Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

I used FM Boost with PR1.1 all day today and made these observations:

- It must be invoked again every time the frequency is changed. Even if Media Pl;ayer and the transmitter is running. If you change to another station, you need to push the FM Boost button again. :)

- Where this thing really shines is with the car charger plugged in. As others have reported, plugging in the car charger reduces transmitter output to an unusable level. Push the magic FM Boost button and BAM!, wall to wall sound. The consistant voltage provided by the charger powers it up to a point where I could swear, the snow and ice on my windshield melted faster when it was on, LoL.

(BTW, this same power reduction is invoked when the battery level gets low. Perhaps some sloppy Power Management code is to blame. Maybe changes in the Power Management profile could be another way to invoke the script but regretfully, I don't know enough about this. )

- A simple song extolling the heroism and virtue our man qole has displayed in providing this tool for us is not enough. Because his pre-sales unit doesn't have this handicap, the development did not benefit him in the least and his motivation was truly an unselfish concern for the welfare of others... I'm thinkin' dude needs a dang magnum opus or suttin'.

:D

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

Nothing unselfish about it. I love the Lou Reed parodies.

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

I dug around until I found it. I'm new to Maemo, so the whole "directories on the tablet" thing is brand new to me, as are the different categories of downloads. But I have it sorted out now. Thanks for you help just the same.

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

... can't wait for FM Boost to be moved to a repository that I'm not scared off using by "Here be Dragons" type warnings ... anything that makes my FM Transmitter slightly more usable is very welcome! Thanks to everyone working on this, and testing it!

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

Yeah I know, that whole altruistic spiel was just blowin' smoke up your butt hoping you will continue developing the thing. Maybe widgetize it to a status app button like how "Load Applet" is. :)
I was also hoping someone would continue with that "opus" thing. :D

(sort of a shuffle crossing the key of A, I'm thinkin')

E—---------------------------------
B—--------4-----------6---4--------
G—--------4---2---2---6---4--------
D—2---2---4---2---2---6---4---2---2
A—2---2---2---0---0---4---2---2---2
E—0---0-----------------------0---0

EDIT: Added for EmmaGx

Give it a few days and I'm sure it will be in "testing". These repositories might be down now anyway because of a server move.
After qole announces it is in the "Testing" repo I'll guide you through it in this thread.

Thanks, BTW. Staying away from "Extras-Devel" is the responsible thing to do and saves a lot of agg for the people who will help if any other, unrelated problem develops in the future...

I guess this thread might be as good a place as any to show how the "Extras-Testing" repository can be used responsibly by a user.

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

I find it's working perfectly after PR1.1, I don't need the booster anymore :eek:

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

AFAIK, that band is regulated in most countries. What changes from place to place are the ERP levels (effective radiated power, a mix of tx power and antenna gain) allowed for unlicensed and licensed operation.

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

Well good for you!

Would you mind terribly installing the Rootsh App found here >> http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/rootsh/

1. After installation fire up Media Player and then enable the FM transmitter.
2. Minimize Media Player while keeping it running.
3. Open xTerm and type:

and hitting enter.

(If you use the on screen keyboard you may have to reopen the keyboard a second time for it to take :( ).

4. At the new /home/user # prompt type:

...and report back what 3 digit number is returned.

(Do not invoke FM Boost prior to this and again, for some odd reason unrelated to all of this, if you use the on screen keyboard you may have to reopen it to hit enter again after typing a command.)

Also: Where (what region) did your phone come from and is it a sales unit or a Nokia loaner.

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

I'm making a new post to report another observation that I found today:

After shutting down Media Player the FM Transmitter remains open for about 40 seconds, I suppose so you can change media players if you want. During this 40 second period the N900 transmits a "beep" every 2 seconds or so that is picked up by your receiver.

This may have been their before, but I never heard it without FM Boost invoked.

BTW, mine is a post-sales. Global DDP unit that I re-flashed to US regional firmware before updating to PR1.1
As reported earlier, I do need FM Boost... unless I've been drinking Kool-aid out of the wrong glass. :)

Re: N900 Radio Transmitter: ways to amplify the radio signal
 

Ive got a honda civic and 105.00 work very well. Ive used this frequency in my car and at work and it works well on both. Most radio frequencies used work to a 0.1 tolerance (which so i am to believe the USA dont have the odd numbers because they are deemed useless due to this) so any frequency 0.2 awat from one that is used should be fine. A quick search on google for unused radio frequencies should throw up some results