So, it's really great that I have my Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra and can take it and its 60GB of MP3s with me when I travel...
I really do love being able to take a large portion on my entire music library with me as I travel.
Having my noise canceling headphones on the plane is great.
Having my Creative Travelsound speakers in my hotel room is great.
And it used to be, that having my cassette adapter in the rental car was great... until they stopped putting cassette players in new cars!
So... what to do?
A portable FM transmitter seemed to be the answer. There are lots on the market. I did my research, and the reviews seemed to favor the Belkin Tunecast II, so I bought one.
Nice little unit - very pretty - well designed. But, not enough oomph to deliver a clean signal when in a congested metro area.
So, back to Google. After more research, I found another alternative - the C.Crane FM Stereo Transmitter. Although it was almost twice as expensive as the Tunecast, I saw hints and allusions to the existence of a "mod" that would allow the unit to achieve its advertised range of ~100 feet vs. the average range of the other units which was just 1/10th of that.
So, I made my order, and eagerly anticipated the unit's arrival.
After it arrived, I figured I'd better hunt down that mod.
I finally found the detail at: http://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=3257&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Since resources like this tend to have a nasty habit of disappearing, I have taken the liberty of reproducing the detail here:
This is only for all you electronic techs out there that like to play.
NOTE:Do this Mod at your own Risk. Neither XMFAN.COM or Wireman are holding a gun to your head to perform this mod. This mod and data is for Educational Purposes only.
This simple mod will let you increase the range of the CCrane FM Stereo transmitter.
1 - Remove the 2 screws under the two little round rubber feet on the back of the case just on the top left and right sides of the label.
2 - Open up the battery compartment and remove the small screw.
3 - Carefully remove the back cover. There are some thin wires so be very careful not to break them.
NOTE:If you do not want to remove the cover. You can remove the label on the back with the radio specs and find the little hole and adjust VR2 though the hole in the case.
4 - Locate the VR2 pot just to the top left of the Antenna connection.
5 - Using a small screwdriver rotate this pot control all the way to the right as far as it will go (Fully Clockwise). Be careful not to break it.
The picture shows what VR2 looks like before the MOD has been done.
6 - Place the cover back and then screw the cover back on.
After I did the MOD. the range went from 20 feet to 100 feet.
That's all that's to it.
Have Fun
One other suggestion I found came from a FAQ posted on Amazon.com.
There were two entries specifically related to extended the range which I have reproduced here:
3. The range isn't very good. Can I extend it?
You can actually increase its range by extending the power cord and patch cord and moving them around. You can also try connecting 30"-60" of 22 gauge wire to the whip antenna. This will also increase your range.
9. Is there a length of wire I could add to the FMT to increase its range.
Yes. The optimum length of an FM antenna is 54". Since the FMT comes with an 11" antenna try alligator clipping 43" of insulated antenna wire to the transmitters antenna.
Reports I found on the web seem to indicate that the mod works so well, that dinking with extending the antenna isn't necessary. If I can ever get myself out of the house today, I'll see for myself.
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Posted by David at July 31, 2004 01:51 PM | Categorized under: A day in the life, Reference