5 Ways to Get the Most out of Your FM Transmitter

Why Choose an FM Transmitter?

When MP3 players were first introduced, they represented a change in how people listened to music in their cars. If you invested in an MP3 player, even with the storage limitations of the day, you could bring hundreds or thousands of songs along with you without fumbling with dozens of cassettes or CDs.

With the adoption of smartphones across the board, you don't need a dedicated smartphone. If you have an iPhone or an Android phone, you also have an MP3 player and a way to listen to internet radio in your car. The problem is that older car radios don't always include a way to plug in a phone or MP3 player, which is where FM transmitters come in.

While there are several ways to connect a phone to a car's head unit, FM transmitters are the cheapest and easiest way to do it. Instead of creating a permanent wired connection, an FM transmitter creates a personal radio station that broadcasts wirelessly to the radio in your car's head unit.

If you're already on board with the whole FM transmitter thing but you're not satisfied with the audio quality experience, check out these five tips to smooth things out.

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Know What Features to Look For: Research Before Buying

An FM transmitter with an audio plug and adjustable frequency — vlabo / istock / Getty Images

The key to getting the most out of an FM transmitter in your car is to start with a decent product. Although most FM transmitters are affordable, there are some important features that you need to look out for. Buying cheap at the expense of features, and you're begging for a poor listening experience.

The most important feature to look for is manual tuning since that's what allows you to avoid interference from local radio stations. Some transmitters only allow you to choose from a handful of preset frequencies, and others don't allow you to change the broadcast frequency at all. Choose one of those FM transmitters, and you're stuck with what it gives you.

Input options are another important feature to keep your eye out for. Many transmitters come with a standard audio jack that can connect directly to the line or headphone output of an MP3 player. However, you can find transmitters that include USB connections, SD card slots, and other options.

When headphone jacks starting disappearing from MP3 players, wireless FM transmitters took over much of the market.

Some transmitters can play music from a USB stick or SD card without the need for a separate MP3 player. All of these features provide superior sound.

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Set the Right Frequency: Start at the Ends

man holding radio dial up to his ear — Barbara Mauer / The Image Bank / Getty Images

When you take your FM transmitter out of the package, the first thing you have to do is tune it and your head unit to the same frequency.

If the transmitter allows you to choose an FM frequency, start by checking the extremes of the FM dial. These are the places you're most likely to find some free space.

Although you may find an available frequency anywhere, the commonly open areas of the FM band are below 90 MHz and above 107 MHz. Some areas have stations that broadcast between 87.9 and 90 MHz and between 107 MHz and 107.9 MHz, but these are still the easiest and best places to start.

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Try Other Frequencies: Avoid Interference From Bad Neighbors

radio towers — Image Source / Getty Images

Although finding an empty frequency is imperative, you might experience interference if a powerful station uses a frequency that's next door.

For example, you find that 87.9 MHz is free and clear, but you still have interference problems. The reason behind that type of interference is usually a station that's so close or so powerful that it bleeds over into nearby frequencies. There might be a nearby station using 88.1 MHz that's so powerful it creates experience down at 87.9 MHz.

To avoid this type of interference, find an empty space on the dial that has neighboring stations that are at least 0.2 MHz above and below. If you can't find that large a block, which is possible in large metro areas, experiment to identify the block with the least amount of interference.

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Use Outside Resources: Look for Empty Bandwith

internet resources — Takamitsu GALALA Kato / Image Source / Getty Images

The airwaves are crowded, but companies that make FM transmitters have a vested interest in customer satisfaction. To that end, some of them maintain lists of FM stations by geographic area, and some have tools that identify the least-crowded portion of the FM band in your area.

You can also do this same type of research yourself, but it's easier to take advantage of these tools if they are available for your geographic area. Some potentially useful lists and tools include:

Although these and similar tools are helpful, you may find that the real world doesn't line up with their suggestions. The issue is that most of these tools rely on FCC databases, and the information they come up with can differ significantly from real-world conditions.

So while you can start with a station lookup tool or an app that performs the same function, you'll never get better results than you will from doing the work and looking for clear frequencies yourself.

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Tear It all Down: Should You Be Using an FM Transmitter?

Supercar at the beach - Sunset sky copyspace — marcoventuriniautieri / Getty Images

Sometimes, nothing you do works. The reality is that if you live in a large metropolitan area, the radio dial may be too crowded to use an FM transmitter effectively.

If you live in an area with a crowded FM landscape, there's a chance that an FM transmitter isn't going to cut it. Try the lookup tools first. If the lookup tool says that the entire FM band is full, save yourself some money and frustration by going in a different direction.

Whether that direction is an FM modulator, a new head unit, or physically removing the antenna (assuming it's removable) to keep those pesky radio stations from interfering with your transmitter, the decision is up to you.

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