micky wrote
About 14 months ago, I bought something that looked like any of the
links below. It worked great, to let me listen to computer audio (such
as web-radio) anywhere in the house or even on the car radio. I used it
in my bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen, on different FM radios.
Left it on most of the time. Last week it broke.
Any chance I can repair it?
Yes, its possible if it's a simple fault and it looks like it might be.
What should I do?
Work out what broke and see if its feasible to fix.
I've turned it off for a day, then unplugged it for a day.
Changed frequencies, adjusted volume, replugged input.
If I open it up, will I see burn marks somewhere?
Unlikely to be that given that it does still work a bit.
Cold solder?
Unlikely to be that and whacking it to see if that changes
anything is likely to see the volume vary if its that.
Is there something I'm missing? (I always feel anything can be fixed.)
(There IS one thing I missed. Do y ou know what it is?
But I just checked and it's not the problem.)
With the input volume all the way up, and the volume of the receiving
radio all the way up, the radio output is about 1/10th or 1/20th what
it used to be. Just enough to know that something is happening.
Might be that the antenna it uses has come adrift.
Or its more like that the RF amplifier has died.
Screen on the xmitter still lights up and displays the xmission frequency.
I'd never tried a mike before, and it's conceivable it never
worked, but now, when I plug in a mike and turn its volume
all the way up, stand halfway between the transmitter and
the radio and yell, no trace of my voice from the radio.
It never felt hot.
They stopped selling my exact thing only 6 months later,
You may find someone still flogging one, old stock.
but i'm sure the warranty was for no more than a year.
This is the same brand but when I click on my previous order,
it says "We couldn't find that page." and it doesn't go he
https://www.amazon.com/Signstek-ST-0...Y3H/ref=sr_1_5
$80 - 10. Still the cheapest. Is that the reason it broke after only 15
months?
Unlikely, much more likely just not as good a case etc.
(Mine was called "Signstek 0.5 W 05B Dual Mode Long Range Stereo
Broadcast Home FM Transmitter with Antenna and Free Audio Cable
Fashion Black " Return window closed on Mar 4, 2020;
Product support window closed on Aug 1, 2020)
It gets 4.6 stars on 479 ratings!
Not unusual.
90% give it 4 or 5 stars, but so would I have for the first year.
Only one review said it worked at first and failed (after 2 months).
None of the other complaints applied to mine.
Do I have an alternative than buying basically the same thing again?
Yes, bluetooth is now more common, but that would
need a change in all the devices you listen to now.
And you can get smart speakers now which allow you
to play that stuff anywhere around your house, but with
one of them in the locations you need to hear it. Not
so cheap with your multiple locations with the better
audio systems.
You can see that the first 3 are all the same in
terms of size, shape, controls, jacks, antenna.
https://www.amazon.com/Transmitter-A...5XS/ref=sr_1_3
$90
https://www.amazon.com/Retekess-Wire...ef=sr_1_2_sspa
$80 This makes reference to an AUX jack, but from the pictures, plainly
they just mean the mike jack. That's fine.
https://www.amazon.com/Transmitter-7..._thematic_sspa
$99 - 20%
To get back some of the money I lost on the broken one,
would it be wrong for me to start my own church?
Yep, that arsehole of a god would not be pleased and
is sure to infect you with the virus or give you cancer.
After all, he just yawned when his chosen people stopped
grovelling hard enough and let them get gassed and cremated.
https://www.amazon.com/0-5-Fail-Safe...f=sr_1_12_sspa
$120 Mine was cheaper, I guess because it had no RCA inputs, which I
have no use for.
There are more, there were more at the time. Did I make a mistake
by buying one that was $10 less than tthe others. $65 instead of 75?
Nope, it wouldn't have made any difference to the failure rate.
This brings up the same question that I raised with the
auto-vacuum-pressure tester, one of which was 33% higher
than the other which appeared identical in every way. Are
ttwo such things the same thing with different pricing,
Often.
or do they manage to imitate a good
one and yet make the imitation junky?
Sometimes.
I know t here is no single rule but what is your experience?
I normally buy the cheapest but not always, particularly
with smartphones, computers, power tools etc.
Functionally similar, based on knobs and jacks, but knobs are closer
to the ends of the panel, it's silver instead of black, and it's twice the
price $200. Does that mean it will last twice as long, 10x as long?
https://www.amazon.com/Fail-Safe-Ran...ef=sr_1_1_sspa
Corse it will last 100 times as long and will
be working fine long after you are dead.
https://www.amazon.com/Transmitter-B..._t2_B01N4Q9GCF
$160