It’s no secret that most radio stations bite thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (really the Clear Channel Power Grab Act) and Austin is sadly no exception. Sure KUT, the Austin NPR station, is great but only when there’s a news program or interview you want to hear, the music programs are a crapshoot. The alleged Alternative station 101X has made some improvements yet it’s still predominantly filled with awful Emo, Nu-Metal and Pseduo Rap and/or Punk. And don’t even get me started on Bob FM (the designation Austin got for the new Bob/Fred/Jack format Oldies stations have).
As of Thursday, it’s no longer a problem! I’ve been itching to get my iPod to play in my car effectively. First, I tried one of those cassette adapters. Blech! Not only are the heads on my tape deck dirty, it’s old and the sound was pretty tinny. Second, I’m not investing much money in my 10-year-old car since I hope to replace it in the next couple of years. Thanks to a quick and effective demonstration from my friend Jeremy, I got this little FM transmitter on the bottom of my iPod. Two problems solved; no more Austin radio and I can catch up on my albums to add to the KMAG Stream! Jeremy let me test it on my iPod and pointed it to my home stereo to make sure it would work and the best frequency he knew of here, 97.7 FM. The sound quality is pretty decent too. Its ease of use is helpful, no more untangling of cables, I just bring the iPod in, start it/stop it a couple times until 97.7 picks it up. My drives around Austin aren’t very long so I don’t spend 5-10 minutes setting it up just for a 20-minute drive to work.