Cheaper Way To Mp3?

[Nosh]

I read the thread about the 'Connects 2' gadget (available from Halfords £50 quid) that would allow an MP3 player to feed direct through the Yaris' CD/Radio

Anyone found a cheaper way to do it? 50 quid seems a bit steep...

[Fidgits]

yeah - pick up one of the FM modulators for 10/20 quid...

does the job nicely!

[minidoughty]

found a connector on eBay, won the bid!!! 3 pence!!!!!! VX001 i think it was called. try the "add-a-cd-changer" website.

[RossP]

Yep, but FM Modulators are illegal to use in the UK i think Fidgits?

[minidoughty]

its not illegal to own one just to use it (sorry, get caught using it).

[RossP]

Yeh Yeh I know what I mean ;)

[Fidgits]

no...

its a common misconception that they are illegal...

You see, yes its illegal to have a high power version, but these are very low power, and doubtful whether the RF can actually penetrate the skin of the car.

They are not of broadcast power, so the RF emission laws are not applicable (IMO)

[RossP]

Ah well there you go then

[dicey2k]

Yeah we've had this discussion in work Ian, we were saying that you are in effect driving round in a pirate radio station, but these transmitters only have a 10m range max, and even though the law is a bit of a grey area, they seem to be readily avaliable from most good electrical retailers, and also currys ( :P ) so i guess they are ok to use!!

By that reckoning, it would be illegal to use one of those wireless sky duplexers as they also do radio??

Yeah so, if you don't want to hardwire it in, FM is the way to go, although the quality isn't amazing its good enough!

[DaveSR]

The main point you have missed out abou the FM modulators are that they are :censor: !

The quality is poor !

[cfc1]

I have 2 fm modulators in my car.. 1 for the cd changer and the other for the roofmount dvd.. to say the sound is poor isn't fair.. ok, its not cd quality sound, but it's radio quality sound.. which is ok for me.

[dicey2k]

Yeah sorry Davy, i didn't mean the quality was shocking, just that it wasn't cd quality, i think dave was a bit harsh to say they are :censor: !!

They do the job, that's the main thing!

[Nosh]

ok thanks folks. Checked out the add-a-cd-changer site first. Bejeezus.. there's lots of options.. anyone know wot I need for a 2003 Yaris -my mp3 gadget just has Line-Out and Headphone

'scuse my ignorance of sound stuff

[siray123]

Alternatively buy a headunit with wma/mp3 capability 200odd songs on 1 cd

[armoredfist2002]

I think they are only illegal if they broadcast more than 20 feet, I read it somewhere ages and ages ago, it was for a similar sort of product.

[jaxx]

You see, yes its illegal to have a high power version, but these are very low power, and doubtful whether the RF can actually penetrate the skin of the car.

so the iTrip style things for the iPod, they have to penetrate the skin in order for the aerial to recieve it ;)

also for about 100quid you pick up a half decent Mp3 headunit, thatll produce much better sound quality to start with :)

[DaveSR]

Yeah sorry Davy, i didn't mean the quality was shocking, just that it wasn't cd quality, i think dave was a bit harsh to say they are :censor: !!

They do the job, that's the main thing!

I stand by what I said ..... I didn't even have a cheap one as I paid top doller for the iTrip. The quality is poorer than a radio FM signal in my honest opinion.

Save your cash and go for the 'Connects 2' because when you have your favourite tune on your iPod/MP3 player and you want to turn it up ....... you just can't and you ssssooooo wish you brought something else !

[DaveSR]

no...

its a common misconception that they are illegal...

You see, yes its illegal to have a high power version, but these are very low power, and doubtful whether the RF can actually penetrate the skin of the car.

They are not of broadcast power, so the RF emission laws are not applicable (IMO)

Not wanting to start an argument with the King ;) !

However they are illegal as they broadcast A signal, and to broadcast ANY signal you need a licence, hence making it illegal regardless of power.

Ask Ofcom

You also mentioned that the signal cannot penetrate the skin of the car, well I've tested it and ..... it does! 7 car park space away we managed to pick it up from (*Don't ask )

The point is that you are 99.9% not likely to be caught.

[cfc1]

Yeah sorry Davy, i didn't mean the quality was shocking, just that it wasn't cd quality, i think dave was a bit harsh to say they are :censor: !!

They do the job, that's the main thing!

No need to oppologise.. people have different requirements and look for different things from their sound systems, if you linke thumping base and your eardrums bouncing with the music, then of course you would want something better than radio quality.

ЪV€... at very least your FM modulator SHOULD have given you the same quality as a very good FM radio signal, they really have to be positioned correcrly, and set to the strongest frequency (some have a 3 way switch).

I think they are only illegal if they broadcast more than 20 feet, I read it somewhere ages and ages ago, it was for a similar sort of product.

There are 2 types of FM modulator (that i know of) wired and wireless... wireless modulators are illeagle. The guy that fitted my roofmount screen told me that it's illeagle to use the wireless modulator that i handed him to use to fit the screen... but used it anyway.

[Woody27]

There are 2 types of FM modulator (that i know of) wired and wireless... wireless modulators are illeagle. The guy that fitted my roofmount screen told me that it's illeagle to use the wireless modulator that i handed him to use to fit the screen... but used it anyway.

Doesn't FM stand for Frequency Modulator. I guess this means putting your music on a certain frequency so it can be wirelessly transmitted. Surely a wired FM in this case would be useless as your sending a signal down a wire you would need to decode before you could use it. You would instead use an AUX cable if you were wiring to give you the sound. (Im not even close to being an expert on this subject just taking a basic educated guess!)

Basically this guy wants an AUX cable if he wants best sound quality but at a price for the connects2 interface, or an FM transmitter for a slightly illegal, poorer quality, but ultimately cheaper system. If you plan to upgrade the Speakers i would invest in the AUX cable (or even a new H/U with Aux In) as it will only sound as good as the quality of the media it is playing!

O and not to be picky dave, but its illegal not ill-eagle! :P (made me chuckle!)

[cfc1]

There are 2 types of FM modulator (that i know of) wired and wireless... wireless modulators are illeagle. The guy that fitted my roofmount screen told me that it's illeagle to use the wireless modulator that i handed him to use to fit the screen... but used it anyway.

..... Surely a wired FM in this case would be useless as your sending a signal down a wire you would need to decode before you could use it.

O and not to be picky dave, but its illegal not ill-eagle! :P (made me chuckle!)

A wired FM modulator plugs into the ariel socket of the head unit, the ariel then plugs into the modulator.. then you tune whatever it is you have connected (in my case, the cd changer) to a radio station.

Leave my eagle alone... it's not very well at the moment :lol:

[Woody27]

There are 2 types of FM modulator (that i know of) wired and wireless... wireless modulators are illeagle. The guy that fitted my roofmount screen told me that it's illeagle to use the wireless modulator that i handed him to use to fit the screen... but used it anyway.

..... Surely a wired FM in this case would be useless as your sending a signal down a wire you would need to decode before you could use it.

O and not to be picky dave, but its illegal not ill-eagle! :P (made me chuckle!)

A wired FM modulator plugs into the ariel socket of the head unit, the ariel then plugs into the modulator.. then you tune whatever it is you have connected (in my case, the cd changer) to a radio station.

Leave my eagle alone... it's not very well at the moment :lol:

Lol got that nasty eagle bug going round? mine pops its clog this morning

Anyway, i guess those Fm Wired modulator means no Radio though :( can you get a splitter so you can have both at once? that would be funky! How much are they out of interest? (wired ones)

[DaveSR]

Doesn't FM stand for Frequency Modulator. I guess this means putting your music on a certain frequency so it can be wirelessly transmitted. Surely a wired FM in this case would be useless as your sending a signal down a wire you would need to decode before you could use it.

An FM waveform contains data in the form of a transmitted signal and is not encode, however the waveform is modulated with a carrier signal to reduce/remove static. As you tune in your radio you are actually controlling a band pass filter allowing a certain band/frequency to pass through. Each channel is located with a 100KHz bandwidth to transmit extra info such as the channels name etc so when you tune in your radio that's why it goes 97.9, 98.0, 98.1 etc ;) !

Anymore info just ask ..... I did a degree don't yah know

[Woody27]

Lol im doing filters and audio amplifiers, crossover networks and all that in electronics atm but its only A level stuff so hardly technical! But yeah cheers for that! Yeah see i didnt realise it was gona go into the aerial socket as was being stupid so i was thinking you would like try to plug the FM modulator into something other than the radio and wouldnt work as you need the radio filter thingy. But yeah just me being stupid. Any idea on whether you can get a splitter to still receive Radio? i would imagine so as cant you just use like a TV aerial splitter?

[DaveSR]

Lol im doing filters and audio amplifiers, crossover networks and all that in electronics atm but its only A level stuff so hardly technical! But yeah cheers for that! Yeah see i didnt realise it was gona go into the aerial socket as was being stupid so i was thinking you would like try to plug the FM modulator into something other than the radio and wouldnt work as you need the radio filter thingy. But yeah just me being stupid. Any idea on whether you can get a splitter to still receive Radio? i would imagine so as cant you just use like a TV aerial splitter?

I take it your on about the wired modulator now ? ;)

And in that case yes it is like an TV aerial splitter, as all it provides is a separate socket for you to attach your car aerial. The other socket is used for the direct input for the chosen frequency, so in theory you could snip off the end of the cable and solder it onto the aerial cable or splice the aerial cable and it will work. Some people say to place a 3 Ohms resister in parallel with the joint as the join created by the solder will have less resistance than the wire, which could potentially make things go tit's up hence if you open up a TV splitter box it should contain a resister .

I also did electronics etc at school and obviously at uni ..... want any help in the future just ask !