Fm Transmitter Question

[hillman holiday lights]

I currently have the Whole House FM transmitter 2.0. It does not seem to be very powerful. Are there any recommendations? If I place the transmitter towards the front yard it will transmit about one house east and west, thats it. I have already peeled off the sticker and flipped the switch (a trick I found on the internet). I am not looking to build one myself, i prefer to just buy a complete transmitter and begin using it right away.

[Tom Fleming]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096KYDF8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I bought this transmitter this year because it was affordable.  I spent hours looking up reviews and this was the best reviewed transmitter for the lowest price.  The other transmitters were going for $150+.   I have been testing it and it reaches about 6 houses in each direction of my house and I'm transmitting from the basement completely surrounded by concrete.  I don't know if you wanted to fix yours or buy a new one but i figured I would suggest this one because it has worked amazing so far and was only $60.

[dclark6623]

How far do you need to transmit? I live on 5 acres and used the Whole House transmitter for years. I would put the transmitter in a weatherproof junction box near the street and run a cable back to the computer in the house. I used splitters and extension cables from radio shack and wrapped them with electrical tape so that I could extend the cable. It worked great and was not expensive. I have changed to an EDM this year, but my above recommendation worked fine for years.

[hillman holiday lights]

I only want it to transmit 3 or 4 houses in either direction. The houses r small in my neighborhood, so we are not talking about acres. I had the transmitter mounted to my mega tree in the center of my yard with the antenna stretching to the top of the tree (10') and in my car on the street right in front of my house the signal was very weak and I was picking up a lot of static. Last year I mounted it next to one of my arches at the front of my yard with the antenna hung over the top of the arch and it worked ok, I was just thinking maybe something more powerful would help.

[dclark6623]

Try this:

 

open the battery compartment, remove the white sticker, you'll find a slide switch - slide it to the other side 

Turn volume down on the computer that are using (Helped with the static on mine)

I do remember some recommendations on the antenna length. I think 10' may be too much.

[dclark6623]

I might be wrong about 10' being to long. I found this calculation that I had forgot about:

 

Divide 11811 by the FM station you want to transmit on.

Example: For station 93.9 Mhz divide 11811 by the station frequency of 93.9 = 125.78 inches.

 

That's how long the antenna should be.

[hillman holiday lights]

I am using 93.9! I did slide the switch behind the sticker and never really noticed any change. It is being run off of one of LOR's mp3 players. When I get home tonight I will try moving it to the front of my yard and I will see if that changes anything.

[hillman holiday lights]

So, I finally moved the transmitter to the front of my yard and I get reception 2 houses in either direction. I am still not happy with this. Is there a stronger transmitter that someone would recommend? I see there is a new whole house transmitter 3.0. It looks like it is the same amount of power, but a different antenna...Any suggestions?

[RaZZlo]

This topic has been covered extensively... The WHT is basically useless, although some have had luck with it.  The issue is that it is the only "FCC Legal" transmitter out of the box... But hence lies the issue... Based on many learned folks on this forums reviewes, there are basically 2 transmitters worth their salt... The Ramsey FM30B and the EDM LCD-CS-EP.  I  ordered the EDM.  It is sold as a "kit"... basically soldering 3 connections, taking all of 5 minutes... I turned on the transmitter, set my local station, and it just works... Transmission out of the box is about 1/4 mile and clear !!!.  In fact, it saved me from having to run speaker cable 100 Ft.  I have a portable boombox, (RockBlocker) in the center of my yard tuned to the station.  No static whatsoever... At this point of the season, you can make some mods to the WHT (again, search the forums).. to allow it to work... But I would reccommend making the investment for next year with one of the 2 above...
Have fun...

FYI, Lights on was last night at 1730 Hours and already had foot and car traffic... :-)

[fairclb]

I use the CZE-05B - Setting it up is simple and range is fairly decent... I get about a 1/4 mile with it before it starts to break up, and that's with the transmitter being inside my house. I would recommend turning volume on it to a little less than half, for me it would get distorted after that.

 

I would also recommend trying different channels to see which one works best in your area. Be sure to check which are clear channels, should be able to find a list on the Internet, then check with a radio on those channels to see if there is any interference.

Edited December 7, 2013 by fairclb

[NH - Dave]

I bought this one as a back up to my Ramsey.  Works pretty good for the price.

 

http://www.amazon.com/0-5-Fail-Safe-Long-Range-Transmitter/dp/B003FO4UHW/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1386434371&sr=8-11&keywords=fm+transmitters

[s8830906]

I was using the WHT for a few years with good range. Then all of a sudden last year it wouldn't reach end of our st. Bought the above mentioned off Amazon for $60. Works almost a mile either direction, clear reception.

Steve

[Paul / Shadow]

I have a CZE-7C I picked up on EBAY, works great for about 2 blocks.

[Hank Plauche]

76-108MHz 0.1W/0.5W lcd PLL stereo radio station FM transmitter CZH-05B Silver search for it on ebay trust me on this one

are this one but it's not fcc approved 1W/6W PLL LCD fm Transmitter Radio Broadcast station

[brmitchell1019]

I use the one of the MobileBlackBox FM transmitters. I use one the least powerful ones that they make, and I can easily get 4 or 5 houses down! They run you around the neighborhood of $100, but it is well worth the price!

http://www.mobileblackbox.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

[dhageremtp]

I use the vast transmitter, google it. Great unit, does, rds, good range, and better sound then the china junk I first had

[eagle5]

I purchased a Ramsey 100B this summer with a FMA200 5/8 tunable broadcast antenna that mounts on my roof. I have it on it's lowest level and I can pick up a clean static free broadcast 3 miles from my house. Overkill? Maybe, but I'm not having fm transmitter issues anymore.