Help Me Find An FM Radio Recorder
0I need to record a conference transmitted over fm frequency in an arena/stadium. This transmission is for the immediate confines of the arena only and is done for the convenience of the hearing impaired in the audience. Which of these cheap do-dads would be capable of listening to and recording the program for later playback? http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=fm+radio+recorder&_sop=15 Thank you.
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Edit: Not the product listening...my listening.
You're probably going to wish you'd explained this, but... Can't you get one of the devices for the hearing-impaired? I know of people who bootleg concerts by getting those, so they must sound pretty good. At that point, any cheap voice recorder should serve you just fine.
@editorkid Thanks, but I don't know what those are. Can you explain, or point me in the direction? I'm not officially hearing-impaired.
@YahSah15 I haven't used them myself. But I gather they have a standard output jack from which you'll be able to record. I'd call the conference organizers, assuming there's a toll-free line, to see if assistive devices need advance arrangements or can simply be picked up on registration. You might want to say "on behalf of a colleague."
When looking for a solution to record a local radio show in the past, I came across these:
http://www.amazon.com/Tescun-Player-Radio-Voice-Recorder/dp/B00QTGCLME
I haven't broken down and bought one, as I found the show was posted online, and my need for it evaporated.
But there you go, that is the unit I was going to buy. ;)
@thismyusername Thank you. Post below was in reply to you.
Seems great; however, I'm looking for something that's almost disposable...to be used once or twice. Thank you.
@YahSah15 got an android phone? You might look at this. "The awesomeness function is free!"
@djslack That seems like a good solution. Will look into it, thx.
@djslack I did check it out...I have android tablet...but would still like one of those little things in the palm of my hand. Which one would you suggest? I'm not too tech savvy. Thanks.
@YahSah15 Other than the title, poorly translated from the Chinese, nothing about those says fm radio recorder. The details of the little clip players don't mention fm at all, and the stick shaped ones say fm radio and voice recorder and again no reference in the details
So buying one would be a gamble. If it's an important lecture I'd go with the Amazon one. If it's for amusement I'd buy the cheapest one on eBay that would come in a reasonable time frame and take my chances.
@djslack Hate to break it to you, but that app won't work for receiving a local FM broadcast that @YahSah15 needs; it's just a browser for online radio station streams (TuneIn is better anyway). Some phones do have a built-in FM radio, though!
@trisk it said "Can use FM hardware reception" in the description. I never downloaded it myself to know. Thanks for the heads up.
Buy a male to male headphone cable and the cheapest portable FM radio player you can find. Then plug into your phone of choice, and record.
Done for $7 or less. Very likely less if you have time to ship from dx.com.
Yeah, @YahSah15 your typical thrift-store FM radio has a headphone jack perfectly serviceable for this. The tricky part is connecting it to your phone; phones are designed for a headset that has a mic and won't record audio if you just use a regular male to male headphone cable.
Fortunately, you just need one of these adapters to send the audio from a regular headphone cable to the mic part:
Example of everything with links:
Total cost: $4.76
Just plug one end of the cable into the radio, and the other end into the "mic" side of the adapter. Then plug the adapter into your phone and you should be able to use any audio recorder on your phone.
Thanks, all. :)