When will FM Radio work on StreetDeck? 2029?

2muchwires · 12-31-2006, 01:10 PM

When StreetDeck's supported FM module will be released? Is this a realistic goal for the first quarter of 2007?

Regards,
John

DarquePervert · 12-31-2006, 01:29 PM

Terrestrial radio is dead.

Seriosuly...
I put a PC in my truck so I can have mroe entertainment than standard radio in my ride. Why? Radio sucks anymore. It's far from entertaining, save for a few rare gems of stations, none of which are in my area.
I want my Sirius and my large mp3 collection.

Screw FM. Screw AM. I haven't listened in nearly a year, and I don't miss it a bit.

RedGTiVR6 · 12-31-2006, 01:35 PM

Yes, it's a goal for 2007...however, the biggest issue we're running into is finding a USB FM reciever that has reception that's actually worth a darn.

A few of us have tested the ADS reciever and have been pretty dissapointed at the performance. I'm waiting on a custom built antenna adapter to try with it to see if using a car antenna will actually improve the reception, but as it sits now, it's not good enough to support in the software.

While I agree with Darque, I haven't had AM/FM radio in my car in going on close to 3 years and have never once missed it, I understand that some folks at times would like to have it...for instance...listening to Opie and Anthony here in the D/FW area.

marchello2000 · 12-31-2006, 03:18 PM

Hm... Am I just lucky or what? But I have FM radio working like a charm in SD right now. The reception is wonderful and it's only $35 from Mouser. Well, ok, there are glitches but I have a feeling it is a problem in my setup so I will not say anything until I trouble shoot it on my end.

Mark

CannonBaller · 12-31-2006, 04:56 PM

seriously...how hard can it really be to have a working am/fm unit. Every car sterio has one.

out of all the options on SD. This one should have been Option#1 on the feature list, LONG time ago. And now your saying it might not even be.
For one, i get all my traffic updates on AM radio everyday. Satellite cannot provide this info. So yes we DOOOO NEED regular RADIO!!

Sure SD is new and yes it has some great features. But some thigs are taking way too long to implement here.

Some car stereos are already pretty close to doing everything, like the Pioneer Z1.
Buy the time SD becomes a solid product, it will be old news.

Don't dont get me wrong, i will still use it. Just a little disappointed at the pace of technological developent.

RedGTiVR6 · 12-31-2006, 05:17 PM

who said it might not even be? I don't see anyone saying it might not even be.

rest assured, the developers are working on numerous projects to make SD a better product.

Finding a GOOD, SOLID USB FM radio solution is a lot harder than you might think it is.

The ADS unit was a step in the right direction, but the reception leaves a lot to be desired.

I don't believe I've seen the one from Mouser that marchello mentioned...perhaps he can post a link?

marchello2000 · 12-31-2006, 08:12 PM

Here is the link:
http://www.silabs.com/tgwWebApp/publ...USBFMRadio.htm

It is a reference design by SI labs with their highly regarded all integrated FM IC. It does not provide AM support as far as I can tell, but has full RDS (RDBS) support (TMC traffic anyone?). The reception seems very good with the wire antenna they supply. I will connect it to my car antenna probably next weekend and hope to have reception as good as stock radio.

There is a thread about this little wonder (http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/show...light=usbradio) post #44 has a DLL that makes it work with SD (with source code!).

Hopefully we can have native support for this thing soon!

Mark

2muchwires · 12-31-2006, 08:47 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by marchello2000

Hm... Am I just lucky or what? But I have FM radio working like a charm in SD right now. The reception is wonderful and it's only $35 from Mouser. Well, ok, there are glitches but I have a feeling it is a problem in my setup so I will not say anything until I trouble shoot it on my end.

Mark

Ok, I just want to review...

You control the adapter using SD interface? Any special trick?

Happy New Year for Everyone!

Just gave a second look to your post and figure it out! sorry for that.

DarquePervert · 12-31-2006, 09:24 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by CannonBaller

seriously...how hard can it really be to have a working am/fm unit. Every car sterio has one.

A working AM/FM unit is one thing. That part is easy.
Now, get an AM/FM unit that interfaces with a PC, has an external antenna connection (preferrably a standard car antenna!), and gets good reception while moving 70mph down the freeway... That's not quite as easy.

Now, if you're a hardware guy and know ICs and such, I'm certain the rest of the community (excepting, perhaps, the developers of the HQCT) will love you for it.

My suggestion is to quit whining about what everyone else hasn't done to meet your approval and do something your own damn self to further the community as a whole.

You want SD to support an off-the-shelf AM/FM tuner? Buy (or develop) the tuner and write the code to make it work!
Frankly, the minority who do nothing but complain about what SD (or any other frontend) can't do aren't helping whatseover. They're just complaining.

Here's my gripe:
StreetDeck can't hack into the automatic car wash so I don't have to pay for it! When is it going to have that functionality?

strohj · 01-01-2007, 04:33 AM

@ DP:

keep in mind that Streetdeck is a commercial product with paid developers.. ( I hope they pay them)... and this is the channel through which users get to complain and ask for new features..

@everybody else..

It is my understanding that Streetdeck supports ALL Radiators supported devices for FM/AM... so technically it is supported and works...

however there are issues with the current hardware for the most part... nothing is just plug and play into your current setup in your car... for example a USB based FM tuner with a Motorola cable connection for your CAR's antenna

pogitalonx · 01-01-2007, 06:47 AM

I love my HQCT in roadrunner and I have no idea why it is not supported in streetdeck. It has excellent reception compared to the countless other tuners out on the market right now. I am very very impressed with how far streetdeck has come, but I am also very disappointed in their lack of support for the HQCT. Roadrunner and Centrafuse (my two favorites) both have HQCT support in some way or another. There are people working on a .NET interface for it, so hopefully someone (or perhaps myself) will create a plugin for streetdeck to use it.

I guess my whole point is... give it more time.. FM radio will come to streetdeck in one way or another...

2muchwires · 01-01-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by strohj

@ DP:

keep in mind that Streetdeck is a commercial product with paid developers.. ( I hope they pay them)... and this is the channel through which users get to complain and ask for new features..

Quote: Originally Posted by pogitalonx

I guess my whole point is... give it more time.. FM radio will come to streetdeck in one way or another...

Totally agree with both. From now on, I'm expecting it for 2007 first quarter.

DarquePervert · 01-01-2007, 08:09 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by strohj

@ DP:

keep in mind that Streetdeck is a commercial product with paid developers.. ( I hope they pay them)... and this is the channel through which users get to complain and ask for new features..

Yeah...
1) The OP was clammoring for radio support, which already exists. Sounds to me like someone did their job and earned that paycheck to me.
2) The HQCT (the only viable tuner for in-vehicle use, IMHO) is not supported and there has never been an announcement that it would or when.

Quote: Originally Posted by 2muchwires

Totally agree with both. From now on, I'm expecting it for 2007 first quarter.

Your expectations are based on nothing more than your own wants from the software. You sound like Veruca Salt, man.
What a charmed life you must have to be able to say "I want this!" and then actually expect that you're going to get it....

2muchwires · 01-01-2007, 08:59 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

Your expectations are based on nothing more than your own wants from the software. You sound like Veruca Salt, man.
What a charmed life you must have to be able to say "I want this!" and then actually expect that you're going to get it....

I was expecting as always your "interesting" reply, DP, I can imagine all the hard work and development costs ralated to this project. Please read the previous posts and you will realize why I say that "it's a realistic goal for the first quarter of 2007" as RedGtivr6 told. I'm not demanding anything maybe I expressed my self wrong or you misinterpreted my post but the main point of this thread is to know when that radio button will work at 100%

For me, if it's available at first quarter = Great!
If not, = Good! maybe later but i HOPE (hope is not demand)

One of the best things IMO regarding SD is the fact that they take their time to do things. If reception is not good, then they don't realease, that's far. Just wanted to know a approx answer to when.

Any way, I will wait and HOPE (please see my interpretation above) to see this working in 2007, meanwhile I use a skin without the radio button.

Thanks to every one for their OPINIONS and RedGtiVR6 as always your quick response, let's keep the good work.

DP, thanks man, My life is really charming but no at that point.

DarquePervert · 01-01-2007, 09:08 AM

I'm not saying it's a realistic goal. It most certainly is.
However, just because you and I think it's a realistic goal (and a good idea, to boot) doesn't mean that the SD dev team feels the same way and prioritizes it the same way you do.
Hell, I don't prioritize it the way you do. Radio sucks. It has sucked for several years. I don't see it getting any better, HD Radio be damned.