fm transmitters

[james campbell]

I have been looking at the whole house fm transmitters like light o rama sells.The same company sells alot on ebay. I noticed alot of people are complaining about distortion and high pith humming. Is this a good transmitter to buy,or is there a better one

[martinmc]

I am a newbie just starting out gathering all the goodies together, from reading tons of reviews on the whole house transmitter i came to the conclusion that the majority of people didn't have too much joy with the whole house transmitter.

In the end i settled for this transmitter,

http://www.amazon.com/0-5-Fail-Safe-Long-Range-Transmitter/dp/B003FO4UHW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1301017079&sr=8-3

I bought it on ebay for half the price shipped, with the money saved i will be able to buy a outdoor speaker as well. Not as much info on this unit but from the limited reviews it seems to be reasonably trustworthy, only time will tell.

The really good quality units come in over $200 dollars and am not ready to drop that sort of money just yet, i still have a million extension cords to make !!!!!!

[james campbell]

martinmc wrote:

I am a newbie just starting out gathering all the goodies together, from reading tons of reviews on the whole house transmitter i came to the conclusion that the majority of people didn't have too much joy with the whole house transmitter.

In the end i settled for this transmitter,

http://www.amazon.com/0-5-Fail-Safe-Long-Range-Transmitter/dp/B003FO4UHW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1301017079&sr=8-3

I bought it on ebay for half the price shipped, with the money saved i will be able to buy a outdoor speaker as well. Not as much info on this unit but from the limited reviews it seems to be reasonably trustworthy, only time will tell.

The really good quality units come in over $200 dollars and am not ready to drop that sort of money just yet, i still have a million extension cords to make !!!!!!
Thanks I will check that out for sure. speaking about extension cords did you see the link in extension cords and plug ends

[Caleb Linburg]

I am also looking for one and I was on the mobile black box website and they have been sold out of the eclpise-4000 for a long time so i sent them an email and asked them when they would get them back in stock. They emailed me saying:

"We may offer refurbished Eclipse-4000 units later in the year, but do not currently have an availability date.
 
We plan on offering a new generation of FM transmitters in 2011."

So I am goint to wait to buy one.

[martinmc]

Yeap, i think i checked out that link, am leaning towards using spt2 just to be on the safer side so a roll plus 25 male/female $200....

I hope my $70 transmitter will work out, still waiting for it to arrive, this new fandangled hobby is starting to put holes in my wallet....., and its all because we won our HOA Christmas display competiton last year, so we have to raise the bar for 2011 of course.


Our neighbours won't know what hit them unless one of them too is planning a sneaky surprise !!!!!!!!

[james campbell]

martinmc wrote:

Yeap, i think i checked out that link, am leaning towards using spt2 just to be on the safer side so a roll plus 25 male/female $200....

I hope my $70 transmitter will work out, still waiting for it to arrive, this new fandangled hobby is starting to put holes in my wallet....., and its all because we won our HOA Christmas display competiton last year, so we have to raise the bar for 2011 of course.


Our neighbours won't know what hit them unless one of them too is planning a sneaky surprise !!!!!!!!

I,m a little confused on the spt1 spt 2 thing, on one site the spt is rated at 10 amps the same as spt2. then another spt 1 is rated at 7 amps?????

[KenL_MCSE]

You will see questions about FM transmitters brings up a lot of opinions.

The top 3 to buy are

EDM, Ramsey, Mobile Blackbox.

Mobile Blackbox is the same board as a HILLY.

A lot of people that us the Wholehouse Transmitter end up getting one of these three.

I use a MBB 4000 and I happy with it. However it dies, I will get an EDM. The link to the one on Amazon is the HILLY.

Be careful, the MBB and HILLY are more wattage than part 15 permits.

[martinmc]

james campbell wrote:

martinmc wrote:

Yeap, i think i checked out that link, am leaning towards using spt2 just to be on the safer side so a roll plus 25 male/female $200....

I hope my $70 transmitter will work out, still waiting for it to arrive, this new fandangled hobby is starting to put holes in my wallet....., and its all because we won our HOA Christmas display competiton last year, so we have to raise the bar for 2011 of course.


Our neighbours won't know what hit them unless one of them too is planning a sneaky surprise !!!!!!!!

I,m a little confused on the spt1 spt 2 thing, on one site the spt is rated at 10 amps the same as spt2. then another spt 1 is rated at 7 amps?????

SPT2 is rated slighty higher from what i remember and the outer cover is heavier compared to spt1 wire, so i think cords made should last longer. Each category also has sub groups 18 gauge, 16 gauge.... so, so on...

dig deep into electricial topics and you will find out most of the info, at the minute i have about 50 bookmarks....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[martinmc]

KenL_MCSE wrote:

You will see questions about FM transmitters brings up a lot of opinions.

The top 3 to buy are

EDM, Ramsey, Mobile Blackbox.

Mobile Blackbox is the same board as a HILLY.

A lot of people that us the Wholehouse Transmitter end up getting one of these three.

I use a MBB 4000 and I happy with it. However it dies, I will get an EDM. The link to the one on Amazon is the HILLY.

Be careful, the MBB and HILLY are more wattage than part 15 permits.

Hi ken, am assuming you meant hlly, thanks for the heads up on been non compliant i will just have to make sure i turn the gain down, my transmitter is going to be about 10 feet away from the road so i don't need much transmitting power at all.

I seen from the reviews that the EDM units were probably the best out there followed by the black box series, hopefully i can get at least 2 seasons out of the unit and then i will upgrade to a better quality unit, but having dropped $700 in the sale at LOR last night, software and all the bits and pieces i will have to start priority listing big time ... don't want the wife to pull the plug !!!!!

[Guest guest]

martinmc wrote:

KenL_MCSE wrote:

You will see questions about FM transmitters brings up a lot of opinions.

The top 3 to buy are

EDM, Ramsey, Mobile Blackbox.

Mobile Blackbox is the same board as a HILLY.

A lot of people that us the Wholehouse Transmitter end up getting one of these three.

I use a MBB 4000 and I happy with it. However it dies, I will get an EDM. The link to the one on Amazon is the HILLY.

Be careful, the MBB and HILLY are more wattage than part 15 permits.

Hi ken, am assuming you meant hlly, thanks for the heads up on been non compliant i will just have to make sure i turn the gain down, my transmitter is going to be about 10 feet away from the road so i don't need much transmitting power at all.

I seen from the reviews that the EDM units were probably the best out there followed by the black box series, hopefully i can get at least 2 seasons out of the unit and then i will upgrade to a better quality unit, but having dropped $700 in the sale at LOR last night, software and all the bits and pieces i will have to start priority listing big time ... don't want the wife to pull the plug !!!!!

If anyone buys a Mobile Black Box Eclipse 4000, it's what I use, I also suggest buying one of these to put inline with the antenna. A 10db attenuator, it goes on the antenna output, then antenna connects to the other side of it.

It lowers the range to within the legal limits of the FCC requirements. When I first got my MBB E-4000 and ran tests, it would broadcast in a 5 mile radius(way beyond FCC limitations!), this with the antenna just sitting on the floor inside the house. And the MBB E-4000 doesn't have any external way to lower this range, so an attenuator is a must have for it or any other FM Transmitter that may not have the option to turn it down externally.


You can find the attenuator here ($9.95 each):

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16547+TE

Only catch it, the company only accepts a $15.00 minimum order, but they have many other things one might find useful to make up to the $15 minimum order. They ship fast too, had my attenuator in less than 2 days time. But they are in the same state I am and that could have something to do with that.

[rodman1369]

I received a Black Box 6000 a few days ago…After experimenting with various “open” frequencies and power levels, I pretty much have to max out at 200mW to get a “good” signal in car from fenceline to fenceline, (a couple hundred feet), and a clear signal in front of my house. My unit is in a front window and house is not 60ft from street. I live in the country…so will not step on neighbor’s radio (probably).

I may have to try another antenna.


I am in no way getting the range per the comments or description on the website.

Attached files

[Mike Manzara]

I too have the MBB 6000. I extended the antenna with a cable (25feet) purchased from Cables to Go and have the antenna mounted outside. You are now able to pick up the signal at the end of my block which is all I want/need.

[Caleb Linburg]

The mbb 4000 is stronger than the 6000 correct????

[rodman1369]

Mike Manzara wrote:

I too have the MBB 6000. I extended the antenna with a cable (25feet) purchased from Cables to Go and have the antenna mounted outside. You are now able to pick up the signal at the end of my block which is all I want/need.

Thanks...that was my next step. Could you tell me what kind of range you got with the standard setup?

From fenceline to fenceline is about what I wanted...but seems like I shouldn't have to push 200mW to get it.

Attached files

[Surfing4Dough]

One thing that is often missed is that the 6000 doesn't transmit in stereo. A deal breaker in my mind.

I love my EDM LCD-RDS, but agree it is pricey but the quality is incredible. EDM came out with a new lower cost model last year that seems to have gotten good reviews from the few users here that tried it last year. Maybe some will comment further on it. It is the EDM-LCD-CS model, starting at $122.

http://edmdesign.com/orders.html

[KenL_MCSE]

Yes the MMB4000 is stronger than the MBB6000.

Using the standard antenna that comes with the MBB4000 I can broadcast about 1500 feet from my house. That is with the antenna directly attached to the unit sitting on a window sill. When I use the 1/4 wave ground plane antenna that they also sell, I get just under a 1/2 mile.

[KenL_MCSE]

Surfing4Dough wrote:

One thing that is often missed is that the 6000 doesn't transmit in stereo. A deal breaker in my mind.

I love my EDM LCD-RDS, but agree it is pricey but the quality is incredible. EDM came out with a new lower cost model last year that seems to have gotten good reviews from the few users here that tried it last year. Maybe some will comment further on it. It is the EDM-LCD-CS model, starting at $122.

http://edmdesign.com/orders.html

I find it interesting that an EDM 10mw unit that is using a home made J-Pole antenna will boadcast as far as my MBB4000.

[Guest guest]

KenL_MCSE wrote:

Yes the MMB4000 is stronger than the MBB6000.

Using the standard antenna that comes with the MBB4000 I can broadcast about 1500 feet from my house. That is with the antenna directly attached to the unit sitting on a window sill. When I use the 1/4 wave ground plane antenna that they also sell, I get just under a 1/2 mile.

I had to put an attenuator on my MBB E-4000 the first year. When I first got it, set it up and did a test drive(in my vehicle) with the telescoping antenna that comes with it (fully extended only, as damage could occur by not fully extending the antenna), and having it sitting on the floor, in a bedroom behind a garage and having to have the signal pass through 3 walls to get out to the front of the house, I was getting a 5 mile range every direction. It was covering the entire subdivision I lived in at the time, plus the entire subdivision across the lake (we were not on the lake, we were across the street with other houses blocking lake) that was behind us (which was actually over 5 miles back!), the entire subdivision to the East of us and the subdivison to the North of us.

After it's initial burn in, and running it 24/7 for Halloween and Chrismtas WITH the attenuator attached, I removed the attnuator and did another test driive, after all this, the range had now decreased dramatically, it would still get out a good distance, but now, it did not cover the entire subdivision, it just covered the street behind us and to the stop sign that exited our "loop" (one way in/out). Then occasionally depending on weather conditions, it may get about a 1/2 mile or so, but this was now unusual if it went that distance.

Now that I have moved, I set it up and tested it, it will basically cover the entire complex I live in, but starts breaking up as you get closer to the front and near the road. I live all the way in the back and I'd say this range is probably about 2/10 to 3/10th of a mile or a little less. That is still over the FCC legal limit, but at least it's not broadcasting 5 miles out like it was on its maiden run, which could be a disaster in the making! And some displays I've visited seem to broadcast at about that distance too (about 2/10-3/10th of a mile).