Tips of getting the best station for FM transmitter.

Junior

Full time elf
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
241
I can't seem to get very clear reception. Is there a certain frequency I should be looking for?
 

David_AVD

Grandpa Elf
Community project designer
Generous elf
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
4,681
Location
Victoria Point (Brisbane)
One thing is to pick an odd frequency (95.5 not 95.4 for example) as the tuning on some radios won't select the even ones.
 

TerryK

Retired Elf
Joined
Feb 9, 2020
Messages
655
Location
West Central Ohio
You might try searching for something similar in Australia to 'Radio Locator'. That site is mostly US based and while I can search Australian channels, the site will not show me vacant Australian channels as it does for US channels.
 

JPB

Full time elf
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
352
Location
Glenwood
I would park out the front of your house and scan the frequency range looking for an "empty" frequency. (Doing it a few nights around show time as some broadcasters seem to come and go around my place)

And what sort of issue are you having? Could it be your transmitter is the issue or even the quality of the original signal, I had to add a Behringer mixer to my setup to improve my audio quality.
 

Junior

Full time elf
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
241
It's a pretty good transmitter. Yes a great antenna.
 

JPB

Full time elf
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
352
Location
Glenwood
This is an old thread that discussed sound quality when using a Pi and is where I got the fix for my problem by adding a mixer
 

LagoonLights

Formerly RedGumRdLights
Joined
Jun 12, 2016
Messages
44
Location
australia
Also check cables as I have had a faulty 3.5mm cable before. Upgraded to a SoundBlaster 3 soundcard last year also to try and improve. I chose an even number the first year and have just stuck with it, Each year I think I should change but it is always down the bottom of priority list and gets forgotten.
 

Junior

Full time elf
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
241
Think I found a decent spot. Use the odd numbers like David said above. Has its moments but seems ok.
 

OzAz

Senior elf
Global moderator
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
997
Location
Newcastle
slight hijacking of this thread :)

I installed a Sound Blaster Paly! 3 USB to my laptop on the weekend to see if it would improve sound to my FM Tx.
Here's some things I found during testing (with an FM radio a meter or so away from TX):

With no audio playing, to check for hum and hiss:
  • Volume out of laptop no higher than 70%
  • Line In "volume" on FM Tx to 100%
  • Mic In "volume" on FM Tx to 80% - this was the real odd one to me as it shouldn't affect anything as nothing is being fed in! But there was definitely more hum as I turned the Mic In up and down
With audio playing:
  • settings left as above, sound seemed ok.
However when I moved the radio further away I noticed some clipping and distortion. So I dropped the Laptop volume down further and got nice clean sound
 
Top