Quiet! We're Broadcastin' Here!
I have a ton of songs on my computer...last count: 3,938. Figure a half a pound a song, you're talking literally almost a ton of songs. The little Sony speakers that came with my "emachine" (what a great name, bet someone in Marketing got a corner office for that) are dandy for what they are. But they can't compare with my stereo speakers. In the living room. Ten feet away.
So the cure for that was to run a cable from my computer sound card to an input in the stereo tuner. Now I could listen to my computer music library on my stereo. A sweet solution! Except that I kept tripping on the cable. The kids kept tripping on the cable. The dog was tripping on the cable and the cat was chewing on the cable. No moron me, I realized I needed to go wireless with this project.
Down at Best Buy I told them what I wanted to do...get from my sound card to my stereo with no wires. The helpful salesdude wanted to sell me the latest wireless router with bluetooth and sound scrubbers and frequency fribbulators and the whole thing would only run about $150. As I told the dude, "I wouldn't mind you ripping me off if you were on commission, but I find it offensive that you'd do it for slightly more than minimum wage."
I got to wandering around the store, and over in the ipod section I found the solution. Almost. What they had was a little battery operated fm transmitter that would plug into the headphone jack and transmit to any FM radio. Hot dang I said, that's what I need. Except the battery part, because I wanted something I wouldn't have to fiddle with down the road. I asked the sales dude if they made such a thing that ran on normal American electricity and he directed me to the latest wireless router with bluetooth and sound scrubbers and frequency fribbulators.
I left Best Buy in disgust...a '73 Chevy Disgust that I got from my dead aunt.
Later on at home, I did some internet surfing to find a solution. Should have done that to begin with and never strayed into the brick and mortar world. What I found was the Arkon SoundFeeder, the SF-150. This was perfect...it plugs into the computer soundcard and broadcasts the signal to any nearby FM radio. Its tuneable so you can set it to an unused frequency with no interference from a broadcast station...I like 92.7. And best of all, its powered by a plug to a USB port! Heck, I didn't even know USB ports had power to them!
Under 25 bucks and it works like a gem. The range is excellent...my bedroom clock radio, 50-60 feet away, picks up the signal crystal clear. Now I just leave my computer music playing all the time. I turn down the computer's Sony speakers and turn up the stereo. Or if I'm in the kitchen I turn on that radio. Even my car in the garage can pick up the signal. Woo-Hoo, I'm a radio station! When do I get my free records?
So the cure for that was to run a cable from my computer sound card to an input in the stereo tuner. Now I could listen to my computer music library on my stereo. A sweet solution! Except that I kept tripping on the cable. The kids kept tripping on the cable. The dog was tripping on the cable and the cat was chewing on the cable. No moron me, I realized I needed to go wireless with this project.
Down at Best Buy I told them what I wanted to do...get from my sound card to my stereo with no wires. The helpful salesdude wanted to sell me the latest wireless router with bluetooth and sound scrubbers and frequency fribbulators and the whole thing would only run about $150. As I told the dude, "I wouldn't mind you ripping me off if you were on commission, but I find it offensive that you'd do it for slightly more than minimum wage."
I got to wandering around the store, and over in the ipod section I found the solution. Almost. What they had was a little battery operated fm transmitter that would plug into the headphone jack and transmit to any FM radio. Hot dang I said, that's what I need. Except the battery part, because I wanted something I wouldn't have to fiddle with down the road. I asked the sales dude if they made such a thing that ran on normal American electricity and he directed me to the latest wireless router with bluetooth and sound scrubbers and frequency fribbulators.
I left Best Buy in disgust...a '73 Chevy Disgust that I got from my dead aunt.
Later on at home, I did some internet surfing to find a solution. Should have done that to begin with and never strayed into the brick and mortar world. What I found was the Arkon SoundFeeder, the SF-150. This was perfect...it plugs into the computer soundcard and broadcasts the signal to any nearby FM radio. Its tuneable so you can set it to an unused frequency with no interference from a broadcast station...I like 92.7. And best of all, its powered by a plug to a USB port! Heck, I didn't even know USB ports had power to them!
Under 25 bucks and it works like a gem. The range is excellent...my bedroom clock radio, 50-60 feet away, picks up the signal crystal clear. Now I just leave my computer music playing all the time. I turn down the computer's Sony speakers and turn up the stereo. Or if I'm in the kitchen I turn on that radio. Even my car in the garage can pick up the signal. Woo-Hoo, I'm a radio station! When do I get my free records?
posted by Rich @ 9:04 AM
2 comments
