CanelaLights Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 (edited) I have a whole house FM transmitter, but we had a lot of pedestrian traffic last year and smart phones do not necessarily act as FM receivers. So, does anyone use a Bluetooth transmitter, and, if so, which do you recommend or dislike? As usual, I search Amazon and can find what I am looking for, but I know there has to be someone in this forum that has used or explored this technology. This is the one I found:http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Aluminum-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Headphones/dp/B00E174RTS/ref=sr_1_11?s=mp3&ie=UTF8&qid=1429287639&sr=1-11&keywords=bluetooth+fm+transmitter Edited April 17, 2015 by CanelaLights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Lambert Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 IMO it doesn't seem to practical. Bluetooth is fairly short range, the one you linked to has a range of 33 feet. Plus most people probably wouldn't be bothered or know how to navigate their own phone to have it pair correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Agree with Darryl, not practical. You would forever be having to help your viewers figure out how to use their phone - not fun. And remember, many phones these days will act as a bluetooth host (source for a bluetooth headset or car kit), but not a bluetooth client (what your headset does). BTW, that is not the proper terms for bluetooth devices, but it should be understandable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Only some would work out how to use it. Just get outdoor speakers at a low volume. People have the "best" or most "Fashionable" phone, but they don't use its full functionality. Pairing it would be annoying and only two or three can be paired. Also, the phone would be the Bluetooth host, so what k6ccc said is wrong. The transmitter would be the client and connect to the phone, just like a headset is a client. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMassey Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Aside from the above valid points, if you read the comments on the item it states there is up to a half second delay in the transmission.That would kill it right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericm Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 If you have that much people walking through put out some speakers that play your music?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeERWNC Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Did you know the new Ipod Nano has an FM receiver?I bought my wife a new one for her birthday and when reading the description on the Delta Skymiles page I saw that and thought it was cool. Needless to say, there was my wife handing out candy canes listening to the show on her Nano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Many smartphones do actually have radio receivers built into them they're just not mentioned very often because the wireless companies would rather you listen to Pandora, Spotify, or anything to use your data which means more income for the company. I haven't done much research on it but most phones will pick up a radio station without streaming or any unnecessary equipment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Most phones use the headphones as antennas, which they don't often carry, and it needs to be the special phone ones, not just any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Lane Lights Etown Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 You need to get your Christmas display music listed on IHeart Radio. (I do not know how, just an idea) All that tech in your hand and you can not even pick up a free am or fm broadcast signal. I use outdoor speakers and most of my viewers are in their vehicles with the radio cranked drinking winter refreshments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Forget the iHeart idea. The delay is many 10s of seconds. I listen to a local FM station here via iHeart when I am on my commuter train. The delay between the over the air and iHeart is around 60 seconds (just timed it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcroc Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Outdoor speakers with a timed button to activate them might be a good idea. That way, walkers can press a button to listen, but it shuts off after a set time so it's not playing all the time. May help cut down complaints from neighbors about constant music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanelaLights Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 Ok. Bluetooth is out. Dcroc, you have a great idea! How I would go about this? Specifically, I have a bookshelf system in the garage I can run lines to/from, the question I have is how do I setup a button timer mechanism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robongar Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I have speakers (8) all along my display, there just not turned up high enough to upset the neighbors. But, loud enough for foot traffic to enjoy. I also have an FM transmitter for vehicle traffic.As I see it, the answer. Is to have a number of smaller speakers and not a couple of large ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Sort of the same here. I have four speakers in the yard. I have 75 watts of amp per speaker, but don't run them any where near that high. The AC power to the amps is controlled by a relay which is driven by a channel off of one of my AC controller cards. I have a sequence that only has that one channel in it, and that channel is not used in any other sequence. When I want the speakers on, I run a show that has the yard speakers on sequence as a background sequence. Later in the evening I switch to a show that has a yard speakers off sequence in the background tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Use the InputPUP to trigger an interactive sequence, that turns up a channel on a controller, with the amplifier/stereo attached. Using a relay on a channel would be better as you don't have to worry about accidental dimming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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