WHOLE HOUSE FM TRANSMITTER

[Brandon Kibler]

I used the Whole House FM Transmitter this past Christmas, and I was told by several people that they have visited other displays in the area (using Ramsey transmitter) and they said mine was so clear compared to theirs. I agree with what others are saying that you have limited channels on the WHTM.

[George Simmons]

taybrynn wrote:

George,

Can you describe how you connected the rabbit ears antenna to the EDM antenna connector, which is a female RCA jack ?

Do you have a picture of the adaptor you used, or did you just cut the wires and solder onto a male RCA connector?

Scott,

Sorry for the tardiness - I sorta checked out for a while I guess...

To answer your question, I used an adaptor like Mark pictured and ran coax from the transmitter to the antenna. The dipole rabbit ears came with an adaptor also (containing a balun) which then connected to the antenna. Essentially, I wound up with a half-wave antenna that did an excellent job. Since I live in a valley, I boosted the gain on the transmitter to max. Up on the bluff, the signal was virtually non-existent and for as far away as one could see my lghts the sound was as good as any commercial station. I've said it before, but I couldn't be any more pleased with the EDM unit and highly recommend it. I'll hang onto the Whole House model in case I ever need an emergency backup, but I sure don't look forward to ever having to use that piece of c r a p.

[taybrynn]

Thanks George!

[lightzilla]

If you fellows find the 'Whole House' crap why don't you return it?

That is one advantage of living in the vast and frozen land of Canada.....very little interference from radio stations ( at least when your away from the big cities and the US border).

But that "Mobile Black Box " may be my next purchase.....500mw....adjustable power out put and the model 4000 is good up to 1,600 feet and has a built in mic jack. It covers all the bands.

Just wondering do you have a link to this EDM your all so trilled about. Hey if it is better than the "Mobile Back Box" I may go for it instead.

[stanward]

I don't think I can return the transmitter after an entire Christmas season of using it. That wouldn't be right.

Like said above.... I will hold onto it as a spare. I plan on buying the EDM transmitter this year.

[taybrynn]

re: the Whole House (transmitter)

Some people like their whole house transmitter. The biggest negative is the choice of only a handful of FM frequencies and the fixed power.

re: the EDM (transmitter)

EDM specs:
http://www.edmdesign.com/specs.html

... IF you can find specs posted for a competitor transmitter, compare them.
...
... EDM just moved from a 2 year to a 3 year warranty ... 1 year max at others
...and most from China are not warrantied at all.

EDM testimonials:
http://www.edmdesign.com/index.html

There is supposedly a new EDM LCD coming out that will have RDS built in or the ability to add an RDS encoder chip if desired.

[lightzilla]

I just saw the link that was posted on page 1......the EDM looks O K, but I see it has 100mW adjustable power level.

The "Mobile Black Box" has adjustable 200mW of power version 6000 for $120.00USD......that includes to options.

The "Mobile Black Box' 4000 has adjustable power up to 500mW of power for $129.00USD and for $10.00 add the RCA option. So for $140.00 plus $10.00 shipping you can get a far more powerful fm transmitter for $150.00 shipped to your door.

Like I said above in my earlier post a fellow in Langley,BC has the 6000 and says even with all the FM stations in his area....from the USA and Vancouver he found a clear station and it transmitted 450 feet no problem.....without the optional 33 inch antenna.

You only had 30 days to return the W.H.FM Transmitter....O well, they claim "Whole House" not the whole neighbour hood.

[taybrynn]

Well obviously I'm biased.

The new 200mW Mobileblackbox units are just rebadged vasteltec / HLLY units ... and do not have a particularly steller track record ... and generally little to no warranty.

Power doesn't always equal quality. I would rather have a good Ramsey or EDM than and overpowered chinese unit ... any day. Many have bought 1 watt, 5 watt and even 20 watt transmitters ... only to find themself very content with a 10mW or 25mW transmitter that does the job using a decent antenna.

In the end, you get what you pay for ... I don't want to argue transmitters with anyone ... but if your hoping the new mobileblackbox will be the dream unit ... its not.

[lightzilla]

Interesting......I see people talk about Ramsey units and the EDM units but I guess I never paid attention to any threads based on M.B.B. units.

Now that TayBrynn brought up a interesting worth thinking about point.....it may be better to keep what I have....it works so why fix it.....until more Fm stations appear.....then I need to look at others.

Thank you for the heads up.

(as far as W.H.FM) goes, I guess I am fortunate to have one that works up to 300 feet.

[bisquit476]

Unless the MBB 4000 has changed in the last 2 months, that unit is 500mW NON-adjustable power. I emailed them late last year and that was their reply.

[lightzilla]

bisquit476 wrote:

Unless the MBB 4000 has changed in the last 2 months, that unit is 500mW NON-adjustable power. I emailed them late last year and that was their reply.

I believe 300mW is the law in Canada....some say 400mW can be used here. Some in Canada have an FM transmitter that works up to 1/4 mile (Lindsaylights) I think they use one that goes a 1/4 mile.....I am sure he told me that in his email.

If the MBB is not all that hot, then perhaps I best spent the money on something better and that is the LOR controllers, they come first then the Fm transmitter.

Two more controllers and I have the seven I need for my 1st year. I even have my 1st LOR sequence done. All blue on this sequence, the next 1 will be all green.

[Harbs]

Just my two cents worth !!!!!!!!!

Can't speak for others, but I have used the whold house transmitter for 3 years.

It seems to do a fine job. Yes the frequencies are limited but I live in a small town with

little to no competiton from other stations. I did move the transmitter to the second level of my house and

the signal range definitely improved. Good signal for about 2 blocks.

I also use 110V the power adapter and move the transmitter away from the laptop. This seems to eliminate

any of the humming noise.

Harbs

[lightzilla]

Jeff Millard wrote:

Harbs wrote:

It seems to do a fine job. Yes the frequencies are limited but I live in a small town with little to no competiton from other stations.

I think that has quite a bit to do with it. I have a Ramsey FM30 (that I absolutely HATE) that doesn't work very well at the house. But, there are only two locations on the radio dial where there's a break. 88.1 is one of them, but at night we can pick up distant stations on that one too.

At home it hardly reaches the other side of my next-door neighbor's driveway. But when I take it to the campground it gets out about 150yds.

Jeff

Same here....no trouble from radio stations where I live.....battery power worked well...I stuck it between the window pains ....no hummm that I was aware of.


Bottom line what works for some does not work for others. There are pros and cons regarding all Fm transmitters from what you read in the 1,000,000 posts on every forum you can think of that talk along this subject.

[John Hertig]

'More Power' in a FM transmitter is often not a good thing.

Usage of these is subject to the FCC 'Low Power FM' rules. They do not state what the power limit of unlicenced 'Low Power FM' transmitters are, so you can legally have any amount of power you like. However, they do limit the amount of power actually transmitted. To a very low amount.

Since it tends to take fairly sophisticated equipment to ensure you are under the allowed power at the specified range, a 'rule of thumb' is a transmission range of 200' is usually legal. If you can't get 200' out of a 10mw (.01 watt) transmitter with a simple antenna approximately tuned to your frequency, then there may be something wrong with your transmitter or setup.

With the simple wire antenna included with the EDM and set on the 10mw range, I got over a half mile range, which was way too much. For next year, I'll be cranking it down to 1 or 2 mw.

I would say that a transmitter capable of more than 100mw should be avoided. If someone complains and the FCC investigates, it is more likely they will be reasonable if you have a 10mw unit than if you have a 5 watt unit.

[Mark Porter]

I have the Whole House 2.0. I wasn't happy with the performance (10' it seemed) and did a google search for it.
Over on the PC site a guy mentioned to split the case open
and flip the internal switch (who knew?) to increase the range. Wow! It worked! I drove around the area and the range was couple hundred feet. I still bought an LTTY unit it works even better. Will keep the WH2.0 as a back up though.

[Richard]

I'm using the original Whole House Transmitter for the third year now. I live in the center of my block in a residential neighborhood, and pick up a crystal clear signal from one end of the block to the other, and pick up a static signal roughly 1/4 mile from my house. The street is only 20 yards from my house so I don't need a strong signal.