I live in a truck for 6 weeks at a time, before getting home for a couple of days at a time. I am a truck driver, who doesn't fit the stereotype. I am the Trucker Geek. I live on technology related pod casts. My music taste consists of Metal, J-Pop, Techno, Dance and Orchestra. And dancing helps me stay awake for the long haul.
I am not allowed to modify my truck, it is a company truck, after all. But right now, I have a FM Macally transmitter hooked up to my stereo via a custom antenna wire. It is a direct wire from the circuit board of the transmitter to the Antenna input on the stereo. I no longer have to worry about changing radio stations when in a urban area. There is nothing good on the radio anyway.
This works great, but there is still one problem, and that is volume. I wonder about building a better quality amplifier that runs off of 12v, with a noise filter, to feed better quality sound to my stereo.
What I have tried, is,
- applying a volume boost filter in iTunes to all my music. This leaves the sound, over-blown.
- rerouting electrical wires, ect. But I still have whirring in the sound, from the engine electronics.
I should mention, I suffer some hearing loss. So, that is part of the problem. Also, an 18 wheeler is a noisy environment in the first place.
Lacking advanced electronics skills, I am capable of buying parts and soldering them to a board with good instruction. But my concept is, 12v power input via cigarette plug, a noise filter, an output level adjustment, and a on/off switch, which still allows sound thru without amplification.
I do not know, if it would be best to amplify the input to the fm transmitter or the output from the transmitter (Not in signal but volume if that is even possible).
As I research this, I will check back here to see if anyone has any suggestions. Thanx