Review of the Music Gear F2516 FM Transmitter

Barry, great! Looking forward to the result of your tests.

Only thing is that it only has 4 channels.  Could be a 4 channel Scoche in another case.  I'd like to know how far this thing goes and rather or not extending the audio cable makes a difference as well.  Again all 4 channels seem to be in the lower end just like the Maxell P-13 did as well.

Ok guys and gals,
I have done a quick review of this small (about the size of a Bic lighter) fm transmitter from Family Dollar Store.

It was about $6.00 and from what i tell in the package it wasn't much of a transmitter but I gave it a shot anyway just to have something to tinker with. I really didn't expect much and now i know my suspicions were true.

The Music Gear F2516 come in a bubble wrap package that takes a sharp knife or scissors to cut into, once you get the transmitter out you realize just how small it is. And yes, it is sligthly larger than a Bic Lighter and probably less than 2 ounces. There is a 3-4 inch stereo headphone plug, a power on/off button, five l.e.d lights (one for power in red and 4 in green indicating what frequency you're transmitting on.

You are going to have a hard time using this thing in an area that is already congested with high power fm signals since it only has 4 channels to choose from, 88.1 , 88.5, 88.9 and 89.3.

First off let me warn you, 88.1 broadcasts off frequency at 88.2 Mhz, not sure why and yes I tested this with 3 digital radio's, they all showed this thing was not right on 88.1 Mhz.
That is not a problem though since the rules state part 15 fm is 88 to 108 Mhz and that includes odd channels.

The sound quality?
A bit flat sounding maybe even bass heavy depending on the music or programming you feed it.
It also does not transmit in Stereo, or at least mine does not. It is possible i have a defective transmitter.

I have included a sound recording that starts with dead air to show whether it had a noisy signal without audio present, i hear something in there but it was not loud enough to be annoying. It will provide full quieting at 10 feet or less. Furthest I tested this transmitters coverage was about 50 feet from the house on a factory car stereo parked under our car port with a metal roof. It was noisy but noisy enough to cause much ear fatigue.

In the house full quieting with no audio, the same with audio,
It can take some volume before distortion starts to become noticeable, i did record the first part of the audio file just at the verge of overdriving the transmitter with the Orban Optimod 8400 setting on Stereo Tool, the last part of the recording I switched off the processing and used it in a setting that the average joe would use and i pushed the modulation to distort.

There is no pre-emphasis that i can tell and as i said it transmits in mono.
The transmitter takes 2 AAA batteries or can be powered by a 12 volt adaptor in the car.
I bought this for $6 dollars at the Family Dollar store so stores in your area may or may not have it.

There is a questionable fcc id tag on it, FCC Indentifier Y36F2516 which is a thin silver sticker but does not say this Device must not cause interference , this device must accept intereference blah blah.
Which is why i say the sticker is questionable, running a scanner in the aircraft band showed no unwanted spurs and below 88 mhz was clean too.

If someone wanted to tinker with this little modulator they probably could improve on it or just make it a hot mess of parts. Overall, it does provide a nice signal in a large house like mine and out to the yard.

Thumbs Down 1. the audio is flat with no pre-emphasis  2. transmits in mono 3. only 4 channels 5. 88.1 is 88.2 mhz
Battery Life...Unknown
Small, like a Bic Lighter
Cheap
See pictures and listen to off air recording to make your decision about buying this little transmitter.
Thanks
EDIT : There is some documents with the transmitter but you need an electron microscope to read them

Audio Clip
Pictures scroll to bottom of page

Barry Sallade
Blue Bucket Radio
The Little Things Show

If it was Stereo it would be better than the Belkin Tunecast.  However even in Mono it sounds better than the Belkin.  no SSS sound on S words.  Its a doable transmitter for someone who just wants to get music to their car Stereo or transmit say the ALPB meeting to your Radio's while you take a nature call.  The fact that it only has 4 frequencies and its off frequency on 88.1 is a really bad minus.

It is so strange to leave out a pre-emphasis circuit, which only consists of a small capacitor and a resistor. Without it the sound is very dull, lacking all highs as if a treble control was turned all the way off.

Hey, it's only six bucks.m

Most listeners who have iPods or Smartphones who want to plug them into the transmitter would run their EQ to make it sound better anyway.  At least the SSS sound doesn't happen that is something you can't equalize out.  I wonder if they have a Stereo version of the same transmitter.  They may have left it Mono thinking you would get more range.  There is a lot of talk on how FM Mono goes further than Stereo.  Some have tested the theory and found little difference and some have found a big difference.  For $6 they probably wanted to concentrate on a clean Mono signal rather than a dirty Stereo signal like the Belkin Tuncast.

No good that the stations are not accurate and being received off the intended frequency. Will cause interference to adjacent commercial stations. If you have a digital tuner that doesn't tune in .1mhz increments like a car or sangean radio where the tuning is at the station locations....every .2mhz at odd numbers you won't get the reception.

Mark

Mono FM transmission is a simple circuit compared to stereo which requires plenty of sophisticated circuitry, so I can see why leaving stereo out of the design keeps the price low.

I can understand that one.  Would have even recommended it for my Daughter in law if it were not for the off frequency issue and the few channels it offers.  I'm thinking the company make have a slight upgrade to at least a Digital Transmitter.  Even if that were Mono if the thing was on frequency I'd recommend it to Wendy to use instead of that horrible sound FM transmitter she has now.  I mean its all distorted ans SSS sounding all the time.  Can't understand a thing that comes out of her Belkin when we ride to do erronds.  She could use 96.3 Mhz if AM does as good as I think it will for my anyway.  I no longer use it and in the daytime I don't think she'll interfere with anything.

This might be a defect.
I have not opened this transmitter up and probably won't either.
The fact that it is off frequency on one channel gives me the impression that the one i bought may be defective in some way. There seems to be a short in the audio cable, i moved the transmitter around on my desk a few minutes ago and the sound dropped out to a whisper, moving it again caused the audio to come back.

I might, not sure yet, but i might buy another just to compare performance. That is one way to see if this unit is defective or if all of these transmitters are set up the same way.

As for range, my yard is 3/4 of an acre and is more long than it is deep. I am in a valley on a one lane road surrounded by mountain ridges as high as 1200 feet in some places and yet this little modulator manages to cover close to 800 feet before dropping out of the receivers detection limits.

My 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee still has the factory radio in it, the model is called RAZ Chrysler radio and sports AM Stereo/Fm Stereo, Cassette and CD player. It is very sensitive and sounds great when listening to WLS at night in glorious c-quam. In Hazard ,Ky there is a 3 watt LPFM that does rather well even with the Jeep parked under the metal carport here at the Radio Ranch. I have noticed that this particular car stereo isnt too fond of mono fm signals and tends to make the received signal sound a bit noisey.

I have not tested this thing with a portable radio and i probably won't have time to as i have too many irons in the fire as it is. Using my wifes camera i was able to take a picture of the document that states this device must accept interference, must not cause interference, so that was in there along with the usual spiel about not modifiying the unit or if the batteries are weak the light goes out and the signal will become unlistenable.

What got me was the line about keeping it close to a radio, not really a problem if you are at home but could be a problem when used in a car. Unless some signal follows the path of the vehicle wiring, again it went 800 feet on a car stereo while the transmitter was sitting on my desk in the house, it doesn't look like it would have any trouble if used inside of a car or truck.

Barry Sallade
Blue Bucket Radio
The Little Things Radio Show

800 Ft is still further than my SainSonic gets out on Low power.  It would be good enough to reach my yard from inside the house and a few doors down.  If only it had the channels.  At $6 it may be worth seeing of the other TX's have the same issue.  Who knows would it be funny if the second one sounded Better and you found it to be Stereo which I doubt.

"Music Gear" is a commercial trade name for a batch of small accessories for the modern electronic musician but I cannot find mention of their FM transmitter, so it might be out of production.

Thanks to Blue Bucket Radio we now have some idea what it's like.

I think maybe this product is being sold on the cheap to move old stock from a company that is probably dead in the water.
I tried the email address as a web url with no luck. There is also a support phone number but i didn't try it.
www.esicellular.com

Also I thought I added a picture of the documents above in one of my post's, guess not.
Anyway , here they are at photobucket.com

Feel free to browse my other photo's, although they have nothing to do with part 15. 🙂
Barry Sallade
Blue Bucket Radio
The Little Things Show