Looking for a 6 volt FM modulator....

[marc500]

...anyone ever come across one before? It would mean you could plug an ipod into the original 356 radio via its arial. There are plenty of cheap 12 volt units out there but it would make life real easy if a 6 volt unit existed...

[impmad2000]

Try buying a 12V one and seeing if it works !
Much of this stuff is regulated onboard to much less that 6V by internal regulators, with the internal circuitry operating at 5V or 3.3Volts. As long as the input is greater than the final regulated voltage you'll be fine. It may not work whilst cranking but I'm sure this is no big deal. I very much doubt you'll do it any harm anyway !
Cheers
Tim

[marc500]

ah that's interesting! I just plugged in a nokia phone charger and it started charging up my phone just fine...but further experimenting showed it doesn't charge an ipod via a firewire cable... maybe it'd work via usb but I don't have a 12v adapter to hand....but I am going to order a cheap FM modulator now and keep finger's crossed....if it works then I might even stick some decent speakers in.

[marc500]

...update: for anyone interested, a standard firewire connection puts out 12v while a usb connection puts out 5v. So a basic usb adaptor plugged into the ciggy lighter on a 6v 356 should work.

[marc500]

final update: I bought a cheap JVC 12volt FM modulator and it works just fine with 6volt. So I know have an ipod running through the original radio via the aerial cable. Nice. & cost me less than £20 for bits.

[40 scout]

Hi Marc

Where did you order the modulator please?

I want to do a similar thing with my 356, I've just removed the stero to have it converted with an I pod lead but the bloke I had lined up dosnt want to do a brand he's not worked on before ( mines Phillips , made in Holland - 1960's)

How are you charging the I pod - via the ciggy lighter?

I use my Garmin sat nav in the ciggy lighter at 6 volt no problem at all.

Cheers

Steve

[marc500]

I got my modulator off of ebay.... search for 'JVC modulator' and loads come up... the model number is KS-IF200. This works fine with 6volts. I paid about £10 plus postage.
To charge the ipod, I bought from Amazon a 'Belkin Auto Kit for Ipod with Dock Connector'. I got one for about £6 including postage. This charges the ipod fine with 6 volts, plus it has a line-out at the charger end for plugging in the aux-in from the modulator....I went with this because I plan to fix the charger end to a new charger point under the dash. This would mean everything except the Ipod and the lead attached to it could be hidden out the way. But for now I have it in the dash ciggy lighter and it works fine (well sort of, see below). I also put in new speakers from Maplin, which were about £15, and look much better than the crappy aftermarket ones I got with the car, although one day I'd like to fit the original oval stlye speakers.

That's the theory....! In practice I've encoutered a few gremlins I haven't yet resolved: 1) when fiddling around I realised my radio was only outputting to one channel, and both speakers were wired to it, which won't help...2) I can't get enough volume before the sound breaks up from either radio or the ipod to actually hear it above the roar of my engine [whohooow!] and 3) my stock ciggy light in the dash won't reliably hold the charger in place. My underdash idea would fix number 3 and I'm planning to find someone who might be able to service the radio or else I might take it apart myself and see what I can find.

Any experts out there who know about the stock radios... think mine's a Stuggart II model but its too cold right now to go out and check!

Cheers Marc.

[middlefour1]

Have you seen this:-

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/produc ... oogle.html

Looks like a good bit of kit.

[40 scout]

Hi

Cheers for the replies - I bought a jvc modulator - turned up fine - then I took a closer look at my car radio - Long and medium wave only - no FM - Doh!!

So I'm looking for a fm unit suitable. ......., anyone???

Cheers

steve