EBAY FM TRANSMITTER - Comments & Suggestions Requested

[talk2coxie]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to add an FM transmitter to my show this year and I recall reading somewhere some of you guys have looked at or are using something similar to this one.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/400084476661?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I know there are probably better, more expensive options about but I basically have no blinky budget this year and hope this would work fine.

The main question I have with this ebay option is, how much work is involved to get it to work? Would I need to buy or add anything else to transmit a signal?

Any help and comments as always are heavily appreciated.

Cheers, Coxie

 

[SmartAlecLights]

great transmitter
i used a old adsl modem case for it
this is the place that donated it as a prize for me from diyc
http://wlcventures.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=19
might be cheaper in price but with postage, probly the same as your email link
i get great range for it with a home made antenna.
Here is a pic of the Antenna an transmitter
http://smartaleclights.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=12436515
the antenna design is in the wiki here
http://auschristmaslighting.com/wiki_source/images/a/a7/How_to_make_a_dipole_antenna.pdf
hope all this helps
Alec.

 

[AussiePhil]

Coxie,


Good unit if you want to build it into a case etc.


You will need a power supply, an antenna, and a cable to get audio from the computer.


I just bought on of these, [SIZE=78%]http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100mW-500mW-Power-adj-76-108Mhz-Home-FM-TRANSMITTER-/330577986499?pt=AU_Electronics_Radio_Equipment&hash=item4cf7fbc3c3#ht_6812wt_1396[/SIZE]


As doing any DIY on a FM transmitter just never appealed.


Cheers
Phil

 

[talk2coxie]

Thanks for your feedback and help guys

Phil, that is a great find and perfect for me. DIY on this didn't appeal to me either, but I was just going for the cheapest option. An extra $12.00 is sure worth the extra coin to save any DIY required.

I will gladly leave some feedback on how it performs once it arrives and I find time to test it out

 

[Kaden]

I just bought on of these, [SIZE=78%]http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100mW-500mW-Power-adj-76-108Mhz-Home-FM-TRANSMITTER-/330577986499?pt=AU_Electronics_Radio_Equipment&hash=item4cf7fbc3c3#ht_6812wt_1396[/SIZE]

That's cheaper than I would I have thought they would cost, are these units decent enough?

 

[bbayjohn]

Hi Phil,
When you recieve this unit can you test it and give us some feedback on its clarity and range
Cheers John

Coxie,


Good unit if you want to build it into a case etc.


You will need a power supply, an antenna, and a cable to get audio from the computer.


I just bought on of these, [SIZE=78%]http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100mW-500mW-Power-adj-76-108Mhz-Home-FM-TRANSMITTER-/330577986499?pt=AU_Electronics_Radio_Equipment&hash=item4cf7fbc3c3#ht_6812wt_1396[/SIZE]


As doing any DIY on a FM transmitter just never appealed.


Cheers
Phil

 

[ԆцряєсϮ]

Ive got that same unit as Phil, I got mine earlier in the year.
They work fine, Ive only done some basic testing but pretty much straight out of the box I plugged it in, piped some tunes through it and went for a drive around our estate.
Clear as a bell up to about 600 mtrs from my house.
I started to get a little bit of static around that mark but could still hear it fairly clear up to about 1K away.
Will be ample for my setup
The only issue I have with mine is it came with a metal antenna which is connected into a BNC type adapter plug, with the antenna fully extended it wont stay vertical on its own, I have to prop it against something. (Or a bit of Gaffa tape may help)

My one was here
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_rdc=1&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=320818119352&nma=true&rt=nc&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp3692.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D320818119352%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&si=5BYKvWwgltg8fGgZVXTjMzUNjSA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

[Bevo]

I have got the same as Phil's and I used it last year without a problem. It was very clear and I would recomend them.

 

[bbayjohn]

Thanks ԆцряєсϮ & Bevo,
Went ahead and got 1 for myself. Probably shouldn't of with the mini coming up this weekend but I realy needed one and this was at the right price, or at least the postage was lol

 

[fasteddy]

These transmitters are great value for the price and are perfect for entry level transmitting. They wont have the same sound quality as an EDM, but then they cost a lot less as well. Im planning on getting one as a spare just in case the EDM ever fails

 

[BrianJ]

I just bought on of these, [SIZE=78%]http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100mW-500mW-Power-adj-76-108Mhz-Home-FM-TRANSMITTER-/330577986499?pt=AU_Electronics_Radio_Equipment&hash=item4cf7fbc3c3#ht_6812wt_1396[/SIZE]

That's cheaper than I would I have thought they would cost, are these units decent enough?

Mine just arrived today and it works very well. The range is better than expected, at least 250 meters and still clear as a bell. The sound quality is definitely tinny but putting a EQ on the tunes playing on the computer helps. After tweaking it while listening, I would challenge anyone to hear the difference between this and a much more expensive unit.
The only issue I have with it is I have not been able to have it display which mode I am broadcasting in 100 or 500. The instructions are clear that it should display and adjust on a clean start. I have disconnected the power supply and held the switch on for 20 minutes reconnected the power and still no display or setting choices. Not really worried about it as long as it does what I need and it seems to do that quite well.

 

[Kaden]

Mine arrived today and I may or may not have Rick Rolled someone listening to their radio in our office.


This unit had more then enough power to completely obliterate the station they were listening to.

 

[talk2coxie]

Hi Guys, I've found out a bit more info regarding these transmitters.

Initial testing was superb and had over a kilometre range which is overkill and like Brian I wasn't sure how to either find out what range it was in or how to change it.

I actually found the instructions that came with it initially in my golf bag (...don't ask why????) and found you can adjust the range to "H" (high) or "L" (low) range.

The instruction are in Chinglish and a little hard to comprehend but I found if you hold down the power button and attach the power supply (and have it turned on) whilst holding down the power button it goes into setup mode.

By then pressing the arrow buttons you can adjust to "H" or "L". Then it will ask for the high and low transmitter range. I just set my Low range to 88.0FM and the high range to 108.0FM.

The "L" range still has plenty of range over 400 metres of clarity which is just perfect for me.

Thought I'd share what I found as I'm more than happy with this purchase.

Thanks again for eveyone's initial feedback.

 

[Lost sol]

I got the same one as Phil but in a shiny silver! Used it last year and it worked great.

 

[miked]

Hi
I got one of these transmitters (CZH-05B) earlier in the year but have only recently tested it out . I was getting a lot of hum in the background. I was playing through ipad?
Have also done a bit of reading on the Wiki re transmitters but am a bit confused about output power and licences etc.
Do you need a licence to transmit with this device?