FM transmitter

Probably have to mount the unit closer to your antenna for a clear signal. That would also make it harder to reach and use. They need an antenna extender like they have for Sirius radio. More stuff......

Unfortunately, changes cannot be saved. It was discussed in more depth, here:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1132

I gave up on trying to get clear FM reception from my nuvi 660. The antenna placement on my vehicles, the crowded FM frequencies in my area and the low power output of the nuvi, made it impractical to use.

That kills that idea..

The FCC has made the FM transmitters lower power as well.

On my folk's Nuvi 750, every time they turn it to FM transmit, it changes the voice from the TTS voice to the standard voice, so no more TTS.

I have to help them understand they need to reset the voice to TTS voice (TTS Jill) every time if they use the FM transmitter. Very annoying.

Maybe a new firmware update will fix this.

Also I'm not too impressed with the FM transmitter - it's weak and the output on the FM is very noisy and lots of static.

I would call Garmin. You likely have a hardware problem in your parents Nuvi 750. We have 3 Nuvi 750's in my family and all of us use the FM transmitter regularly without ever seeing a problem like that. At various times, our 750's have had v4.2, v4.5, and v4.6 unit softwae and none exhibited any issues with FM and voice changing you desribed.

Frank

I thought I would try one of these with my Nuvi 350. I purchased a Belkin TuneCast Universal this afternoon at Toys-R-Us for $29.99. I hooked it up and I cannot get a good signal at all on any of my FM Frequencies. Seems about every other one has a normal radio station on it and the ones in between don't work very well at all. It also bothers me, even if they did work where I live, a few miles out of town I probably would have to change to another frequency and on a trip of any length, I would be changing many times. Anyway it doesn't even work well enough at home to suit me. I am returning it either later this evening or tomorrow. Perhaps there are more expensive brands that work better but for now I am giving up on it.

Was at a Sam's Club this afternoon and they are selling the Nuvi 750 for $198. Of course it has an FM transmitter. I wonder if it puts out a stronger signal? At that price and with a larger screen and I guess a free map update and of course the FM receiption, that sounds like a pretty good deal.

The signal strength is controlled by the FCC. The FCC, unfortunately, has forced electronic manufacturers to limit the strength and range of FM transmitters in their devices.

Your best bet is to try to find one that broadcasts on a frequency that isn't used in your area. Unfortunately, this can be difficult in some areas.

Other options are to add an AUX input to your car stereo.

Restricts the power output to a level that won't work unless you are using it in a totally rural area. If you have a cassette player, the cassette adapter is a very workable solution, but chances are, you won't be happy with any brand of FM transmitter.

Since the FCC has lowered the power output of these transmitters XM and I believe Sirius now include an adapter that clips on the base of the antenna or for autos with window antenna - adapts to where they "T". the problem with that is it probably is unsightly and if the transmitter doesn't have an output for this purpose - there's nothing that can be done.

Also unfortunately newer cars are getting away from cassette decks and may not have that auxillary jack. My car is a 2007 and it has a cassette deck but not an auxillary jack where my wife's car is a 2007 as well but doesn't have either so if I wanted to use XM in her car I either have to have an adapter installed or try the antenna adapter.

What does it have to do with GPSs - my new Garmin 255 doesn't have any external jacks as far as I can tell so it can't be interfaced with any outside device even an external antenna; it is a stand alone unit. Maybe the higher end units are different.

Try this site for vacant frequencies.

http://www.radio-locator.com/

a real help!

The FCC has limited how far these unlicensed FM transmitters can transmit. They do that by limiting the amount of signal a test receiver can pickup at 10 meters. I think the limit is something like 200 or 250 microvolts. This is a pretty strong signal and most FM receivers should be able to pickup a full-quieting signal at that distance. But you have to consider that the transmitter is inside a metal box while the receiver antenna is outside the box. You also have to content with commercial FM transmitters that put out from 5,000 to 100,000 watts ERP.

I have found that if you plug an earphone into the earphone jack while using the FM transmitter, the signal strength does increase a little. You might also try moving the power cord around in the car, hang it over the mirror or something, that has helped me in our Toyota.

Jack j

The FCC wanted to be sure that your gps wasn't going to intrude or breach the radios in the cars around you.
Go figure, it tuned to a empty channel, who listens to nothing?

My Suggestion to you, that the average Joe can do him or her self.

If you really want great FM reception I suggest a FM Modualtor that is inserted between the antenna and the radio. And your static will be history with out the need of spending the money adding a Aux input to your radio, unless of course you know how to do it yourself.

Here is an example very similar to what I use:
http://tinyurl.com/aoxvu5

Does your unit allow using it as a wireless transmitter? If so, did you try it that way to see if it provides a sufficiently powered signal to solve the problem?

just a warning about FM modulators - they may distort your AM channels.

I installed a FM modulator in my car for a DVD player for my kids, and the AM channels are completely full of static. I used to listen to talk radio and sports on AM but that is no longer possible.

I think that is similar to what they would install for XM radio - a device that goes between the receiver and antenna.

Personally, I have the cassette adapter and it works fine for me. I guess if I had to do something or if we used my wife's car for long trips this might be the way to go. Hopefully the next set of cars will have the auxillery inputs. Of course all future cars may have everything we need!

This was a fairly good idea years ago when there were only a few FM stations and they were not near the ends of the FM band. Now, even in relatively rural areas of the U.S., there are many (some non-traditional) FM stations competing for space and several of these are near where our FM modulators try to work.

Trying to find an FM channel that remains free of other stations while traveling any distance is an unlikely prospect for many of us.

This is not just a problem for GPSrs, but includes any audio source such as an iPod, or other MP3 player using an FM Modulator. There are at least 2 other options, but they are not exactly wireless:

always lost mentioned the cassette adapter. I use this to listen to podcasts I've stored on my iPod when driving the car that has a cassette deck.

The other is an FM signal injector... To install this, you will have to either pull the car's radio or be able to get to the back side of it. The injector plugs in between the radio and the car's antenna and is powered from a switched 12v source. There is also an audio cable with a standard headphone plug that connects to your audio source, in this discussion we are considering a GPSr that must have an audio jack. In operation, the presence of an audio input effectively isolates the external antenna and provides a much better experience than with the basic FM Modulator.

Among the downsides: There's another cable to plug/unplug and an added layer of complexity. Considering the KISS approach, I use my nüvi as a GPSr and am satisfied with it's built in speaker for that application, but this is only my opinion.

I was unable to get good fm reception anywhere with my 660. I purchased a small set of speakers. This works fairly well and is a low cost , quick fix. the aux input is the best answer.

gus b

Has anyone found a cheap way to connect the unit to the auxiliary input for 3rd party head units?

Just plug it in? I don't understand what your asking.

Bob,
Did you not see/understand my question to you above?

I found out my brand new Nuvi 5000 would not transmit on any frequencies to the radio in my 2000 Toyota Camry. The Camry has a rear windshield mounted radio antenna. I was able to solve my problem by purchasing a "Belkin Cassette Adapter for MP3 Players." Of course this only works if your nuvi has an audio output and your car has an old fashioned cassette player. The Nuvi 5000 has an audio output jack on the mounting jack. It's great to have terrific sound, all the time!

I picked up the Belkin unit at Ralphs Grocery Store for $20.

I found a FM transmitter at Wall Mart for $12.00. It plugs into the earphone jack on my 750 and works great. It is made by Scoscue, the model is FMT4. It runs on 2 AAA penlight batteries that are supposed to last 15 hours.

I heard that they had been discontinued but my local store had either 3 or 4 on the display. They were in the auto parts area. I went back and bought a second one in case this one quits.

I also bought a Scosche Fmt-4 at Wal-Mart for 12 bucks and the thing really works and works excellent actually. I have a Chevy front antenna pickup and a rear antenna Toyota. My 765T was un-usable in the Toyota and not very good in my pickup.

This little device is super simple to use and the only setup is to select a frequency then it is ready to go.

My Wal-Mart had about 6 in blister packs and they can be found in the Auto Dept. where the car stereo stuff is located.

I've read quite a few reviews and everyone has a hard time believing at first that this device is certified because it just works so good. I just have to wonder why Garmin can't match this things performance.

No it doesn't. I tried that several times too with no success. FM transmitter is basically just a feature with no practical use.