K2TL said:
Just wondering if you ever found a solution? I was thinking of a
better FM modulator like the kind that installs directly between the
antenna. The wireless one I have now is realy sucky!..I saw some
threads on making an adapter for the cd changer, but it involves
pulling out the head unit and seems a bit complicated.
Thanks
Jim
Okay, a little history: My previous car was an Oldsmobile Intrigue. It had
a factory AM/FM/Cassette/CD stereo. I bought a cassette adapter to play my
jukebox through the stereo. It worked okay for a year or so, but eventually
the stereo decided it didn't like the cassette adapter anymore, and would
randomly eject it for no apparent reason. I bought another cassette
adapter, thinking that something must be wrong with the first one, but got
the same results. And the stereo in my wife's van ejected both cassette
adapters every time.
So I bought a cheapo FM modulator. It was the completely external kind that
doesn't physically connect to the stereo's antenna. It also worked okay,
but the frequency would drift, causing me to have to constantly adjust the
tuning on it. This got pretty annoying after a while.
So as I contemplated my next vehicle, I was also contemplating a way to play
my jukebox through the stereo. Of course, an Aux input would have been
ideal, but I wasn't about to make a car selection based solely on something
as whimsical as an Aux input on the stereo. So I decided to purchase the
very sort of "better" FM modulator you describe: It physically connects
between the antenna and the stereo and uses a digital PLL transmitter, so
the frequency never drifts. I figured I had this jukebox thing licked.
I took my new Forester and the FM modulator to the local Subaru dealer to
have it installed. (I skipped the only car stereo shop in town, because
they've proven themselves to be idiots on a number of previous occasions.)
I paid them roughly $120 to install the $40 modulator. I had them put the
modulator itself in the little dashboard tray, with the power and antenna
wires running down into the dash and the audio cable free inside the tray.
This would allow me to open the tray and pull out the cable when I want to
listen to the jukebox but stash the cable out of sight the rest of the time.
Plus, by having the modulator accessible (but out of sight) in the tray, I
could adjust the transmission frequency easily if I travel into a place
where an existing radio station was interfering. And it wouldn't make my
car a target for theives. It was almost as though Subaru had designed that
little tray just for my FM modulator. Like I said: I thought I had it
licked.
So as soon as the dealer got done ripping apart and reassembling my
dashboard, I turned on my stereo and tuned it to the appropriate frequency,
so that I could listen to my jukebox. I was psyched! And I immediately
heard the buzzing sound. Enormous let down. The buzzing doesn't come on
any frequency other than the one the modulator is set to transmit on, and it
does it regardless of whether my jukebox is connected to it. So I know it's
the modulator itself thats making the buzzing sound. It does it regardless
of whether the engine's running, so I know it's not some sort of electronic
interference. Bascially, I picked a piece of crap transmitter, but had no
way of knowing that until *after* I'd paid somebody to hook it up. It's
occured to me that I could probably return it for a refund of my $40, but of
course, I'd have to pay somebody another $120 in order to extract the damn
thing from the dashboard. So it's still installed, but I almost never use
it. In fact, since I can listen to my MP3's with my Prismiq when I'm at
home, the jukebox now lives at work, where I listen to it through a set of
computer speakers I bought just for that purpose.
I still think that an FM modulator could be a good solution, given a
modulator that's decent quality. But I'm not quite sure how one can go
about finding out for sure that a given FM modulator isn't a piece of crap
before actually buying it and hooking it up. And what I *can* tell you is
that if you decide to go with a modulator, you might want to steer clear of
the Farenheit Elite EFM-100. Actually, if you have a decent car stereo
shop, they might be able to hook up a modulator to one of their demo head
units so you can check it out before going to the trouble and/or expense of
having it put in your car.
Personally, I think I'm done screwing around with adapters of any kind. The
next dollar I spend on this car stereo thing is going to be spent replacing
the Subaru factory unit with an aftermarket model that A) plays MP3 CD's and
B) has an Aux input on it. Oh yeah, and having that POS modulator amputated
from my dashboard.
BTW, "Mars, The Bringer of War" form Gustav Holst's "The Planets" makes
excellent background music for writing when angry about something. Or
perhaps it just makes you angry, regardless of what you're writing...
Good luck with whatever you choose to do. And, of course, don't forget to
let us know how it turns out.
- Greg Reed
