You are right about the first part, and antenna placement is a big issue. The second part is complete hogwash

I found the FM transmitter acceptable in the car until I connected the power/charger lead to the N900 which is essential for using sat-nav and music in the car. Apparently Nokia reduces the transmission power when the power lead is connected and this is very noticable in the poor radio reception.

Good news is that 'fm-boost' will increase the strength of the FM transmitter in the N900. This boosts the signal level beyond the default with and without the power lead connected. Note: you need to run fix everytime after turning on the FM transmitter, and also everytime after you connect the power.charging lead.

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/fm-boost/


The 'fm-tx' widget makes turning on/of the FM transmitter easier and this includes an option to automatically enable the above 'fm-boost' fix:

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/M...e-fmtx-widget/


If your FM radio is RDS (Radio Digital System) capable then the following is great to display track details from mp3 files, caller details and even your 'station name'. Use the settings to set 'station text' and info on other texts to be displayed. Be sure to set and test the app's config to suit you radio's text display length, scroll speed and duration of display.

http://maemo.org/packages/view/fmrdsnotify/

I'm using all 3 and am well happy with radio reception quality/strength and from my N900, and the RDS text is a nice feature

Where is the option in fm-tx to automatically run fm-boost? I don't see it. Does it automatically run fm-boost after turning it on if it is installed?

I think that's in the other fm on-off widget.

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...smitter+widget

Or is that just a new shinier version?

yes it is.

btw, my cheap Fiat Idea Radio could not receive the signal from n900 due to a good insulation (i.e. car price doesn't matter). I managed to open up the Radio and connect to it a wire, and pull the wire inside the cabin. Now the FM transmission works, even if I need to have the n900 very near the wire, and still some weak noise can be heard (all the free-frequency+fm-boost are checked). This sounds strange to me because with my home stereo the n900 works much better, being able to transmit from several meters distant!

Anybody knows what could be the issue? Maybe is necessary a real FM antenna inside the car instead of a simple wire?

I'm a bit puzzled...

I got an update few days ago and it seemed to have it

I've installed fm boost and put a shortcut on my desktop but everytime I click on it it very briefly says x terminal and then goes back to the desktop screen.
Also I installed simple fmtx and cant find it in my list of applications or if I try to add it as a desktop shortcut. However it is definitely installed as I can find it if I go to uninstall - so where is it and how can I make a shortcut for it!

That is exactly what it is supposed to do.

fmtx is a widget. You will find it in a widget menu.

thats great, thank you, I'm sure one day I will know the difference between a widget and a shortcut!

Hello, got a question here,
In my city almost all frequency is used up, and even with the fix above, i still can't get acceptable result..
So if i understand it correctly, i either need to, isolate the car antenna, or use something to boost the FM signal wight?
Now the first option is kinda impossible for me because the antenna is built in the car

And then i saw this car mount on ebay, and since i never used a car mount before, my question is, would this car mount work as some sort of extra booster?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170449670588

It says it has some sort of FM transmitter.. Would it work in conjuction with N900's ?