Nokia N8 as FM transmitter

Nokia N8 is touted as multimedia smartphone with multimedia capabilities that is not found even on other higher end smartphone like HDMI connectivity. And I am one of the proud owner of this phone with the sturdy built quality of aluminum casing.

One of the 'must have' features of smartphone is the ability to play audio files such as MP3 that enables its user to listen to the song. Imagine this situation: You are driving and wishing to listen your MP3 collections via your car audio system. But unfortunately, your car's crappy stock standard audio system does not have any auxiliary input nor USB port. So how you are going to channel the audio from your phone to your car's head unit? Fret not, it has built-in FM transmitter. Yes, you read me right, it can be an FM transmitter.
 

I doubt many of us will flip through the phone's manual to discover what this phone can do. Here's how to activate FM transmitter functionality (Nokia calls it 'Play via Radio) for this N8:

1) Access your music player as usual

 2) Play your favourite song found in your collections

3) Select 'Options'

4) From the menu, select 'Play Via Radio'

5) Set your desired transmitting frequency (in my case it would be 101.1 MHz)

6) Switch on the feature by tapping on 'Play Via Radio' and pop-up will appear

7) You will notice the Play Via Radio icon appears on the top-right corner of the phone's screen

8) Tune your radio to the selected frequency (in my case it would be 101.1 MHz)

 

9) Enjoy the song from the radio. Volume control is dependent to the radio, so you can use the steering audio control if your car have it.

 

If the radio is equipped with RDS, the word 'NOKIA' will appear when it is tuned to the phone's frequency

Tips:

1) Always choose the free frequency so it would not cause interference with the local radio station's frequency (eg. if Sinar FM is 96.7 MHz in the area, do not set the transmitting frequency to 96.7 MHz)

2) Do not choose transmitting frequency that is close to the local radio station's frequency, make sure to have around 3-5 MHz frequency spacing from the closest local radio station's frequency  (eg. if Sinar FM is 96.7 MHz in the area, do not set the transmitting frequency to 96.9 MHz, choose 100.0 MHz if the frequency is not occupied)

3) Using this feature will drain the phone's battery faster, make sure the phone is connected to the car's charger.

p/s: My phone has been updated with official Symbian Anna from Nokia, however the procedure is just the same with N8 that is running on stock Symbian ^6.

Wetnessday

Monsoon season is hitting Terengganu again for this year! Indeed, today is the wettest day throughout the week. It is raining heavily today since morning and have a short pause at noon before torrential rain hit again in the afternoon. To some, the rain symbolizes blessings from the god. However, the rain could also means sadness to some.

Congratulations to our national football team Harimau Muda for defeating Garuda of Indonesia during final match of SEA games yesterday. The weather was also kinder here in Terengganu, probably supporting the loyal supporters of Harimau Muda to go out and cheer for their beloved team via live match telecast provided by most restaurants here. There was no rain and the patrons cheering with full enthusiasm without fear of getting wet.
 

However, heavy rain today is probably signifies the sorrow of my friend and his family. The mother  nature is like mourning the death of his 6 days old daughter. I was at the funeral, solat jenazah was performed after Asar prayer and the deceased was buried in cemetery at Dungun at 5:00 p.m. I hope you and your family is strong to face this unfortunate events. Al-fatihah.

All in all, I can avoid myself from being drenched in wetness. :)

11/11/11 - Royal Breakfast

Adelle Davis once quoted, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper". But that quote does not really reflect my eating habit here in Kerteh. My diet is quite improper and I eat whenever I feel like due to no cook available here.

Kerteh Morning Market

Most probably I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner like a pauper. But on this 'special' day (what is so special about this day, it is merely a date in a year!), I decided to get up early and ate breakfast like a king. After getting a shower (which I rarely do in the morning of a weekend), I fired up the car and went to Kerteh morning market. The morning market is held every Friday from 0800H to 1100H.

 

 The food section, heaven!

Fruits sold here

You can buy anything from clothings, sundry items to fresh vegetables, seafood, poultry and meat. My target for today is to hunt for breakfast to fit the 'king' status. After browsing around the market for 30 minutes, I decided to have nasi kerabu, satay and sugar cane drinks for breakfast. It was a filling breakfast and I was full till dinner. Enjoy the pictures! :)

 Solok, stuffed chilli for Nasi Kerabu

 Clothings

 Jumbo jackfruit

Refreshing sugarcane

Sambutan Aidil Adha di Tanah Adat

Pada 6 November 2011 yang lepas, seluruh umat Islam di atas muka bumi ini menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Adha atau pun dikenali sebagai Hari Raya Qurban. Kebiasaannya, umat Islam menyambutnya dengan ibadah qurban atau pun menyembelih haiwan-haiwan ternakan sebagai memperingati kisah Nabi Ismail dan bapanya Nabi Ibrahim. Daging-daging korban ini akan diagih-agihkan kepada orang ramai dan golongan-golongan yang memerlukan.

Tetapi itu tidak berlaku dalam keluarga aku untuk sambutan tahun ini. Selepas menunaikan solat Hari Raya Aidil Adha, kami mengambil kesempatan untuk berjalan-jalan di sekitar Gemas dan Melaka. Kami sekeluarga menaiki dua buah kereta dalam penjelajahan ini. Destinasi pertama adalah Stesen Keretapi Gemas yang terletak kira-kira 12 kilometer dari FELDA Sungai Kelamah, kampung halamanku.

Di platform Stesen Keretapi Gemas

 

Kawasan sekitar stesen kereta api ini sedang giat dibangunkan semula untuk memberi ruang kepada projek kereta api elektrik dengan landasan berkembar dari Kuala Lumpur. Khabarnya, stesen lama ini akan dirobohkan bagi memberi laluan kepada pembangunan projek kereta api elektrik ini. Jika ini benar, maka hilanglah warisan sejarah sistem rangkaian kereta api di Malaysia ini. Stesen Keretapi Gemas merupakan stesen terpenting menghubungkan laluan dari Pantai Timur, Pantai Barat dan Singapura. Jadi aku sekeluarga merakamkan gambar kenang-kenangan di sini andai stesen ini akan hilang ditelan kemajuan di masa akan datang.

5 beradik di stesen kereta api

Selepas itu, kami ke Melaka pula. Seperti yang dijangka, bandar Melaka kini mengalami pembangunan yang pesat dan sudah mula mengalami kesesakan. Jika anda ingin ke Melaka, anda disarankan untuk meletak kereta di kawasan letak kereta di Kompleks Dataran Pahlawan yang menawarkan kadar letak kereta "sekali masuk" (per entry) dan tidak mengikut jam. Selepas itu, kami makan tengah hari di Mahkota Parade sebelum meneruskan sesi lawatan di Melaka.

 

Dahulunya padang, sekarang menjadi kompleks membeli-belah

 

Bandar Hilir, Melaka 

Sesudah makan, kami menuju ke kawasan tarikan pelancong yang terkenal di Melaka iaitu di sekitar Bandar Hilir seperti A Famosa. Kami juga melawat Memorial Perisytiharan Kemerdekaan dan berpeluang melihat kereta Chevrolet bernombor pendaftaran BE52 yang digunakan oleh Bapa Kemerdekaan Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman semasa membuat perisytiharan kemerdekaan di bandar Melaka pada tahun 1957.

 

Memorial Perisytiharan Kemerdekaan

Kereta Chevrolet bernombor pendaftaran BE52 yang bersejarah

Kami juga telah mendaki Bukit St. Paul yang menempatkan runtuhan Gereja Saint Paul. Bersempena dengan cuti umum, replika Istana Kesultanan Negeri Melaka yang terletak berdekatan ditutup dan kami hanya mampu untuk bergambar dari luar pagar sahaja.

 

 Di hadapan Kota A Famosa

 Di atas Bukit St. Paul, binaan berwarna putih di belakang kami sebenarnya adalah kubur Belanda

 Sebahagian runtuhan binaan gereja St. Paul

 Kediaman TYT Melaka

Pemandangan dari atas Bukit St. Paul

Apabila hari menjelang petang, kami bergerak meninggalkan Melaka menuju ke FELDA Sungai Kelamah melalui Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan dari Ayer Keroh. Sebagai perbandingan, masa yang diperlukan untuk sampai ke Melaka dari Gemas adalah 1 jam melalu jalan Tebong-Kuala Sungga, tetapi untuk sampai ke plaza tol Ayer Keroh dari Bandar Melaka mengambil masa 40 minit disebabkan oleh lampu isyarat yang banyak dan mengambil masa yang lama untuk berhenti di satu-satu persimpangan. Kami tiba di kampung pada pukul 9:00 malam.

The Desperate Politician

Hiding behind religion cloak to convey political message, and spamming the subscribers' inbox!

Handling improvements: Yokohama A-Drive R1 205/45/R16 and brake upgrades

In this post I will share with you my feedback about the recent improvements done to TakBolehBlah on the handling aspect. This post is mainly for my own notes to do further improvement next time but I do not see any harm sharing it on this blog. Expect less or no technical review as I have no proper tools and procedures to conduct such test so this review will be mainly based on my driving feeling compared to before (stock setting). Here is some details about the review made to give that this review was done in various conditions, dry and wet, high speed and low speed and mountainous road:

Review duration: 16/10/2011 until 28/10/2011

Review location: Banting - Penang - Kulim - Penang - Banting - Kerteh (total of 1300 km)

View Larger Map

Now let's start with review

Yokohama A-Drive R1 205/45/R16 - RM260/piece (price on October 2011)

I've installed the tires first as the old Continental is badly worn out and the grip was not so convincing especially when attacking Karak highway at high speed. The tire screeching is obvious and the car's tail went out a bit on tight corner. I have decided to change to slightly wider tires (from 195 to 205) and the grip is improved a bit thanks to the slightly wider surface contact area on the road. Usually new tires need some time to 'rub-in' before they can give optimum grip on the road. Two days later I straight brought my car for a trip to Penang and I must say the grip is just as good as good ol' Continental rubbers but with added confidence when braking. This was proven when I need to suddenly brake from 160 km/h to 60 km/h to avoid highway maintenance worker who wanted to cross the highway! Thanks to the ABS and EBD on my Neo, the new tires manage to stop the car efficiently compared to the old rubber. Be advised that the brakes were stock at that moment as the upgrades were done a week after the tyre change.

Yokohama A-Drive R1 205/45/R16

I also managed to test the tires during my stay in Penang. Balik Pulau - Teluk Kumbar road with numerous sharp bents and hairpins really put the rubber to test. The road condition was wet all the time and the rubbers had no problem coping up with the aggressive driving. The tires managed to compensate the fading brakes (and cracked disc rotors I later found out) and any understeer can be easily corrected by stepping more on the gas and the tires will provide the traction needed.

Tread condition after about 1300 km

Water evacuation is better than the old tires, I guess the aggressive looking thread really serve for purpose. It was raining most of the time during the review period and the tires shows little or no aquaplaning on wet road. When driving through the puddle at high speed, slight loss of traction was felt but the steering response is still predictable.

Tread pattern of Yokohama A-Drive R1

During Kuala Selangor - Banting trip, I switched car with my dad to see how the car perform on new tires and upgraded brakes. I was driving his Waja CamPro 1.6 and I can see he confidently weaving through the traffic at high speed. It gives the sense of confidence to weave through the traffic thanks to the better grip by the tires as Neo itself is recognized as car with good handling. On my way back to Kerteh, I managed to test how the tires behave at high speed. While not being a quiet tire, the noise is lower than the old tire so it provides better comfort. At high speed of 180 km/h, the tire really sticks to the tarmac and I am very confident to whack the car at 180 km/h at most part of the highway. The only fear I have when driving at high speed on highways is the other driver who change lane without giving proper warning. Other than that, this tire is really worth the money and I am very satisfied with the performance.

Good price for good performance

Brake upgrades review

The upgrades consist of better brake pads for both front and rear, steel braided brake hose, complete flushing of new DOT4 brake fluid and new front disc rotor to replace the cracked old rotor. For complete list of the items used, you may read here.

The first impression after changing the brake system is it eliminates the spongy feeling when braking before. The brake feedback is more direct and linear now, it feel more convincing to brake now. The new brake pads can withstand higher temperature now and the 'numb' feeling when braking hard is now eliminated altogether without putting to much stress on engaging the ABS and EBD to put the car at complete stop.

Bendix Metal King Titanium brake pads in action

The linearity of braking also allows more precise brake work when attacking corner at high speed especially like those found in Karak - Bentong highway. The car is more forgiving than before when I entered the corner at slightly higher speed. The car turns well by lightly tapping on the brakes to correct the cornering angle. Previously, I cannot really predict how much should I brake due to spongy feeling when braking. The linear or direct feedback from the brake pedal to the brakes is contributed by the steel braided brake hose that retains its shape under high pressure from intense braking. Compared to the rubber hose, it will expand a bit before the fluid reaches the brake caliper hence the spongy feeling.

The dust generated is just the same as compared to the old stock pads. But considering that this is a performance brake pads, it is still better from the stock brake pads that performs worse than the performance brake pads but generating the same amount of dust. As for me, dust is not really a big deal as the my wheels themselves are grey in colour so the dust is not that obvious.

Minimal dust even after spirited drive

All in all, this brake upgrades really complement the safety features that are equipped with this car for the money I've paid. The system can react better to the driver and provides more accurate feedback to the driver. I really recommend this upgrade to the Neo owner as the chassis itself is heavy and the car is slightly under-brakes for the engine performance it offers. Yes, you can always drive slowly but that's not the purpose of this car. To really appreciate the car, you have to put your foot down on the accelerator and drive. Safety and handling improvements are often neglected by drivers when modifying their rides. As for me, no point making the car run faster if it cannot stop properly when needed. Again, I would say the money well spent on this upgrade. :)

Feeling down? Let's get high!

Artist: Lighthouse Family
Title: High

When you're close to tears remember
Some day it'll all be over
One day we're gonna get so high
And though it's darker than December
What's ahead is a different colour
One day we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close till the end
We'll remember it was me and you

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love

Don't you think it's time you started
Doing what we always wanted
One day we're gonna get so high
'Cause even the impossible
is easy when we got each other
One day 'we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
when we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you.

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love (x2)


High, high, high, high.(x2)

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
when we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you.

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love (x3)

TakBolehBlah Brake System Upgrades

TakBolehBlah travelled this far before crying for brake upgrades

After the near miss incident during my journey to Penang (read here), the brake pads had worn completely. I cannot stand the metal grinding sound during my stay in Penang. So, I decided to change the brake pads for TakBolehBlah and upgrade the brake system as well. I checked out from Eastin Hotel at 6:30 am and headed to KL for the brake system upgrade.

The worn out Bosch brake pad

I arrived at Zhapalang Motorsports in Kepong at around 11:30 am. Earlier arrangement was made earlier through Lowyat forum and I met with the shop owner, Kent who assisted me with the brake system upgrade. After few negotiations, I agree with the quoted price for the brake upgrades. The items are as follows:

1. Pro-RS steel braided brake hose
2. Bendix Metal King Titanium brake pads (front & rear)
3. Shoji front disc rotors (found the original front rotors were cracked, maybe due to recent incident)
4. Ferodo DOT4 brake fluid

Ferodo DOT4 brake fluid and Pro-RS steel braided brake hose

Bendix Metal King Titanium brake pads

Shoji front disc rotors

The whole installation work took about two hours and the total damage was RM930. Duh! I guess this time is TakBolehBlah's handling improvement is taking place.

Found a hairline crack on the original stock rotor

The old rotor and rubber brake hose

Nonetheless, on initial drive to KL and Kuala Selangor afterwards in the rain the difference is significant. The brake feedback is more linear and the spongy feeling when braking disappear. I am really satisfied with brake performance and thanks to Zhapalang Motorsports for good and friendly service.

Installing the new disc rotor

I will write a small review on the handling upgrades of TakBolehBlah in the next post. Cheers~ :)

New rotor, new brake pad and new steel braided brake hose

Motorola Subscriber Training

I have attended Motorola Subscriber Training held in Motorola's Customer Solution Center (CSC) in Bayan Lepas Industrial area, Penang starting from 17th until 21st October 2011. This training is jointly organized by Motorola Solutions and Axis Technology Resources for expansion project of Kerteh Wide Digital Trunked Radio System in Kerteh. I was there representing my company I worked for to learn more about Dimetra System that are currently being used in my workplace for plant-wide communication.

The participants

The 5-day course cover the Dimetra system, the infrastructure, the features of the digital trunked radio system and also their mobile radio terminals, namely MTP850Ex portable radio and MTM800e mobile radio used in vehicles. The training is also attended by representatives from other operating units (OPU's) that will be adopting the new digital trunked radio system (DTRS) in Kerteh.

Receiving certificate of participation from Motorola and Axis

I learnt a lot from this course that surely helped me to carry out my daily task as Safety System Engineer in my workplace. All of us were provided with sufficient manuals and workbook to help us understanding course delivery better.

The whole stack of manuals for system and mobile terminal

During a week stay in Penang, I stayed in Eastin Hotel Penang. It is located near to Queensbay Mall and facing Jerejak Island. Motorola CSC is located 4 kms away from the hotel and I must say the hotel's location is very strategic.

View from my room at Eastin Hotel

On the last day in Penang, I also went to Bukit Bendera. The last time I went here was when I was 10 years old. Bukit Bendera has changed since then with the new train which is more comfortable (supposedly, but the air-condition was faulty so it was like in moving sauna) and faster. To ride the train, RM8 ticket is imposed to the local tourist, while for foreign tourist, they have to pay RM30. The journey uphill only took 10 minutes. It was raining when I reached the hill top so I here are few pictures that I managed to take before the heavy downpour.

The entrance, the weather is already overcast

The train railway

The new and faster hill train

I also met some of my friend in UTP. I went to Kulim with Fitri who are currently working at 2nd Penang Bridge Project to meet Huda and Dalila. Both of them are working as engineers in Silterra and Intel Kulim respectively. We had our dinner in Monrod Kulim and the food is not so disappointing. I also met with my classmate in SDAR, Kamek at Padang Kota Lama. He is currently sitting for final exam for his medical degree and good luck to him!

With Fitri, soon he will come to work in Kerteh

Dalila and Huda from Kulim

All in all, my trip to Penang was very fun and informative. I will surely come again for holiday! :)