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iPhone radio interference

edited January 2012 in Technology
I've got a cassette adapter in my trusty old truck so I can listen to music on my iPhone while driving to the dump. The only problem that I have is from radio interference that is transmitted through my speakers. This is especially noticeable when using Edge or Bluetooth. It's less noticeable when using 3G. Since there is plenty of Edge remaining in my neck of the woods, it would be nice to somehow filter out this interference.

After spending some time with Google, I have yet to find a solution to this problem. Does anyone know if there is a filter I can purchase - or some other solution to this problem? I was thinking that there ought to be a filter between the iPhone and the input line to the cassette adapter. When I use my phone in the aux port in my car, or connect with my car's bluetooth system, I have no interference. This leads me to believe that it has something to do specifically with the cassette adapter. My concern is that it's not the input line, but the magnetic nature of the cassette player itself. If this is the case, am I SOL?

Comments

  • There's really only one solution, and I know you aren't going to like it.

    Kenwood KDC248U In-Dash Head Unit Car Stereo
  • I finally found some threads that discuss this - although there is no great solution out there. The best one I found was to get an anti static bag. It's far from ideal, but I'm okay with it. Ideally, though, I would like a solution that allows me to actually use the phone rather than place it in a bag.
  • Like FM/AM radio interference or cell radio interference?
  • After I started using 3G, my radio interference stopped.
  • After I started using 3G, my radio interference stopped.
    I still get it very, very occasionally, but only when my phone is sitting in the little spot in the dash right below the radio, which it very rarely is - since it falls out as soon as I do anything silly, like accelerating normally.

    I don't think it's the magnetic nature of the tape player, but simply that it's not as well shielded as most modern stereos, as back when tape players were still the common thing for car stereos, Mobile phones were much less common, thus, they didn't shield them quite as well to prevent exactly what's happening here.

  • I'm pretty sure FM signals are much higher wattage than 3g, like milliwatts versus kilowatts.
  • Faraday cage + wired remote?
  • Sitting the phone on an anti-static bag should get rid of most of it.
  • I finally found some threads that discuss this - although there is no great solution out there. The best one I found was to get an anti static bag. It's far from ideal, but I'm okay with it. Ideally, though, I would like a solution that allows me to actually use the phone rather than place it in a bag.
    You do realize that the phone will try to reconnect with a base station if the bag actually works and shields it from the outside. This means it will pump up the output wattage of its transmission to the maximum and stay there untill it connects.

    Say goodbye to your battery life that way.

    If you are willing to foregoe the phone functionality why not just put it in airplane mode?

  • You don't put it in the bag, you put it on the bag.
  • you get a small iPod stereo system for like $40 and duct tape it to your dashboard.
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