LAC Using an FM Transmitter/MP3 Player: Not bad!

[Alex Kowalski]

I thought I'd share this with the List.  Since my '87 still has a functional
Rothenberg 10-speaker system that I don't intend to replace until this
summer, I decided to spring for a new MP3 player with a built-in FM
transmitter for listening through the head unit.   I didn't want to spend a
fortune, but fumbling around with portable CD players and tape deck adaptors
was getting old.  Plus, my old MP3 player was feeling a little constrained
with only 128MB of memory.

I bought a Lexar LDP-600 player with 1GB of extra memory from CompUSA, for a
total of 1.5GB of storage.  This unit is fairly unique because the FM
transmitter is built in.  It also functions as a USB drive (PC or Macintosh)
and charges its internal li-ion battery when attached to a USB port.
It includes a small antenna (about 6" long, 3" collapsed) that plugs into
the headphone jack, or you can simply use the headphone cords as an
antenna.  That supposedly gives you a little boost in signal strength but is
a little messier.   Oh, and it has 7 backlight colors.

I taped a couple pieces of velcro to the back of this unit and quickly
mounted it to the dashboard across the unoccupied switch locations.  Turned
it on and let it autoscan for a station and presto -- Billy Preston is
playing through my Rothenberg!  [Nothin' from Nothin' Leaves Nothin' -- Can
you FEEL it!?!?!]  The sound quality is as good or better than any strong,
clear FM radio station in my area.  Using the headphones as an antenna (I
just let the wires drape down at first, but I'll find a better way to route
them) the noise level is very, very low and frankly the stereo sounds better
than it ever has while I've owned the car.  And now I have my playlists at
my fingertips.

Just a datapoint, but I like it.  Until I upgrade the stereo on this car,
this was a big improvement.

Alex Kowalski
'86 5KCSTQ
'87 5KCSTQ with Billy Preston coming through loud and clear.