Ske65088 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Due to the location of my house from the road I will have to mount my fm transmitter on my mailbox. This is about 200ft from a location my computer can be safely placed. Can I use 3.5mm extension cables to connect the fm transmitter or is there a different or better way to achieve the fm station? Thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I would suggest a stronger transmitter then use an attenuator to reduce the signal if you had to. The attenuators are cheap too.This way you keep the transmitter close to the computer and get the distance you need. But if that is not the affordable option, then yes, a 3.5mm extension cable will work and would probably be the other option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ske65088 Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Thanks Santas Helper. Any recommendations for the stronger transmitter or attenuator. I currently have a "whole house fm transmitter 3 " same as the one sold on the lightorama website. As this is my first attempt at controlled lighting and such I am probably taking on too much for the first year but I want to make it special. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Here is a thread referring to a couple of them. http://forums.lightorama.com/index.php?/topic/36776-fm-transmitter-suggestions/#entry339384 I use a Mobile Black Box V4000 transmitter but they discontinued the V4000. The v6000 is mono so do not purchase that. The v3000 is a newer model I'm not familiar with. The attenuator depends on what transmitter you buy. Most have the BNC connection but also other variables like the ohms and dB must be considered. Again, depending what transmitter you purchase. https://www.google.com/search?q=attenuator&oq=attenuator&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0l5.3296j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#tbm=shop&q=bnc+attenuator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Due to the location of my house from the road I will have to mount my fm transmitter on my mailbox. This is about 200ft from a location my computer can be safely placed. Can I use 3.5mm extension cables to connect the fm transmitter or is there a different or better way to achieve the fm station? Thanks for your help I run about 110 feet of cable to my audio power amps for the front yard speakers, and almost 200 feet of cable to my FM transmitter without a problem - HOWEVER - I'm NOT using a 3.5mm extension and I don't recommend it. What I'm doing is this. The show computer outputs to a small sound mixing console. I also can hook a few other things to different inputs of the mixer. The main one I use is a wireless mic. For my yard speaker amplifiers, I have one set of outputs from the mixer that is converted to a balanced signal using a pair of audio isolation transformers and run each channel in a separate twisted pair shielded cable. At the amplifiers, I convert it back to an unbalanced signal with isolation transformers. The reason for going to a balanced cable is that any interference will be imposed on both wires in the cable and get cancelled out in the isolation transformers at the far end. I do the same thing with a separate output from my sound mixer for my FM transmitter except I don't have to use the isolation amps at the mixer end because my sound mixer's main output is already a balanced output. BTW, this is a broadcast engineer's trick where audio quality is right up there with God. Yes, I have worked as a broadcast engineer in one of the largest broadcast radio markets in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ske65088 Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Thanks k6ccc. A lot of knowledge there. Not sure I have time for all that this year but I will definitely look into that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 You want a CZH-05B. Search Amazon. Get one from a stateside vendor. Make sure it has a rubber ducky antenna - stay away from their telescoping crap antenna. You should be able to get one for about $60-70 delivered. Plenty of power, excellent stereo sound quality, and built-in attenuator/gain control so you can dial it up/down to suit your needs. Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) You want a CZH-05B. Search Amazon. Get one from a stateside vendor. Make sure it has a rubber ducky antenna - stay away from their telescoping crap antenna. You should be able to get one for about $60-70 delivered. Plenty of power, excellent stereo sound quality, and built-in attenuator/gain control so you can dial it up/down to suit your needs. Problem solved. I placed an order for one of these about an hour ago. The price is about 1/2 off and the ratings for it are very good. I'm going to compare it to my Mobile Black Box V4000 transmitter. Edited November 14, 2015 by Santas Helper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I placed an order for one of these about an hour ago. The price is about 1/2 off and the ratings for it are very good. I'm going to compare it to my Mobile Black Box V4000 transmitter. I predict you'll be totally delighted. I've had a couple of them since 2010 and love 'em. I especially like the mic input. My EDM, in and of itself a mighty fine transmitter, has been assigned as a back-up since the first time I plugged in and listened to the CZH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 I predict you'll be totally delighted. I've had a couple of them since 2010 and love 'em. I especially like the mic input. My EDM, in and of itself a mighty fine transmitter, has been assigned as a back-up since the first time I plugged in and listened to the CZH. Thanks George. I saw an earlier post where you mentioned it before and took the plunge. What is the distance from your transmitter to the viewing area/road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 George, What is the distance from your transmitter to the viewing area/road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ske65088 Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Thank you George. I ordered the CZH 05B. Can't wait to get it up and running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hall Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 For what its worth, I have the CZE-05B and it cannot match the performance of my now dead MBB-V6000 even though that was in mono. It took a telescoping antenna for the V6000 to reach the road. The CZE-05B has the rubber ducky one and it barely goes 20 feet past my front window. I'm hesitant to buy a CZH-05B with the rubber antenna for fear of the same problem. Why would I see an improvement with the "H" over the "E"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 For what its worth, I have the CZE-05B and it cannot match the performance of my now dead MBB-V6000 even though that was in mono. It took a telescoping antenna for the V6000 to reach the road. The CZE-05B has the rubber ducky one and it barely goes 20 feet past my front window. I'm hesitant to buy a CZH-05B with the rubber antenna for fear of the same problem. Why would I see an improvement with the "H" over the "E"? Bob - I can't answer your question. I bought mine in 2010. Back then all I saw was the CZH-05B model and all they offered was the rubber ducky. Since then, there's all sorts of variations cropping up, and from what I can tell based on user comments, quite a few are junk. 20' from the window? Are you sure that's not a Whole House turd in disguise? I think mine transmits farther than 20' without even being plugged in. Sorry Tom - hard to keep up this time of year. My transmitter ls located about 30' from the street and it's positioned about 6' above ground level. We get crystal clear coverage for at least two blocks in any direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hall Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) I jokingly have said I should have bought a whole house turd instead of this.The transmitter is essentially on a 2nd floor window sill as we have a bi-level home. See the windows above and to the left of the door. That is where it is. Edited November 17, 2015 by Bob Hall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santas Helper Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Sorry Tom - hard to keep up this time of year. My transmitter ls located about 30' from the street and it's positioned about 6' above ground level. We get crystal clear coverage for at least two blocks in any direction. Thanks for the info George. And I understand about the "time of year" thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Just asking, but have ya thought of building a Dipole antenna? I built one and went from maybe 50 feet with the stock antenna on my FM02 to a good 300 feet clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I built a j-pole for my EDM back in the day. Worked great. Still attached to the house in case I ever need it again. Fortunately, the CZH-05B doesn't need anything more than it's rubber ducky to exceed even the range of the j-pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 The FM02 came with a antenna that is literally the size of a pencil and only about 12 inches long. Cable on it very small as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hall Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Just asking, but have ya thought of building a Dipole antenna? I built one and went from maybe 50 feet with the stock antenna on my FM02 to a good 300 feet clear. I built a j-pole for my EDM back in the day. Worked great. Still attached to the house in case I ever need it again. Fortunately, the CZH-05B doesn't need anything more than it's rubber ducky to exceed even the range of the j-pole. I've considered this as the next step, but honestly, I will not have the time to do it. I'm trying to get time off of work so I can even put out my regular display. Working 70 hours a week over 3 jobs has me stretched too thin. If I knew for a fact that getting the same transmitter that George has will work, I'd rather do that. I'm now sure what the difference between the CZE (mine) and CZH (His and others) really is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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