iTrip...

So we got an iTrip a while ago. I personally don't like it. It's cool that you can listen to your iPod music in the car and all, but if there isn't a completely blank station it doesn't work. My boyfriend took it apart and brought the antenna up, because supposedly this was going to make it better...I still don't notice much of a difference. And it's the worst on road trips...specially heading into the Toronto or any other major city area...pretty much every radio station has something on it.

Any opinions on this?

-a computer is what a computer does-

I really like it, but I live in San Diego, so maybe where you are depends on how well it works. We don't need a completely blank station, it could have a weak signal and the iTrip takes control of the station. I've had it for about 10 months now and still really like it.

Yeah, you need a weak signal station for it to work properly, also it should be quite close to your car's radio reciever / antenna....

You should also check out an app that you can find on ipodlounge.com to help you locate clear channels in various cities (I've forgotten the name...)

Hmm. Ok. Ya, its weird..sometimes it gets a better signal when its underneath the seat as opposed to being close to the receiver. Weird eh? I keep wondering if it is just this particular iTrip because even if the station is weak, it doesn't completely take it over. Strange. And we can't take it back because Matt has gone and taken the thing apart...sooo..lol

-a computer is what a computer does-

It's always good to try out different positions (not that I want to get to personal here )...

I've also found that sometimes mine works better close to the door (?) or in the glove compartment pointing sideways at the radio...

Also you could try attaching a thin wire to the antenna (wrap the wire around the bit sticking out) to see if that helps at all..


As a last resort there is a mod that lets you increase the iTrip's output above the legal federal limit, do a google search (or search the ipodlounge forums), but I don't recommend it! (disclaimer)

apt

Haha. Good idea Aptmunich. A thin wire eh? Maybe we'll give that a try. As for the mod...why don't you recommend it? Because it's illegal? Or for other reasons?

Those minijack to casette tape adapters are better. Because:

A- You don't need to worry about finding a clear FM band.
B- They cost about half as much, or less even.
C- I don't know if I've ever seen a car without an FM radio in it anyway.

I'm a bit biased over the radio situation, because where I come from the radio stations suck pretty bad.

I never said the radio stations were good. lol. You're talking about the adapters that you can use to play a cd player in the car right? And the tape goes into the tape deck? Well, if you are, there is a problem with that. My car (crappy crappy 2003 hyundai accent) doesnt have a tape deck!!
I just can't win! lol

mojo27, it's been a long time since I've seen a cassette deck in a rental car. I usually have pretty good luck keeping the itrip tuned to 87.9 MHz and sitting it in the passenger front seat. Another trick is to suspend it higher, say under the passenger sun visor or wedge it slightly between the passenger seat and headrest.

I am thinking of getting a minijack-to-cassette adapter, but aparently they're phasing them out in cars. Only my dad's car has one, my mom's doesn't even have one. So I probably won't.

The iTrip seems too expensive and too prone to freck up. I'd go with the cassette adapter if anything.

petrified pixie said:

I never said the radio stations were good. lol. You're talking about the adapters that you can use to play a cd player in the car right? And the tape goes into the tape deck? Well, if you are, there is a problem with that. My car (crappy crappy 2003 hyundai accent) doesnt have a tape deck!!
I just can't win! lol

Click to expand...

I wonder how much it would cost to have one installed?

there is no point for us to put in a tape deck...we have a sony head unit so putting in a tape deck is a step into the past...i've thought about putttin a y cable on the in car antenna and then directly connect that to the itrip antenna giving me like an almost perfect connection...if that doesnt work then my next thing is to get the new alpine head unit that has the ipod technology includded and just hardwire the ipod..

I wonder how much it would cost to have one installed?

Click to expand...

As I said, car manufacturers are trying to phase out casette players. You probably can't find casette players unless they're on eBay now, and even then it would be pointless getting the minijack-to-casette thingy because the next car you get couldn't use it.

I just wouldn't bother.

I wish car manufacturers would have an audio-in minijack, so that you could hook up CD players/iPods to your car easily. That would be sweet.

Cheers,
m1k

Hi all, I got the iCarPlay. Connects through the car lighter and charges the iPod at the same time. It´s not cordless, but the cord is long, There´re 4-5 channels to choose from.You can see it on the Apple site/ hardware/iPod/accessories. I live in small town in China and it works well here, maybe somebody has experience from other places?

You could always just buy a BMW so that your iPod would be perfectly synced with your car .

Well not perfectly.. I've heard of some problems with the BMW thing. My wife has a audio in jack into her car stereo and that works quite awesome. I still really like the iTrip and every single one of the frequencies can not have an actual station on it... it's strange that mine works so well.. in the middle of San Diego, while yours does not