B
Balfa
Does the stock accent cd player (2002 GL) have an audio input anywhere
on it that I can hook an MP3 player up to?
on it that I can hook an MP3 player up to?
If it does have a pair of inputs, that would be the desired route. AnJody said:u can buy a cordelss transmitter that plugs into the mp3 players headphone
jack and brodcast direstely to your car stereo, radio shack has them aka the
source...
If it does have a pair of inputs, that would be the desired route. An
adaptor would be needed to drop the headphone outupt to the lower level
required for the car stereo. Typically, these adaptors are built into
patch cords sold for this purpose.
Failing this, I'd like to see a product that inserts in the antenna
line: this is the correct way to do this if you don't have a switched
audio input. In other words, a modulator box that plugs into the Hyundai
radio's antenna socket.
What such a gizmo does is:
- Generates a carrier wave in the FM band.
- Modulates that carrier wave with an audio signal.
- Generates the subcarrier wave for the left stereo channel and mixes
the L+R signal to the main (mono)channel plus left-only to the left
channel. This multiplexed signal is then pulled apart in the car radio.
This is what the present commercial devices do, only they add more power
and an antenna to transmit this signal for a short distance.
In the device that I'd favor, you'd plug the antenna into the new
contraption. This would be nice and tidy -- the amount of power that
this would consume would be so minute that it could be hard-wired into
the car's supply -- such as in the radio or the cigarette lighter line.
The device could be tucked behind the dashboard.
Logically, too, there'd be one physical switch so that you could go back
and forth between the antenna feed and the external sound source -- this
would be the only thing that would require a neat installation: one
switch. The sound source could be anything with a headphone output --
MP3 player, Ipod, CD player, industrial radio scanner -- whatever.
Strange thing is that I don't think that I've seen a product like this.
I recall that some years ago, there was some sort of product that
inserted into the antenna line; I just can't recall what it was. Perhaps
it was a simple antenna amplifier.
I'm seeing the little transmitter gizmos here and there. But what's not
so sensible is that the only reception point for the car stereo is the
antenna that's _outside_ the car. The steel roof posts and body panels
will block most of the signal from those things, so reception could be
poor from the transmitter to the radio that's right next to it.
Richard
sparerep said:Are you talking about something like this?
http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=FMMOD
Tom Debski
sparerep said:Are you talking about something like this?
http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=FMMOD
Tom Debski
Bingo!
That's exactly it. The concept is perfect.
What we still don't know is:
- Is the thing any good?
- Can you tune it to a blank spot on the dial in your area?
- How is it powered? Batteries would be a bummer.
- Is it designed to be easily fastened to something?
- Is the switch on the end of a cord and can you mount it in an
accessable spot in the Hyundai? (Hint: in my 2000 Sonata, a logical
place is in the blank switch bank by the accessory socket).
- Is it sensitive to interference? (This really should not be a problem).
- Does it generate noise of its own?
- Does it provide some way to adjust for the output level of the player?
(it probably doesn't, so you'd adjust the volume on the player itself --
my experience with my new MP3 player sounds like this should not be an
issue -- the sound of the unit is surprisingly clean, that is, given
that MP3 robs fidelity from the music no matter how good the encoding is
set).
- What part of China is it made in? (The good part or the bad part?)
And, finally:
Who wants to buy one of these to try it and give the rest of us a report?
Richard