i was hoping someone could help me out... basically i'm getting an ipod for christmas and i plan on using it in my car... about a year ago i had my car repainted and i had them shave my antenna... i don't get any radio stations, so i just listen to cds... now my question is, if i were to get an FM modulator would it work on my car even though i don't have an antenna? thanks in advance...

 

well if u u shaved ur antenna and u don't get any radio stations what so ever then i don't think ur ipod would work if ur thinking of getting that ipod frequency thingy.... u should check on the back of ur deck. becasue mine has an aux connection and i just hook mine up to that!.... but yeah i don't know if i answered ur question

peace

 

yea i figured that the FM modulator thing wouldn't work... i just wanted to confirm that... does anyone else have any other suggestions?

 

someone actually cut the antenna off of my 99 civic. so i have this autoloc hidden antenna above my rearview mirror. its pretty clean and works great. http://www.autoloc.com/detail.lasso?itemid=hab

BUT, about the iPOD thing, if i were you i would try to find a deck that has an aux output so you could hook it up that way. ive "heard" the FM trans. thing doesnt work too good.

 

cool, thanks for the link... i think i might need to get a new head unit... mine doesn't come with the aux output... can anyone recomend a good cheap one that does?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lil Duey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i was hoping someone could help me out... basically i'm getting an ipod for christmas and i plan on using it in my car... about a year ago i had my car repainted and i had them shave my antenna... i don't get any radio stations, so i just listen to cds... now my question is, if i were to get an FM modulator would it work on my car even though i don't have an antenna? thanks in advance... </TD></TR></TABLE> Yes the fm mod will work, as you are plugging the transmitter right into the HU. that said, if you are getting a new HU, get an Alpine and the interface, [Alpine] and control the Ipod from the Hu http://www.alpine.com 94

 

This post has some good info in it
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1011298

Here is my opinion and I have been in the car audio industry for a few years.

If you want to hook an iPod up in your car the only way to go is by making a direct connection to the cd changer port in the back of the head unit. By doing this you do not loose any quality – with an FM modulator the end result will be poor sound “especially if you live in an urban area”. In your case being as you have no antenna the FM modulator will not work and even if it does for some strange reason it will sound horrible. With that being said there is several adapters on the market that make a direct connection. Some are easy to install and some are a mess of wires. What I did was research and talk to my installer friends and they recommended the neo ion from http://www.mp3yourcar.com Everything I have read about them on the net has been positive and the company has been around for awhile. I installed the neo in my truck and it took me about 15 min to complete. A nice thing about this product is it uses one plug so anyone can install it and it powers the iPod as well. Hmm well I hope this helps and good luck with whatever you decide to do. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. As some of you know I used to work with most of the major brand names like JL, PPI, MB QUART, ECLIPSE and so on – I am always down to help out fellow h-t members if I can.

 

I want an Ipod for Christmas

 

FM modulator will work without an antenna but I doubt a wireless one will. You just plug hte normal one in where you would your antenna on your HU and plug the ipod into it and tune your radio to whatever station it calls for.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hometheaterman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">FM modulator will work without an antenna but I doubt a wireless one will. You just plug hte normal one in where you would your antenna on your HU and plug the ipod into it and tune your radio to whatever station it calls for. </TD></TR></TABLE> Yes a wireless will also work, if the ant. cable has been removed you will have to place the wireless fm mods ant. close to the ant. port of the HU 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hometheaterman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">FM modulator will work without an antenna but I doubt a wireless one will. You just plug hte normal one in where you would your antenna on your HU and plug the ipod into it and tune your radio to whatever station it calls for. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That is going to sound bad.

 

those fm transmitters dont work too well.... stay away from them

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silver_flash99 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">those fm transmitters dont work too well.... stay away from them </TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by silver_flash99 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">those fm transmitters dont work too well.... stay away from them </TD></TR></TABLE>
depends on the brand the good ones work fairly well.

If you buy a strip antenna it will work. Its basically just a wire and costs about $10.00. You'll also be able to recieve some local stations.

 

FM modulators are basically all the same in my opinion. I could see using one if I was going on a road trip and borrowed an iPod but there is no way I would want one for everyday use. If they worked good then you would be able to watch TV while driving.

 

No **** they sound bad but if you need an FM moudulator there isn't too many other options.

 

use the ipod for what it is. ipod doesn't equal radio use.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nightrider &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">use the ipod for what it is. ipod doesn't equal radio use. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Wrong

If you haven’t noticed they are replacing cd changers. It started off with a few independent companies making an adapter then alpine and now even monster.
I am all for it honestly.

 

i know its not the same but similar. i got my dell DJ hooked up to my aux port on my alpine. i used a monster cable miniplug to RCA cable. works nice and sounds terrrrrrific. dell dj

 

why not just buy an alpine head unit and use the ai-net hook up and use your head unit to cycle through your ipod. you could leave your ipod connected in your glove compartment and it never needs to be used/seen. it will also charge and it and sound perfect...

 

I got an iPod Mini and I bought the Griffin iTrip FM transmitter...and it works great IMO. Both in my civic, all my home stereos and my work stereo.

I was apprehensive when I bought it at CompUSA but they have a good return policy.

Personally...the iTrip works great. The Belkin one I've heard isn't all the great and any of the earlier models.

Best accessory I've bought for my iPod

 

Christ, do not limit yourself to an alpine deck because it has that overpriced ipod attachment. Here is what you do.

On a deck with an aux input all you need is a headphone jack to rca wire. Plug in red and white to the aux in and turn up the volume on the ipod so when your headunit is maxed the ipod is playing as loud as it can without distorting your speakers.

All alpine decks come with aux input, pioneer can with a $30 attachment cable, panasonics all have aux and eclipse should also.

The wire will cost maybe $3 and you dont limit yourself to an alpine deck (although they are very nice)&gt;

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AO &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">All alpine decks come with aux input</TD></TR></TABLE>

You will need an optional KCA-121B Ai-NET/RCA interface cable to get RCA-type inputs with Alpine's CD receivers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AO &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Christ, do not limit yourself to an alpine deck because it has that overpriced ipod attachment. Here is what you do.

On a deck with an aux input all you need is a headphone jack to rca wire. Plug in red and white to the aux in and turn up the volume on the ipod so when your headunit is maxed the ipod is playing as loud as it can without distorting your speakers.

All alpine decks come with aux input, pioneer can with a $30 attachment cable, panasonics all have aux and eclipse should also.

The wire will cost maybe $3 and you dont limit yourself to an alpine deck (although they are very nice)&gt; </TD></TR></TABLE>Right now Alpine is the ONLY HU that you can control your iPod with, you will need the Alpine KCA-420i, this will let you control the iPod off the HU and it will also charge the ipod and with Alpines MX , [MediaXpander] you will be able to boost SQ of the iPods compressed recording.

That makes tha Alpine the very best HU to get if you want to use your iPod in your car. 94