iPod Advice? Anyone?

With only a CD player (no aux jacks or ipod interface) FM transmitter is your only option, second to installing a new head unit or wiring in an FM modulator; both not going to happen unless you know the owner of the car VERY well.

Is the problem with using a transmitter the (poor) quality? Because you can fit 4 hours worth of audio on about 4 CDs.

JesLam07 said:

Yeah, it is mostly because of poor quality and bad reception. We have to go through a couple of long tunnels and there are some places where the FM transmitter just doesn't work.

That is a good idea though. I can take my FM transmitter and use it when it will work and then take CD's of my favorite songs and pop those in when the FM Transmitter is acting funny.

Thanks for the advice!

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FM transmitters should actually work *better* in a tunnel because there would be less radio interference.

JesLam07 said:

That is a good idea though. I can take my FM transmitter and use it when it will work and then take CD's of my favorite songs and pop those in when the FM Transmitter is acting funny.

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Or you could take a Macbook and a few CD-RWs. Sync up your iPod, charge your mac, and voila! CD's on demand!

If you have a cassette deck , you can buy a cassette adapter

SXR said:

If you have a cassette deck , you can buy a cassette adapter

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I think the point of his post was the only "interface" he had was radio and CD player.

Otherwise, that would be the best option.

JesLam07 said:

Yeah, one would think it would work better, but it doesn't, at least not for me. The radio doesn't even work right in those long tunnels.

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The reason being the broadcast station is somewhere above land, way outside the tunnel. The tons of concrete, steel, and earth around the car (inside tunnel) is blocking the signal of the station (outside tunnel.)

The FM transmitters turn your iPod into a mini radio station. When you drive into a tunnel, you take the station with you. Simply put, there's really no way that it would operate poorly in a tunnel vs. outside.

Imagine it like a flashlight and a paper bag. The flashlight (the transmitting station) cannot get into the paper bag (the tunnel), so if you stick your head (the car) in there it's dark. If you take the flashlight with your head, inside the paper bag, suddenly its light in there.

This isn't a very far stretch because both light and radio are identical phenomena; Electromagnetic waves, just at (drastically) different frequencies.