Ramsey FM10C - FM Stereo Transmitter Kit (Soldering/Asse​mbly Required)

The FCC definately won't be knocking on your door when you use this, much less you being able to hear it more than a foot away.(1) The manual claims that this transmitter has sufficient power to cover up to a quarter mile when connected to an outdoor rooftop antenna.(2) The manual also claims that you can connect your CD player or any audio source to the transmitter.(3) The manual claims that using the included whip antenna is sufficient to cover your house.(4) The manual claims that any radio can tune in to your broadcasts.None of these claims are quite true. Claim (3) is completely false. Claim (2) is false following the wording in the manual. I don't have an outdoor rooftop antenna, but given the honesty of the manual so far, I doubt claim (1) is true. Claim (4) is false following the wording in the manual.(1) Well I didn't try it, but yeah this transmitter probably won't cover a quarter mile.(2) The audio was too quiet when I connected my phone to it. When I connected my laptop's audio interface, the audio was almost completely silent (I heard silence with some music faintly heard in the background). It worked when I connected the line out of a Roku box to it. Transmission range in good quality is only a few feet when using a phone even when using amplifiers. Transmission range using amplifiers and the RCA basic antenna (rabbit ears) when using a line level for me is about 35 yards. 35 yard transmission range is sufficient to cover my whole house on both floors when using digital tuning radios and pointing the radio whip parallel to the RCA basic antenna. Doesn't go as far with analog tuning radios. Only goes about 25 feet with analog tuning radios and only works on the same floor the transmitter is on.The manual needs to tell you that it won't really work for non-line-levels if you don't use an audio amplifier.(3) Traveled less than a foot using only the whip antenna and for best quality your radio's whip antenna has to be touching your transmitter's whip antenna.The manual needs to tell you that you need to use amplifiers and rabbit ears to cover your house.The manual needs to tell you that it won't travel as far to analog tuning radios, especially radios that use only the power cord as the antenna.(4) Does ANY radio tune into your broadcasts? No. Not exactly. Not to mention the fact that most digital tuning radios tune in 200 khz increments, so if you broadcast on the side bands in between (what I do) to avoid interference, you can only tune in on digital tuned radios designed to tune in 100 khz increments. My boom box can tune it (100 khz increments), but my car radio can't (200 khz increments).The manual needs to tell you that it won't travel as far to analog tuning radios. The manual needs to go more in depth as to why its important that you stick to 200 khz increments.Overall, alot of fun, but definately way too confusing for a first kit for the education of the average begginer. I successfully built the kit and this was my first kit, but most people aren't going to solve problems on their own because they are too lazy and will expect the kit to do what they want it to do out-of-the-box once built with no further effort on their part.

A very excellent transmitter for 50 dollars. I purchased this transmitter for me to use. Got the time to build it and I built at Manatee Technical Institute, and worked on the first power up. Me and friend brought it out to the parking lot, and set it on top of our teachers car... my god, since there were no obstacles in the way the transmitter covered at least 800 - 1000ft! We're riding in the car and were absolutely amazed. But it was drifting a bit since we brought it outside in the sun, i guess temperature changes DO have an affect on stability of the frequency. I brought it to my house to use it for what I intended to use it for, to provide my neighbors within a couple blocks with my library of music LOL. I play the Classic Country as well as the 70's, 80's and alot other good music (Hank Williams Jr, Conway Twitty) (Bob Seger, Boston) (U2, Depeche Mode) and yes... Hairbands LOL. But I will say since it has been at my house it has been pretty solid on frequency when it is famous for slightly drifting. I guess when it is kept in room AC and ALSO settled down after everything is built and can be pretty stable. :) So I will say if you have $50 on hand and looking for a basic transmitter, the Ramsey FM10C will be quite the performer. But please don't expect ROCK SOLID performance when this is a LC oscillator circuit except a crystal oscillator. A++ towards Ramsey

It seems to be getting harder and harder to find a product that lives up to its advertising promises. It's even more upsetting that we, as American shoppers, seem to accept these short-comings and just live with it. Everywhere I go, I see something that didn't perform as the buyer had expected. It sits around gathering dust, until it finally finds its way into the garbage. This item does NOT fall into that category. In fact, it happens to be one of a few products that I purchased this past year, which actually delivers as advertised. It requires some electronics experience, and a frequency counter really helps, so be prepared. Bravo Ramsey.

It's been a while since I picked up a soldering iron, but I needed one of these for the Christmas Lights music broadcast mentioned by several reviewers, so I ordered it. The price was right, but is sat around for a couple of months until I decided to spend an afternoon and the next morning putting it together. I was VERY shocked when it worked on the FIRST power-up! The range for this humble design is excellent by my standards, and the audio quality is as good as I've heard from a consumer transmitter. The things not NORMALLY found around that I would suggest making sure you have are: GOOD soldering/soldering tools (700F is the temp I used), because you WILL make component placement mistakes. A nine-volt battery. An audio cable with RCA type plugs to 1/8" stereo plug. An actual FM RADIO. Gee, who has one of those around any more?? I used my iPhone as a source for the test audio, and had to raid the attic for the radio to listen to. And a 9-volt battery?? That came from a smoke detector. If you do buy this, keep these in mind, and you will NOT be disappointed in the outcome! If you plan to use it for any length of time, stop by the Shack and get a 9-volt wall wart for power.