Ex-Calif said:
I presumed 2004 vehicle, radio with cassette deck - probably no aux in or BT. That's what I've got. I have two vehicles with FM transmitters and they work fine.
I will say forget the cassette adapters - those were and are garbage.
I have a 2003 RAM 2500 truck. It has an AM/FM/Cassette radio in it. I never listen to a radio and have never owned any cassettes, but I wanted to install a mount for my phone and saw a Youtube video where a guy bonded a piece of metal to a Bluetooth cassette adapter and then used the metal to clip a phone mount onto (the type that attaches to dash vents, etc.
Well, my new Motorolla phone (like all smart phones) has an FM radio in it and since it came unlocked it also came with the FM tuner app, but requires wired earbuds or other wired device plugged into the jack to act as an antenna.
I went to the thrift store of a local Christian ministry that has a large electronics section and people who specialize in sorting and testing the electronic stuff donated. I asked the guy for a cassette with the cord to plug into a Ipod/phone/etc and he dug in a huge box of tangled cables till he found the one he remembered seeing. I paid a dollar for it and left. I cut a piece of .040 aluminum to fit to part of the cassette that was exposed inside the radio after the lifter mechanism grabbed it and seated it in place and then attached the aluminum with 3M double sided super strength tape. I put thin sections of antiskid on both sides of the metal that stuck out and attached the cell phone holder to it, and it worked. I have to help it thru the slot in and out as it drags somewhat but does go.
To test it out, I plugged it into my phone, tuned the phones radio to a station and it came thru loud and clear on the trucks speakers. Later I tested the speakers while driving and talking on the phone hands free in the clip. worked great.
So no, they are not all garbage, as this worked great.
I found another Youtube video where a guy took a corded cassette adapter and an older "around the collar" bluetooth headset and disassembled both and with a little soldering connected the bluetooth receiver to the circuit in the cassette and removed the cord and made a bluetooth cassette adapter for free (they are only about $20 on Amazon so this was more of a "see what I can do for the hell of it" than to actually accomplish something useful.)
The only reason I will ever replace the radio is to possibly install a double DIN with a screen for a backup camera to connect to for the back of the trailer.
Charles