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Radio Antenna for MP3

BSD

BSD

NAXJA Forum User
Location
OKC
I got an MP3 player and a little FM transmitter so you can pick it up ona radio. The problem is I have it hidden in my XJ but it does not allow it to transmit that well; I get a little bt of static. Can I somehow run a jumper off my antenna to where teh transmitter is? Is there a specific way I need to do this? Can it be as simple as wrapping a wire around the antenna and running it inside?
Thanks
BSD
 
Do you have a tape deck in your XJ? Can get an adapter at Wal-Mart for around $20 that's like a cassette, but have a plug so you could plug in your MP3 player.
 
I was playing with one of those the other day (autobaby, I think it was called). Have you tried it with the headphones plugged in? The headphone wire was the antenna for the player, once plugged in I could throw it anywhere in the car and it was clear. Without the 'phones I had to put it on the passenger side dash to be perfectly clear
 
nate said:
Do you have a tape deck in your XJ? Can get an adapter at Wal-Mart for around $20 that's like a cassette, but have a plug so you could plug in your MP3 player.
Click to expand...

I dont want to go the cassete deck route as it creates more cords and stuff than I want.
BSD
 
tchase said:
I was playing with one of those the other day (autobaby, I think it was called). Have you tried it with the headphones plugged in? The headphone wire was the antenna for the player, once plugged in I could throw it anywhere in the car and it was clear. Without the 'phones I had to put it on the passenger side dash to be perfectly clear
Click to expand...

I am not sure what you are referenceing. The output of the MP3 goes into a little FM transmitter, it has no wires. The MP3 I have, and all that I know of, has no internal transmitter. I think yo might be confusing it with MP3/FM recievers.
BSD
 
lemonparty.jpg
 
Nope, I'm not confused. The player I'm talking about actually has a built-in FM transmitter, I thought that was what you had. To be honest, it is the first one I've seen. Wish I hadn't gave it back already or I could give more details. The girlfriends dad got it free with his cellphone, can't find them for sale anywhere though. I'd like to find one actually. Seemed kind of cheaply made(and they're giving them away) so I don't think it'd cost much. Only 128mb, but ony about 0.25"Hx0.75"Wx3"L, slide-out USB to plug directly into computer but also comes with a cable and a car charger which also plugs into the players USB port. It's got about a half dozen selectable frequencies and you can just chuck it on the seat or dash and it's like having a remote for your stereo(if you don't already), with the headphones attached you don't even have to take it out of your pocket.
 
you've made me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. that is something no one should ever have to see. haha. anyway to the question. The answer is not easily. because an antenna and radio recive things based on either frequency or amplitude (waves) if you alligator clipped or wired your mp3 player into the antenna wire it wouldnt recognize it because it is transmitting sound differently and wouldnt have an actual station assigned to it. you may however be able to wire the fm transmitter directly into the antenna wire but without haveing the transmitter infront of me i couldnt tell you how to do this
 
Hi :wave:

I have to agree to this. But i've never seen such a thing before.
I've got one with my CD player. But there you have two antenna connectors on. One for the antenna and one to the radio.
I think you should try to wrap around the cable of the FM transmitter to the antenna cable. If this is not working good enough just try to do it wrapping around the antenna. If this is also not working perfect forget the transmitter. Maybe it is not sending strong enough.
If wrapping around the antenna is perfect you have to cut the coaxial-cable of the antenna cable. Just remove the outer shielding cable and wrap the cable of the transmitter around the inner part of your antenna cable.

Better you use an extension cable - so you don't damage the original one. And after that you should put the outer part of the coax cable around the wrapped - so you have a shield again.

here's a pic of what i mean

antenna-cable.gif

http://www.cherokee.at.tt/pics/antenna-cable.gif

greetings from Austria
Rainer
 
tchase,
my bad. I did not know they made one with a built in transmitter, that would be cool. As to the other suggestions, I might try extending the antenna cable so it runs next to teh transmitter. As it is, it is an enclosed Belkin with no external wires or metal with exception to the short cable that hooks up to the MP3 player.

Atyrpelius,
If I understand you correctly, I think your idea might be the best one. IT does have several frequency's attached to it, and it works off of FM. I keep it at 88.3

BSD
 
So you'd rather getto rig up an FM modulator? I had one of those for a while, and I was never able to get it to sound all that clear. The cassette adapter is just 1 wire. BTW.

I'm not going to argue with you, as you have your own reasons and I don't understand.

BSD said:
I dont want to go the cassete deck route as it creates more cords and stuff than I want.
BSD
Click to expand...
 
What you want for good sound and a clean install is an FM modulator
that is intended to be wired inline with the antenna. They are pretty cheap I think.. Conect that to the mp line out and forget the internal transmitter.
 
Is this FM modulator something I can get from Radio Shack? I assume it has a set frequency or you can adjust it?
Thanks
BSD
 
My Ipod is essentially hard wired into my car. I have a Pioneer head unit, which supports AUX input. With the adapter installed I can hook up anything that has RCA cable output, or as with my Ipod, use a cable that goes from a mini plug to RCA. The only part of my system that you couldn't use with any MP3 player is the Belkin car charger. It plugs into the dock port in the bottom of the Ipod, and the charger has a stereo mini plug output where it plugs into the power outlet. I installed an outlet behind the glove box, and the only wire sticking out is the one plug that goes into the docking port. Extremely clean and sounds great because it is recieving the signal from the digital output, not the headphone jack. YMMV, but this is the best way I have seen to install something like this.
 
I did the same thing with my pioneer and my Creative Labs Nomad. I even made a mount for it on my dashboard that I can clip the belt clip onto. It is awsome to be able to carry around 60 gigs of music with me, no more fumbling with CD cases.
 
Thanks all. I think I will check to see if I have auxilary jacks in teh back of my stero. If not, I might get a new one- been wanting some satellite radio - where I can just have a jack. That way, as mentioned by others, it keeps it clean looking without the need for an FM Modualtor or transmitor.
 
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