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External antenna for the radio

Hi all great forum
I am going to make an external antenna for the radio in the atom , i know the headphones are the antenna when plugged in but i dont want to lug them around
i use the speakers to listen to the radio so... i would like to know which pin on the headphone jack is the antenna and is it the switch in the jack that tells the o2 that headphones are plugged in or does it sense the resistance of the headphones
i am just going to cut a piece of real fine wire at 1/4 wavelength and coil it up inside the cover i use

I was thinking of doing it too.
Well ... thats an idea I've been toying with too . . haven't got round to it but I guess its a process of elimination .... have pinouts from the plug and connect the wire to each in turn and see which gives best reception.
if it is a looped antennae then you need to connect to 2 pins ... this risks shorting out your atom circuitry .... a good way to avoid this is to use a Multimeter to test the included headphones and determine which pins are connected and which is not to avoid frying your circuits.
Good luck !
P.S. I'd be interested to know the results ....

Headphone(one of two) must be included in circuit of antenna or length of wire must be long.
lambda(length of wave) = f (frequency) / c (velocity of light) = 10^8(100 MHz) / 3*10^8(m/s) = 3 meters
Length of antenna may be lamda, lambda/n, where n = 2 or 4 (usually).
It's for information
Wire of antenna connects to one of signal pins: left or right channel in output for headphones.

i use the speakers to listen
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Click to collapse
you can use speakers while headphone is plugged in. actually you don't need additional anthena.

Wifi to FM

Hi Everyone
I use an i-trip to connect my Ipod to my car's FM. Is there any way of connecting my XDA 11i to FM using the Wifi connection? I am thinking of a box of tricks like the itrip but instead of plugging into the headphone socket the 'box of tricks' receives the info from the XDA via wifi and transmits FM to the car radio thus negating the need for any wires from th XDA
Anyone any ideas?
Barry

fm radio are analog signals based around 87.5 to 108.0 MHz
wifi are digital signals based around 2.4Ghz
so something needs to recieve the fm signal and stream it for the wifi of the device to recieve it
dont know if such an device myself though

Not exactly...
I ran across a device on the MCM Electronics website whichwould let you connect bluetooth audio transmissions, and would transmit them on different FM stations. Plugged into the ciggarette lighter, I believe. Had a device which could plug into home stereo using A/V jacks also. Be pretty cool to be able to play mp3s in the car with no wires! I'm going to order one of each!

My HTC HD2 mod-shortened FM antenna

EDIT: found out if you put in a regular 3.5mm headphone, the FM transmitter should also work guess you can do it any way you want!

so let me get this right, if you get a 3.5mm jack off some headphones, i can plug that in and the radio will work?

jonyid said:
so let me get this right, if you get a 3.5mm jack off some headphones, i can plug that in and the radio will work?
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Yeah, I just tried it on a Sony headset and an ipod headphone set and they both triggered the FM to work. I think the FM can be triggered with software to work but the reception will be crappy without extra wire coming out to catch the signal.

Great experiment ! Easy solution ! Can now uninstall all internet-radio apps and get my local radio station w/o headset.
Tx !

Personally I think it's just a gimmic to buy HTC's headset, don't fall for it guys! Use your own equipment that will sound better and fit more comfortably!

I could only pick up a couple of local stations like this,and we have a huge transmitter only a few miles away.
Went back to a full length set of headphones and did a rescan
and they were all back....
NW UK based.

The whole wire acts like an antenna. There is no dedicated antenna for FM. That's how FM works since it's short range and hig frequency unlike the older AM low freq signals which need a more specialised antenna.
For good FM reception, a good wire will suffice.

Nice i'll give it a try, but first thing i would like to know is how did you get your sound so high, been lookin every ware for a cab file or a hack, any info would be GR8

Looking for a smartwatch that works as music player (via bluetooth)

Hello to everybody,
I'm looking for a smartwatch that could be paired with a couple of bluetooth earphones, acting as music player and that could works without a phone.
I found a lot of cheap device that has a TF (microsd) slot and that could be paired with bluetooth earphones, and this is good.
But I would like to have also Radio FM and I was unable to find a device that could work with bluetooth earphones because all the devices I found with radio FM needs to have earphones jack inserted because they act as antenna.
So I started looking for a device that could run app without a phone, something like "tune in radio", that streams music via data connection, but I'm not sure if someone has already developed something similar, I've seen that Samsung has created the Gear S that has a 3G and wifi connection but I'm not sure of what are its capabilities, if it could work alone (without a phone) for the task I need.
Does anybody knows if there's something that could fit my needs? (or mp3 stand alone with radio FM via bluetooth or mp3 with undependent streaming radio app)

If I could throw a bone...
I carry an iPod Nano 6G. Relatively cheap, doesn't have Bluetooth, but it has been my goto for music. I paid $10 for a stainless steel band, it has a week battery life typically, and its just a good device overall. If you're willing to compromise Bluetooth, it can't break the bank.
Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk

Thank you, but I can't give up bluetooth, Nano was one of my first choice but it doesn't fit some of my requirements.
Probably some other little device like this small phone could be good. Does anybody knows it?

Basically any MTK6260 based smartwatch will do.
I listen to music at work straight from my GT08. Either via bt heaphones or via the sound system since it has a bluetooth receiver.

Yes but it also works with fm radio ?
All the reseller I contacted told me that in order to listen fm radio I have to plug earphones into the 3.5mm hole because earphones works as antenna.
Did you try to do it without

well, best I can think of is an actual headphone with built-in FM radio, kind of like the Sony MW1 - or if you prefer, there's sport-headphones with all kinds of options (SD card, FM radio, etc.) which don't require any kind of additional device/bluetooth/etc. and are pretty much just headphones with a wire between the two. Example: Sport Wireless+ by Jabra has FM radio.
problem is, that for FM radio you will always require SOME kind of antenna - if I remember correctly it has something to do with the wavelength of FM and needing a certain minimum antenna length to pick up the signal. In cases with no cable (e.g. big headphones (over-ear)), the antenna is built into the frame, while in-ear headphones require some kind of cable/wire (even if it's the one connecting the two headphones) to function as antenna.

I agree with you but I just received a pair of Plantronics beatfit bluetooth earphones, that are superbs in terms of quality, but that lack the embedded radio FM as Jabra ones!
About the antenna, it's strange, because I think that if it's possible to integrate it inside a couple of bluetooth earphones it should be possible to do the same also in an mp3 player or in a smartwatch, don't you think?

Caio said:
I agree with you but I just received a pair of Plantronics beatfit bluetooth earphones, that are superbs in terms of quality, but that lack the embedded radio FM as Jabra ones!
About the antenna, it's strange, because I think that if it's possible to integrate it inside a couple of bluetooth earphones it should be possible to do the same also in an mp3 player or in a smartwatch, don't you think?
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Problem is basically that the shorter the antenna (compared to the actual wavelength) the worse the signal (more or less, google "FM antenna length" - or anything similar - for the specifics involved). And considering that FM has MUCH larger wavelength than any other frequency used in a phone (iirc BT is more or less 12cm, FM is 3m), having an antenna small enough to fit in a watch or phone COULD work, but the signal would be really bad - so you'd have to make the receiver REALLY sensitive and probably use quite a bit of power.
Kinda like the difference between turning on a world clock radio with & without extending the antenna - it'll "work" with the antenna collapsed (and maybe even pick up a station or two if you're lucky), but it'll work much better with the antenna extended.
FYI: The larger the wavelength (and thus lower the frequency), the further the signal travels & less interference from objects in between - reason why in the middle of nowhere between trees and mountains you'll pick up an AM (approx. 1kHz, 100+m wavelength) signal much better than an FM signal (approx. 98kHz, 3m wavelength). Same reason as to why the lower mobile bands (700-800) are more suited for large area coverage than teh higher frequency ones (2100, etc.).
NOTE: You'll have to forgive me for any (probable) errors in specific numbers - it's been a LOT of years since I last used/checked them

addendum...
Ok, apparently a full-length set of headphones (to some extent) isn't even needed nowadays - basically phone makers being lazy. Check this thread over @ androidcentral.com about someone getting the radio (not through BT though) working by sticking a cut-off 3.5mm jack stub (of an old pair of headphones).
No test on how WELL it receives various stations, but at least something is picked up... now all you need to do is modify the ROM so it'll allow BT broadcast even with a 3.5mm jack plugged in :silly:
Or maybe (as suggested in the thread), plugging in a standalone BT transmitter into teh 3.5mm jack?

Xtrons D714A - Noise on FM

Hello, I have a noise on my Xtrons D714A when I turn on the FM radio.
If I open an app at the same time, the noise is gone for a short time. When the app has finished loading, the noise is there again. Even with strong local channels.
I think it's a software problem as reception is good when you open an app at the same time. I can't find a system update for my radio either.
Does anyone have a solution for me?

What is your car make and model? Does it have antenna amplifier? How looks an antenna connector which you used to connect into head unit?

Its a Ford Fiesta MK4 from 1997.
I once tested it with an antenna amplifier, but no improvement. The signal is perfect when an app is opened. So the hardware is OK. I think it's a software problem.

What kind of noise is this?? Is it static noise? And only on FM?
I believe that you have OEM amplified antenna, because of presence ANT remote wire
[pic source https://aamidis.blogspot.com/2018/09/ford-fiesta-mk4-radio-wiring-diagram.html]
And if you have good fm signal strength then it means that antenna amplifier is connected and works fine.
BUT
Amplifier also strengthens an static noise. OEM radio has filters to separate that.
Android units don't have such filters because they are designed to work with passive and active(amplified) antennas.
So to remove this noise you have to use something like on pic below, but do not connect blue wire, because you have your antenna amp powered already.
https://www.amazon.com/Antenna-Adapter-After-Market-Stereo-Booster/dp/B07M827R61
I had same issue in my Bmw, which got an active antenna [with external power source. Not by 'hot-wire']
After powering an antenna amplifier I received a lot more FM stations but static noise also increased (due to fact that there is voltage on antenna).
So i connected antenna plug to head unit with adapter like linked above (blue wire left disconnected). It has built-in filters to separate fm signal from static. And since then I receive clear FM sound.
The signal is perfect when an app is opened.
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I don't understand. How can it be perfect when you receive noise? Can you describe it more?

Thanks for the answer and the tips. I will get myself such a filter.
The following situation:
The FM signal has static noise. Now I start Google Maps and the noise disappears until Google Maps is completely open. This takes about 15 seconds, after which the noise comes back.