SilverFish
Registered user
Whilst being dragged through Tesco's the other day by my better and in all ways superior half, my normally cast down gaze glanced sideways to an aisle to see this hanging like low bearing fruit:
A credit card sized, cheapy little FM radio. At £2.47 I thought it might be worth a try to see how it works on the bike.
The radio itself, is slightly thicker than a credit card, two buttons on the front for scanning forward and resetting. There is a slider control on the top left corner which goes from 'Off - Low Volume - High Volume'. The 3.5mm headphone socket is on the left hand edge.
The buttons are dead easy to use with thick gloves on, though it needs a gentle touch to make sure you get the 'Low Volume' selected. I found that Low Volume is plenty enough for me, a bit loud even (using Etymotic ER6is or Ultimate Ear Monitors).
It uses a CR2032 Lithium 'coin cell' battery. I've been using the supplied one for three days now - about three hours worth of use. Replacement ones are about £1, and they're small enough to put in a pocket and not notice them.
I used the standard 3.5mm stereo lead to plug it into my Autocom Super Pro AVI, using socket 3 (which may not be the best one, see below).
Didnt know where best to mount the radio up front, so have temporarily velcro'd it to the clutch reservoir:
Although its sturdy enough there, and is in no danger of falling off - I may move it to the top of the left hand tank panel as it's a bit hard to see which button you are pressing as it is paritally hidden from view by the Zumo.
Audio quality wise its ok - not digital audio or car stereo quality, but more than up to the job for a bike radio. Reception is very dependant on whats above you. On open roads, like the A3 dual carriage way, I had excellent reception all the way up without having to re-tune. On roads with a heavy tree canopy, the reception was very 'choppy'. It sorts itself out when it finds a clear bit of sky, but can be a bit annoying if you're riding through a bit of a forest.
All in all, I'm very happy with it. I may in fact by a 2nd because I will probably never see them again and at £2.47 its got to be worth it as a spare. In the past I've tried to use a couple of different radios; DAB was let down by terrible reception and battery/power/filtering problems. I had a more expensive Sony FM radio before. Cant remember the model but about the size of a Swan Vestas matchbox, which struggled to get a decent reception without it's dedicated headphones.
Using socket 3 on my Super Pro AVI means that the FM Radio will only get muted when I receive a phone call via the Bluetooth dongle, or a Bike to Bike transmission. It does not mute when Betty starts yaking from the Zumo. I think this can be fixed by reading the Autocom user manual and adjusting a switch on the circuit board. Alternatively, I may be able to use another socket instead.
Have fun!
Mike
A credit card sized, cheapy little FM radio. At £2.47 I thought it might be worth a try to see how it works on the bike.
The radio itself, is slightly thicker than a credit card, two buttons on the front for scanning forward and resetting. There is a slider control on the top left corner which goes from 'Off - Low Volume - High Volume'. The 3.5mm headphone socket is on the left hand edge.
The buttons are dead easy to use with thick gloves on, though it needs a gentle touch to make sure you get the 'Low Volume' selected. I found that Low Volume is plenty enough for me, a bit loud even (using Etymotic ER6is or Ultimate Ear Monitors).
It uses a CR2032 Lithium 'coin cell' battery. I've been using the supplied one for three days now - about three hours worth of use. Replacement ones are about £1, and they're small enough to put in a pocket and not notice them.
I used the standard 3.5mm stereo lead to plug it into my Autocom Super Pro AVI, using socket 3 (which may not be the best one, see below).
Didnt know where best to mount the radio up front, so have temporarily velcro'd it to the clutch reservoir:
Although its sturdy enough there, and is in no danger of falling off - I may move it to the top of the left hand tank panel as it's a bit hard to see which button you are pressing as it is paritally hidden from view by the Zumo.
Audio quality wise its ok - not digital audio or car stereo quality, but more than up to the job for a bike radio. Reception is very dependant on whats above you. On open roads, like the A3 dual carriage way, I had excellent reception all the way up without having to re-tune. On roads with a heavy tree canopy, the reception was very 'choppy'. It sorts itself out when it finds a clear bit of sky, but can be a bit annoying if you're riding through a bit of a forest.
All in all, I'm very happy with it. I may in fact by a 2nd because I will probably never see them again and at £2.47 its got to be worth it as a spare. In the past I've tried to use a couple of different radios; DAB was let down by terrible reception and battery/power/filtering problems. I had a more expensive Sony FM radio before. Cant remember the model but about the size of a Swan Vestas matchbox, which struggled to get a decent reception without it's dedicated headphones.
Using socket 3 on my Super Pro AVI means that the FM Radio will only get muted when I receive a phone call via the Bluetooth dongle, or a Bike to Bike transmission. It does not mute when Betty starts yaking from the Zumo. I think this can be fixed by reading the Autocom user manual and adjusting a switch on the circuit board. Alternatively, I may be able to use another socket instead.
Have fun!
Mike
s is by about the second roundabout up the A2 
) i have picked up an extra 3 
Yes Please you have a pm 
