6 ms·

I replaced Spotify with a homemade FM radio station

148 points by dredmorbius 5mo ago

dredmorbius 5mo ago
For those looking for technical details, Github, "Pi FM Kitchen Radio Station" <https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio>. NB: Not my project, but it tickles an interest.
toomuchtodo 5mo ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20260608153435/https://old.reddit.com/r/digitalminimalism/comments/1tes8yu/i_replaced_spotify_with_a_homemade_fm_radio/ https://web.archive.org/web/20260608153435/https://old.reddi...
- netsharc 5mo ago
  > Built as part of an attempt at [...] having overseas content on the radio dial Old radios have the station locations (cities all over the world) as labels for the tuner: https://www.radioheritage.com/story354/ https://www.radioheritage.com/story354/ Or: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-cities-radio-frequencies-17885107 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-cities-rad...? A further (well, different) hack would be to combine this hardware dial with stream URLs e.g. from https://radio.garden/ https://radio.garden/ ...
  - _whiteCaps_ 5mo ago
    A modern station list is available here: https://short-wave.info/ https://short-wave.info/
josefritzishere 5mo ago
This is rad.
kanbankaren 5mo ago
You don't even need a Raspberry PI. You can simplify it even further. List of things you need. 1. Smartphone or DAP. 2. Car Bluetooth FM Transmitter (~$20) 3. USB to 12 V car adapter(~$10) 4. Existing FM radio. You can set this up in 5 minutes. Connect the smartphone/DAP using BT or AUX cable. Select a free FM channel and you are ready to go. Also, in the photos, the FM antenna is fully extended which is unnecessary as these FM transmitters put out plenty of RF power. P.S. On AliExpress, you can buy both for < $15 while on Amazon it is around $30. P.P.S. Just the USB FM transmitter is only $5 on AE. For the cost of a cup of Coffee!
- qsera 5mo ago
  Yea, I did this using a raps-pi as well. Rasp-pi is nice in the sense that it can run a web server to select/enqueue/blacklist/ and what not. I can also ssh to it to download songs and automatically add to the playlist... Along with the ability to blacklist and add new songs, I hope that I will eventually end up with a huge collection of only the best songs (for my taste)
- Projectiboga 5mo ago
  This isn't an item to cheap out on. Find one with aptX HD support and decent reviews if you have any room in your budget. I use the bluetooth to FM all the time. I have a pair, one in my car and another in my travel kit for rental cars. The key is to find one with aptX HD and other newer hi-fi codecs as there are older chips still being sold with lower specs as BT has been a thing for awhile now. I just did a search are there are ones that are usb powered or wall powered. Another better method might be a real FCC certified FM transmitter that are marketed for Drive Ins and "church parking lots" and use a bluetooth receiver or a usb-dac as the input.
  - kanbankaren 5mo ago
    You drank the aptX kool aid and forgot the fidelity loss along the signal path. FM broadcasts do a high pass at 50 Hz and stop at 15 kHz. The best SNR is only ~50 dB which is already achieved by plain old SBC. There is no need for higher fidelity audio codecs like AAC/aptX/aptX HD/LDAC besides the fact that most smartphones don't support aptX or aptX HD.
sandreas 5mo ago
Here in Germany you have to be careful when setting up a homemade radio signal - it might be illegal depending on frequency and transmit power. I personally prefer a combination of duckdns.org Beets Navidrome Audiobookshelf Substreamer / DSub PaulWoitaschek/Voice / Audiobookshelf Wireguard You can even make a script do download smart playlists to usb-sticks for kitchen radios without wifi or old car USB.
- spogbiper 5mo ago
  there are similar concerns in the US but you can legally send a signal a couple hundred feet in most cases
- avian 5mo ago
  > Here in Germany you have to be careful when setting up a homemade radio signal - it might be illegal depending on frequency and transmit power. In Germany and everywhere else. The difference is how much it's enforced. Note that this project isn't using that horrible Raspberry Pi GPIO PWM hack that shits all over RF but an off-the-shelf low power car FM transmitter product. I guess if someone knocks on your door you can point your finger to whoever in Germany sold you that.
  - calmbonsai 5mo ago
    At least in the U.S., it's a complete non-issue for an output power that can easily cover the size of a wedding reception as long as you're not using a wide-band transceiver. You'll want to be "kind" to the extant spectrum and do a responsible frequency sweep to select the "quietest band" prior to broadcasting. And you'll only want to broadcast during the event itself. The FCC has better things to do than to try and track down an ephemeral milliwatt infringer.
    - joxdosba 5mo ago
      It’s a complete non-issue in all western countries unless you’re going out of your way to cause trouble.
elzbardico 5mo ago
I miss the experience of having career professionals 100% dedicated to the music world curating a list of what I would hear. Of course, it was not perfect, there were ads, most stations played pop slop, but most of the time there was a few stations for your taste, your knew your preferred DJs times and there was a certain sense of community in being a regular fan of a show.
- sockaddr 5mo ago
  I miss that as well but more than likely (at least in the US) that "curated" channel you use to listen to was probably owned by Clear Channel and probably the same exact content played in every other city where everyone else felt like it was for them as well.
  - doublepg23 5mo ago
    I never experienced but I've heard universities used to have the best curated radio stations.
    - Projectiboga 5mo ago
      Around NJ and the adjoining cities we have many College stations. A curious one is truly independent as it's parent University closed WFMU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFMU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFMU WSOU Pirate Radio a heavy metal and hair metal focused station at Seton Hall U.
  - dredmorbius 5mo ago
    Timing and audience age matter here. Clear Channel didn't really expand in a major way until about the mid-1990s, owning 43 radio stations in 1995, following legislation relaxing station ownership limits (for both radio and television) in 1992. For those recalling 1980s or earlier radio in the US, the situation was rather more diverse, particularly in ownership, though fairly narrow segment programming was becoming the norm as professional "programmers" entered the field. More largely, the history of popular music has run through multiple phases of diversification and consolidation as new performance, recording, and distribution technologies emerged. I covered this referencing the work of Charles Perrow some years ago: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24930562 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24930562>.
jklinger410 5mo ago
Shilling for an old employer. This is a neat super simple device that takes incoming headphone and converts to FM. Whole House FM Transmitter (https://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/ https://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/)
- EvanAnderson 5mo ago
  It's a little pricey for the hobbyist but for "normies" it looks really good. Neat product idea.
  - dredmorbius 5mo ago
    What would you consider more appropriate hobbyist kit? $140 for a solution that works with existing receivers compares pretty nicely with, say, Bluetooth speakers (starting at about $50 and running well north, per set). I've a number of FM-capable tuners lying around, and could pick up more quite cheaply. The transmitter's the key kit.
    - ProllyInfamous 5mo ago
      I purchased a $40 FM broadcast device from Amazon [0] (two TRS-inputs), five years ago, which has been wonderful (advertised for churches and drive-in theaters); it is simple and powerful (at least 150ft). I have five radios tuned to it (no syncing lo-tech); connected to my SiriusXM it's endless tunes – my neighborhood can also join in (and does). ---- Wouldn't surprise me if it was $140, now // [looked-up: it's $80] [0] <https://www.amazon.com/BaseWish-Range-Transmitter-3-5mm-Drive/dp/B0CJB941NS/ https://www.amazon.com/BaseWish-Range-Transmitter-3-5mm-Driv...>
    - EvanAnderson 5mo ago
      Firstly, I think that unit, for what it is and who it's for is priced exactly right. It's for a non-technical end user who wants an easy to use off the shelf product. I think it's pretty cool. I'd be more in the market for a bare PCB rather than the nice case. I don't need the LCD, either. I'm looking for a fundamentally different product and more in the $50 to $75 range.
EvanAnderson 5mo ago
Did something like this for janky whole-venue music at my wedding reception back in '07. We had a low power FM transmitter connected to a laptop playing the music. We borrowed a bunch of old "boom boxes" with FM radios from friends, tuned them to our "station", and arrayed them throughout the event space. We kept the volume fairly low on each radio so we didn't have to worry about echoes.
gosub100 5mo ago
They make low power AM transmitters as well. I bought one for my dad so he could "stream" old music from the Internet to his old tube radios.
- dredmorbius 5mo ago
  What's the audio quality of AM transmission? I've used an FM dongle to play a tablet through car speakers, which works pretty well.
  - kanbankaren 5mo ago
    Terrible in one word. The bandwidth for AM transmissions in North America is only 20 kHz and radio emissions has to STRICTLY fall within that bandwidth. Technically, it allows an audio BW of 10 kHz, but in practice it is close to 4 kHz which is telephone quality. Not suitable for Music.
tamimio 5mo ago
I have something similar, but cleaner setup, an old iPhone connected to a speaker through lightning, and it had FM radio app and also connected to my navidrome server, works very well. If I want local FM radio however, I have an FM receiver that can be plugged into that speaker too.
pmontra 5mo ago
That solves the problem of keeping all the speakers in sync. I did something similar with IP tech. I put all my MP3s on a SSD connected to a 3 W ARM SoC at home. The software stack is deefuzzer + icecast + a number of different players according to the device I'm using. A web UI to skip to the next song or to search a string and create a playlist with the result. I setup a few channels by genre. I'm listening to my radio right now. The advantage compared to a FM station is that I don't have to care about interference (I would be the bad guy) and I can listen to it wherever I am.
tombert 5mo ago
I did something similar about a year ago, when I was unemployed. I made an Icecast-compatible streaming server in Erlang, and an Icecast-compatible stream in Rust. Between songs, I would phone out to the cheapest GPT model and a local TTS model to get unfunny DJ banter, with an infinite stream. I thought it would be very funny to call it "KUMM -- Playing all stickiest white-hot hits!" because I have the maturity level of a fourteen year old, only to find out that there actually is a KUMM station [1] in real life. All the songs were from CD rips from my very large collection, and it was pretty fun to write. It was my primary music solution until I eventually got a job, it broke, and I didn't prioritize fixing it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUMM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUMM
dredmorbius 5mo ago
What I really like about this concept is that it runs a mix of podcasts, news updates, and music, which is something I've been considering for a while. Playing the same mix over a number of tuned-in sets throughout a house or establishment could also work nicely. TFA uses bluetooth, which may incur different lags on different playback devices. Another option several people have already mentioned is low-power local-only FM (or apparently AM) transmitters. These are sometimes used for in-car playback without Bluetooth from a device (phone, tablet, laptop) over a non-Bluetooth sound system, and could work within a small house. Bands and transmission power are specifically licenced for this in some locations, though of course local regs will vary. I particularly like the idea of curating my own set of podcasts to play as I want to schedule them, adding in top-of-the-hour news (BBC, CBC, NPR, Deutschlandfunk), or a daily news programme (BBC World, PBS News Hour, The World out of WBUR/Boston), with music filling in between slots either streamed or selected from a (very large, physical media-backed) collection. Another thought, for a commercial venue which would otherwise be subject to, e.g., ASCAP / Harry Fox performance rights organisation licencing (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_rights_organisation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_rights_organisatio...>), would be to use only public-domain / freely-licenced works. Also very much appreciating others' similar takes on this. (Submitter, FWIW.)
- EvanAnderson 5mo ago
  > ... subject to, e.g., ASCAP / Harry Fox performance rights organisation licencing ... to use only public-domain / freely-licenced works. I know a couple people who dealt with ASCAP and BMI in the context of small businesses. The association reps sounded a lot like stereotypical mafia "enforcers", making "It'd be a shame if something happened to your business..." kinds of veiled threats even when told the venue had strict rules allowing only original or public domain performances. (Their people also kept coming back, over and over again, much like vampires.) This was nearly 20 years ago but I doubt their tactics are much different today.
Zigurd 5mo ago
As an avid user of a handful of Chromecast audio devices, I endorse this solution. I also advocate adding "swearing at your Chromecast devices" to the definition of the word "castigate."
solomonb 5mo ago
You could take it to the next level and build a part 15 compliant FM transmitter kit.
- dredmorbius 5mo ago
  For those curious, the relevant FCC regs. Generally: Unlicensed operation on the AM and FM radio broadcast bands is permitted for some extremely low powered devices covered under Part 15 of the FCC's rules. On FM frequencies, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Section 15.239, and the July 24, 1991 Public Notice (still in effect). On the AM broadcast band, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR Sections 15.207, 15.209, 15.219, and 15.221. These devices must accept any interference caused by any other operation, which may further limit the effective service range. <https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/low-power-radio-general-information https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/low-power-radio-general-info...> More on the regs: <https://www.fcc.gov/general/oet-bulletins-line#63 https://www.fcc.gov/general/oet-bulletins-line#63> Another option, addressed at the first link, is "carrier current" broadcasts, which transmit through (building) power lines. There is also the option of a (licensed) low-power FM transmitter (LPFM), "available to noncommercial educational entities and public safety/travelers' information entities, but not individuals or commercial operations". LPFM is not to be confused with microbroadcasting, though I'm not clear on just what that entails myself. I'm vaguely aware of some efforts to enable lawful very-low-power broadcasts at the community level, though that's had strong pushback from traditional broadcasters, including NPR in the US. There are some Part 15 compliant transmitters and information listed here: <https://www.hobbybroadcaster.net/resources/Part-15-transmitters.php https://www.hobbybroadcaster.net/resources/Part-15-transmitt...>
  - solomonb 5mo ago
    To my knowledge there is no legal way to do unlicensed carrier current transmission. Do you have information otherwise? I've always wanted to try it.. The Part15 regulations for AM and FM are more subtle then what you present here. On FM it is based on field strength readings, the exact values of which escape me, but yielding roughly the range you describe. For AM the rules are more interesting. You can have up to a 3m antenna length and 100mW of DC power input to the final stage of amplification. The optimal setup is a class E amplifier with ~95-99% efficiency into a properly grounded 3m base loaded vertical antenna. The antenna will be grossly undersized but you try to compensate with a huge loading coil. In ideal conditions this setup can get you about 0.5km range. LPFM is a much more significant undertaking and it is not trivial to get an LPFM license. I know because I have one :)
bigbuppo 5mo ago
While I don't do the radio part of radio, I actually have a proper radio automation setup at home running into an icecast server for my own in-house use. And if you really want it to feel right, spend some money getting some imaging done or buy some sweeper sound effects libraries and have fun with it.
IronWolve 5mo ago
I'm a big fan of streaming radio, and been using apps for decades, so decided to make a modern version. Also, wanted to try AI coding out, and it worked out really well. Been having a blast. https://github.com/IronWolve/StreamTuner-ng https://github.com/IronWolve/StreamTuner-ng
avipars 5mo ago
Their github: https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio PSA: Broadcasting FM is probably illegal in your state/country

148 points by dredmorbius 5mo ago

For those looking for technical details, Github, "Pi FM Kitchen Radio Station" <https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio>. NB: Not my project, but it tickles an interest.

toomuchtodo 5mo ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20260608153435/https://old.reddit.com/r/digitalminimalism/comments/1tes8yu/i_replaced_spotify_with_a_homemade_fm_radio/ https://web.archive.org/web/20260608153435/https://old.reddi...

netsharc 5mo ago
> Built as part of an attempt at [...] having overseas content on the radio dial Old radios have the station locations (cities all over the world) as labels for the tuner: https://www.radioheritage.com/story354/ https://www.radioheritage.com/story354/ Or: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-cities-radio-frequencies-17885107 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-cities-rad...? A further (well, different) hack would be to combine this hardware dial with stream URLs e.g. from https://radio.garden/ https://radio.garden/ ...
- _whiteCaps_ 5mo ago
  A modern station list is available here: https://short-wave.info/ https://short-wave.info/

josefritzishere 5mo ago

This is rad.

kanbankaren 5mo ago

You don't even need a Raspberry PI. You can simplify it even further. List of things you need. 1. Smartphone or DAP. 2. Car Bluetooth FM Transmitter (~$20) 3. USB to 12 V car adapter(~$10) 4. Existing FM radio. You can set this up in 5 minutes. Connect the smartphone/DAP using BT or AUX cable. Select a free FM channel and you are ready to go. Also, in the photos, the FM antenna is fully extended which is unnecessary as these FM transmitters put out plenty of RF power. P.S. On AliExpress, you can buy both for < $15 while on Amazon it is around $30. P.P.S. Just the USB FM transmitter is only $5 on AE. For the cost of a cup of Coffee!

qsera 5mo ago
Yea, I did this using a raps-pi as well. Rasp-pi is nice in the sense that it can run a web server to select/enqueue/blacklist/ and what not. I can also ssh to it to download songs and automatically add to the playlist... Along with the ability to blacklist and add new songs, I hope that I will eventually end up with a huge collection of only the best songs (for my taste)
Projectiboga 5mo ago
This isn't an item to cheap out on. Find one with aptX HD support and decent reviews if you have any room in your budget. I use the bluetooth to FM all the time. I have a pair, one in my car and another in my travel kit for rental cars. The key is to find one with aptX HD and other newer hi-fi codecs as there are older chips still being sold with lower specs as BT has been a thing for awhile now. I just did a search are there are ones that are usb powered or wall powered. Another better method might be a real FCC certified FM transmitter that are marketed for Drive Ins and "church parking lots" and use a bluetooth receiver or a usb-dac as the input.
- kanbankaren 5mo ago
  You drank the aptX kool aid and forgot the fidelity loss along the signal path. FM broadcasts do a high pass at 50 Hz and stop at 15 kHz. The best SNR is only ~50 dB which is already achieved by plain old SBC. There is no need for higher fidelity audio codecs like AAC/aptX/aptX HD/LDAC besides the fact that most smartphones don't support aptX or aptX HD.

sandreas 5mo ago

Here in Germany you have to be careful when setting up a homemade radio signal - it might be illegal depending on frequency and transmit power. I personally prefer a combination of duckdns.org Beets Navidrome Audiobookshelf Substreamer / DSub PaulWoitaschek/Voice / Audiobookshelf Wireguard You can even make a script do download smart playlists to usb-sticks for kitchen radios without wifi or old car USB.

spogbiper 5mo ago
there are similar concerns in the US but you can legally send a signal a couple hundred feet in most cases
avian 5mo ago
> Here in Germany you have to be careful when setting up a homemade radio signal - it might be illegal depending on frequency and transmit power. In Germany and everywhere else. The difference is how much it's enforced. Note that this project isn't using that horrible Raspberry Pi GPIO PWM hack that shits all over RF but an off-the-shelf low power car FM transmitter product. I guess if someone knocks on your door you can point your finger to whoever in Germany sold you that.
- calmbonsai 5mo ago
  At least in the U.S., it's a complete non-issue for an output power that can easily cover the size of a wedding reception as long as you're not using a wide-band transceiver. You'll want to be "kind" to the extant spectrum and do a responsible frequency sweep to select the "quietest band" prior to broadcasting. And you'll only want to broadcast during the event itself. The FCC has better things to do than to try and track down an ephemeral milliwatt infringer.
  - joxdosba 5mo ago
    It’s a complete non-issue in all western countries unless you’re going out of your way to cause trouble.

elzbardico 5mo ago

I miss the experience of having career professionals 100% dedicated to the music world curating a list of what I would hear. Of course, it was not perfect, there were ads, most stations played pop slop, but most of the time there was a few stations for your taste, your knew your preferred DJs times and there was a certain sense of community in being a regular fan of a show.

sockaddr 5mo ago
I miss that as well but more than likely (at least in the US) that "curated" channel you use to listen to was probably owned by Clear Channel and probably the same exact content played in every other city where everyone else felt like it was for them as well.
- doublepg23 5mo ago
  I never experienced but I've heard universities used to have the best curated radio stations.
  - Projectiboga 5mo ago
    Around NJ and the adjoining cities we have many College stations. A curious one is truly independent as it's parent University closed WFMU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFMU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFMU WSOU Pirate Radio a heavy metal and hair metal focused station at Seton Hall U.
- dredmorbius 5mo ago
  Timing and audience age matter here. Clear Channel didn't really expand in a major way until about the mid-1990s, owning 43 radio stations in 1995, following legislation relaxing station ownership limits (for both radio and television) in 1992. For those recalling 1980s or earlier radio in the US, the situation was rather more diverse, particularly in ownership, though fairly narrow segment programming was becoming the norm as professional "programmers" entered the field. More largely, the history of popular music has run through multiple phases of diversification and consolidation as new performance, recording, and distribution technologies emerged. I covered this referencing the work of Charles Perrow some years ago: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24930562 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24930562>.

jklinger410 5mo ago

Shilling for an old employer. This is a neat super simple device that takes incoming headphone and converts to FM. Whole House FM Transmitter (https://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/ https://wholehousefmtransmitter.com/)

EvanAnderson 5mo ago
It's a little pricey for the hobbyist but for "normies" it looks really good. Neat product idea.
- dredmorbius 5mo ago
  What would you consider more appropriate hobbyist kit? $140 for a solution that works with existing receivers compares pretty nicely with, say, Bluetooth speakers (starting at about $50 and running well north, per set). I've a number of FM-capable tuners lying around, and could pick up more quite cheaply. The transmitter's the key kit.
  - ProllyInfamous 5mo ago
    I purchased a $40 FM broadcast device from Amazon [0] (two TRS-inputs), five years ago, which has been wonderful (advertised for churches and drive-in theaters); it is simple and powerful (at least 150ft). I have five radios tuned to it (no syncing lo-tech); connected to my SiriusXM it's endless tunes – my neighborhood can also join in (and does). ---- Wouldn't surprise me if it was $140, now // [looked-up: it's $80] [0] <https://www.amazon.com/BaseWish-Range-Transmitter-3-5mm-Drive/dp/B0CJB941NS/ https://www.amazon.com/BaseWish-Range-Transmitter-3-5mm-Driv...>
  - EvanAnderson 5mo ago
    Firstly, I think that unit, for what it is and who it's for is priced exactly right. It's for a non-technical end user who wants an easy to use off the shelf product. I think it's pretty cool. I'd be more in the market for a bare PCB rather than the nice case. I don't need the LCD, either. I'm looking for a fundamentally different product and more in the $50 to $75 range.

EvanAnderson 5mo ago

Did something like this for janky whole-venue music at my wedding reception back in '07. We had a low power FM transmitter connected to a laptop playing the music. We borrowed a bunch of old "boom boxes" with FM radios from friends, tuned them to our "station", and arrayed them throughout the event space. We kept the volume fairly low on each radio so we didn't have to worry about echoes.

gosub100 5mo ago

They make low power AM transmitters as well. I bought one for my dad so he could "stream" old music from the Internet to his old tube radios.

dredmorbius 5mo ago
What's the audio quality of AM transmission? I've used an FM dongle to play a tablet through car speakers, which works pretty well.
- kanbankaren 5mo ago
  Terrible in one word. The bandwidth for AM transmissions in North America is only 20 kHz and radio emissions has to STRICTLY fall within that bandwidth. Technically, it allows an audio BW of 10 kHz, but in practice it is close to 4 kHz which is telephone quality. Not suitable for Music.

tamimio 5mo ago

I have something similar, but cleaner setup, an old iPhone connected to a speaker through lightning, and it had FM radio app and also connected to my navidrome server, works very well. If I want local FM radio however, I have an FM receiver that can be plugged into that speaker too.

pmontra 5mo ago

That solves the problem of keeping all the speakers in sync. I did something similar with IP tech. I put all my MP3s on a SSD connected to a 3 W ARM SoC at home. The software stack is deefuzzer + icecast + a number of different players according to the device I'm using. A web UI to skip to the next song or to search a string and create a playlist with the result. I setup a few channels by genre. I'm listening to my radio right now. The advantage compared to a FM station is that I don't have to care about interference (I would be the bad guy) and I can listen to it wherever I am.

tombert 5mo ago

I did something similar about a year ago, when I was unemployed. I made an Icecast-compatible streaming server in Erlang, and an Icecast-compatible stream in Rust. Between songs, I would phone out to the cheapest GPT model and a local TTS model to get unfunny DJ banter, with an infinite stream. I thought it would be very funny to call it "KUMM -- Playing all stickiest white-hot hits!" because I have the maturity level of a fourteen year old, only to find out that there actually is a KUMM station [1] in real life. All the songs were from CD rips from my very large collection, and it was pretty fun to write. It was my primary music solution until I eventually got a job, it broke, and I didn't prioritize fixing it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUMM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KUMM

dredmorbius 5mo ago

What I really like about this concept is that it runs a mix of podcasts, news updates, and music, which is something I've been considering for a while. Playing the same mix over a number of tuned-in sets throughout a house or establishment could also work nicely. TFA uses bluetooth, which may incur different lags on different playback devices. Another option several people have already mentioned is low-power local-only FM (or apparently AM) transmitters. These are sometimes used for in-car playback without Bluetooth from a device (phone, tablet, laptop) over a non-Bluetooth sound system, and could work within a small house. Bands and transmission power are specifically licenced for this in some locations, though of course local regs will vary. I particularly like the idea of curating my own set of podcasts to play as I want to schedule them, adding in top-of-the-hour news (BBC, CBC, NPR, Deutschlandfunk), or a daily news programme (BBC World, PBS News Hour, The World out of WBUR/Boston), with music filling in between slots either streamed or selected from a (very large, physical media-backed) collection. Another thought, for a commercial venue which would otherwise be subject to, e.g., ASCAP / Harry Fox performance rights organisation licencing (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_rights_organisation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_rights_organisatio...>), would be to use only public-domain / freely-licenced works. Also very much appreciating others' similar takes on this. (Submitter, FWIW.)

EvanAnderson 5mo ago
> ... subject to, e.g., ASCAP / Harry Fox performance rights organisation licencing ... to use only public-domain / freely-licenced works. I know a couple people who dealt with ASCAP and BMI in the context of small businesses. The association reps sounded a lot like stereotypical mafia "enforcers", making "It'd be a shame if something happened to your business..." kinds of veiled threats even when told the venue had strict rules allowing only original or public domain performances. (Their people also kept coming back, over and over again, much like vampires.) This was nearly 20 years ago but I doubt their tactics are much different today.

Zigurd 5mo ago

As an avid user of a handful of Chromecast audio devices, I endorse this solution. I also advocate adding "swearing at your Chromecast devices" to the definition of the word "castigate."

solomonb 5mo ago

You could take it to the next level and build a part 15 compliant FM transmitter kit.

dredmorbius 5mo ago
For those curious, the relevant FCC regs. Generally: Unlicensed operation on the AM and FM radio broadcast bands is permitted for some extremely low powered devices covered under Part 15 of the FCC's rules. On FM frequencies, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Section 15.239, and the July 24, 1991 Public Notice (still in effect). On the AM broadcast band, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR Sections 15.207, 15.209, 15.219, and 15.221. These devices must accept any interference caused by any other operation, which may further limit the effective service range. <https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/low-power-radio-general-information https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/low-power-radio-general-info...> More on the regs: <https://www.fcc.gov/general/oet-bulletins-line#63 https://www.fcc.gov/general/oet-bulletins-line#63> Another option, addressed at the first link, is "carrier current" broadcasts, which transmit through (building) power lines. There is also the option of a (licensed) low-power FM transmitter (LPFM), "available to noncommercial educational entities and public safety/travelers' information entities, but not individuals or commercial operations". LPFM is not to be confused with microbroadcasting, though I'm not clear on just what that entails myself. I'm vaguely aware of some efforts to enable lawful very-low-power broadcasts at the community level, though that's had strong pushback from traditional broadcasters, including NPR in the US. There are some Part 15 compliant transmitters and information listed here: <https://www.hobbybroadcaster.net/resources/Part-15-transmitters.php https://www.hobbybroadcaster.net/resources/Part-15-transmitt...>
- solomonb 5mo ago
  To my knowledge there is no legal way to do unlicensed carrier current transmission. Do you have information otherwise? I've always wanted to try it.. The Part15 regulations for AM and FM are more subtle then what you present here. On FM it is based on field strength readings, the exact values of which escape me, but yielding roughly the range you describe. For AM the rules are more interesting. You can have up to a 3m antenna length and 100mW of DC power input to the final stage of amplification. The optimal setup is a class E amplifier with ~95-99% efficiency into a properly grounded 3m base loaded vertical antenna. The antenna will be grossly undersized but you try to compensate with a huge loading coil. In ideal conditions this setup can get you about 0.5km range. LPFM is a much more significant undertaking and it is not trivial to get an LPFM license. I know because I have one :)

bigbuppo 5mo ago

While I don't do the radio part of radio, I actually have a proper radio automation setup at home running into an icecast server for my own in-house use. And if you really want it to feel right, spend some money getting some imaging done or buy some sweeper sound effects libraries and have fun with it.

IronWolve 5mo ago

I'm a big fan of streaming radio, and been using apps for decades, so decided to make a modern version. Also, wanted to try AI coding out, and it worked out really well. Been having a blast. https://github.com/IronWolve/StreamTuner-ng https://github.com/IronWolve/StreamTuner-ng

avipars 5mo ago

Their github: https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio https://github.com/trwmato/pi-fm-kitchen-radio PSA: Broadcasting FM is probably illegal in your state/country