FM Adapters - French rental car

[[email protected]]

I just bought my MP3 player a week ago, partly because of a trip to
France starting this Saturday, and have several questions that I hope
someone can answer - or perhaps point me to other places to look.

Since the general wisdom on the Internet seems to be that FM adapters
are low quality, I decided to get a cassette adapter instead. But I'm
getting the impression that my rental from Hertz (Renault Megane) is
likely not to have a cassette player, so I'm looking again at FM
adapters. It would be a shame not to have the ability to play all the
music I've been ripping.

Are there any decent (or at least half-way decent) FM adapters?
Preferably something that I can buy at retail in the Seattle area given
the short amount of time. Ideally, something that would work to an FM
radio in a hotel, not just into the car. I've heard some good things
about the iRiver, but I don't know if I can find it locally, and it
wouldn't work except powered through a cigar lighter.

Are there any issues with the different FM station intervals used in
Europe?

If I can't find anything before I go, I'll be hoping for a car with a
cassette player. If I can't get that, I might be looking to buy an FM
adapter in France. Any recommendations for places to buy? (Ideally
with the same sort of return policy as Radio Shack here - I know,
that's unrealistic in France).

Why are FM adapters so bad? I have a Pioneer CD changer in my car that
works well with an FM modulator (except occasionally when there is a
station on the same channel that interferes). I think it is plugged
into the antenna, but even without, I don't understand why the quality
is as bad as everyone says. And I'd have thought that the cassette
adapter wouldn't be that great - plus I don't like the sound of the
motor on the heads.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, and might help others in
a similar situation.

Thanks
Mike

[Tim Schwartz]

Mike,

European FM broadcasting uses 50uS deemphasis instead of the 75uS that
we have in the USA. Since 75uS played on a 50uS radio sounds a bit
bright, I'd assume that 75uS played on 50uS radios would sound a bit
dull, but certainly listenable.

The biggest problem you are likely to have is that the adapters I've
seen require you to insert them into the antenna jack of the radio, not
wirelessly from your external player. I would not want to try to mess
with the connections in a rental car. So if you buy an adapter, make
sure you don't have to connect it to the antenna jack.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics


wrote:
>
> I just bought my MP3 player a week ago, partly because of a trip to
> France starting this Saturday, and have several questions that I hope
> someone can answer - or perhaps point me to other places to look.
>
> Since the general wisdom on the Internet seems to be that FM adapters
> are low quality, I decided to get a cassette adapter instead. But I'm
> getting the impression that my rental from Hertz (Renault Megane) is
> likely not to have a cassette player, so I'm looking again at FM
> adapters. It would be a shame not to have the ability to play all the
> music I've been ripping.
>
> Are there any decent (or at least half-way decent) FM adapters?
> Preferably something that I can buy at retail in the Seattle area given
> the short amount of time. Ideally, something that would work to an FM
> radio in a hotel, not just into the car. I've heard some good things
> about the iRiver, but I don't know if I can find it locally, and it
> wouldn't work except powered through a cigar lighter.
>
> Are there any issues with the different FM station intervals used in
> Europe?
>
> If I can't find anything before I go, I'll be hoping for a car with a
> cassette player. If I can't get that, I might be looking to buy an FM
> adapter in France. Any recommendations for places to buy? (Ideally
> with the same sort of return policy as Radio Shack here - I know,
> that's unrealistic in France).
>
> Why are FM adapters so bad? I have a Pioneer CD changer in my car that
> works well with an FM modulator (except occasionally when there is a
> station on the same channel that interferes). I think it is plugged
> into the antenna, but even without, I don't understand why the quality
> is as bad as everyone says. And I'd have thought that the cassette
> adapter wouldn't be that great - plus I don't like the sound of the
> motor on the heads.
>
> Any information would be greatly appreciated, and might help others in
> a similar situation.
>
> Thanks
> Mike

[[email protected]]

Tim Schwartz wrote:
> Mike,
>
> European FM broadcasting uses 50uS deemphasis instead of the 75uS
that
> we have in the USA. Since 75uS played on a 50uS radio sounds a bit
> bright, I'd assume that 75uS played on 50uS radios would sound a bit
> dull, but certainly listenable.
>

I hadn't thought about the de-emphasis, but that's a point. Nothing
much to be done about it though.

What I was thinking of was the channel step. I don't think it is so
much of a problem with FM (200MHz US vs 50 MHz Europe) as with AM (10K
vs 9 K). With FM, anything that works in the US should be able to be
picked up in Europe, but if there are only a limited number of
transmitting channel options there might be more chance of colliding
with an existing radio channel.

Has anyone got any comments on the Belkin Tunecast II? It seems to
satisfy my desire for something that can play through a hotel radio.

Thanks
Mike

[wkearney99]

"Tim Schwartz" > wrote in message
> The biggest problem you are likely to have is that the adapters I've
> seen require you to insert them into the antenna jack of the radio, not
> wirelessly from your external player.

What're you on about here? That's hogwash.

All of the consumer devices I've ever seen take an audio-out signal from the
player (be it a headphone signal or a dock connector) and just broadcast
using the internal antenna of the adapter. I've *never* seen one that
plugged in between the car's antenna and the radio. I've seen AUX inputs
that do that but NEVER an FM transmitter. I mean, what'd be the point?

Now, some windshields with metallic coatings (for heat or UV) may block the
signal somewhat. Unlikely to be an option in most rental cars. But even
when it is present it usually just means moving the transmitter closer to
the antenna. A cigarette lighter extender cable helps take care of that.

-Bill Kearney

[JANA]

The FM sender (transmitter) units that you buy as a consumer are okay, but
cannot ever be the quality of a descent FM transmitter, as such used for
commercial or professional applications. The price range would be beyond
what an average consumer would ever want to pay. The consumer units will be
higher in their noise, and distortion. They also lack the radiation power in
order to work more than a few feet, and are easy to be overcome by
interference.

As for European FM station allocation, their frequency band is a bit
different than what is used in North America. There is some overlap.

The station centre frequency allocation is different between Europe than
that is used in North America. In NA we use the sequence of 1, 3, 5, 7, and
9. In EU some countries are using 2, 4, 6, 8, and 0. If your FM sender is
not using the capability of being continuously adjustable, this will be a
problem if it is for the NA allocation centre frequency only.

Differences Between North America And Europe, Broadcast Bands, And Station
Allocations:
http://www.internews.ru/books/radiohandbook/2.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/fm-broadcast-band


I would suggest to rent a car with a CD player that can play MP3's in it,
and burn your MP3's to CD disks. Over where I am located, most of the rental
cars come with CD players in them. Many of the CD players in the new cars
are able to play MP3's. You should ask the rental company in advance. If
they cannot promise that, ask if they can at least rent you a car with a CD
player. You can then burn your CD disks to be played on a standard CD
player.

I would also think that if you want to really enjoy your vacation, why would
want to be burdened with all of this? Just go and enjoy yourself, and relax!
You may find the local EU radio stations interesting to listen to. They
have great music over there!



--

JANA
_____


> wrote in message
oups.com...
I just bought my MP3 player a week ago, partly because of a trip to
France starting this Saturday, and have several questions that I hope
someone can answer - or perhaps point me to other places to look.

Since the general wisdom on the Internet seems to be that FM adapters
are low quality, I decided to get a cassette adapter instead. But I'm
getting the impression that my rental from Hertz (Renault Megane) is
likely not to have a cassette player, so I'm looking again at FM
adapters. It would be a shame not to have the ability to play all the
music I've been ripping.

Are there any decent (or at least half-way decent) FM adapters?
Preferably something that I can buy at retail in the Seattle area given
the short amount of time. Ideally, something that would work to an FM
radio in a hotel, not just into the car. I've heard some good things
about the iRiver, but I don't know if I can find it locally, and it
wouldn't work except powered through a cigar lighter.

Are there any issues with the different FM station intervals used in
Europe?

If I can't find anything before I go, I'll be hoping for a car with a
cassette player. If I can't get that, I might be looking to buy an FM
adapter in France. Any recommendations for places to buy? (Ideally
with the same sort of return policy as Radio Shack here - I know,
that's unrealistic in France).

Why are FM adapters so bad? I have a Pioneer CD changer in my car that
works well with an FM modulator (except occasionally when there is a
station on the same channel that interferes). I think it is plugged
into the antenna, but even without, I don't understand why the quality
is as bad as everyone says. And I'd have thought that the cassette
adapter wouldn't be that great - plus I don't like the sound of the
motor on the heads.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, and might help others in
a similar situation.

Thanks
Mike