How do you manually tune the FM radio?

[Tunaman]

Please excuse a newbe but I would appreciate some help.My MP3 connected to my Prius by a built in plug into the output/earphones jack and then would play thru the cars sound system.I was told the S does not have that function.The only other way I know to play music from an MP3 in the car is an adapter that plugs into the lighter socket-then you tune the cars FM radio to a blank/empty frequency-dial that station into the adapter and your MP3 plays thru the cars FM radio.
Problem is I cannot figure out how to manually tune the S FM radio.The system spins from active station to the next active station skipping the empty ones.
Is there any way to tune the S FM radio to a blank station?

 

[bollar]

Please excuse a newbe but I would appreciate some help.My MP3 connected to my Prius by a built in plug into the output/earphones jack and then would play thru the cars sound system.I was told the S does not have that function.The only other way I know to play music from an MP3 in the car is an adapter that plugs into the lighter socket-then you tune the cars FM radio to a blank/empty frequency-dial that station into the adapter and your MP3 plays thru the cars FM radio.
Problem is I cannot figure out how to manually tune the S FM radio.The system spins from active station to the next active station skipping the empty ones.
Is there any way to tune the S FM radio to a blank station?

If your MP3 player is transmitting, it shouldn't be "empty." It's possible that the Tesla's antenna isn't close enough to the MP3 player's transmitter. What kind of player do you have? Maybe there are other alternatives?

 

[ggr]

Please excuse a newbe but I would appreciate some help.My MP3 connected to my Prius by a built in plug into the output/earphones jack and then would play thru the cars sound system.I was told the S does not have that function.The only other way I know to play music from an MP3 in the car is an adapter that plugs into the lighter socket-then you tune the cars FM radio to a blank/empty frequency-dial that station into the adapter and your MP3 plays thru the cars FM radio.
Problem is I cannot figure out how to manually tune the S FM radio.The system spins from active station to the next active station skipping the empty ones.
Is there any way to tune the S FM radio to a blank station?

The bar at the bottom of the media screen slides left and right to allow you to manually tune. It is intuitive once you've done it but not obvious.

However a much better solution is for you to get a free USB thumb drive (or buy one), fill it with the MP3s, and plug it in just under the armrest. Then you can access it directly.

 

[gregincal]

You're really much better off transferring your MP3's to a memory stick and playing them through the USB port. Memory sticks are really cheap and there will be no comparison in sound quality.

 

[XrstalLens]

Just drag the radio tuning dial left or right with your finger to tune to whatever station you want.

However, I agree that a USB stick is definitely your best option.

 

[AudubonB]

I swear to the Great God Denali that we are ready to provide a free cabin night....aw heck, 2 or 3 nights.... to whoever is willing to come here and teach us how to get all our favorite CDs into a Tesla-playable form. 'Course, that pre-supposes you're going to be coming to Alaska anyway....

If this sounds bizarre, that may be because I didn't talk about our cassettes...or LPs.... This Tesla is a bit of a technological hyper-leap for me. So when I read about "MP4", "FLAC", "ALAC", and such, I feel more comfortable translating Shona into Ndebele.

 

[brianman]

I swear to the Great God Denali that we are ready to provide a free cabin night....aw heck, 2 or 3 nights.... to whoever is willing to come here and teach us how to get all our favorite CDs into a Tesla-playable form. 'Course, that pre-supposes you're going to be coming to Alaska anyway....

If this sounds bizarre, that may be because I didn't talk about our cassettes...or LPs.... This Tesla is a bit of a technological hyper-leap for me. So when I read about "MP4", "FLAC", "ALAC", and such, I feel more comfortable translating Shona into Ndebele.

If you have a desktop, is it a Mac/PC/other?
If you have a laptop, is it a Mac/PC/other?
If you have a tablet with a USB connector, what flavor is it?

 

[neroden]

I know how to rip CDs to FLAC under Linux (using K3B), but only under Linux....

 

[AudubonB]

If you have a desktop, is it a Mac/PC/other?
If you have a laptop, is it a Mac/PC/other?
If you have a tablet with a USB connector, what flavor is it?

Mac laptops

 

[JohnQ]

Don't give up on those cassettes or LPs. I have a philosophical problem with relicensing music every time a new format comes out so I digitized all of my old albums. Took quite a while (it basically records to your computer in real time), then you have to create tracks for each cut so the album isn't one big track, and the quality is just okay.

If you are prepared to commit the time then there's plenty of software out there to accomplish this.

 

[JPP]

AudobonB--use a CD drive (your Mac laptops probably don't have one any more, so you can use an external USB one) to 'rip' your CDs into iTunes on your Mac. This is nice to do anyway as it puts all of your CD collection into your Mac. Once done, consider paying the $25/year for Apple Match, a service that puts your music into Apple's Cloud. Nice thing about this is you can then get your music on your iPhone/iPad from the cloud. Now, to easily get all of your music from your iTunes library into your Model S, buy a small USB flash/jump drive (like this: Amazon.com: SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 32GB USB Flash Drive (SDCZ33-032G-B35): Computers Accessories). Follow these directions from Apple for how to copy your music library onto an external drive (your USB drive):

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

Install the jump drive into 1 of the 2 USB ports on the center console of your Model S. When the car boots up, go to Media and Browse. One of the items should be your USB drive. You can see and sort music by artist, title, etc.

Enjoy!

 

[brianman]

I swear to the Great God Denali that we are ready to provide a free cabin night....aw heck, 2 or 3 nights.... to whoever is willing to come here and teach us how to get all our favorite CDs into a Tesla-playable form. 'Course, that pre-supposes you're going to be coming to Alaska anyway....

If this sounds bizarre, that may be because I didn't talk about our cassettes...or LPs.... This Tesla is a bit of a technological hyper-leap for me. So when I read about "MP4", "FLAC", "ALAC", and such, I feel more comfortable translating Shona into Ndebele.

I'm useless with Mac laptops. Can someone else field this?

 

[AudubonB]

Thanks, you two. I'll bookmark this page and try to figure out JPP's steps.
The MacBook Air does not have a CD drive, as you (JPP) wrote; we do have an external that we use for, eg, watching movies. Will have to determine if it also can read a CD.

 

[bollar]

Thanks, you two. I'll bookmark this page and try to figure out JPP's steps.
The MacBook Air does not have a CD drive, as you (JPP) wrote; we do have an external that we use for, eg, watching movies. Will have to determine if it also can read a CD.

If you're using the Apple USB drive, it most certainly can read CDs. Just open iTunes, and stick a CD into the DVD drive and it will copy away.

I used to do a lot of business in Fairbanks and Anchorage and it would have been my pleasure to drop by and help. For now, I'll have to help from afar.

 

[Tunaman]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help
When I connected my MP3 via the USB connection the system could not read it and tesla told me it is not supported.
Not sure why it can read a memory stick via a transfer but not the San Disk device it self directly?
I'm strictly a windows person who needs the "Dummies" book to get things done.Is there such a thing for the Tesla so I don't have to reveal my ignorance?
My Prius came with a 500 page manual and my Canon 260 Sure Shot camera has 300 pages + I can look at on line to remember how do do all the stuff.
The two slim "quick start" booklets that came with the car were not much help.Is there anything like that for the Tesla? And if not why not? seems to me to be essential?

 

[AudubonB]

Tunaman, what a fantastic idea!

The best writers on this forum ought to gang together and craft just that: Tesla for Dummies​. It'd be spectacular!

 

[brianman]

Tunaman, what a fantastic idea!
The best writers on this forum ought to gang together and craft just that: Tesla for Dummies​. It'd be spectacular!

For the financially minded...

I'd buy a half-dozen copies if the price is reasonable.

 

[gregincal]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help
When I connected my MP3 via the USB connection the system could not read it and tesla told me it is not supported.
Not sure why it can read a memory stick via a transfer but not the San Disk device it self directly?
I'm strictly a windows person who needs the "Dummies" book to get things done.Is there such a thing for the Tesla so I don't have to reveal my ignorance?
My Prius came with a 500 page manual and my Canon 260 Sure Shot camera has 300 pages + I can look at on line to remember how do do all the stuff.
The two slim "quick start" booklets that came with the car were not much help.Is there anything like that for the Tesla? And if not why not? seems to me to be essential?

It's technical, but an MP3 player and a USB flash drive don't necessarily communicate the same way over the usb port. You need something that supports the mass storage protocol, and your MP3 player is talking the media transfer protocol. You probably can configure your MP3 player to use MSC, in which case the Model S should recognize it when you plugged it in via the USB port. Most people just get a flash drive, because when you've just bought a car that costs at least $65,000 spending an extra $20 on a flash drive shouldn't be an issue.