I’ve had pretty good luck with FM Modulators like this. The ones that have a hard connection to the radio’s antenna lead seem to be far less prone to interference from broadcast stations. I currently have an iRock (yes, in rural Nebraska Diceman), and it’s only marginal. The last time I used a hard-wired FM Modulator I was living in Dallas, and had excellent luck.
*Note: I have not used the specific unit I linked to; I grabbed this link as an example because it showed the antenna lead connectors. The one I have is buried in the basement somewhere; One of these days, I’ll find it and install it in the Wrangler. If this thread is still alive, I’ll report back then.
Well, I’m just a layman when it comes to this stuff, so I have no idea what any of those wires are for, but I still don’t think you will be able to just splice into them to get an input. For starters, wouldn’t you still need a button and requisite circuitry to switch the stereo to aux mode?
I don’t know what your level of expertise is, but I understand there are specialty shops that can in fact build an input into vintage stereos, or you can do something like what this guy did [PDF]. I know this is GQ and all, and I have no expertise whatsoever, but I imagine it’s a non-trivial task.
Failing that, I would think your options are
a) a vintage stereo that already has an aux
b) a modern head unit that doesn’t look too flashy. There was a thread on the SDMB about that very topic not too long ago.
c) stealth approach, i.e., a hidden or out-of-the-way modern head unit
d) the aforementioned FM modulator/cassette doodads.
In answer to the OP, a quick scan through the Apple store should show a variety of solutions. Diceman’s condescending comments aside, if you’re mostly driving in one area, it shouldn’t be too hard to find one station that will provide you with an acceptable signal. After all, we’re talking about a canvas-top convertible here, so there will be enough road noise to cover up most of the reception problems. I use an iTrip with my iPod, and I find the biggest problem is with power lines and power stations, which will sometimes fuzz out the station completely.
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat]
After all, we’re talking about a canvas-top convertible here, so there will be enough road noise to cover up most of the reception problems.QUOTE]
Well, bad reception tends to make the signakl more quiet, and road noise doesn’t usually help that any. So says my experience with an iTrip in San Francisco.
I see your point, Troy. I’m just saying that in the cab of my (reasonably) quiet truck, I can hear bits of static in the signal from my iTrip. In my old ragtop Jeep, there’s enough wind noise and road noise that I don’t notice the static unless it gets really bad.
May I suggest hacking an XM Car antenna adapter to work? How they work out of the box is,
Audio out of the SkyFi to the adapter which goes BETWEEN the antenna lead and the antenna connector on your stereo.
When you power on theSkiFi, it turns on the FM transmitter which internally disconnects the antenna then broadcasts directly into your stero the audio out. You then tune the radio to one of the fixed channels it offers.
The advantage of a unit like this is, since the car’s antenna is not transmitting a singal to the radio you don’t have as high a signal to over come
OK, maybe I was a bit harsh on Wyoming. I should have said “rural Utah,” which is absolutely the bleakest, most godforsaken tract of land I’ve ever seen. (It also looks like the terrain in the old Warner Brothers’ Roadrunner cartoons. Wile E Coyote could have shot himself out of a cannon in front of us, and it wouldn’t have seemed the least bit incongruous. But I digress.)
I have to make a minor correction. I don’t have the FM transmitter anymore. I had it replaced with an FM modulator, which was a major improvement in sound quality, but still isn’t quite up to the level of a normal radio station. If you don’t want to replace the radio, a modulator is a good second-best solution. But don’t even bother with the transmitters, unless there’s no other option.
Actually, Diceman, my main objection was the use of the word “civilized.” I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I think the people here in rural Montana are far more civilized than most of the folks I’ve met from big cities.
You wouldn’t necessarily have to “hack” a hardwired FM modulator. Just go to a car audio store (or a catalog/online retailer like Crutchfield) and get a wired FM modulator. Then you run a cable from the iPod into the modulator, connect the car antenna to the modulator and the modulator output goes to the radio.
Johnny See if you can find a copy of Road & Track’s Road Gear (check the link, you want this copy, I think it is labeled June). They have an article on using an Ipod in a car.
Your vintage AM/FM stereo radio is incredibly unlikely to have any kind of external input. Virtually all dash units with inputs will have a pair of RCA input jacks or a CD changer input. This isn’t something you’re likely to find on any unit made before 1985 at the absolute earliest. Given that your radio is an old analog GM OEM radio, it’s even less likely.
Doesn’t Moss have anything suitable for 60s-70s B or TR? That would have to look better than an old Delco POS radio. If there are no good British vintage radios (and the ground issue makes that likely), I’d recommend a Becker or Blaupunkt, hard to go wrong with one of those and rebuilts/repros are commonly available from the vintage Porsche and M-B circles. I am thinking I saw an article in one of the vintage Benz journals about a Becker Mexico with an aux input modification. Something to hunt down, maybe…
The wired FM modulator (plugs between the antenna and the radio - the threadless coax line you saw) should work wonders, even in SoCal. You might need an adapter for the MG antenna lead, again I’d check Moss.
I was thinking of putting the POS Delco in because it lookw somewhat vintage (except for the knobs), and I already have it. I’ve also noticed that there are a lot of vintage radios on eBay. (I looked a couple of years ago for positive earth, and found a guy in Germany who has reconditioned vintage Blaupunkts.) The best solution, of course, would be to find a brand-new iPod-capable stereo that looks 40 years old.
This looks almost exactly like the one I had. Worked very well, required no modification to the existing factory radio, and mounted out of sight under the dash. The only indication of any modification was the wire leading to the headphone jack, which I ran under the carpet to the center console. In fact, if I can’t find my old one, I’ll probably buy one of these to put in my Jeep. At $30, the price is certainly right.
I dug my FM modulator out this weekend, and installed it in my Jeep. It works profoundly better than my iRock. In fact, I can’t hear a difference between this and a cassette adapter. All that is visible is a plug for my iPod to plug into, and a rocker switch to turn the power on and off. This weekend, I’ll see if I can find an OEM Jeep switch to fit in the blank space where the fog light switch would go if I had fog lights. If so, I’ll probably stencil a white apple on the switch, and use it to control the FM Modulator/iPod. Should look pretty neat, since it’s a white Jeep to boot.
for 8 bucks on ebay. It is an FM transmitter, but It worked better than 97% of the time for me in Metro Atlanta. I have a first generation Model, shown in the link, that has 4 channels to broadcast on. Newer models have more channels.