jstein Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 So I understand the basics of the airomate and RDS, but I just purchased a new soundcard which by the specs should have worked doesn't. Can anyone lend me any tips that have gotten this to work such as the sound card you have or just maybe some tips on something im missing. Thanks so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Well, what kind of sound card are you using and what are your settings for Airomate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 Well, I installed a Creative Labs - Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card. Although I soon realized that it is impossible to changes the settings to 192khz. THen I attempted using my other computer which I though would have the correct card in it but I do not know how to tell. I listen to the radio and I actually do not hear any humming when I use that one. For the settings I have not changed much from default besides adding an alternative frequency and turning that option on. I have changed the output level up and down to only find that it does nothing. That is the only thing I have changed on this computer. I still do not know how to check the specs of my original sound card tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Ok, this is probably obvious, but did you set your FM transmitter to mono? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Actually, no, it is on stereo. When I get home from work I will go change that and test it all out. I am still learning about the different things like that. Thanks so much and I will give an update when I get the chance to test it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 For starters you need a card that has 192 kHz resampling rate. Also the settings you set could be left alone. You need to enable RDS and then set the PT to read from file. You can't do that with the demo, so unless you own the software it will be useless to you. If you don't have a card that will support it, it will also be useless too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 I bought the software and it is pretty simple to use, I just think that this sound card is the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Changed the transmitter to mono and still no luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taybrynn Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 What kind of transmitter are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Ramsey FM30B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 jstein wrote: I bought the software and it is pretty simple to use, I just think that this sound card is the problem.If the software is set up correctly it will display the RDS information on the screen even if the sound card is compatible. So does it display correctly on the screeen? Does it read the file that from LOR through the shell command? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Texan78 wrote: jstein wrote: I bought the software and it is pretty simple to use, I just think that this sound card is the problem.If the software is set up correctly it will display the RDS information on the screen even if the sound card is compatible. So does it display correctly on the screeen? Does it read the file that from LOR through the shell command?Yes, the shell command is set up correctly. It displays everything and changes with the song. I will probably just not worry with this much more till next year, although I had hoped I could get it figured out and running this year though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taybrynn Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I think the RDS has to be injected at the proper point in the transmitter ... so I don't think it will work the way you are doing it. I think it's no different than using a dedicated external RDS encoder ... but the injection point is critical ... someone who's done the RDS mod could elaborate on this better ...Personally, I think airomate is very cool ... but its not the easiest or cheapest way to do RDS, IMHO ... correct me if I'm wrong folks ... esp. when you factor in the cost of 192 kHz sample-rate capable soundcard ... most folks use this unit:http://www.pira.cz/rds/show.asp?art=minirds_encoderWhich is 30 Euros or around $41 USD ....I think the DIYC group had a group buy on these earlier this year ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 jstein wrote: Texan78 wrote: jstein wrote: I bought the software and it is pretty simple to use, I just think that this sound card is the problem.If the software is set up correctly it will display the RDS information on the screen even if the sound card is compatible. So does it display correctly on the screeen? Does it read the file that from LOR through the shell command?Yes, the shell command is set up correctly. It displays everything and changes with the song. I will probably just not worry with this much more till next year, although I had hoped I could get it figured out and running this year though.If your Airomate is displaying everything correctly then your sound card probably isn't compatible.You are using a creative sound card and I read on there site none of those cards work.I would like to read more about the mini rds encoder and how it works and connects to a transmitter.From what I read though, you will still need software and the software that goes with the mini rds doesn't allow for PT from file from what I could gather from it. What ever software you go with needs to be able to allow you to set PT from file so it can read the shell file that was created. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb341 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Texan78 wrote: From what I read though, you will still need software and the software that goes with the mini rds doesn't allow for PT from file from what I could gather from it. What ever software you go with needs to be able to allow you to set PT from file so it can read the shell file that was created. I agree with Scott (taybrynn) on this one. Four (4) simple solder points and people have shown GREAT results - especially with EDM helping on where to connect everything for best use.MiniRDS - Dynamic PT FileOpen MiniRDS > Test Source > Dynamic PS > Check From File | Chose the File | Check Send on Change.I looked into Airomate ordering a sound card online was $60 to $200 - found 1 (YES only 1 brand between Frys, Best Buy, Circut City, Microcenter, local guatar shops) locally for $150 PLUS the $40 for Airomate - so in the ballpark of $200 (for almsot any option) and still have to tweak it for a while - so MOST lickly a week beofre Chrismtas wont have it up (Not and easy plug and chug solution). So going onto next year - EDM has talked about having a unit with RDS build in (Which would be AWSOME - I will be buying one) but for ~$30 (Bulk Buy Cost) to ~$50(Buy just one) (So lets just say 1/4 of the cost of Airomate for east and avg math) for the MiniRDS - it is WELL worth the look into - especially of you have a year to solder it in. If your current sound card will do you your set - I would give it a try but from scratch I think you need to look at all your options and this is a DARN good one - from what I have read.I would like to see a bulk buy of these - if we could ge the same price at DIYC group I will take 2.Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Are there any links for how this has been modded to a transmitter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb341 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Texan78 wrote: Are there any links for how this has been modded to a transmitter?http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showpost.php?p=38830&postcount=1http://www.bluebonnetlights.com/RDS/EDM%20LCD.htmlHarrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Looks like a recipe for disaster if you do not know what you are doing. What is the serial port used for?I think for me I will stick to the plug and play solution. I would rather spend the extra money and have the piece of mind that I am not going to mess something up resulting having to pay more to replace a transmitter if something goes wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstein Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 I did double check the sampling rate of my sound card on the PC that I decided to do the testing on now and it has a sampling rate of 192 so I am just going with it is the Ramsey transmitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Some of you may have seen this announcement from EDM Design:After a lot of discussions by our R&D guys we are seriously considering to implement the pira RDS chip in our current design. http://pira.cz/rds/ This way we kill 2 birds with one stone. We can produce a standard PCB which makes provision for the RDS chip on our board. Customers can then at any time later order the chip from pira when they want to add RDS. This way we keep the cost of the product low but provide the option for users to add RDS when they feel like it. We may also offer the option with the chip included as a package. We will try negotiating with pira to see if we can get a good deal on quantity. We will have to redesign the enclosure to accommodate the extra connector for RDS data to be fed to the transmitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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