SI Link FM Transmitter
This is a review I posted on Amazon for a FM transmitter that would let me play the iPod over any FM radio. I gave it one star.
I use a cassette adapter with my MP3 player in the car, but was hoping to have something I could use in the house that would let me keep the MP3 player close by for skipping songs, pausing, picking albums, and changing the volume. Wiring the MP3 directly into the stereo I had to get up any time I wanted to do those things.
This unit is small, inexpensive, widely available and doesn't add a tangle of additional cords. It is powered by 2 AAA batteries that are not included and does not have a jack for a DC adapter. It is suspiciously similar looking to the iRock 300w, certainly just a rebranded twin (also very similar to the Belkin Tunecast down to the little antenna and the same 4 frequencies).
On the way home from the store it actually worked pretty well in the car even though in Atlanta a reasonably powerful college station sits at 88.5, right in the middle of its four possible settings (88.1, 88.3, 88.5, and 88.7). I noticed a little static at 88.1 and when I turned the unit off I could hear a scratchy NPR station (maybe in Columbus?). I got some more interference in an isolated spot on the drive home, but for the most part it sounded good.
But at home I tried the device with two different home stereo units and couldn't get a clear signal on either even though I was less than ten feet away. In both cases 88.5 seemed to be to blame. One of those stereos has an external FM antenna and one doesn't. I tried again with my Tivoli radio and it got a scratchy signal due to 88.5 as well.
So it doesn't work for me and I will have to send it back. It is worth trying in your area and maybe you'll get better results. I think it might work better if I was just further from downtown. Other units have a wider selection of frequencies they can play on and that might have helped on this one as well.
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