I have an iPod. A 3G 10GB iPod. About 2 and a half years old. Been replaced a few times, but still my companion.

I have a car. A very old car. 1987 Chevy Caprice. Barely runs, but gets me where I need to go and that's fine with me. It has a basic AM/FM stereo that, for some reason that I haven't worried about, doesn't pick up FM stations unless the signal is right next to the antenna. Alright then.

When I first got the car, I had my iPod but not a FM Transmitter. What I had were portable Sony speakers on my dash that played the music from the iPod. Quite ghetto. I don't have any pictures of that since the speakers have been destroyed by a cat.

I received my FM transmitter, a Belkin TuneCast, in March of 2004 and didn't know how I could possibly manage to keep the transmitter in place while driving to allow to broadcast the music. Well, here's my rig that I came up with, and it's quite awful, but does the trick well.



This is the rig. I have to set my iPod in the cup holder of an accessory of my car that the previous owners, my great aunt and uncle, had bought when they had the car. The transmitter plugs into the iPod and rests on the top of the the accessory. To hold the accessory in place, a piece of wire hanger has been cut and duct taped to part of the dash. The iPod is in a very bad position to change songs, but I survive. I've nearly crashed a few times, but have yet to get into a full accident.



In this picture, you get a better shot of the duct tape and how the transmitter is held in place. Notice the duct tape on the hanger around the transmitter as to provide more grip and also not scratch the transmitter as I like things to look pretty.


Close-up of rig. Notice the AAA batteries next to the iPod. Those are in case my transmitter runs out of power at any given time. Considering how cold it has been lately in Chicago, those batteries are probably toast. Frozen toast.



Close-up of duct tape. Yes, my car can be that much of a mess. But it's been much worse.



Wide view of rig. Notice the Coheed & Cambria sticker on the dash along with a visitor sticker from my college orientation. The foam next to the visitor sticker is from a clock that was placed there by the previous owners since the radio doesn't have a clock function. Go figure. 1987. Bastards.



Look at the sharp angle the cable from the transmitter has to bend at. One day, I'm sure that'll break. And I'll be pissed then.

And this is my rig to play my iPod through my car speakers, of which one three work. The fourth will kick on sometimes, but usually it's only three of the speakers. Way to not hear the music sometimes.