Belkin FM Transmitter Review

Below is my personal review of the Belkin Tunecast II FM Transmitter, Model # F8V3080. I was taking a trip around the country with my laptop, travelling by car, and was tired of the little laptop speakers giving out on me, so I set out on a search for a nice FM Transmitter.

Reason for an FM Transmitter

I was taking a fairly long trip by car, and wanted a nice FM Transmitter solution. I wanted something which would not use up too much extra battery time, so I was leaning toward something USB powered. The hope was that I would power my laptop using the car adapter, and power the FM Transmitter using the USB port. This would allow me to power the laptop GPS system while driving, and still allow me to listen to music to keep me occupied. At the time, around mid to late 2004, there were very few publicly known USB FM Transmitter solutions. This was long before the iPod hype and thousands of iPod gadgets. On E-Bay, the main listed one was something called the Line X FM transmitter. It looked like a small black box, and sold for about $100 - $150. Its featured transmitting range was about 150 feet. There was also a very little known, but interesting gadget called the Belkin Tune Cast FM Transmitter.

Reasons for purchase

I did not make a purchasing decision, and ended up going on the trip anyway hoping that I would find enough AM or FM radio stations to keep me interested in the remote Oregon backhills. Friends let me stay in their remote mountainous cabin, behind a river, but there was no TV reception, cellular reception was barely available, and the lack of radio choices were leaving me hungering for my own music and e-books. It turned out that the local Walmart had it for $30 and Best Buy had the Belkin FM Transmitter for about $20 with the Christmas discounts. Compared to the LineX instrument, the sheer price and small size of this device made me lean towards the Belkin unit, even though it did not have a USB adapter.

Out of the Box

As soon as I got it, I was about 50 miles from the cabin, so I wanted to see if it would set up easily and allow me to listen, all the way back. I simply removed it from the packaging, which was the most difficult part of the process. And installed the car adapter which powers this unit. I bought a pack of AAA batteries just in case. The laptop was on the passenger seat, about 4 feet from the actual radio, and received on clear FM Stations right away. The belkin unit was black and gray, and small enough to be held in the palm. It broadcasts on Fm frequencies ranging from 88.1 through 107.9 and I find that it receives best on the radio on the even frequencies, for example 88.6, or 88.8. Most probably because broadcasters transmit on odd frequencies, leaving the even frequencies available for clearer broadcast.

Reflections over one year of usage

Over the year that I have had this device, I sincerely enjoyed using it. The major advantage is that it is powered by batteries, but can also use AC Power. The supplied car adapter allows this unit to carry very good signal strength, and is about the quality of most FM stations. It is very easy to switch the broadcasting frequency if drift occurs from a radio station, and 4 programmable presets allow for quick navigation to known free spaces on the FM dial. The battery powered unit automatically turns on when audio is detected. It also turns off within 1 minute once audio levels are turned off. The face is lit for a small amount of time when turned on, to be able to read the lcd display. I once had a friend tune to his radio while we were travelling in separate cars, and he could receive the signal, though very faint, one car away while we were both moving at highway speeds. Batteries tend to last about 9 or 10 hours of continuous usage before they drain. That's about one full day's worth of driving. Or if you drive continuously, it could be 3 battery changes over a 24 hour period.

Additional Observations

Work and just travel in general takes me a lot of unknown places, and they are usually 2 hour or longer drives. Since my purchase, I have used the tune cast II device extensively to listen to audio books, old CDs I converted and just to get away from the standard fare of radio broadcast to listen to my legitimately converted CDs for my personal consumption. A bit of a disappointment, occurred lately, though. The car adapter stopped working, probably due to the excessive twists and turns I put it through. I am currently looking for a replacement car adapter. Meanwhile, it's back to using AAA batteries, and changing them every few days. And a strange side note. As the battery dies, radio stations begin to drift into the FM space. But if I hold the FM Transmitter in the palm of my hand, the signal becomes strong again. This happens until the batteries get very weak, and then the general radio transmission seeps in. Maybe it's because I am somehow grounded, because the radio signal does not get strong when i lean or place it against anything else.

Final Words

I highly recommend the Belkin FM Transmitter solution, but I hope that the next generation comes with much stronger car adapter cable. An AC adapter supplies much cleaner power to this unit than batteries. This constant and pure AC power results in much better audio quality, but the advantage of this Belkin FM Transmitter is that alternate methods of power are available when needed (unlike a purely USB or iPod FM transmitter). I have also managed to find AC Adapters which fit into its power slot, to power it at home and listen using my home audio system. In summary: I can use battery power, car adapter, or an AC outlet to transmit the contents of any audio device with a headphone jack and transmit via FM frequency to receive on much larger home or car audio systems.

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