I have a 10-year old FM transmitter (Realistic from Radio Shack, I think) which works, but it has a limited bandwidth 88.0-91.0, it’s a pain in the ass to tune with a little knob and there are also a few stations in that range around here so the quality varies as you travel around town. It also loses strength as the batteries drain, and that’s quite often.
My CFO (err… wife) has denied a request for a new stereo with iPod functionality, etc. but has approved the purchase of a new transmitter for my iPod.
I’ve read and seen that some of the cheap ones on e-bay are as good as any of the $100 ones.
It’s been a long time since I’ve used one of those, thankfully. I’d go on Amazon and see what they have, pay attention to the reviews and you should learn which ones work well pretty quickly. You could still buy on eBay or wherever the price is best, but the Amazon reviews are pretty useful.
I assume this is for your car, in which case does it have a cassette player? If so, I’d recommend one of those cassette adapters over any FM transmitter. They obviously have the one caveat of not being wireless, but they don’t suffer from any interference or fade out and don’t require they’re own power. In fact they work nearly perfectly and you can get a quality one for only $20-$30!
All the wireless FM transmitters are pretty much the same and they all pretty much suck because there’s rules set by the FCC about how powerful they can be, which is not very. The thing in that link (or similar) plugs directly into the antenna connection in the back of your radio, which works much better. Even if you’re not particularly handy, having a car audio shop put something similar in might be within your operating budget.
Pretty much the same thing that** Greasy Jack** mentioned (at a higher price). I think the selling point on these is that since your FM antenna lead plugs into this unit, the unit disconnects the antenna when it is on so the modulator is not competing with local radio stations. But the cassette adapter is the way to go if you have a cassette player in the car.
I know your wife vetoed a new stereo, but how much is your budget? Amazon has new in dash AM-FM CD units with a 3.5 mm input jack for iPods for about $55 or $60. And they’re name brands such as Pioneer and Kenwood. If you can install it yourself, it might be affordable enough for her to agree to your getting one.
If you’re really on a tight budget, they have no-name AM-FM in dash units with no CD, but they still have an AUX jack for as little as $25.
I’ve been researching them. C. Crane makes one that’s received generally positive reviews. Like the others its Tx power is limited per the FCC. Unlike the others, it’s easy to boost its power if you don’t mind voiding the warranty.
Interesting... I could install this easily. I've had my factory stereo out before because there was an accessory that would enable the AUX button. Unfortunately it didn't work on my model.
I was looking at the wireless transmitters because of the portability, holder, charger, etc.
I’ve never used the one suggested by **GreasyJack **above, but I have used more than a few regular FM transmitters and most all of them were unsuitable for music. Mainly because, as stated, the signal will not remain strong or stable even on an unused frequency. There’s always some hiss or a little static. As an audiophile this was completely unacceptable to me for music.
For that price, $25, I’d most definitely go with that antenna input device!