Thought you all might be interested in this…
Recently I ripped all my CDs and half my cassette tapes (I’ve got no LPs) to MP3 and bought a portable MP3 player mainly for when I’m running/biking. The nice thing about MP3s is you can get all the info about your CD off the web (don’t have to type it in) and ~automatically put together playlists grouping songs by artist, album, genre, and date (for example, all 60’s music). Anyway, I liked the fact that you can mix/match music and that the music is so portable that I decided to make my GT/CS “iPod friendly”.
Here’s what I did:
(1) The MP3 player I bought was a low-end SanDisk Sansa player. ~$40 with ~300 song capacity. But most any MP3 player including iPods will work.
(2) Bought a FM radio modulator for MP3 players. This is specifically designed to let you transmit the output of an MP3 player on any unused FM radio channel in your area. All you have to do is tune your FM radio to the vacant channel, set up the FM modulator to that same channel, and the output of your MP3 player (hooked to the FM modulator) comes out through your standard 60’s AM/FM radio. The power for the FM modulator comes from cigarette lighter. The power for the MP3 player comes from its own battery. The FM modulator I bought was:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Universal-Transmitter-MBL-FM-XMTR300/dp/B000E43GOO
Other possibilities are:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067LYFW/ref=pd_cp_e_title/103-3372391-2179845?ie=UTF8
Or specifically for an iPod. This one will actually power the iPod player so you don’t have to use the iPods battery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006BKH3S/ref=pd_cp_e_title/103-3372391-2179845?ie=UTF8
(3) I didn’t want the bulky power plug from the FM modulator sticking out of cigarette lighter so I bought a cigarette lighter extension from Radio Shack. I cannibalized the 12V receptacle at the end of the cord and hooked that to ground and the 12V coming off of the ignition switch (so that the FM modulator is not powered all the time). A piece of Velcro on the back of the receptacle hooks it nicely to the rug on the transmission hump under the dash. The extension cord I bought is similar to the following.
http://www.abccables.com/255-280.html
Results: Once I found a clear channel (a bit hard in south SF Bay area) the music came in very clear. Even on a channel with a weak signal the FM modulator seems to overpower it. There is a bit of low amplitude noise regardless. This is OK for rock-n-roll but may be irritating for classical music during soft sections. All-in-all I’m very pleased. Now I can load up 60’s music and imagine what it must have been like driving the car in 1968. Effectively, a time machine... 2006 :teleport:1968
Here are some pics on how everything is hooked up. First pic is the cigarette receptacle under the dash with the power plug of the FM modulator plugged into it. Second pic shows the power cord running from under the dash to the center console (humphugger) and to the FM modulator which is hooked to the MP3 player. Third pic is a closeup of the FM modulator and the MP3 player. (I'm thinking about running the cord under the rug upto under the center console. That would make the whole setup look even cleaner).
Recently I ripped all my CDs and half my cassette tapes (I’ve got no LPs) to MP3 and bought a portable MP3 player mainly for when I’m running/biking. The nice thing about MP3s is you can get all the info about your CD off the web (don’t have to type it in) and ~automatically put together playlists grouping songs by artist, album, genre, and date (for example, all 60’s music). Anyway, I liked the fact that you can mix/match music and that the music is so portable that I decided to make my GT/CS “iPod friendly”.
Here’s what I did:
(1) The MP3 player I bought was a low-end SanDisk Sansa player. ~$40 with ~300 song capacity. But most any MP3 player including iPods will work.
(2) Bought a FM radio modulator for MP3 players. This is specifically designed to let you transmit the output of an MP3 player on any unused FM radio channel in your area. All you have to do is tune your FM radio to the vacant channel, set up the FM modulator to that same channel, and the output of your MP3 player (hooked to the FM modulator) comes out through your standard 60’s AM/FM radio. The power for the FM modulator comes from cigarette lighter. The power for the MP3 player comes from its own battery. The FM modulator I bought was:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Universal-Transmitter-MBL-FM-XMTR300/dp/B000E43GOO
Other possibilities are:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00067LYFW/ref=pd_cp_e_title/103-3372391-2179845?ie=UTF8
Or specifically for an iPod. This one will actually power the iPod player so you don’t have to use the iPods battery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006BKH3S/ref=pd_cp_e_title/103-3372391-2179845?ie=UTF8
(3) I didn’t want the bulky power plug from the FM modulator sticking out of cigarette lighter so I bought a cigarette lighter extension from Radio Shack. I cannibalized the 12V receptacle at the end of the cord and hooked that to ground and the 12V coming off of the ignition switch (so that the FM modulator is not powered all the time). A piece of Velcro on the back of the receptacle hooks it nicely to the rug on the transmission hump under the dash. The extension cord I bought is similar to the following.
http://www.abccables.com/255-280.html
Results: Once I found a clear channel (a bit hard in south SF Bay area) the music came in very clear. Even on a channel with a weak signal the FM modulator seems to overpower it. There is a bit of low amplitude noise regardless. This is OK for rock-n-roll but may be irritating for classical music during soft sections. All-in-all I’m very pleased. Now I can load up 60’s music and imagine what it must have been like driving the car in 1968. Effectively, a time machine... 2006 :teleport:1968
Here are some pics on how everything is hooked up. First pic is the cigarette receptacle under the dash with the power plug of the FM modulator plugged into it. Second pic shows the power cord running from under the dash to the center console (humphugger) and to the FM modulator which is hooked to the MP3 player. Third pic is a closeup of the FM modulator and the MP3 player. (I'm thinking about running the cord under the rug upto under the center console. That would make the whole setup look even cleaner).
