FM Radio Solution for Upgraded MCU2 cars?

[kmob07]

Hi - I have tried to digest the hundreds of posts in the MCU2 upgrade threads but can’t quite find any solid answers here...

Has anyone found an FM tuner of any kind that can broadcast over Bluetooth to our car stereo? I assume it would need to pair with our car as a phone connection to play thru the built-in audio player?

 

[murphyS90D]

Only one device can be paired to the car at a time. You would either have a phone or FM but not both at the same time.
I have two bluetooth transmitters that are supposed to be able to connect any audio device via bluetooth. Neither one of them is seen by the car.

 

[kmob07]

On the one device issue, for my personal use case, i think that’s fine. Honestly i very rarely care about FM - but we do need it when we go to the drive-in movie (the only kind we go to anymore....). So if i had something that could pair to the car, I’d be happy to disconnect my phone when in-use. I just can’t find anything on the market that the car can see at all!

My backup plan is a bloody 1990 era boom-box!

 

[cypho]

Only one device can be paired to the car at a time. You would either have a phone or FM but not both at the same time.
I have two bluetooth transmitters that are supposed to be able to connect any audio device via bluetooth. Neither one of them is seen by the car.

Or you could just use a phone with an FM tuner.

 

[kmob07]

Or you could just use a phone with an FM tuner.

Do you have any models you can recommend? Mine (iPhones) don’t seem to do so.

 

[cypho]

Do you have any models you can recommend? Mine (iPhones) don’t seem to do so.

How about the samsung S9? It is a few years old now so you can probably find one without breaking the bank.

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus now have support for FM radio.

 

[bob_p]

Trying to listen to a drive-in movie using a Bluetooth radio will probably not work well, since the audio will likely be slightly behind the video.

This happens when you pair a tablet playing video to the media player via Bluetooth.

If the video player has an audio delay setting you can fix this.

That probably wouldn't be possible with an FM broadcast routed through Bluetooth.

Really wish there was an option to add radio support to the MCU2 upgrade...

 

[kmob07]

Thanks for all of the creative ideas here - I’ll be ordering an old galaxy S9 to try out - but for this weekend it’ll be a battery powered boom box. I’ll pass on here how effectively the S9 works over Bluetooth - i suspect the audio/video sync may be impossible to fix though (i can’t delay the video at a drive-in

 

[cduzz]

Even just an analog input and a headphone jack into the amplifier would work for solving this.

Really silly that they can't just figure out how to bridge the gap.

 

[Tesomega]

Thanks for all of the creative ideas here - I’ll be ordering an old galaxy S9 to try out - but for this weekend it’ll be a battery powered boom box. I’ll pass on here how effectively the S9 works over Bluetooth - i suspect the audio/video sync may be impossible to fix though (i can’t delay the video at a drive-in

I tried this out, I have a S9 and a Note 9, both of them require headphones to be plugged in and NextRadio does not support broadcast over Bluetooth (Something to do with Analog to digital conversion).

 

[cduzz]

Yeah, I think that it is pretty hopeless to find a device that does FM and spits out Bluetooth, at least a device that's suitable to operate in a car. At best I'd imagine either a random thing that may or may not work from aliexpress or someone makering a thing using a couple reference devices and a 3d printed box to hold it all.



I would really reiterate that if someone has an oscilloscope and one of these setup on a test bench I'm sure you could find traces / test points to tap into to introduce an analog input audio source.

 

[fanofanne]

I know this option works.

Tesla confirms infotainment system upgradeability from MCU1 to MCU2 for $2500

 

[Barry]

One issue with using a cell phone or some other device inside the car is the metallic coating on the windshield. I know this is was the case in 2015 and earlier cars, but don't know when they switched to "conventional" glass.

The problem is the windshield is a shield to radio frequencies, so the car is, in essence, a Faraday cage. Without a connection to an antenna outside the cabin, reception will be extremely poor.

 

[EV-Fixme]

Think Motorola G series phones have FM, you have to connect a headset as antenna.

 

[fanofanne]

One issue with using a cell phone or some other device inside the car is the metallic coating on the windshield. I know this is was the case in 2015 and earlier cars, but don't know when they switched to "conventional" glass.

The problem is the windshield is a shield to radio frequencies, so the car is, in essence, a Faraday cage. Without a connection to an antenna outside the cabin, reception will be extremely poor.

Maybe I will try my SDR device on a longer drive and see how it works. I know in limited testing (in the garage) it seemed to perform adequately.

 

[murphyS90D]

I know this option works.

Tesla confirms infotainment system upgradeability from MCU1 to MCU2 for $2500

This option does not work. When upgrading from MCU1 to MCU2 AM, FM, and XM radio are lost. The upgrade does not include the digital tuner that MCU2 needs to replace the analog tuner that MCU1 uses.

 

[fanofanne]

This option does not work. When upgrading from MCU1 to MCU2 AM, FM, and XM radio are lost. The upgrade does not include the digital tuner that MCU2 needs to replace the analog tuner that MCU1 uses.

Did you read my post at all (click on the link) ? Posting here again.

I found a way to get FM and AM in the car using my android phone (Pixel 3 XL) and this device https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GDN1T4S/ and this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=marto.androsdr2&hl=en_US. - RTL-SDR based.

Obviously not user friendly. I did research other alternatives, but since Tesla doesn't allow audio bluetooth devices to connect, and only allows phones to connect, we seem to have limited options. (The Sirius XM bluetooth dock is the only one i learnt that connects - apparently connects as a phone).

I don't have MCU2 yet (scheduled for next Monday). I figured I'd share since folks were looking for solutions for this problem. Not sure if i have a real need myself for this route, and i don't have info yet on real life usage (w.r.t distortion/signal etc.)

 

[Tesomega]

Did you read my post at all (click on the link) ? Posting here again.

Will this work if you were to use with a USB Hub?

 

[fanofanne]

Will this work if you were to use with a USB Hub?

I created a small video. My first youtube video, so apologies for the production quality in advance

 

[ucmndd]

The problem is the windshield is a shield to radio frequencies, so the car is, in essence, a Faraday cage. Without a connection to an antenna outside the cabin, reception will be extremely poor.

Then how is everyone using their cell phones inside the car?