Thoughts on a set-top box

[Philip Dorr]

To do stereo couldn't you use to transmitters and two cheap receivers.  (One
set for the right channel and the for other for the left)

On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 8:50 PM, Ty Unes <riverty at kc.rr.com> wrote:

> Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
>
>> I have a DirecTV DVR which is a pretty slow, stupid box, but is linked to
>> their web site, and I can download what they have on offer.  I've messed
>> with mediatomb, and so far the ratio is about three hours futzing with the
>> setup for each three minutes of music/video I want to play, to be repeated
>> next time because the working setup inexplicably broke.
>>
>> I'd like to have an option to pipe an audio stream from a cental PC to
>> various non-digital audio systems around the house.  My first guess would be
>> an FM transmitter plugged directly into the output jack of the sound card.
>>  Every FM transmitter I've tried, though, has been barely capable of
>> transmitting to a receiver 18" away, let alone through the steel siding to
>> the detatched garage.
>>
>> I could build a full-fledged MythTV box to go beside the DirecTV box - who
>> knows, it might even replace it - but that may be overkill, and doesn't
>> cover listening in the garage.
>>
>> So what do you think I should do?  I could shop around for old laptops,
>> and put one at each listening point - I can handle setting up streaming from
>> there.  I could grab two or three $150 netbooks, and use them - they'd
>> probably burn less electricity.  I could go exotic, get some microatx or
>> PC104 hardware and build from there.  What's the best solution?
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>>
> I was faced with the same situation here. Wanted a way to pipe Sirius radio
> through the house without breaking the bank buying Sirius radios! FCC
> requirements for low power, unlicensed FM keep effective transmitter range
> too small to cover a house. You get much better distance with AM however, if
> your OK with AM (mono) sound quality!
>
> I purchased and built an AMT-3000 low power AM transmitter about a year
> ago. This is a legal (FCC authorized 100mW) high-quality AM transmitter. It
> works great and sounds as good (even better) than our local AM stations!
> True, I'm not getting stereo / CD sound quality, but it does / can sound
> pretty darn good. If you own an "expanded bandwidth AM" radio, the sound IS
> just as good.
>
> I listen to a lot of talk radio (read Howard Stern!) so I'm not effected by
> the sound quality loss as much as music. If you plan on transmitting mostly
> vocal tracks (like movies) I would think this would work great for you and
> it's kinda fun to build!
>
> rt...
>
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