FM modulators -- are there any reasonably good ones out there?

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Erwin van Akkeren - 28 Nov 2004 12:16 GMT

The OEM headunit in my 2003 Renault Clio has no unused line inputs,
which I think makes an FM modulator the only option remaining to hook
up a car-PC. Replacing the headunit is out of the question, since I'm
not too much of a car audio freak and I am happy with the overall look
& feel of the factory installed stuff.

I'm well aware of the limitations, but could anyone recommend a good
(PLL stereo-)FM modulator? Not the transmitter type, but the aerial
pass-thru kind of thing.

Not sure if they exist, but a single modulator with more than one
(stereo) input being "aired" on different presettable FM-frequencies
would be ideal. And of course, everything should be matchbox sized,
preferrably :)

Thanks in advance,
Erwin van Akkeren

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Kevin McMurtrie - 28 Nov 2004 22:01 GMT

> The OEM headunit in my 2003 Renault Clio has no unused line inputs,
> which I think makes an FM modulator the only option remaining to hook
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Thanks in advance,
> Erwin van Akkeren

They generally don't work well due to limitations of the FM stereo
format. Commercial radio stations use massive amounts of signal
processing to improve the perceived quality and keep the signal
bandwidth right at the maximum. The little inline modulators don't have
any processing. They even have to run well below the bandwidth limits
of FM stereo because exceeding the limit for even a moment causes harsh
distortion on some radios.

Does your HU have a used input that can be switched? Line-level
adaptors for factory Tape/CD inputs exist for some radios.

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Erwin van Akkeren - 30 Nov 2004 23:30 GMT

>They generally don't work well due to limitations of the FM stereo
>format. Commercial radio stations use massive amounts of signal
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>of FM stereo because exceeding the limit for even a moment causes harsh
>distortion on some radios.

A modulator is pretty much out of the question then, I guess.

>Does your HU have a used input that can be switched? Line-level
>adaptors for factory Tape/CD inputs exist for some radios.

I could make the line input of the (OEM-) CD changer switchable, but I
don't like the idea of adding the extra relay or switch or whatever.
Should a line input adapter exist for my type of HU (which afaik isn't
the case), would this mean I have to sacrifice my CD changer?

car: Renault Clio "Initiale", model Oct. 2003

Erwin van Akkeren

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