managed to tune the radio into 1 of the frequencies but cant recall how so cant try the otehr frequencies! Anyway the outcome is that it plays through the speakers but with a lot of interference especially when the engine is on. Someone has said that possibly its beacuse the tramsmitter itself doesnt have enough strength to give a really good signal and wondered if a more expensive one would be any better or would the problems be the same?

I have had a look about and it seems that some of them are not limited to 4 or so frequencies but can be tuned to whichever frequency is best.

So my question is- would a more expensive one ness have any more uumph (technical term!) than the very cheap one I bought?

Comments

  • penrhyn
    penrhyn Posts: 15,215 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    The good news is that they have been legal for a month or so now.
    Tesco were selling the Kensington ones which are well regarded.
    You can check out more of these on the Apple Store site.
    QVC were selling the Belkin one yesterday.
    That gum you like is coming back in style.
  • superscaper
    superscaper Posts: 13,369 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    penrhyn is right, they were made legal on the 8th december, but the law requires absolute limits on the power of transmission (which is very small), so I doubt there will be much difference between them.
    "She is quite the oddball. Did you notice how she didn't even get excited when she saw this original ZX-81?"
    Moss
  • Colcoops
    Colcoops Posts: 336 Forumite
    Try and use it with the radio in your house to see if it works any better. It may be your car radio or aerial.
  • mrs_baggins
    mrs_baggins Posts: 1,290 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I knew some were going to be legal. think it has to have a CE mark. I think it may be the car radio, cant try it at home as it has a ciggie lighter attachment to plug into car. will try it on someone elses car and see what the quality is like on theirs
  • Aiadi
    Aiadi Posts: 1,840 Forumite
    The better makes (belkin, iTrip...etc) are definitely better than the cheapy ones but engine interference noise is inevitable with these things and that is why hard wiring is always preferred if practical. Get one that you can easily return is unsatisfactory and try it in your car.
    Do I want it? ......Do I need it? ......What would happen if I don't buy it??????
  • SimonW
    SimonW Posts: 77 Forumite
    It seems a little odd that your car radio can not be "fine" tuned to the frequency that the transmitter is using.

    Do you mean that the car stereo is on "auto" search and keeps skipping past the frequency you want to tune in to? It is possible to switch between "auto" and "manual" to fine tune the car stereo...
  • Fifer
    Fifer Posts: 59,413 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    How are you tuning it? I suggest plugging tha Nano in and playing a tune you will easily recognise, then set your radio to autoscan until you hear your chosen tune and program that frequency to your chosen channel number button (usually just by pressing the chosen number and keeping it depressed until you hear a beep).
    There's love in this world for everyone. Every rascal and son of a gun.
    It's for the many and not the few. Be sure it's out there looking for you.
    In every town, in every state. In every house and every gate.
    Wth every precious smile you make. And every act of kindness.
    Micheal Marra, 1952 - 2012
  • mrs_baggins
    mrs_baggins Posts: 1,290 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I have had a few very techie people having a look at the car but with no joy! when I am on manual mode in the car radio I can get 88.3 (radio 2) but when i try to go up just a tad to 88.9 it automatically goes to the next strong signal. Its almost as though I am not on manual but it is as it says on the radio which mode I am in. It hasnt got a dial to turn just arrows to go up and down. Someone has managed to somehow tune into one of the avialable frequencies after messing for half and hour but he has no idea how it happenned and cant replicate it again. So my way of thinking is that somehow it can be done but not the way the book says and not anyway I can work . Which is why I thought if I bought one that doesnt have only 4 or 5 channels to choose from but one where you can tune it to any channel that it would be better. But I also dont want to spend 20 odd pounds on something thats no better than what I already have.
  • penrhyn
    penrhyn Posts: 15,215 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    may be helpful if you could give us the make and model of your car radio.
    That gum you like is coming back in style.
  • mrs_baggins
    mrs_baggins Posts: 1,290 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Will get that when I get home as its in car park at the moment. Its the original radio that is put into a renault scenic car- I think its a 2000 model but I will check if it will make a difference. I dont know if there will be a make but I will have a good look later. thanks
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.8K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.8K Life & Family
  • 257.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.