3 ms·

FM transmitters are great. No asking your friend to pull over to the side of the road to pair your phone to their car stereo, no messing around with USB cables,

FM transmitters are great. No asking your friend to pull over to the side of the road to pair your phone to their car stereo, no messing around with USB cables, just tune your radio to 88.0 or similar. My Nokia N900 had one and I've missed it ever since - it could even display text via RDS!

wtbob 10y ago
> My Nokia N900 had [an FM transmitter] and I've missed it ever since - it could even display text via RDS! You know, that's an amazingly depressing thought: how many other dead-simple technologies have we been prevented from using because of ingrained interests? OTOH, Bluetooth is certainly a better idea for personal telephone calls.
- voltagex_ 10y ago
  For sure. Most of my problems with Bluetooth seem to be caused by me using an Android phone - my iPhone using friends hardly have any problems.
dsharlet 10y ago
You must be joking. The only place I've ever gotten adequate audio quality from an FM transmitter is in a tunnel more than 1/4 mile long. They're crappy even driving through the middle of nowhere where 9/10 radio stations are noise.
- yoo1I 10y ago
  No I'll have to agree with your parent. The N900 FM functionality ( among it's other great advantages ) was pretty good. I used to use it all the time.
- nix0n 10y ago
  I've found it to be somewhat dependent on the FM receiver's quality, although cars with extendable FM antennas are rare nowadays.
ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
I simply can't listen to commercial FM radio these days-its the audio equivalent of going to a website without ublock. The few stations I listen to usually have apps (classical and public radio) and I'm often in wifi territory anyways, so no data charges (like at work).
- jlgaddis 10y ago
  I've certainly been spoiled by my home music library with no advertisements or commercials. SiriusXM satellite radio is the same way as FM broadcast radio with all the commercials. I pay an outrageous amount to them every month for service -- for my truck, car, motorcycle, and the Internet streaming "add-on" (I have a tabletop radio on a nightstand next to my bed) -- and get so annoyed by all the commercials. I'm not sure how much they make off of me, as an individual subscriber, per month, from the advertisers but I would happily pay much more every month (probably another 50% or so) for a 100% commercial-free option -- and I'm sure that's gotta be way more than what they're getting from the advertisers for me.
  - copperx 10y ago
    Why are you still a customer of Sirius XM?
    - jlgaddis 10y ago
      1) I do like the service and use it all the time and 2) convenience. I mostly drive my truck, which I just bought in August 2015. SiriusXM was free for 90 days. Before it expired, I received a "promo" deal in the mail and paid for a year or service at that time. Likewise, I bought my car in June 2014. SiriusXM was free for 90 days and then I signed up for, I believe, a quarterly package. I, personally, have only driven my car twice in the last six months or so -- probably less than five times since I bought the truck. My girlfriend has a Jeep but she drives my car most of the time, so I keep that subscription active because she prefers the satellite radio over FM, Pandora/iTunes/etc. Otherwise, I would cancel service in the car. I also have a package and receiver on my Harley. Due to the weather, I get to ride it perhaps half of the year. It's an inconvenience to call up and add it to my account in the spring and then remember to remove it as winter nears and the bike goes into the garage for months. Besides, we occasionally have nice days in the winter when I can ride and I want it to "just work". Then, there's the Internet streaming service. I have the SiriusXM app on my iPhone (so I can play it via Bluetooth when in someone else's vehicle, etc.) and Roku and we have a "tabletop" receiver next to the bed. We often turn it on when going to bed, the girlfriend will listen to it while getting ready for work, etc. In short, I do like the service. I'm probably paying them more than I should but I likely won't cancel it anytime soon. As I said above, though, I'd gladly pay them more for an "{ad|commercial}-free" version.
underwater 10y ago
I spent some time searching for a good external transmitter a while back. Turns out they're heavily regulated by the FCC. It all boils down to the requirement that you can't interfere with anyone else's reception. Any transmission strength that gives acceptable quality would do that. So they are artificially stunted. It's possible that your N900 is exceeding legal signal strengths.
ashitlerferad 10y ago
The Neo900 will also have an FM transmitter/receiver: https://neo900.org/specs https://neo900.org/specs
mseebach 10y ago
> No asking your friend to pull over to the side of the road to pair your phone to their car stereo I drive rentals a lot. Like, a lot. Across dozens of brands and models, it's never taken me more than a minute to pair my phone. Also, the 3.5mm aux plug is even easier to use than tuning a radio to any frequency, and the quality is vastly better. It's a long time since I've seen a car without it.
- voltagex_ 10y ago
  What phone are you using to pair? I agree, I really like cars with the 3.5mm aux plug but the two cars I have most experience with (Hyundai i20 and a 2010 Falcon AU) don't have them.

wtbob 10y ago

> My Nokia N900 had [an FM transmitter] and I've missed it ever since - it could even display text via RDS! You know, that's an amazingly depressing thought: how many other dead-simple technologies have we been prevented from using because of ingrained interests? OTOH, Bluetooth is certainly a better idea for personal telephone calls.

voltagex_ 10y ago
For sure. Most of my problems with Bluetooth seem to be caused by me using an Android phone - my iPhone using friends hardly have any problems.

dsharlet 10y ago

You must be joking. The only place I've ever gotten adequate audio quality from an FM transmitter is in a tunnel more than 1/4 mile long. They're crappy even driving through the middle of nowhere where 9/10 radio stations are noise.

yoo1I 10y ago
No I'll have to agree with your parent. The N900 FM functionality ( among it's other great advantages ) was pretty good. I used to use it all the time.
nix0n 10y ago
I've found it to be somewhat dependent on the FM receiver's quality, although cars with extendable FM antennas are rare nowadays.

ZanyProgrammer 10y ago

I simply can't listen to commercial FM radio these days-its the audio equivalent of going to a website without ublock. The few stations I listen to usually have apps (classical and public radio) and I'm often in wifi territory anyways, so no data charges (like at work).

jlgaddis 10y ago
I've certainly been spoiled by my home music library with no advertisements or commercials. SiriusXM satellite radio is the same way as FM broadcast radio with all the commercials. I pay an outrageous amount to them every month for service -- for my truck, car, motorcycle, and the Internet streaming "add-on" (I have a tabletop radio on a nightstand next to my bed) -- and get so annoyed by all the commercials. I'm not sure how much they make off of me, as an individual subscriber, per month, from the advertisers but I would happily pay much more every month (probably another 50% or so) for a 100% commercial-free option -- and I'm sure that's gotta be way more than what they're getting from the advertisers for me.
- copperx 10y ago
  Why are you still a customer of Sirius XM?
  - jlgaddis 10y ago
    1) I do like the service and use it all the time and 2) convenience. I mostly drive my truck, which I just bought in August 2015. SiriusXM was free for 90 days. Before it expired, I received a "promo" deal in the mail and paid for a year or service at that time. Likewise, I bought my car in June 2014. SiriusXM was free for 90 days and then I signed up for, I believe, a quarterly package. I, personally, have only driven my car twice in the last six months or so -- probably less than five times since I bought the truck. My girlfriend has a Jeep but she drives my car most of the time, so I keep that subscription active because she prefers the satellite radio over FM, Pandora/iTunes/etc. Otherwise, I would cancel service in the car. I also have a package and receiver on my Harley. Due to the weather, I get to ride it perhaps half of the year. It's an inconvenience to call up and add it to my account in the spring and then remember to remove it as winter nears and the bike goes into the garage for months. Besides, we occasionally have nice days in the winter when I can ride and I want it to "just work". Then, there's the Internet streaming service. I have the SiriusXM app on my iPhone (so I can play it via Bluetooth when in someone else's vehicle, etc.) and Roku and we have a "tabletop" receiver next to the bed. We often turn it on when going to bed, the girlfriend will listen to it while getting ready for work, etc. In short, I do like the service. I'm probably paying them more than I should but I likely won't cancel it anytime soon. As I said above, though, I'd gladly pay them more for an "{ad|commercial}-free" version.

underwater 10y ago

I spent some time searching for a good external transmitter a while back. Turns out they're heavily regulated by the FCC. It all boils down to the requirement that you can't interfere with anyone else's reception. Any transmission strength that gives acceptable quality would do that. So they are artificially stunted. It's possible that your N900 is exceeding legal signal strengths.

ashitlerferad 10y ago

The Neo900 will also have an FM transmitter/receiver: https://neo900.org/specs https://neo900.org/specs

mseebach 10y ago

> No asking your friend to pull over to the side of the road to pair your phone to their car stereo I drive rentals a lot. Like, a lot. Across dozens of brands and models, it's never taken me more than a minute to pair my phone. Also, the 3.5mm aux plug is even easier to use than tuning a radio to any frequency, and the quality is vastly better. It's a long time since I've seen a car without it.

voltagex_ 10y ago
What phone are you using to pair? I agree, I really like cars with the 3.5mm aux plug but the two cars I have most experience with (Hyundai i20 and a 2010 Falcon AU) don't have them.