UKC

So if I want to play my tablet (android) through my car stereo, I have been told there is a way of doing this through Bluetooth. I have been trying to find a device that will let me do it, but I don't know what to search for!! So,I have found this, will it work?
http://www.halfords.com/sat-nav-audio/car-entertainment-technology/bluetoot...
All of them that I have found seem to expect a level of basic understanding that I don't have!

In reply to girlymonkey:

The simplest device you can get is a small fm transmitter. Just plug it in on the headphone port of your tablet, and dial the same frequency as indicated on the screen on your car fm tuner.

http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-3-5mm-Universal-Transmitter-Charger/dp/B0087...

In reply to girlymonkey:

That won't do quite what you want - it is a bluetooth speaker that will play music itself rather than through your car stereo.

As RomTheBear says, FM transmitter is probably the easiest approach. Otherwise it depends on your car stereo - mine has a aux port so I just plug in my phone/etc. with an audio cable. Some fancy stereos do have bluetooth built in, not sure if there is a device that will add on that connectivity though.

In reply to RomTheBear:

Thanks, I really am a ludite where technology is involved - my dad designs micro chips for a living so maybe its a sub conscious rebellion!!
That link you posted was for a US site, I found this on UK Amazon, is this the same thing? It doesn't talk about music, but looks like it should work? http://www.amazon.co.uk/VicTsing%C2%AE-Wireless-Display-Transmitter-Charger...

In reply to girlymonkey:


There's this ( http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/nikkai-bluetooth-fm-transmitter-aux-in-socket-wit... ) item: it takes Bluetooth in, does FM out, and runs off the cigarette lighter socket. That sounds like the kind of thing you're after.

In reply to girlymonkey:

I may have missed it, but did you say what make, model and year of car you have? Your car may already have bluetooth if it's not too old. It's quite a standard feature on most cars these days.

I find the fm transmitters a bit rubbish as they have a really low power output so you constantly have to search for part of the band where not much else is transmitting or they get swamped by other radio signals.

If your stereo has an auxiliary input you would be much better off getting a bluetooth adapter to connect to it and then you will have better quality sound.

In reply to Niall_H:

I was hoping to get one that doesn't run off the CIG lighter so I can charge the tablet while its playing. Does this not work?

In reply to Phil Payne:

Ha ha! Nothing so modern I'm afraid! No other input options, its a very old car.

In reply to Phil Payne:

>If your stereo has an auxiliary input you would be much better off getting a bluetooth adapter to connect to it and then you will have better quality sound.

If you have an auxillary input, then you would be better off with a 3.5mm jack cable to 3.5mm jack and plugging in the tablet direct

As the stereo doesn't have an auxiliary input, then either get an fm transmitter (not great, I've tried quite a few) or get a stereo with aux input or better still get a stereo with Bluetooth and an aux input

In reply to girlymonkey:

If you go for an FM transmitter be aware that it can interfere with a GPS signal thereby making a Satnav do very strange things. I very nearly missed a flight from Barcelona trying to follow intermittent and wrong instructions before going old-skool and looking for road signs! Wasn't until a week later that I realised what the problem had been.

In reply to girlymonkey:

Not all car radios with Bluetooth are built the same. My car radio has Bluetooth but will only work as a hands free phone. It will not, can not play music from my phone. This is because my car radio was built that way. It does not have the capability to play music.

Some of the car radios at work are quite modern and have the capability to be a hands free phone and play music from a phone. because they are designed that way.

Your car radio may never play music from your phone even though it has Bluetooth. Sorry.

In reply to girlymonkey:

i've fitted one of these in my Lexus and Renault Trafic van, they work really nicely. They trick the head unit into thinking it has a cd changer fitted. simple to fit and you can change track and alter the volume with out touching the phone/tablet.

http://www.gromaudio.co.uk/bluetooth

In reply to girlymonkey:

You can get car cigarette lighter adaptors with more than one socket, so you can run two devices at once. You can even get ones with USB ports as well as the 12V cigarette lighter type sockets.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/12v-2-way-multi-socket-usb-2-port-21a-a70lb

In reply to girlymonkey:

As Tony mentioned, you can get cigarette socket doublers, allowing you to run two things at once, or there are Bluetooth FM transmitters like this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/TaoTronics-TT-FT02-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Hands-Free... which have a USB socket built into them, so you can plug the tablet into that to charge.

In reply to john arran:


FM radio band = 88-108MHz. GPS = 1542 MHz.

That's some dodgy old FM transmitter you've got...

In reply to captain paranoia:

That's what I thought but it had the same effect on both TomTom and android satnavs so the evidence was very convincing, especially as all was fine again the moment I turned it off.

In reply to john arran:

Its OK, as I said,I am a ludite! I use paper maps, so it won't interfere!!

In reply to captain paranoia:

what's happening with analogue radio then? (just got another old-skool pocket radio as the reception is better)

In reply to captain paranoia:
Oops... 1575.42MHz Not that it makes much difference. Obviously, the FM transmitter has a transmitter that is clipping, and transmitting harmonics. Doesn't take many harmonics to get from 100MHz to 1500. Especially when the signal of interest is below the level of thermal noise...