BT handsfree with FM transmitter

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xpd

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#239422 17-Jul-2018 08:49

Im looking for a handsfree BT unit for the car, with FM transmitter - seems to be a few out there (looking at Pbtech) but would rather something someone here uses and knows its + and - :) I don't want to spend the earth, will only be used for car trips out of town (tied with Android Auto on the phone).

If it has USB charging port built in, thats a positive, but not a requirement.

TIA

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#2057564 17-Jul-2018 08:59

I have an (older) Xiaomi Roidmi that I bought 2nd hand off someone here on Geekzone.

It's a perfectly good method of playing music off my phone via the car radio over FM. Turn-by-turn navigation voice works fine too.

I've never tried using it whilst running Android Auto specifically, as I have a different Maps/Navigation software.

I believe it does work as a handsfree unit for phone calls; but since I'm a sad friendless introvert, I've never needed to use that...

And it does charge things too.

The unit I have is a little picky about what sort of cigarette lighter it works with - it works in our Mazda 2, but not in our Mazda Premacy. Go figure. (Yes, they have different looking internal fittings in the cigarette lighters; yes, there are technical terms, no, I can't remember what they are. The unit linked above looks different at the business end where it plugs in, so it may be more universal).

xpd

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#2057575 17-Jul-2018 09:08

Thanks for that, my searching is failing, didnt see that one in their results :D

Which year Premacy - we have a 2010 it'd be used in.....

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dryburn

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#2057592 17-Jul-2018 09:54

You can get the roidmi 3, which works on all car models but doesn't have the hands free option only charging + bluetooth

Also depending where your cigarette lighter is positioned the mic of the Roidmi could be facing the floor, so take that into consideration as well.

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#2057594 17-Jul-2018 10:05

What sort of car do you have?

xpd

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#2057598 17-Jul-2018 10:15

Ive got a 2010 Mazda Premacy - lighter socket is fairly low down but thats fine, radio sits a little way above it. Is modern NZ sourced JVC unit. I did want the BT version but SWMBO didnt see the point :-p

The newer Roidmi will probably do the trick, I dont tend to get that many calls.

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richms

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#2057628 17-Jul-2018 10:54

I think it was a rodmi that I had to use with a loan car. Was hopelessly weak output from it. If I reached out the window and held the antenna it got a lot better.

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#2057649 17-Jul-2018 11:25

Have used a Roidmi 2 for several years. Only for playing music however. Used a separate bluetooth ear piece for calling and navigation as my hearing is not so good and so a dedicated ear piece seemed a better idea.

FM transmitter works well and have used it on longish 500km road trips without any issues, sometimes you may have to ask the roidmi to find an optimal FM band if you enter a location that is already occupying your FM band (or very close to it), but this happens rarely in my experience.

The Roidmi 2 usually requires an adaptor(or hack of some sort) for most 12v ports in my experience. Compare this with the Roidmi 3 which is suited to NZ cars.

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xpd

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#2057658 17-Jul-2018 11:55

I'll order the Roidmi 3 and see how it goes :)

Thanks all for the input :)

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jamesrt

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#2057660 17-Jul-2018 11:56

xpd: Which year Premacy - we have a 2010 it'd be used in.....

Hi, @xpd.

I've also got a 2010.

The unit listed on my link above does, however, look like it has a different fitting; so it probably works better than the one I have.

(I sprung the $$$ for a BT-enabled head unit on my Premacy)

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#2057664 17-Jul-2018 12:10

I have had a Jabra Cruiser for 4+ years and it works well enough, works for both voice and music, playback is clear. Only thing is that it requires charging unlike the plug-in options.

gareth41

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#2057667 17-Jul-2018 12:19

I don't mean to be a show stopper, but these fm car modulators are destroying Low power FM stations that operate on the low end of the band from 87.6 to 88.3 - most people leave these on the default 87.5 rendering lpfm broadcast stations on 87.6 unlistenable at times when sitting in heavy traffic - there are quite a number of community station in and around Auckland on low power FM. Use of these fm car modulators had increased over the past couple years, and tests done by the FCC in the US showed some of them didn't meet regulation on maximum permitted power. If youre in Auckland please use these on 102.2 or 103.0 if you can for best results and least interference, these are both dead air frequencies that fall within the 800KHz channel spacing for SkyTower broadcasts but licenses are not allocated currently to any stations.

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#2057677 17-Jul-2018 12:33

I'm all "meh?" for LPFM interference. Both users have paid the same amount for access to the frequency.

Many transmitters only give the choice of 3-4 frequencies at either end of the band. Right around where LPFM lives.

Richard rich.ms

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#2057681 17-Jul-2018 12:37

I'm on my 2nd BT->FM converter.

The first one didn't allow you to choose the FM frequency; it was preset to 96.4MHz. Most of the time it was fine, but in a few places a radio station on the same frequency would intrude. Also, the volume was a bit low, so if I did switch to the radio, I would get blasted. Then switching back to the phone, I had to turn the car volume back up.

This second one fixes the above. But it has annoyingly bright LEDs in it. :( Apart from that, I'm happy with it. It also claims to function as a hands-free phone interface. I don't really care about that, and haven't actually used it for that.

Both of them also feel the need to announce that they're on, and then that they're connected. The first one did this with a couple of bars of slightly irritating music. The second one does it with voice messages. In CHINESE. Both devices have 2 USB charging outlets; no problems there.

I got both of the devices from AliExpress; here's the second one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car-Bluetooth-FM-Transmitter-Dual-USB-Quick-Car-Charger-Adapter-LCD-Digital-Display-Car-MP3-Player/32793526246.html. (It's actually an LED display, not LCD)

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#2057683 17-Jul-2018 12:40

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/USBMBE1011/mbeat-MB-MBT300-mbeat-Bluetooth-hands-free-car-kit

I bought that one from PBtech and works well with LG G6 (Had a bit less luck with previous nexus phone not always automatically connecting when car started, but was still OK in general) I use it for music, calls and charging.

Only issue I had was the spring in the power contacts broke after a year or 2 use, but was relatively easy to fix and has worked fine since. Only otther slight niggle I have with it is the ladies voice that tells me "Bluetooth is ready to pair" and "bluetooth connected" every time I start the car - would probably prefer a simple beep or something.

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gareth41

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#2057830 17-Jul-2018 15:46

frankv:

Also, the volume was a bit low, so if I did switch to the radio, I would get blasted. Then switching back to the phone, I had to turn the car volume back up.

Broadcast FM uses audio processing to keep the deviation at 75KHz and occupied bandwidth within limits - hence why commercial stations sound loud. Car modulators and a iphone will never be able to match an Omnia feeding MPX baseband into an Eddystone or Nautel transmitter

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