Any suggestions on how to clear up static using the Zune radio transmitter?

Question

I have my new Zune and I just got the radio transmitter that allows me to listen to my Zune in the car but every station I set it on has static in the background. Sometimes its worse on different stations in different areas.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Welcome to the problematic world of short-range FM transmission. If you live in an urban area, they're pretty much worthless for driving because changing the location and orientation of your car is often enough to affect the reception of incoming signals, and they're generally going to be powerful enough to wash out the signal from your tiny little transmitter. I got a removable Griffin iTrip for my iPod, but I only use that at work, where I can set the iPod down right next to the radio and adjust the positioning to get a clear signal. I also happen to have lucked out in that the default station (88.1?) is in a non-contested band, so I never have to actually set my iTrip to a different station.

Best advice is to skip the use of the FM transmitter, especially in cars, and use a hard-wired approach like a line-in jack, a USB port, a casette adapter, or even digging into the back of the stereo unit to see if there's a pair of RCA inputs that you can hook up through.