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

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

... the beep was there before the updates, and without the boost button ... I assumed it was something to do with reminding you your FM transmitter is on ... and also so that you know your radio is tuned to the right frequecy ...

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

I do sometimes feel like a wimp for staying clear of extras-devel and extras-testing ... but then when I realise how few (none) issues I've had with the phone, and how many others are complaining of after messing up their phones with software they didn't fuly understand the implications of I don't feel nearly so bad ...

... I really should investigate reflashing my phone tho so that I can feel confident using extras-testing to help the community output some fabulous apps ... *really should be braver*

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

Lucky you! ... have we worked out yet if the FM radio's power is limited in different countries? ... or is it just luck of the draw whether or not you got a good one?

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

HI,

I would like to ask if it is possible to setup more transmission power in some way as my fm sender + fm boost is still not strong enough to make a decent quality in my opel zafira?

Thanks in advance

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

I have a Passat B6, and the quality and loudness depeneds on 2 factors (mostly):
1. where I am
2. what frequency I use

In every region another frequency is needed in order to sound good, thats according to what I noticed while using the FM transmitter.

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

I only get the signal next to the window if I hold the device in my left hand when I`m driving which is so bad. I get weak signal if I place the device in the small luckage room next to the passenger seat in the front.
Signal is present but weak. I have tried several frequencies.
I think to problem would be solved with more power on the signal?

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

I know this is a bit off-topic and that some else asked the same question on this thread, but nobody answered it. I would like to know if anybody can get even numbers after the decimal in the frequency selection list. I can't seem to set frequencies like 99.2. All I have is 1,3,5,7,9 is this normal? or some limitation in the generic firmware?

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

Here are some tips. First look at the extras-testing page to see if anhyone has posted the checkbox list and checked for such things as optification, any severe issues, etc. It should be relatively safe to proceed if the boxes are marked. If not then you may want to post here, asking about the software to see if someone else will get the ball rolling if you don't want to risk having to reflash device. And always keep several backups on the memory card.

You can also check bug reports for that application if you want more info on what bugs or issues people are experiencing.

Good luck, and have fun!

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

... thanks! ... sounds like testing should still be relatively safe then assuming I take some sensible precautions before diving in to trying completely untried apps ...

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

I read somewhere that with the latest firmware, FM transmitter sends out RDS information without the need of any extra software but for whatever reason it is not working for me. I either get "Nokia" or "RDS" on my stereo system instead of mp3 information.

I also installed RDS software but I had no luck with that either. What am I doing wrong ?

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

All this while n900's FM transmitter was not giving me good results in my old ford fiesta car with antenna at top of car on front side. Based on the inputs from various threads here, i did the following and got very good results today
1. Cleaned the car's antenna with cloth. Lots of dust was there.
2. Connected the micro USB cable with n900 and left the other end near the car stereo.

It worked excellently with very negligible disturbance on a 40 min drive from Uxbridge to Bracknell. And I didnt increase the FM transmitter power and left it at the normal113.

I used 103.5 frequency(South West London) in n900 and there was no issues.

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

Most likely your stereo system doesn't support RDS text but only static RDS station name (NOKIA). Many car radios don't have RDS text to not distract the driver. Don't laugh, that's the official recommendation by the RDS consortium. :)

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

(*spoiler alert*first time poster)

really 89.1 works for you? i will have to try too and see how it goes i am in the south dallas area and for some reason if i go to north or too south i have to switch from 95.7 and 101.5. i will let you know or pm me =).

-MASTER

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

Well, I know for a fact that my car stereo supports is because when tuned to the radio station, it shows artist and song title along with the station name.

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

what is le changelog of this last version : fm-boost 0.2-2fremantle1 ?

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

Honestly, nothing was changed (except a bugtracker field). It was an attempt to workaround the broken packages interface.

If anyone can get into the packages interface for fm-boost and promote the package to testing, please go ahead and do it. I only get timeouts and errors when I try.

I guess I could try renaming it boost-fm and see if I can promote that one... What an ugly workaround that would be...

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

Hoorah! I was able to get in to the package instance page and promote the package tonight!

So, everyone, you can now vote the package into Extras.

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

I saw somewhere that there is a new version of FM Transmitter widget that integrates this script with the widget. Are you planning to keep a separate version as well ? Personally, I think it would be better to consolidate the resources and both developers to work together to have one app to do both things :)

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

ajamils: Sounds good. I don't mind getting rid of this hack, especially since I'm getting hassled about it not being "user friendly" in Extras-testing.

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

hi I can not set up my yahoo account... help me

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

@ajamils, i second that idea. It would be much more seamless without the hassle of one more button :)

you got a link for me to check out the new version ajamils?

@shishir_ctg you're in the wrong threat, also if you expect someone to help you more information would be usefull since nowone can know what are you trying to do and what you did so far!

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

ok guys got fm boost, simple fm transmitter widget and rds notify installed. works great but when i plug my phone into the in car charger signal completely goes? also rds notify has a 'no' written next to sms? any reason? thanks

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

Here is the link

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...ighlight=boost

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

Activate FM Boost after you plug your car charger and activate the FM transmitter. The transmit power is throttled down when you plug in the car charger and so you need to activate the boost afterwards to throttle the power back up.

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

thanks pal

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

Thanks for this one ... after trying on endless channels in the car with no luck - lots of static and drop outs - I tried this channel. I'm in the South East of UK (Surrey Area) and this was perfect - never dropped once, no static!! 107.3 for sure!

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

This is why I love linux. A few curious people tackle a problem, and all of a sudden my reasonably good FM transmitter is now an excellent FM transmitter.

Went from tolerable quality to CD quality.

Thanks to everyone who worked on this.

I'm using 90.1 in Mississauga ON Canada in case anyone in my area is looking for decent frequencies.

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

I've found 104.9 to work really well in downtown Toronto.

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

Cool , does it mean its going to work well in Vancouver , Canada ?

I have 105.50 and it is ok , sometimes I get "funny" noises on it though , do you know how to find a vacant fm frequency with less noise in Canada ?

do I have to place my phone anywhere specific in the car ?

Cheers :)

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

I am using 100.0 In Jalandhar but sound signal damps totally when crossing 1m area. Using FM in Sony SOK-NWZ-B143F(B).