Rep Power: 249

I got tired of always having CDs in my car, so I decided I wanted to run my iPod through my speakers. FM transmitters wouldn't work, and I didn't want to fork over the cash for a whole new iPod capable head unit. This is my solution.

For those of you not familar with a modulator, this little guy goes in between the antenna and your stereo, so it will work with ANY headunit you happen to have in your car, so long as it has a FM radio.

And yes, this is on another forum as well. Figured some of you on here might benefit a little more.

Parts required:

-Directed Video (or any other suitable equivalent) FM Modulator
-1/8" female stereo nail jack
-2' or greater 1/8" headphone wire (male on both ends)
-Small switch of your choosing
-Safety wire and appropriate pliers
-Soldering Iron, Rosin-core solder, soldering flux, and necessary skills
-Wire-stripping pliers or a good knife
-Medium-duty 2-pin connector (I used a Deans Ultra from Electric Model Airplane fame)


The first step is to decide where exactly you want to put the modulator itself. I chose to mount mine behind my cigarette lighter on that lower center panel, as shown below:



Then, you want to prepare your exterior surfaces to mount your power switch and plug. I chose this switch and this plug. The switch ended up matching the interior of the car perfectly:




Decide where you want to put them, and drill/carve any necessary holes:




You can see where I decided to put mine.


Next, you want to hard-mount your modulator itself. If your adjustment screw isn't going to be readily accessable, I suggest you take my word for it and turn it all the way down. I would also recommend putting some vibration insulation underneath the modulator to circumvent any rattling that might occur:



Now it's time to run the wires. You're going to need a power circuit from somewhere, and you have to run your switch and audio wires. Don't worry about the antenna wires at this point.

Here's a rough view of what the audio plug should look like:



As you can see, both ground (or negative, I don't really care) wires connect to the tab on the side of the casing, while the red (right channel) connects to the tab closest to it, and the white (left channel) takes the leftover.

I soldered my wires to the connector, only bothering to insulate the ground since that was the only chance of a short. I ran the wires through the dummy panel's hole, and then mounted it to the dummy panel before I snapped it back in place. If that makes any sense at all, let me know.

Your switching lead situation is going to vary depending on the model of modulator you used. I used a Directed Video FM Modulator from the local Fry's Electronics for roughly $45.



This unit has a completely seperate lead that plugs into the side of the box that has the switch at the end of it. To get rid of any and all excess wires, I clipped it down to about 4" before I soldered my switch to it. And just like before, I threaded it through the hole before I soldered it. It makes sense when you think about it, I promise. Here's how it looks when you're done:





Oh, and if you don't have any of this stuff, get some. It's amazing.



The next issue at hand is the power source. You're going to have to decide where you want to draw your power from. I used my cigarette lighter, and grounded (is that right? Ground? Grounded?) it on the chassis. I chose to use a plug in this circuit so I could easily disconnect this whole panel and remove it from the car.


(Sorry about the fuzziness.)


Once you've got all that wired up, go ahead and put it back in the dash. Tune your radio to whatever station you've selected on your modulator, then power it up. You should hear silence after a second or two. Then, connect your iPod or whatever MP3 player you use and play it at full volume for best sound. Regulate the volume with the dash on the head unit.

I've had mine in my car for roughly a month now with no problems. Quality is far from unacceptable, on par with or slightly below a CD. Well worth the $50 or so in my opinion.

Oh, and if anyone wants to try this, I've got another nail jack that I'll drop in an envelope for you.

 
Rep Power: 292

very nice. yeah, FM mods have been around since portable CD players were out in the 80's. the only complaint i would have with the setup is that you can't change the frequency of the mod without pulling the panel apart. if you drive an hour or more in one direction and go to another city, a clear frequency in the last city may be used in the next one. we have that problem with my wife's XM Radio in her car. you can change the frequency on the XM unit on the dash and it's still a pain searching for new unused radio stations on road trips.

 
Rep Power: 249

No, see, that's the beauty of it. You turn it on when you want to listen to it, but when it's off, all the stations are clear. It's not a transmitter, which works how you described. It's all hard-wired, there's not RF waves involved.

 
Rep Power: 264

I think electric is trying to say the only issue is you can't change the frequency via the switch on the modulator. So it's either 88.7FM or 89.1FM. But it would be nice to be able to change it "on the fly" as you drive from place to place.

All in all I'm sure it sounds better than most iPod specific FM mods.

 
Rep Power: 249

I know what he's saying, but I'm saying it doesn't matter. It's a moot point.

But yeah, the quality is somewhere between FM and CD. Much better than any iPod transmitter I've found, even those that cost far more. It doesn't get distorted as you turn it up, which is a huge plus IMO.

 
Rep Power: 292

that's the same way the XM works, so i don't see how it's a moot point. there has to be RF waves involved in order for it to transmit through a radio frequency. if there wasn't RF involved, there'd be no need for antenna connections. so there's still a need to switch frequencies at times. you'll find that out when you go through a city that has a strong radio station that you're trying to transmit on. it was the same case with the old school 6-disc CD changers that you could add on to any stereo. they transmitted to the radio through the same type of FM modulator that you're using. don't get me wrong, i've already said the install was nice. i'm not knocking that.

 
Rep Power: 249

I guess I misunderstood you because I don't have any problems with it to speak of. I've never needed to change stations.

But by RF waves I meant actual RF transmissions and soforth. Yeah, there technically is RF involved cause it is a radio, after all, but it's not a problem.

 
Rep Power: 264

Should have just got an alpine deck and full speed cable anyway. Then you would have control of the iPod as well as digital sound transfer.

 
Rep Power: 264

Hey man good DIY looks clean.

props to you for the Deans plugs they are great used them for years on all my RC stuff.

 
Rep Power: 249

Can you not read? Come on, how is that comment relevant?