Getting USB capabilities on your retro-bird....Interesting concept, no ?

[sumoscooter]

Was surfing the web this afternoon and ran into the article I've pasted a link for below. While I love the idea of continuing to use my 6 CD player, I'd also love to try and determine an easy way to access USB thumb drives and my cellphone via a non-wired device of some sort. It seems that this concept is totally possible - now all I've got to do is find the FM transmitter and see if it can be hooked in OK ! Take a look.... https://www.lifewire.com/adding-usb-...stereo-4046364

[merlot4]

I'm glad you posted this, Jeff, I think it's a timely issue that many may have considered. In addition to your great link, here's a page from Amazon just to show some of the many FM transmitter types. Be sure to let us know what you ended up doing.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...=256TJSWLKZF02

[sumoscooter]

I checked out a few local retailers and was pretty surprised to see just how affordable these devices (FM Transmitters) are. Best of all they require no 'physical' changes to the car so my Baby can remain 'original' and 'non-modified'! For under $40. Canadian I can get one of these that will not only play music off my thumb drives but act as a 'hands free' conduit for my smartphone by partnering it's Bluetooth function directly into the car audio system via FM. I'm going to check them out at the store tomorrow when they open up and will make a note on the site once I get a better handle on them.

[Gobird]

I checked out a few local retailers and was pretty surprised to see just how affordable these devices (FM Transmitters) are. Best of all they require no 'physical' changes to the car so my Baby can remain 'original' and 'non-modified'! For under $40. Canadian I can get one of these that will not only play music off my thumb drives but act as a 'hands free' conduit for my smartphone by partnering it's Bluetooth function directly into the car audio system via FM. I'm going to check them out at the store tomorrow when they open up and will make a note on the site once I get a better handle on them.

Let us know how you make out on this.

[Lakebum]

I clicked on the Amazon link that Richard posted and found the one I use about 5 or 6 down. It's the one by seller "Amzdeal". Believe mine came from eBay as they have tons of them . Works just fine (I'm deaf in one ear and close in the other one) I did end up with a few extras as I am a tad "ham fisted" and usually pull it out of the aux. port when I park in so-so areas and broke the first one.

Has been working great for me for 4-5 years.. I previously made one exactly like what was sold on TC for a fraction of the cost but this $7-8 (or cheaper) job sound quality was the same to me..

As stated above , they can be a tad fragile so when removing it just a slight twist and gentle pull will work (ask me how I know)

[Brad]

I've never seen a "high quality" FM modulator, they seem to work better in rural areas with less radio stations but there always seems to be some static

[Sealy]

I have a box out in the shed full of adapters, cables, and sure-fire gizmos. Everything I tried on my Rambler, my Bird, my Ranger, and a few other cars. I have a couple of bottles of snake oil, too. I don't like stuff hanging off the dash and I don't like stuff that half-way does what it needs to do and I don't like stuff that doesn't look like it came with the vehicle. Bottom line is, I just go with a replacement that takes care of everything. I don't mean to dissuade you or to sound imperious. I do wish you the best of luck with the USB/FM. configuration

[carntz]

I agree with Sealy, although I do have one and it does everything it is supposed to, but the second I get to a larger city (I live in a small town in Idaho) it is absolutely useless. I am currently investigating replacing the factory radio wit a modern unit with back up camera and the other bells and whistles.

[sumoscooter]

I 'tried' one out today and to be honest I was pretty impressed. The sound was way better than I expected it to be and certainly quite acceptable to me. As I'll be using the unit primarily in the country nowhere near a big city it should do the job well as there aren't any local FM stations to interfere with the signal out there. Additionally, I could always just use the Bluetooth earpiece for my cell phone but I like the hands free offering that the device brings into play.

I can totally understand your feelings about changing out the existing system to a new one with all of the buzzers and whistles and if that's what floats your boat, then that's great. I on the other hand want to keep my car as original as I can without making any permanent modifications like removing and updating the stereo unit etc. Just a personal preference. For me, having the ability to simply unplug the unit and stuff it in the glove box when it's not in use makes the most sense, both practically and economically.

Heck, at the end of the day I was just thrilled to find an answer to my 'issue' on the web as I simply wasn't aware of this FM Transmitter option at all. The real sad reality is that the car I'm going to be using it in is winterized in a garage an hour and a half north of here under about 10 inches of snow right now so I won't be using this gizmo til March at the earliest.

Cheers everyone !

[RBIRD]

Look what you made me do! This gizmo handles USB, SD chips up to 32G for mp3 files( LOT of songs!)and has a cable input for mp3 players. SATECHI Sound-Fly AUX from AMAZON, $32 Works great and sounds good. I got a couple mini 32G USB's and am fillin' them up with my favorite Bird music to save wear & tear on the CD changer. If it holds up, looks like a winner.

RBIRD

[sumoscooter]

Cool ! Now that's pretty much the same unit I tried out but the one I checked out had blue tooth capabilities so it could accommodate setting up my smartphone as hands free through the radio as well! The one thing that everyone keep telling me is to be patient and try and pick an FM setting that doesn't land anywhere near a station that exists in your area so as to avoid static and electronic feedback.

Seeing that you're happy with the way this works, I"m glad that I posted the topic. Happy to see that I'm not the only one looking for this kind of a solution. All in all, it's a pretty good 'fix' for such a first world problem. Enjoy Robert !!!!

[428PI]

I tried out the fm converter thing and was not at all satisfied with the audio quality. It lacked bass, highs, and had hiss. My son's cassette mp3 adapter in his Vic sounded so much better. I ended up getting a plug in style converter that works great. The advertisement said it wouldn't work on the tbird and only on Lincoln Ls's but in fact it does work with my 2003 Tbird but maybe because the firmware isn't quite right in the tbird. My radio doesn't show the top down option on dsp but number on radio says it fits a tbird. I believe you can get a plug in with bluetooth if you want that. Much better than FM converter but more hazzle. If I had to do it again I would opt for a new radio with features I want. The problem is that the radio quality isn't that great going down the road at cruising speeds as the noise level is high in car.

[007Cruiser]

I’m happy just listening to the Borla exhaust notes.