How to find a radio station in your area

[Kraegar]

Hello,
I'm a new member to the forums, and a recent purchaser of my second iPod. (I bought the black 4gb Nano).

My car's tape deck (a Kenwood KRC-302) didn't (easily) support direct input, and the tape player doesn't work. So I had to opt for an FM transmitter. I went for the Monster iCarPlay Plus. I'm very happy with it, but I think part of that is because I chose a good station for it. I wanted to share the method of choosing a station, as it may help others.

I highly suggest this especially for those who are looking at getting one of the FM Transmitters which only send to a couple of stations, as you can check the availability of those stations in your area.

So, enough talk, onto the business at hand...

Since I can't post links, change the [dot] to a . at the beginning of the following links...

Step 1> Go to www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/atlas2.html And get the Latitude and Longitude for your City. If you live in a major Metropolitan area, you may want to find other tools to be more precise. Google's your friend!

Step 2> Go to www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmq.html Scroll down to the bottom, to the section called "Stations Within a Radius". I started with a radius of 50 miles, so put in 80km. Enter your Lat & Lon from Step 1 & click the submit button.

Step 3> You'll get back a list of all the stations, in order by channel. The 3 fields we're concerned about are:
Channel
ERP
Dist (mi / km)

You want to look for a "missing" channel. Since the FM band is only the odd decimals, you will see 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, 88.9, 89.1 etc... Look for it to skip a place. Note down on paper which ones are skipped. (In my area, only 1 number on the whole chart is skipped). Once you find an empty spot, it's important to compare the two numbers on either side of it. For instance, if 88.3 is skipped, look at 88.1 and 88.5. Even though a channel is empty, if the two around it have particularily strong towers (A big number in the ERP column) or close towers (A low number in the distance column) you may want to move on and look for another channel.

Using this method, you should fairly quickly be able to find a quiet channel, and avoid having to search & guess, or frequently change the channel during your commute to work.

Hope this helps someone!

[willhockey16]

Step 1 Link: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/atlas2.html

Step 2 Link: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmq.html

[Kraegar]

Thanks much!

[studogvetmed]

Hey.

I think this could be a helpful thread. I fixed your links in the message to make things a little easier and have went ahead and made the thread a sticky.

Cheers,
Stu

[Cracker27]

NICE.... What a huge help.. took me forever to do it when i lived on the east coast.. No that i moved.. This totally will save me some time..

[Flipside]

Anything like this for the UK?

I'm really struggling at the moment to get a good sound through my iTrip

[rclayton17]

it would be nice if there were a site that just told you which ones were the best for your area. i'm trying to study these charts... my eyes hurt.

[frenchmiami]

Do you consider 107.9 between 107.5 and 88.1 or is it between 107.5 and nothing ?

[Brianjlenaghan]

Originally posted by Flipside
Anything like this for the UK?

I'm really struggling at the moment to get a good sound through my iTrip

Any UK users getting good reception care to share some channels or where to get information.

[ne2i]

A cross post from a review for the itrip lcd.
Hope this will help you out....

George

I have also had some difficulty with these FM transmitters.
Where I live (NY) there is a transmitter on every channel
on the fm dial. It is nearly impossible to find a clear
channel on which to transmit your audio from your ipod to
your FM receiver in your car. You will have cochannel interference and static. No doubt about it. People in rural areas with less transmitters on the FM band will have reduced static and interference problems.
I solved my problem by removing my antenna from the outside of the car.
I have a VW GTI and it was easy for me to remove,unscrew it and reduce my radio's sensitivity. In this way you reduce cochannel interference. And with the itrip transmitter so close to the radio, The FM capture effect will lock you onto the itrip's signal and give you clear reception.
If it is easy for you to do, Try this and see if it helps.
The nest best thing is a hard wired connection.
Crutchfield has them in stock but they are expensive
and more difficult to install. But they will reward you
with better sound and no interference or static.
Another advantage is that you may switch quickly back
to listen to fm radio for traffic/weather reports without
reinstalling your antenna. In all the Itrip is good for
quick installations and inexpensive budgets for those of you who have already blown your budget on a new ipod.
If your more serious about your audio and have no need for
a portable solution, there are better ways out there.
Enjoy your ipod......

G

[larpiainen]

Thanks a lot for the postings on this radio transmission issue! I followed the advice posted here and went to check out the radio broadcast charts, but my eyes started hurting. So I was wondering, could anyone tell me which frequency works best in New York City? This place is PLAGUED by hideous reggaeton stations that suddenly appear out of nowhere... Also, if anyone else has a commute to CT, any hints on a good frequency there?
I would unscrew my car antenna, but I also love NPR...

I would REALLY appreciate any info.

[Treefarn]

Whats considered a 'big' number for each of these categories? Whats considered close? I live in a big metro area (Near Philly) and have having great difficulties with my FM Transmitter.

[Imageek2]

Look at a site called radio-locator.com as well. It lists all of the stations within a certain radius of the city or zip you enter, the frequencies they use, and the signal strength.

[Shawnszi]

What a huge help. I thought I had a station all dialed in but I went through the charts and found the optimum one, it was like night and day. There is no static or interference anymore. Thanks for the excellent tip.

Thx...Shawn

[mbarlow]

My new iTrip has an international setting that allows me to use frequencies below the normal broadcast range. I learned about it on iLounge. I've had very good luck with the frequencies around 88.7 FM. Most US radios allow you to tune in this range. I don't know how well this would work near Canada or Mexico though.