iPhone FM Transmitter for road trip

[marksniles]

Hi everyone! It's a little over a month until we start our yearly road trip journey for WDW. This year we will be using the wife's car which does not have a connection for the iphone. I'm looking for suggestions on a really good FM transmitter/charger for the iphone. I do need the charger also because the trip is a little over 22 hours long. I have one but it doesn't work that well. I get a lot of static on the channel and on long road trips I have to change the channel often as new radio channels broadcasting on the same frequency often causes the iphone transmission to become very staticy. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Mark

 

[tizzo]

I'd recommend an FM modulator. It's similar to an FM transmitter, except it doesn't actually transmit. It gets installed in-line between the antenna and the car radio. When you turn it on, it disconnects the radio from the antenna and puts it's own signal on the antenna wire. Kind of like cable TV. What's nice about this is that interference from ambient radiation is almost completely eliminated, since the antenna is disconnected.

These are generally professionally installed, since they need to be wired into the antenna and also the vehicle power supply. You'll have to plug it into your device's audio output jack, which will probably require an adapter, and it won't help you out with power for your device so you'll need to use a separate power supply or car charger.

I got mine at an auto electronics place here in FL, but anyplace that sells and installs car radios should be able to help you, even Best Buy.

 

[Andrew54]

This is what I installed myself, I love it. Even charges the ipod as its played.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/iSimple...=8760931, 8760922, 8760888, 8760904&cp=1&lp=4

What kind of car do you have? they sell the kit for most cars.

 

[marksniles]

This is what I installed myself, I love it. Even charges the ipod as its played.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/iSimple...=8760931, 8760922, 8760888, 8760904&cp=1&lp=4

What kind of car do you have? they sell the kit for most cars.

We have a 2003 Vibe

 

[roaddogg6420]

If go the FM transmitter. I would use the one monster makes. It at Target, Best Buy, Frys. It is really good I use it from my Iphone. Make sure it is the newer one made for newer Ipods and Iphone. I don't think you will still be able to find the older model anyways.

 

[tnemgif]

I bought a $4 transmitter on Amazon a few years ago, and it actually works better than my $50 Griffin transmitter. If you're going to splurge for the 50-100 dollar transmitters, I would also just look to see how much it would be to buy a new radio with an auxiliary jack. They run from 60-120 dollars and are pretty easy to install.

 

[mp2bill]

I'd recommend an FM modulator. It's similar to an FM transmitter, except it doesn't actually transmit. It gets installed in-line between the antenna and the car radio. When you turn it on, it disconnects the radio from the antenna and puts it's own signal on the antenna wire. Kind of like cable TV. What's nice about this is that interference from ambient radiation is almost completely eliminated, since the antenna is disconnected.

These are generally professionally installed, since they need to be wired into the antenna and also the vehicle power supply. You'll have to plug it into your device's audio output jack, which will probably require an adapter, and it won't help you out with power for your device so you'll need to use a separate power supply or car charger.

I got mine at an auto electronics place here in FL, but anyplace that sells and installs car radios should be able to help you, even Best Buy.

This is the best solution. FM tranmitters work in the same way as the antenna from your favorite radio station. Unfortunately, they both work off of line of sights, so if you're driving in a wooded or mountainous area, or city with tall buildings, you lose that line of sight and lose connection. Even if you're on an open plain, the signal may not be strong enough and the music will be all static-y. Even the most expensive FM transmitter cannot do anything about this.

On the other hand, an FM modulator comes in clear as day. The only thing that doesn't make sense about the quote above is the fact that the boldened sentence contradicts the undlerlined sentence.

 

[mp2bill]

This is what I installed myself, I love it. Even charges the ipod as its played.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/iSimple...=8760931, 8760922, 8760888, 8760904&cp=1&lp=4

What kind of car do you have? they sell the kit for most cars.

This will work great. It's an FM modulator. The only other thing you'll need is a RCA to mini (3.5mm) wire, which doesn't come in this kit.

 

[slappy magoo]

If you're going to splurge for the 50-100 dollar transmitters, I would also just look to see how much it would be to buy a new radio with an auxiliary jack. They run from 60-120 dollars and are pretty easy to install.

This is what I was going to recommend. Even a really good FM transmitter is going to have some problems as you drive through certain areas where there's suddenly a college radio or other not-for-profit radio station pumping just enough juice to give you static. Many car stereos now have an auxiliary input in the front panel - some even have ipod/usb inputs so you can control the unit through the car stereo. Find a place that includes installation with the price and you're golden. I bought a Kenwood stereo (admittedly during a Black Friday) that had an auxiliary input and Sirius-ready that wound up being 110 installed (plus the Sirius transmitter). On top of that the CD player in the car stereo could also read mp3/WMAs so for the subsequent trips to WDW, it was easy to fit hours of entertainment on a single disc...that I didn't even need because I had access to so much entertainment twixt my portable media player and Sirius.