I was pretty set against an FM transmitter, but due to the PITA with the existing setup, I gave the Moto T505 a try. Overall I am pretty impressed since I had a FM transmitter that was highly rated before, and it was definitely not going to work.
While its pretty good, I think it could be better from a reception standpoint. Can't one just tie a wire around the clip or body of the T505 and then to the antenna attach point at the PCM to improve things? I did a simulated trial of this on my home stereo and the reception was hugely improved and there were no dead spots as I moved around the house with a wire attached to it.
It seems like it would be simple ?:
- Open up the PCM and attach a wire to the existing antenna. I am not sure if it would be better to somehow "splice" into the antenna or if just wrapping it around it would be good enough.
- Run the wire along the up along the pillar and headliner, just like I have done with the V1 install write up I saw in the articles section.
- Tie the wire to the clip or attach in another way to the body.
This might also allow you to put the unit someplace other than near the visor if that is your preference.
Any thoughts on this such as improvements, attachment methods, type of wire, alternate T505 locations, etc.?
Doesn't the PCM use an antenna in the windshield like the CDR-24 in my car? I have no problem with my T-505 mounted on the visor, as far as transmission/reception goes, as long as I can find a clean, vacant FM frequency - In my experience that is usually the problem with poor performance, since I frequently either get static, or bleed-over from nearby frequencies just driving around in the same city.
But hey, give your idea a try and let us know how it works.
BTW, why is it that British female voices sound sexier that American female voices (I use the Brit female on my Garmin Nav system also)?
My goal is to not to have to mess with the frequency. If I can improve reception, then this should be OK.
One problem I found was that I was getting some intermediate "blipping", which was not static, but the music was just cutting out. It may have been on the iphone end though since I rebooted the phone and now it seems to be behaving better.
So I am thinking the better thing to do is to just run a mini usb charging cord from the unit, either to serve as a passive antenna or to actually run this down to the fuse panel to charge as well. Is there an adapter for this, sort of like how the V1 has a phone charger to fuse adapter? This will serve to charge the unit and act as an antenna.
The other thing is the length of wire is important (tuned to a given frequency), but I don't know the correct length to use. Also, I it may have an internal wire length, would that affect it?
In the meantime, I am just going to connect a mini usb cable to the unit and tuck it under the headliner and see if this gives an improvement.
