[OT] Playing mp3s in the car

Our car is old enough to contain a radio/cassette player, which is only annoying when we depart on a pilgrimage 500 miles down south, and would like to play mp3s.

What we need is something cheap n cheerful, ideally to play mp3s from a phone, USB stick or possibly SD card. Something that can be run or charged from the car cigarette lighter.

Just seen eBay item 291474623251 which plugs into the cigarette lighter and plays from SD card. I think it also plays from a phone. I'm not sure how it works, but I think the idea is the output is picked up by the car radio, and plays through the usual car speakers.

Have I understood correctly? Any other suggestions? It didn't occur to me that I could get something that would play through the car speakers, so was looking at mini boom boxes.

Reply to
News
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Yes, the basic "iTrip" functionality, it's an FM transmitter.

You can also get MP3 players that are built into a cassette shell that play into the car's stereo via the tape heads

e.g.

Reply to
Andy Burns

That is interesting, thanks. We have a 'cassette' type device that just connects to a phone, which works well when it is working, but does cut out fairly regularly, which means it has to be ejected then reinserted. I'm not sure whether that is the fault of the radio or the device itself.

Reply to
News

En el artículo , News escribió:

Yes

Don't know about that, but you can plug in a USB stick with .mp3 files on and it will play them

it transmits on an FM radio frequency which you tune your car radio ti.

yes

yes

I have ebay 301571807011 which works fine, but the problem is that it doesn't make good contact with the ciggy lighter socket in the car. This is a problem I've had with other ciggy lighter socket gadgets, including phone chargers. It's probably the fault of the lighter socket in the car rather than an inherent problem with the stuff I'm plugging in.

Gadgets like this also tend to work their way out of the socket when my car goes over bumps. Again, probably very much dependent on the particular model of car and the ciggy socket used. I'm thinking of adding a couple turns of electrical insulation tape to the body of the mp3 player to help it stay seated in the socket.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Yes.

You can obviously replace that ancient radio/cassette player, but that will obviously cost much more.

It didn't occur to

Reply to
Oscar Edwards

Unless its heavily integrated with e.g. steering column controls, just rip it out and replace with something better.

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for example. Will do the radio bit and takes a flash memory.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

£21 is less than 200 miles of diesel
Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I'm sure I've seen both dab and mp3 devices that send out a strong local fm stereo signal which you tune your radio to for quite a while now. Maplin used to do one, but I believe many other companies now do also. Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff

The issue with these is that the quality is pretty naff and the motors in the cassette run all the time which is very wasteful. the fm stereo way sounds best if set up properly, ie not overdriven. Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff

Well, yes, but a new radio/CD player will be worth more than the car :-)

More to the point is the hassle factor. Back in the day, taking a radio out was a couple of bolts. Now, the car seems to be built around the radio, and even if I get the old radio out, I bet all the connectors are different. Used to be easy - power cable with inline fuse, two wires to the speaker and a socket for the aerial. Job done.

Reply to
News

A little blob of the furry bit of self adhesive Velcro might do the trick. these plugs ans sockets are very old design now, and were of course used to heat things which took a fair amount of current, so operating low current devices seems not to be very good. Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff

tale it out before you scrap it then

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Some support bluetooth as well and that works better with smartphones.

Reply to
Oscar Edwards

More naff than the FM transmitters? I've seen a few people say the reverse.

Only the same as playing an actual cassette and compared to the power of the engine, not even worth thinking about.

Depends on finding a station (and pirate) free chunk of VHF spectrum, and maybe having to retune on long journeys to find another. The fact that these often have mono/stereo settings in the transmitter tends to imply the stereo modulation isn't the best, either.

Reply to
Andy Burns

An idea.

Google "12V MP3 player" or search on eBay.

e.g. item 331513927679

USB-SD-MP3-FM-Digital-Display-Player-Boat-Car-Motorcycle-Amplifier-20W-20W-DC12V (£12)

Disconnect the speaker wires from the car stereo. Or use a switch, relay etc...

Reply to
Adrian Caspersz

Is it a stock size radio - or a special to that car?

Usually about a couple of times a year, Lidl and Aldi have complete radio/CD players for about 40 quid which include an aux input for am MP3 etc player. Fitted one to a pal's camper van and it's very good value for money.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

News scribbled

I tried one of those, it failed. The car aerial was outside at the back of the car and the transmitter wasn't powerful enough to 'reach' it.

Reply to
Jonno

In message , The Natural Philosopher writes

OK. Assuming I'm that brave. Current model is Blaupunkt Como RCM 148, and eBay has the removal tool. Assuming I can get the old radio out,

Is the hole in the dash likely to be standard size?

Are the securing catches likely to be standard?

Is the electrical connection likely to be a standard plug/socket

Or is the whole project likely to be a nightmare?

I guess the first job is to get the removal tool, ensure I can get the old radio out, and see what is behind it. Car is 1998 Merc C200. I just worry that the combination of Merc and Blaupunkt means that nothing will be 'standard'.

Reply to
News

No it doesn?t when the local FM transmitter is so close to the receiver that it swamps any normal station or pirate.

The fact

Reply to
Oscar Edwards

Shouldn't be an issue. The proximity is so close that the little transmitter should utterly wipe out everything else including even strong commercial stations, so you don't need to find a free slot or re-tune. Google 'FM capture effect'.

Reply to
Cursitor Doom

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