The Jupiter jack: Does it Work?

You can't tune into TV lately without seeing an ad for the Jupiter Jack. This device says it will enable you to use your cell-phone hands-free in your car by transmitting the call through your AM radio. Naturally, our skeptics want to know DOES IT WORK? According to various sites online, yes and no.

Comments from purchasers range from "It is clearer than my expensive bluetooth and much easy to use. But I need to turn the volume up and be careful to turn the volume down before hung up. Otherwise radio comes back scary loud. Other than that, I love it, and I bought four more for my family." to "It eats batteries" and "It only works if the phone is up next to the radio and the sound quality is awful."

Some say it's clear and works well in major metropolitan areas, but not worth using in rural settings because of static. Others say you have to dial your call FIRST and then plug in the Jupiter Jack and it will work, and that you have to find just the right place to put your cell phone near the dash so it will work with the Jupiter Jack. Frankly, all the comments I've read are more discouraging than anything else. One owner said it made him feel like he was trying to tune in his black and white TV with old-fashioned rabbit ears.

Note of caution: most of the happy owners said they had to turn the radio volume up pretty loud for the Jupiter Jack to work with their phone...and then needed to remember to turn the volume back down before switching over to their radio or CD player.

At this point, the complaints seem to outweigh the happy owners online. For a few bucks more you can get a hands-free headset for most cell phones.