Brenda K. ColwellRecent investigations of FM transmitters have iPod, XM Radio and Sirius Radio listeners worried that they will no longer be able to listen in their cars with ease.
In past weeks, many FM transmitters, which allow an XM Radio receiver or iPod to play through a car radio, have been under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC is following the wishes of the National Public Radio, which says that many of the FM transmitters exceed FCC regulations. Specifically, the FM transmitters are using too much power.
Too much power results in the interference of on-air shows. Simply put, if someone is listening to a Christian rock station and they drive near a car with an illegal FM transmitter, they might intercept pieces of “The Howard Stern Show” or rap music. Naturally, NPR is upset that they cannot fully please their audience.
NPR Director of Media Relations Emily Lenzner said NPR has received multiple complaints from customers. After the initial complaint was filed with the FCC, “both Sirius and XM Radio were required to remove FM modulators that interfered with noncommercial stations,” Lenzner said.
More recently, “NPR has asked [the FCC] to expand their focus on this issue and look at FM modulators for other audio products as well,” Lenzner said. The expanded focus brings the increasingly popular iPod into question.
iPod listeners, college-aged people especially, have worries that if the FCC feels that too may of the FM transmitters are illegal, they could ban them all together. This could leave iPod owners who use FM modulators unable to be entertained in the car.
Alen Hasanbegovic, a junior pre-medical major, was surprised to hear that iPod FM transmitters were in jeopardy. “Without an FM transmitter, I would have to settle for the normal boring radio and listen to commercials,” Hasenbegovic said.
Although the existence of FM transmitters is in question, the likelihood that all of them will be banned is low. Lenzner did not imply that NPR wanted the FCC to ban FM transmitters completely. She did, however, list the specifications proposed by NPR for all new transmitters.
Manufacturers such as Belkin and Sirius Radio have already made modifications to many of their models in order to meet FCC power regulations, so it is possible to create a legal transmitter. As long as manufacturers take the proper precautions and make the correct changes, the future of FM transmitters will not be in jeopardy and music fanatics can rest easy.
