sirius in the whole house?

[Xanth]

Hello all,

I recently moved to a location where in my back yard ( about 2 miles or so)
there is a transmitter for a local FM station , so I can I hear on a reg
radio is that station. I wanted to take my starmate from my office an bring
it home along with the boombox. (did not come with a home docking station).

I checked TSS radio and found a whole house transmitter unit,would the
Sirius WHFMT work for me or would I need something else for the starmate to
plug into?

Thanks for your help.

Dave

[Bill Kraski]

Post by Xanth
I checked TSS radio and found a whole house transmitter unit,would
the Sirius WHFMT work for me or would I need something else for the
starmate to plug into?

If the local FM station is all over your receiver's FM band, are there
any gaps where it's weak or doesn't block everything else? Any FM
transmitter that will tune to one of those quiet spots should work,
although maybe not as clearly as in normal conditions. If there are no
gaps, a local FM transmitter may still work. It depends on the
receivers involved, how badly they get swamped by the station 2 miles
away &/or how strong the FM transmitter you want to buy is. If the
transmitter you're thinking of buying has an option to select the FM
frequency, some frequencies may work better than others.

HTH

[Xanth]

So would I found a company call whole house transmitter. It has a 150 feet
radius. 7 different channels to choose from.
think it might work better?

have a great weekend
--
Dave

Post by Bill Kraski

Post by Xanth
I checked TSS radio and found a whole house transmitter unit,would
the Sirius WHFMT work for me or would I need something else for the
starmate to plug into?

If the local FM station is all over your receiver's FM band, are there
any gaps where it's weak or doesn't block everything else? Any FM
transmitter that will tune to one of those quiet spots should work,
although maybe not as clearly as in normal conditions. If there are no
gaps, a local FM transmitter may still work. It depends on the
receivers involved, how badly they get swamped by the station 2 miles
away &/or how strong the FM transmitter you want to buy is. If the
transmitter you're thinking of buying has an option to select the FM
frequency, some frequencies may work better than others.
HTH
--
Bill K

[Bill Kraski]

Post by Xanth
So would I found a company call whole house transmitter. It has a 150
feet radius. 7 different channels to choose from. think it might
work better?

Maybe. I haven't seen the specs on either one. And you still haven't
answered the questions I raised. I'm not an expert, but I do need more
information before I'd suggest your even spending money on a local
transmitter...or not. And, if there are any lurkers with more
expertise, I'm sure they want more info, too.

Post by Xanth
have a great weekend

I will. Thanks.

[Xanth]

The local transmitter just bleeds over other gaps.
so the signal is suppose to be on 100.7 MHz. I can tune the "manual dial" or
use the PLL "digital tuner" on newer radios and all I get is WHUD. Its not
like it a continuous signal through the spectrum but it blocks out other
signals for being received.
I even have a hard time with local AM signals, mostly because I am in a
"valley area" The local sports station WFAN is a 50Kw stations and even that
shard to get on most Sat's or Suns' for the game.

Hope this helps you out.
Also link http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com/

Thanks for your help,
--
Dave

Post by Bill Kraski

Post by Xanth
So would I found a company call whole house transmitter. It has a 150
feet radius. 7 different channels to choose from. think it might
work better?

Maybe. I haven't seen the specs on either one. And you still haven't
answered the questions I raised. I'm not an expert, but I do need more
information before I'd suggest your even spending money on a local
transmitter...or not. And, if there are any lurkers with more
expertise, I'm sure they want more info, too.

Post by Xanth
have a great weekend

I will. Thanks.
--
Bill K

[Bill Kraski]

is WHUD. Its not like it a continuous signal through the spectrum but
it blocks out other signals for being received. I even have a hard
time with local AM signals, mostly because I am in a "valley area"
The local sports station WFAN is a 50Kw stations and even that shard
to get on most Sat's or Suns' for the game.

Well, having grown up on the Jersey side of the river when WFAN was
WNBC, it's not "local" to you. Part of what's killing you is being in
the valley. Since FM is more line of sight, the mountains/hills help
aim WHUD right into your area.

Hope this helps you out.
Also link http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com/

Read the customer reviews -- some may describe use in similar
situations. And since they include a toll free contact #, I'd call
them & ask -- I'd think they'd either have customer experience with
similar situations or engineers familiar with dealing with that kind of
problem.

[Kimba W. Lion]

Post by Xanth
I recently moved to a location where in my back yard ( about 2 miles or so)
there is a transmitter for a local FM station , so I can I hear on a reg
radio is that station. I wanted to take my starmate from my office an bring
it home along with the boombox. (did not come with a home docking station).

If you're picking up this nearby station all over the dial, it's because
your radio is overloading on the signal and generating all sorts of
spurious signals itself. Cheap radios will do this, so will some
not-so-cheap radios; Sony radios are terrible for this. If you want a
portable radio that can handle strong signals without overload, try a
GE Superadio or an Eton S-350DLS. For stereo receivers hooked up to an
external antenna, you will need an antenna attenuator to bring the
offending signal down to where the radio can handle it. This will weaken
all received signals, but without the spurious overload signals generated
inside the receiver, most will likely be listenable.

I live less than a mile from a 50,000 watt FM station, so I speak from my
own experience.

Post by Xanth
I checked TSS radio and found a whole house transmitter unit,would the
Sirius WHFMT work for me or would I need something else for the starmate to
plug into?

Depending on how badly your radios are into overload, your own transmitter
may be able to punch through, but even so your range will be very limited.
The best thing to do first is to find a good radio receiver, then get a
whole house transmitter.

[ASAAR]

Post by Xanth
I recently moved to a location where in my back yard ( about 2 miles or so)
there is a transmitter for a local FM station , so I can I hear on a reg
radio is that station. I wanted to take my starmate from my office an bring
it home along with the boombox. (did not come with a home docking station).
I checked TSS radio and found a whole house transmitter unit,would the
Sirius WHFMT work for me or would I need something else for the starmate to
plug into?

I know virtually nothing about TSS and the WHFMT, so I can't help
you there.

For a while I used to transmit FM in a similar situation. There
was a very strong FM transmitter only about one mile from my
apartment. This station was a real problem with many radios that
didn't have good selectivity, where it interfered with normal
reception of most stations from about 88 to 94 on the dial. It even
wiped out a few weak AM stations. With a good FM transmitter and
decent radios, I had no problems receiving Sirius programs
throughout the apartment. The FM transmitter was from C.Crane, also
plugged into a Sirius boombox, and the transmitter can be digitally
set to any FM frequency, and has a level control to help maximize
output without getting into distortion due to clipping. Nothing
sophisticated, just an LED that lights up near the danger point and
gets brighter as the signal is increased, either at the Sirius
receiver or at the FM transmitter.

The radios used varied, but decent ones usually were in the $100
to $200 range, most often from Sangean, Sony or Grundig/Aton. Some
cheaper radios may work well, but if you need to buy one, it might
be good to buy from a source that allows returns within a week, no
questions asked. If you want to record, it may help if the radio
also has a 'line out' in addition to the normal earphone jack.