Got a car with a cigarette lighter?
Got a phone that can play MP3s and has ‘Net access?
Got a Radio Shack?
Then someone has come up with a pretty cool way you can bring Internet radio to your car — for a small investment (reportedly under $50).
My area had a local radio station that quickly went off the air. It was a real bummer, because it played some new music and some music from the 1980s and 1990s that I seldom hear anymore, so I was enjoying the soundtrack in my car. They now have launched an Internet-only station, but a fat lot of good that did me when it came to driving around and listening to their tunes.
I was just poking around on the Web site, however, and came across this comment from a listener:
I also spent some time figuring out the technical difficulties of streaming internet radio onto my Bose integrated car sound system and found a simple solution. I went to RadioShack and bought an FM Transmitter that plugs into my lighter plus a jack adapter for my cell phone. I can tune into the radio station on my cell phone using the web browser (less than $10 a month), plug it into the FM transmitter, which scans the available radio frequencies to find the clearest one then transmits Indie 303 to my car radio. All for under $50 investment, I now have internet radio in my car without having to buy a new radio or have anyone install anything…
I have a smart phone, and I actually have unlimited data service, but it hadn’t occurred to me that I could stream radio on my phone. I tried the streaming part, and it works.
I also have an FM transmitter so I can take my iPod along in the car, but it is admittedly an inexpensive transmitter that doesn’t work in my area because there are too many radio stations hogging the airwaves. I’ve considered upgrading to a better transmitter at some point, and maybe this will be the impetus I need.
Have you tried this? Or do you have other quirky fixes to get the music you need (OK, want) in the car?
