Empeg "car kit"

I'm strongly considering making a "car kit" for the empeg units. Essentially the main use/purpose would be to allow you to take your empeg in to other vehicles and use them there without installing it. So, the unit would essentially be a sled with a cigarette lighter cable. You would power the unit off the cigarette lighter, and it would transmit your tunes on some FM radio frequency of your choice. I was thinking about putting a 1W transmitter in it, so your range would be pretty good.

The question is: would anyone be interested in this (i.e. do I go to the trouble of making a PCB), or should I just hack one together for my own personal use?

I'd be interested in seeing your mock up. I'm probably going to build one of these in a few weeks if my CES plans work out and I end up with an 8 hour drive alone in a car with no empeg. The challenge really is miniaturization, as the box needs to be compact enough to fit comfortable in any car you find yourself in.

A few ideas i've had are: 1) No sled. I've got an extra sled, but I don't see this as getting enough use to worry about plugging a few cables in when I want to use it. 2) Padding - I'm thinking a foam ring similar to the orginal packaging, but a bit thinner. 3) Screen protector - unsolved - if it's not installed, it's not going to have a convienient place to rest, and is gonna get kicked around and fall over. 4) Minijack output would be usefull for those headphone or aux-in times.

anyways, those are just some random ideas I've had while thinking about building one myself. I'm interested to see what you come up with.

Matthew

I've put together my own hacked version of this, but would love a more professional one. My FM transmitter runs off batteries and doesn't perform as well as desired. I'd be interested and can supply my own sled.

I agree that there should be a 1/8" minijack output as well for folks who have aux input on the front of their stereos (most aiwas have this, and others too)

I've got something like that, except instead of a sled I have everything in a backpack.

I found a cigarette ligher cable that was normally intended for radar detectors for about $2.50 (clearance item at the local radioshack), one of those iRock 300W FM transmitters for portable mp3 players (runs on a pair of AAA's) and a RCA->headphone adapter to tie the whole thing together.

Why would you need a sled and/or PCB? Just more weight to carry around. The only beef I have with the iRock is that there seems to be a bit too much bass in the signal, so I had to add a special EQ setting that cuts about 6db off of the lower frequencies. Oh, and the power button is far too sensitive, so I have to keep a spare set of batteries around.

300W FM transmitter

Please say that you lost an 'm' in there.... Otherwise you're going to need a big battery budget - and likely annoy some FM radio listeners.

/Michael

It looks as the 300w is part of the name of the product? Here is the FAQ page for the product.
http://www.myirock.com/cservice/300Wfaq.htm

In regards to sled / PCB necessitation...

I was planning on a having a plastic box type thing fit tightly around the unit with the unit slides in to. It would be just slightly longer than the Empeg. It would have an integrated FM transmitter that is controllable via the Empeg (perhaps a patch to make it work in Hijack) so you can change the FM channel, etc... There would also be a plug for a cigarette lighter, and a headphone jack. The "box" would come with some sort of firction creating devices to mount it (i.e. suction cups and a bracket, or some velcro or something) so you can set it on the dash without it sliding away.

Any suggestions on this more detailed idea?

yea, im a bit concerned about the safty of the face myself, supose you had a flap that folded down over the face when you didnt need to be pressing the buttons? otherwise this sounds really cool and i would definatly be down for one

I'd just buy a cigarette lighter adapter, tape deck / FM transmitter, mini to RCA's, and shove it between the seat and the armrest. And you can probably fit all that stuff in a Pelican case.

Where would the "car kit" go such that you would see the display? It doesn't really make any sense to me. The only benefit I could see is that the FM radio transmitter would run off the cigarette lighter, but they already have one's that do that. A lot of FM transmitters are notorious for interference when you get near powerful radio stations, too.

I'm definitely interested in one - I too will be interested in seeing your mockups. What is the general quality of fm transmitters?
- trs

I finally got one mocked up. It costs me about $100 for everything including the Pelican Case. The FM Transmitter is pretty descent and runs off of 12VDC. If you bump the FM Transmitter though, it needs to be fine tuned by the wheel on the side of the transmitter.

I have included some images. It took me about 2.5 hours to complete the whole project.

Another picture.

A different view.

Yet a different view.

For my final trick.

Cool. Do you have a link to the FM transmitter that runs off 12V?

Here's one:

http://www.canakit.com/Contents/Items/UK222.asp

-ml

That's more expensive than the one I purchased that has a casing around it.

Unfortunately I don't because I purchased it at a local shop around here.

It is fully assembled in a black casing. It costs me about $30.00.
If you are interested in one, I can pick one up for you at my cost of $30.00 not including shipping and handling.

Yeah, even Radio Shack has them for about US$13 right now.

Cheers

I searched Radio Shack online and couldn't find them. Here's a site that offers one, but the sound is mono :

www.hitequest.com/Projects/solutions.htm

The "FM Transmitter 1" pictured on the site you linked to, is the same as the cheapo one I just picked up at Radio Shack (CAN$20) -- STEREO, but very short range (okay for in-car, but not room-to-room. And the sound is a little muddy, and it requires a 1.5V power source.

I think for decent quality, one may have to spend more -- the cankit one I linked to runs on 12V (can share empeg power), and uses much higher quality components. I'll get one and see how it sounds.

Cheers

I bought that exact FM transmitter about two years ago. It worked, but the sound quality was not very good and I do not use it anymore because I could not get a decent signal from it over 30 ft. I spent a lot of time trying to tweak it (trimming the antenna lead, experimenting with difffernt frequencies) and I could not get it to sound decent. I decided that if I were to get one, it would have to be a much nicer one like they use for schools, gyms, etc.

the cankit one I linked to runs on 12V (can share empeg power), and uses much higher quality components. I'll get one and see how it sounds

I just picked up one of the pre-assembled versions, so I'll report back here too with my impressions when I've received it.

Mark, did you ever receive one of those Canakit transmitters? I've gotten mine, and although I haven't tried it on 12v (only on battery) I'm very disappointed with the quality. When I adjust the frequency pot, it'll tune and then when I remove the screwdriver from the pot, I lose the transmission. I'll try to play with it more tonight and see if I can't get some better results. I'll get it hooked up on 12v and check it to see if that helps.

Try a plastic tool to tune. I know that at least some trimmable inductors (trimmable core) are affected by metal up close...

/Michael

Thanks...all I had with me at the time was my pocket knife. now that you mention it, the instructions said something about that. Will have to re-read.

*John earns two whacks in the head with a brick for not following instructions*

Yeah, I've got a whole set of plastic screwdrives specifically for tuning RF stuff. And, no, I didn't get one of these yet -- got busy with other stuff, but still need one eventually. Thanks for being the lab rat for us all!

Cheers

Speaking of car kit stuff.. I just picked up a cig-lighter cable, with built-in fuse and a prewired plug on the other end that fits my Empeg players perfectly. It's even the correct polarity! The price was C$1.50 at Active Surplus, Queen St. West, Toronto. Look downstairs, they had lots of them when I was there.

Cheers

you can get a similar one from Radio Shack online if you can't make it to Toronto.

(By the way...this is tested and works...like Mark described...2 amp fuse and barrel connector fits the empeg perfectly)

Ouch.. but US$5 instead of CAD$1.50 ...