ipod

Greetings

The FM transmitter will work providing there is a free (FM) frequenecy for it to use. The transmitter simply transmits stereo on the FM frequency you select. Watch the frequency coverage of these transmitters. Some are also better than others. In a car they will need to be close to the radio.

For long period use the IPOD and the FM transmitter will need to be 12 volt powered. I use a Belkin FM transmitter with a iHP-140 works okay.

Regards

Paul

Yes you need a FM transmitter, yes it will still work out in the stick’s, The FM frequencies are stored on the I-Pod and you simply select a frequency from the I-Pod that is not In use by a normal Radio station and tune the car radio into that frequency and the I-Pod will broadcast over that frequency, I.E I broadcast mine I-pod on 89.0 FM

The in-car power lead isn’t a bad investment, as the Rechargeable battery will only go for about 5 hrs when running the FM Transmitter then you need to recharge it. With the in car power lead you plunge it into the cig-lighter socket and you are off no need to worry about batteries.

Mate,

Go for it.
I was so bleep off with the crap music on our radio stations that I bought an iPOD Shuffle and downloaded some of my favorite music to it. Also use an FM transmitter that pluges into the earphone jack on the iPOD and transmits it to any of 4 selectable FM frequencies to the Car Stereo.

Works so good that I have had no further use of the cassette player in the Radio.

The shuffle is the entry level model an does not have a display to select tracks. I don't find this a negative at all as you can either play the tracks in succession, or at random. The Shuffle recharges via a USB port on any PC.

Oh and you don't necessarily need the FM transmitter. You can buy an adaptor that connects to the iPOD then "plugs in" to the cassette slot.

Friar,

I'd recommend the Belkin Road Trip to charge your iPod and transmit FM signal. It survived plenty of corros across the Great Central Road and Merennie Loop road this year, plus all the other travels from Perth and back again.

This Belkin unit comes with a variety of storks you plug into a cig lighter, or simply run a cig lighter extension lead and leave it sitting in a convenient spot somewhere. Whilst the iPod is in the Road Trip it charges the iPod, and also connects to the transmitter unit on the Belkin. You can select many frequencies to transmit on - and are absolutely guaranteed to find a free channel - especially when you can't pick up anything else anyway!! You are not transmitting to the world, only perhaps 20m away. If you set it to a popular channel in the city you could really annoy neighbouring cars by playing your iPod music over the top of their favourite channel. :-)

Some other FM transmitter connectors for the iPod draw their power from the iPod and therefore it needs charging more often. These are also not as powerful a transmitter and reading through the various help sites, users complain they have limited choice of frequencies and the iPod needs to be close to the radio to pick up the signal. The Road Trip, being self powered, doesn't have this problem.

I'm afraid I need to contradict Exploder. The frequencies are not stored inside the iPod, they are set by the transmitter. That's on my iPod Photo 30gb anyway.

Remember you can use the iPod as a hard disk to store your digital camera photos if you have a suitable connector. You might have a 256mb card in your camera and 2.5Gb spare on the iPod - so you could fill your digital camera card ten times and download photos to be stored on the iPod for retreival later when you get home. And this is including having 7 days of music loaded.

Pretty cool tool is the iPod.

Tim

Friar. Go for it. you won't regret it. Get the itrip transmitter and cig lead. Mine is
tunned in to 88.5 and i do not have any trouble with other stations.Got 3 days of
non stop music on mine. You dont have to carry a load of cd,s and it does not jump
on the rough stuff

If you have a cassette deck, the sort that fits in there is definitely the way to go - you don't have to worry about interference from radio stations.

I guess it depends upon where you are, but the 'proper' ipod radio transmitters only trasmit on 1 frequency (2 choices when you buy it), and both coincide with channels in Canberra. I bought a generic 4 frequency one from eBay, thinking I'd have a better chance at least, and 3 of the 4 frequencies get too much interference to use in Adelaide...

Friar,

Heaps of choices available. I use the Griffin iTrip FM transmitter with my iPod. It is a very compact attachment on top of the iPod and has hundreds of frequencies to choose from which ARE stored in the iPod memory. Easy to find one with no interference wherever you are. The iPod sits on the centre console, close to the radio, and I have found that it is better to have the car aerial down to cut down on any other external signals. I imagine that a 'hard wired' connection to your car stereo will give better quality sound, but I have found that with an FM transmitter that draws its power from the iPod, I can cart it anywhere (shed, lounge, kitchen) and as long as you have an FM radio, music anywhere.

I have the 60Gb iPod and it is probably way more than I need. 250 odd CDs loaded on there and only about on quarter of the memory used. So when you buy one, don't assume that you need the biggest thing around. 20Gb of music will take you about 10 days to play from start to finish! As other have mentioned, it is great for storing the holiday snaps as well.

Great idea, go for it.

Matt.

Hi Friar,
I would wait for another 6-12 months if you can. The hype over ipods and mp3 players in general is still really high. Prices are too high, and should fall later next year. I was given a small 256MB mp3 player and find it frustrating as it can only store about 2 CD's worth of songs.

I would recommend nothing smaller than a 40GB mp3 player - as you will be able to store enough music to not hear the same song over again on a long trip & you will somewhat future proof your investment!

Oh - also don't be railroaded into the ipod mindset - there are many other manufacturers out there - often with more bang for buck

All questions about FM transmitters look like they have already been covered

-myfourby

I use one of these:



Infinitely adjustable right across the FM band - just like your radio. Stops on "odd" iincrements (eg: 107.9, not 107.6 or 107.8). Great unit - works well anywhere slightly away from super built-up centres such as the middle of Sydney.

http://www.mrgadget.com.au/catalog/xtrememac-airplay-fm-transmitter-for-ipod-and-ipod-mini-p-636.html

Used an i Pod and Griffen Road trip for my 3 month trip to the Kimberleys, worked
wonderfully plugged into the cig. socket of the 80 series. Interestingly the
transmitter has quite a good range as others 1 to 2 ks away in the convoy
could pick up my music on their FM band.
Mike B

Firstly , yes the FM transmitter will work, the Griffin one is the best because it matches the Ipod exactly and is smaller. However FM doesn't sound as good as being hard wired, if you can get your Ipod to connect diectly to your stereo that is always the best option, but is not easy as most stereos don't have that facility. The last option is Alpine and Pioneer have dedicated stereos now that allow for the direct docking, controlling and charging of an Ipod, but thats for the Ipodphiles I would think. If you don't mind the slight degradation in sound quality via the FM transmitter such as Griffin and Belkin, they are fine.

Thanks for all the info fellars,I have tried to buy a 30gb ipod with griffin road trip transmitter ,at this stage looks like late january ,as stocks are non existant,tried about 4 retail outlets on the sunshine coast to no avail,some had 1or2 ipods but no transmitters.I am in no hurray so I will wait.
Friar

Hi All
Had a DLO transpod reckomended to me according to sales person it is as good as GRIFFIN fm road trip transmitter, they are available ,only a couple of days wait to get them, anyone using one of these ,comments please.
Friar