A www.homeschoolradioshows.com Special Report:
A REALLY NIFTY WAY TO USE YOUR CAR RADIO TO PLAY OUR SHOWS
Tired of making cassette copies of our programs or burning "audio" CDs so you can listen in the car? Yep, so are we.
Fortunately, there are all kinds of new gizmos out there that can help you enjoy our radio shows -- even with that "old" 20th century technology that you still have hanging around. For instance, have you wanted to listen to these shows in your car or van -- but all you have in the van is a radio / cassette player? Then here's a neat & inexpensive way to do just that, and get excellent sound for those road trips.
1) Go to Walmart, Best Buy, or some other discount electronics department, and buy one of those "walkman" type CD players that play mp3 files. These can now be found for around $25 - $40 if you do some shopping. NOTE: It MUST say that it plays MP3 files on the package. Also -- Bring a CD with you that contains some of our MP3 programs on it, and ask the clerk to help you try out the player BEFORE YOU PURCHASE to make sure it works with your CDs. (Be brave, they should have no problem with this. If they do, go to another store!)
Another tip: Try to get a CD player that will "plug in" to the cigarette lighter in your vehicle, so you won't be running down the batteries as much when travelling.
2) Okay. Now, you have a personal CD player that will play your MP3 format programs on any CD you get from us, or that you burn yourself. You can listen to the programs using the headphones, of course -- but only one person at a time can do so. So, you need one other piece of equipment to make the shows accessible for the whole family:
3) Ask the clerk in the electronics department for a wireless "mobile FM transmitter" that you can plug into your MP3 CD player. We picked up one made by Belkin at Walmart for $19.95 ($24.95 on their website). Here's a picture of it:
You can read about this device on Belkin's website here. (Of course, there are lots of other brands out there you will probably run across, and they are probably just as good. But since that's what we bought and tried out, that's what you're reading about here.)
4) Now. All you do is plug this thing into the headphone jack on your CD player, turn it on, and then turn on your CD player. It will transmit a signal to your vehicle's FM radio on one of four frequencies which you set: 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 or 88.7. (Hopefully one or more of those frequencies will be clear in your area.) No wires into the radio or anything.
Voila! You now have your homeschoolradioshows programs coming in loud and clear on your car stereo system!
This works VERY well, as long as it is in the right place in your vehicle. When we put the CD player up on the dashboard or on the passenger seat, we got a great signal and the programs came through loud and clear on our van radio system, even cranked up to full volume. Even from the back seat, the signal was acceptable. When we put it on the floor, however, it picked up static sounds from the engine. So it all matters WHERE you put your transmitter & CD player, and that may vary from vehicle to vehicle.
We found it gave us the best sound when we turned the volume up all the way on the CD player, and then adjusted it up or down as needed on the radio. This got rid of a bit of "hiss" we were hearing with the volume on low on the CD player. The down side of that is, of course, that you'll use up your CD player batteries a bit quicker. Either plug it in to your cigarette lighter, or keep a few AA batteries as a back up in your glove compartment when travelling with these things.
We also took this set-up into the house and tried it out on our home stereo. Again, it gave us a great signal -- but it is all in where you put the thing. Although the spec sheet with the transmitter says it has a range of 30 feet, we found that it really needs to be within ten feet or so of the antenna to get a good signal, at least in our house.
Now you no longer have an excuse for not taking our programs with you when you head out on those road trips or holiday visits. Tune 'em in... and enjoy!
Resource: Still want to make a cassette or Audio CD? No problem. You can download a FREE copy of THE HOMESCHOOLRADIOSHOWS.COM GUIDE TO MAKING GREAT CASSETTES AND AUDIO CDS by clicking THIS LINK!