asking for thumbs up or down if this fm transmitter set-up will work

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bert-nc

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Joined
Jan 8, 2012
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46
Location
central North Carolina
I have read multiple posts and watched several you tube videos on the subject of adding sound to a Christmas display

Just asking if the set-up I am thinking about will work, or am I wasting my money.

Also, I would appreciate any suggestions.

I am in a rural location and the spectators, neighbors driving by, will be about 500 feet from my display.

Need to do this on a small budget. Not sure a small budget and this hobby go together 🤣

I have a Kulp k8-b cape mounted to a beaglebone black c, was planning on buying a soundblaster play 3 usb to plug into the beaglebone , and a small fm transmitter. The kind you can buy on amazon for about $18 USD for a pair. Those that don't look bigger than a couple or three postage stamps placed together.
Plus cables to make connections.

I know this is not the best set-up, but would up grade next year if all goes well, and use this for a back up.

Thoughts, suggestions, opinions, welcome

bert-nc

my location is North Carolina USA
 
Honestly, I don't think that transmitter will go 500 feet to the viewers. You can try to make all those special antennas that are out there but it's still a small cheap transmitter in the end. I tried to use one originally and it's maybe 50 feet from my show and I did not have any luck with them. There are some that use them without a problem but I think they are few and far between.

For "Only" $50 more you can move up to a much better transmitter and save yourself troubles.

Depending on your environment you might have to switch it over to high power for 500 feet, not sure.
 
What's your risk tolerance for failure? If the cheap ones don't work will you just get something else?

If you want something known to work on the first try, the CZE like Indi mentioned is a sure bet. Low power mode will likely get the 500' just fine (mine does about 1000' but I guess if there is a lot of interference you might need high power).
 
Most everything I saw from previous searches was in the $150 range
The price range shown for the above units make it worth spending more
My audience will be very limited was one reason not to spend for top of the line equipment
 
The most important piece for any good transmission is the antenna and placement.
If you want to go a lower powered or cheaper transmitter, you can build yourself a dipole antenna which would help "focus" the signal into the the area you need.
Figure out what frequency you want to transmit on, make yourself the dipole antenna tuner to that frequency, ensure it's place vertically (one segment up and one down) and in good visible sight of your listeners.
You can make this with some scrap wire or even sooner old coat hangers.

I don't remember all the formula off the top of my head but there are loads of resources Dr Google can help with.
 
I'm not sure why but the price for those types of transmitters fluctuate wildly.
 
One thing I like about the cze is that it has two power options
had not thought to much about adding sound to my display until recently

Previous years were sequences I had done but not sequenced to music
However this year I have bought some sequences and having the music to go along with the lights will be a BIG upgrade
Also adding a mega tree to the display
 
Go for the CZE, they are worth the money. I used a cheap Cigarette liter type for in car audio (Think before we had usb/and phones linking to car radios). Even though it worked, the quality of the audio was crap on the edge of the property.

The CZE gets a hundred meters past the same distance, and the audio is so much better.
 
bert-nc said:
Thanks for the advice
I have decided to go with the CZE
Just deciding on which supplier on Amazon to order from
Click to expand...
Not sure if it will help or not but I bought mine from BaseWish on Amazon. Do a search for "BaseWish transmitter" to find them. The link for the on I bought no longer works otherwise i would have linked it. Purchased it for my first show in 2021 and works fine. Also, make sure you have a quality cable to go from the SB3 to the transmitter. Poor cables can induce static.
 
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