Entertainment For Lively Minds
ATM: FM transmitters for cars
Posted by bogl on 10 February 2012 - 12:01am.
My old car is not much longer for this world. I've loved having a tape deck, meaning I can listen to any audio from my Android phone or mini DAB with a cassette adaptor. It works well.
My next car, to be bought off a pal this weekend, has an FM radio and CD player, with no Bluetooth or 3.5mm jack connector. Changing the radio is not on the agenda financially.
I've tried two FM transmitters in the past, one cheapo and one a Belkin Tunecast 3, which has the maddening habit of switching off during quiet passages. Both very unsatisfactory.
Can anyone recommend a good FM transmitter for cars, preferably powerable from the lighter socket?
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Got one of these
And works absolutely fine. No problems with it whatsoever.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet-Channels-Transmitter-Hands-Free-Converst...
*edit* just seen you're talking about using Android phone, this has a 3.5 jack, as well as the ipod connection.
Haven't checked if there is one that's Android compatible for charging.
Swap the radios
If it's the car that's knackered, rather than the radio, is it possible to take the old radio out before it goes to the big scrap heap in the sky? Obviously that's not an option with a lot of custom fit radios.
Another option would be to investigate the possibility of connecting an audio jack connection through the back. My radio is a blaupunkt and you can plug a special blaupunkt lead (here's a page of that sort of thing: http://www.bluespot.co.uk/shop-online.aspx/accessory) into part of the socket at the back which has a trailing 3.5mm jack. If it's possible, it's much more satisfactory than an FM transmitter.
Old car a Fiesta...
...and the radio is an odd shape/fit. New car a Corsa, so that's out. Nice piece of lateral thinking though.
The 3.5mm jack sounds like an interesting idea...
I had one of these
Its brilliant. Hard wired, very tidy, also charges, and mine came from Halfords who fitted it free.
http://www.ipodcarkitdirect.co.uk/Dension_Ice%3Elink_One
Expensive?
For another £20 you can get a shiny new dab radio with aux socket and usb stick socket on the front!
http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Mutant_MT5068DAB_DAB__DAB_plus_car_radio.ht...
You're probably right
I got mine a few years ago - such beauties as that weren't available then! Mind you you still need something to charge the ipod - I've now got a thing which charges and plugs into the aux socket which is OK but you have two wires flying around - I really liked slapping it in the dock and from there it was charges and immediately connected.
DAB is that cheap?
My eyes are opened.
How easy is it to change your car radio?
EDIT: The aerial. You seem to have to change it for DAB? Am I right?
Depends
Changing a car radio used to be a doddle mechanically but a bit of a pain electrically. Things have now changed and there are common connectors that mean you can often just unplug the old radio and plug in a new one. Sometimes you need an adaptor lead but they're pretty straight forward as well. These people are very competitively priced for adaptors (they have to be because they also have an ebay shop) and when I emailed them last year they were very helpful, quick and accurate (http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk). You may find that you need to get another (slightly more pricey) adaptor if you want to use the sterring wheel controls but if you're used to turning the knobs on the set itself, then that's not much of a hardship and it can always be retro-fitted when you're feeling flush.
If the factory radio is double height, you will probably need to get an adaptor for that too but when I fitted my dab radio to my new car last year (it's now been in three cars in the last 7 years), I took out a huge radio, put in mine and gained a nice cubby hole in the dash .
Next is the aerial. Yes, a dab aerial is needed. I used an on glass one like this http://www.bluespot.co.uk/car-audio.aspx/dab-glass-mount-aerial until I get a "proper one" fitted on the roof. The "cheap" radio I linked to in the other post comes with a magnetic aerial - I don't know how good they are. DAB/FM radios come with two aerial sockets, one for each aerial so you still need your old one.
I think any competent DIYer can do it and there's planty of help these days. As everything is modular, if you get halfway through the job and need help, you can always put the old one back in while you have a rethink - in the old days you would have been no going back once you started snipping leads!
I don't have anything to do with any of the companies I've linked to in this thread but I've used all of them more than once and would use them all again... and suspect that I will.
Of course, the radio in your new car might be so horribly integrated that taking it out is a non starter.
JohnW is onto something
Halfords have a DAB for 80 quid including antenna and will fit for 25 sovs. It has aux in and an SC slot. Whatever next! There's also. "will it fit my car" checker.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_...
This looks like a possible answer...
...though the Corsa has an integrated CD/radio, possibly horribly so. Factor in the new fascia, a properly plumbed-in DAB aerial, wiring up to integrated controls (if possible, it seems so)...this may not be a cheap item.
Only one way to find out, so am going to investigate quotes etc.
BTW, picked up the car today. Tried with the Belkin Tunecast and it sounded AWFUL. Loads of hiss and a regular crackling that seemed related to whether I had my foot on the gas. My in-car audio is too important to me to be trusted to summat like this - ugh.
Many thanks all
That was really helpful. I'm booked in to Halfords on Saturday to have Mr O'Than's suggested radio fitted at a total cost of £124.97, including a suitable fascia.
Meanwhile, I also enquired at a Vauxhall dealer. They reckoned there was only one option they could fit, due to "complexities of the wiring", etc. It has an iPod dock and aux-in, no DAB.
And costs £1,150 fully fitted.
I hope Halfords are right...
And to bring this thread to a nice neat conclusion....
...the Clarity CCE203DAB was fitted today by Halfords.
Vauxhall's warning proved utterly unfounded.
Nice tidy fascia with added cubbyhole, as JohnW predicted. Aerial is stuck to the pillar on the left-hand-side of the windscreen, well out of the way. Integrated controls are beyond this model - no great loss, as it 'appens.
DAB works well, better than the old car's bodge which was very acceptable. Aux-in provides podcasts and Audiogalaxy via Android phone on Giffgaff unlimited data for in-car "infotainment".
(contented sigh)
Many thanks all. The Massive rules.
Excellent!
I've been using my wife's car this week with no aux in, and the words "Halfords....hundred sovs....DAB" have been floating through my mind as I stare at the radio through slotted eyes.....
The whispering voice in your ear says...
"Go on, you know you ought to...."