FM wireless mounted at loco is working! must see..stans video!

fresh alkalines already an improvement...3 ni-mh @ 1.2 x 3= 2.6 may be my next fcc violation..i mean test.

also ck out this more advanced transmitter.

https://sourcefmtransmitter.co...-fm2-fm-transmitter/

Joe, did you use the FM transmitter approach or drag around a speaker (amplified?) like in the "don't try this at home" first photo?

Nah, that's just an algebra violation.  1.2 x 3 = 3.6.

I'd think 3.6V should be no problem for the electronics though that's another $1-2 for a 3xAAA battery holder.  I was just looking at eBay and my white 4-channel (I realize yours goes full band) is less than $2.50 shipping included.  Unbelievable.

Also, if you are going to dig into your wallet for a "better" transmitter, take a look at 900 MHz wireless stereo headsets (for watching TV in bed).  It's been a while but when I looked, they used the same FM "technology" but operate up in the 900 MHz band where there might be less interference from fewer competing transmitters.  The RF wavelength is some ten times shorter which would probably help in this situation.  The transmitters are small, the receivers are small (fit in a headset), but of course you'd need to run it into your home receiver's AUX-IN or whatever.

Progress report:installed 1k res at each speaker terminal and a .1uf cap at the mono 1/8 jack..along with some more experimenting..and things are getting better..see my photos as i have more comments. i am going to research the 900 MHz wireless stereo headsets.

Just a small KLH surround speaker on a flat car. My Challenger's board was making a crackling sound and I didn't have any speaker on hand to see why. So I hooked up the KLH to see if it was the stock speaker going like I read the old 5 volt ones did. It sounded so good I put it on the flatcar and was towing it to see how the sound traveled thru the basement. As quick as a flash, the car uncoupled, speaker wire hit the rails, and poof, it was toast. Funny, it wasn't crackling during the test?

 I got a replacement board and it toasted itself on power up. MTH said ship the whole thing to them as there must be a short. They didn't find anything. The stock speaker is still in that engine for over ten years. So the third board was finicky and would power up as soon as the track got power. Always needed a charge to behave and finally even that didn't work. battery read 2.2 volts on removal. went thru a couple of months of non-use.

 So I finally bowed and installed a BCR2. That engine works great ever since and I won't even touch it unless I have to. Don't want to tempt the ghosts in there anymore.

 So anyways, I have a ton of high end pro audio with amps, a mixing console, jbl pro audio stage monitors, etc. I've always considered getting an extra board, adding it to the consist, and just have it stationary hooked up to the system. That's what I did with my DCC system.

 I wanted the sound to move to different locations. I thought of using Crown PZM surface microphones mounted to the train table to see if that would work on different system channels thru the basement. My girl heard the system cranking one day, and made me turn it down so low, I decided to quit. I have to pick my battles. I'd rather buy train equipment, than audio that I did for decades. She reminds me of my parents when I was young. They yelled turn it down, when the Crown's would be turned on. The snap alone was too loud!

wow, my hands hurt from typing that. your eyes will hurt reading it!

 One more thing now that I'm rambling, I bought a newer release G gauge Dash 8 from MTH. It's almost twice as loud as the first ones? I was interested to know if they upgraded the audio amp on the newer 2 meg G gauge boards? Was it just the better soundsets?

 I have worked on getting more out of the engine's sound system by upgrading the stock speakers. I put two in my G gauge ACe and considered using a dallee amp inside as well. CRH on the forum also has worked on this and has some good info on these type upgrades. Lots more room in the G gauge to do better onboard stuff. Hopefully with technology, O gauge will improve now.

Onboard Bluetooth sounds like a great idea to me! The soundset quality is severely limited by the speaker and the housing. Try that transmitter with a steamer and you'll be amazed. I feel it's much better than Lionel's.

here is the beauty of this sound system..my dcs PS3 GP 35 seems to have a 7 step volume control. i use between 3 and 5 which is a very tolerable volume level but the added broadcast thru the sub brings those low tone diesel piston notes to life..

On a different note Guitar Center has some neat inexpensive bass amps with all kinds of effects controls i might try..and there return policy is great..dont like it bring it back.

Audio amps the same, has to be sound file related or speaker enclosure if different.  G

FM transmitter disassembled...plenty of room in the host loco..board has wires marked for Lin  Rin and Antenna. Appears to be room for a 2 or 3 cell battery pack as well..any suggestions on placement, wire type,maybe unsolder ant lead and reroute another etc?

also..would like to tap into a safe 3v somewhere to eliminate batteries but have no problem using a dedicated battery pack.

Yes, I'd think if you have the space to fit it all in the main, it's probably worth the effort to open it up. 

In your photo it looks like there's a black(?) wire to RIN, a red wire to LIN, and what appears to be two brown(?) wires to ANT.  Where do the 2 ANT wires go to?

To your earlier question, I'd connect L and R input together.  Perhaps common knowledge, but the way analog FM broadcast stereo works is it sends two signals but not Left and Right as one might think.  Instead one signal is Left+Right and the other signal is Left-Right.  In the receiver the decoder then recovers the Left signal by adding the two signals (L+R) + (L-R) = 2L, and recovers the Right signal by subtracting the two signals (L+R) - (L-R) = 2R.  So a Mono receiver only needs to look at one signal (L+R) which conveniently has both channels summed together which is what you want.  By tying L and R together, even though they're the same, it makes for a more robust (for the lack of a better term) mono signal.

the antenna has 2 leads at the board that go into the pig along with the L a R..i will ohm them out sunday..

the 2 brown[ the are actually cooper stranded and i think clear coated] from the ant at the board travel to the ground ring at the 1/8 stereo conn. I'm thinking some sort of 1/4 inch fm tuned length?

 I just got two FM transmitters from the Family dollar store. They are  made by Music gear. I have 1k resistors laying around. What's the purpose of the cap (.1uf cap)? wouldn't the filtering of the low end be anti productive for generating the desired effects?

 Forgive my ignorance here as I don't even know how Bluetooth works. I found a set of headphones for $15 that are Bluetooth like suggested before. They have a transmitter included in a little tower looking thing. I wasn't sure if I could use their parts or even how to hook them up. Would that be a superior way to transmit without signal dropping running around the basement with things like heating ducts and other obstructions?

Joe, the purpose of the cap was to low-pass filter the transmitted audio because willygee was having an undiagnosed noise issue.  He said he could improve performance by low-pass filtering at the receiver.  With the values shown (2x 1k resistors and a 0.1uF cap) the filter rolls off at about 800 Hz which should still pass the desired diesel rumble; I realize you're thinking about a Challenger. In any case, ignore the cap and see what happens.

I'm sure there are a variety of wireless headset/speaker technologies that might be adapted - Bluetooth being one option.  The appeal of FM broadcast is many people probably have an unused transmitter lying around for their CD/MP3 player - or if not they go for less than $3 on eBay. And most people already have an FM receiver/amp. Of course if it doesn't work then cheap quickly loses its appeal!

Do you have a link to the $15 Bluetooth transmitter/headset?  If it's for TV I'd think it would have a pair of RCA-jacks to attach to the Left and Right Audio Out jacks of your TV.  That's good as that's analog which is what the PS2/3 speaker would provide.  What you don't want is a digital audio input to the transmitter since you do not have access to a compatible digital audio stream in PS boards. But for $15 I'm pretty certain it only takes analog inputs.

 Stan, I saw them at Big Lots. They were Bluetooth wireless headsets. I did not get them yet as I wouldn't know what to do with them! The base used batteries if I read it right and that made me think it could be portable.

 Technology has left me in the dust. I'm learning. Us turtles don't move fast!

Joe & WillyGee,

Try removing the 2 wires marked Ant from the FM transmitter and replace them with one multistranded, coated wire about 33 inches in length.  Loop this new antenna around inside your loco or simply wind the wire around a soda straw.  You may have to experiment with that 33 inch length figure as I am recounting this from failing memory.  I did this modification years ago to a similar, inexpensive FM transmitter with the hope of broadcasting Christmas music for my annual outdoor light display.  It improved the transmission range to 10 - 15 feet but certainly not enough to reach the street however, it may be sufficient for your needs.  I'll see if I can find my notes if necessary, let me know...

I just Googled fm transmitter mod and got lots of hits - give it a try!

Best,

Dave

 well I searched and watched this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY3s8OpFbEI

at roughly 3 min in he says he removed a small black box. I have a different transmitter and I'm not very good at this stuff. So maybe I'll watch a few more to see what black box actually needs to get removed on mine?

looks interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrFLGBU41Ig

Joe,

The little black box that is referred to is more than likely a surface mount resistor for reducing the power output of the transmitter.  Try your FM transmitter mod with just the longer antenna and see what you get.

I would disregard the information in the 2nd link you posted, your locomotive is gonna look very strange with that dipole antenna sticking out of it like a Christmas tree...

Best,

Dave

According to this video at about 4 minutes in, that "black box" is a coil.  I can't see it well enough but it makes sense. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9tIrIBAVD8

In basic terms a coil, which one might think of as a long wire wound up, kind-of-sort-of makes the short antenna look longer to the transmitter circuit.  Since the mod is to actually install a longer antenna, the coil is removed.

Adding an amplifier does not in and of itself mean you need to switch to a dipole antenna.  But if the antenna wire length wrt the frequency/wavelength of FM broadcast is the issue, a Bluetooth system might be a better approach.  The wavelength of Bluetooth is about 25x shorter than FM broadcast.

Will a bluetooth transmitter work with a mono output?  I had the guys at Best Buy and Radio Shack both scratching there heads.