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How to Build a Raspberry Pi Radio Transmitter

30 points by esbonsa 12y ago

edent 12y ago
This page basically says "Install this file, magic!" If you want the technical details behind it, a good starting place is http://www.icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Turning_the_Raspberry_Pi_Into_an_FM_Transmitter http://www.icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Turning_the_Raspb... Or the blog of the creator at http://www.omattos.com/node/19 http://www.omattos.com/node/19
- esbonsa 12y ago
  I missed the icrobotics link that was submitted to HN 508 days ago unfortunately... but at least the link that I posted shows that you don't need any additional hardware to transmit on FM frequencies.
lifeisstillgood 12y ago
Appears to have breached hosting limits (or some other 500) Any caches? Seemed interesting
- petecooper 12y ago
  http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://techzei.com/how-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-radio-transmitter/ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
- jashjacob 12y ago
  We've set up CloudFlare. The website should be accessible now. The post went up on reddit as well, we couldn't handle the sudden inflow of traffic.
Bob_Sheep 12y ago
I should point out that the pifm code is a bit of a hack and does not properly reset the DMA controller when you stop running it. It will leave the FM signal active until you reset the pi.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
BuffaloBagel 12y ago
Holy square wave harmonics Batman.
wwwwwwwwww 12y ago
fun semi-related EE design fact that readers may find interesting: one of the fastest ways to tell that someone didn't know what they're doing when they designed a board is that they placed the oscillator anywhere other than right next to the component it drives. the traces that connect the oscillator to the component are basically an antenna - the longer they are, the stronger they broadcast. This becomes an issue when there are multiple oscillators in close proximity - their broadcasts can interfere with each other and cause them to synchronize. I forget what this effect is called but here's a neat video that kinda illustrates it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFc4wriBvE&feature=kp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFc4wriBvE&feature=kp
startrak 12y ago
Anybody have information regarding the strength of the output signal? I know the FCC here in the US very touchy about radio broadcast strength...
- synx508 12y ago
  It's definitely above the part 15 limits of 150 μV/m at 3m I don't know the current drive capabilities of the Broadcom SoC, but let's assume it can perfectly drive a dipole antenna presenting around 72 ohms. The supply is 3.3V, I think. 3.3^2/72 = 0.15125W. In reality I doubt it's anywhere close to that, let's assume 50mW instead (it could be lower, I just don't know). According to a legit-looking field strength calculator I found online this works out to just over 0.5V/m at 3m! That sounds a bit high. Various factors would conspire to making even this much field strength unlikely, but it'd still exceed the FCC limits easily. The Pi's output is also a reasonably decent square wave, as pointed out elsewhere. So there are some harmonics that are, themselves, above the part 15 limits. In other words, don't do this, unless you have a spectrum analyzer, attenuator (don't forget to block DC). Actually, someone needs to do this with the right equipment just to find out how well it really performs.
cskau 12y ago
Does anybody happen to know if it's just as easy to read the pins at 91.25, 94.75, and 95.75 MHz? Lately I've been trying to find a way to do exactly that - initially using audio in - but so far without any luck.
- th0ma5 12y ago
  The $20 RTL-SDR sticks can do this.
- esbonsa 12y ago
  it appears that you can use any frequency (if you use a proper antenna for the chosen freq., you will get better transmitting range)
unoti 12y ago
I'm a Ham radio operator, and interested in building my own real 2m/70cm transceiver that I can put in my car, complete with a little display to impress my friends and such. So these Pi articles interest me, but I'm more interested in interfacing a microcontroller to a real quality transmitter that can operate at, say, 25+ watts. Ideally I'd like for this project to run Android, and drive my car stereo too, and do a bunch of other crazy things like GPS. There's surprisingly little information out there on how to approach such a project. I've looked for components I could use on Sparkfun, and there's not really anything that jumps out at me, for either building 2m/70cm transceivers, or even for doing the stereo amplifier part. I did find this fascinating article, though: http://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hacking-a-ham-radio/ http://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hacking-a-ham-radio/
- th0ma5 12y ago
  Yeah I've been interested in the links out there around modifying the Baofeng radios and replacing the CPU in them with an Arduino or an generic computer interface.
zxcvgm 12y ago
A related hack: using the Pi to transmit at 433.92 MHz with minimal hardware [1]. This frequency is commonly used for remote controlled wall outlets and such. [1] http://www.skagmo.com/page.php?p=projects/22_pihat http://www.skagmo.com/page.php?p=projects/22_pihat

30 points by esbonsa 12y ago

edent 12y ago

This page basically says "Install this file, magic!" If you want the technical details behind it, a good starting place is http://www.icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Turning_the_Raspberry_Pi_Into_an_FM_Transmitter http://www.icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Turning_the_Raspb... Or the blog of the creator at http://www.omattos.com/node/19 http://www.omattos.com/node/19

esbonsa 12y ago
I missed the icrobotics link that was submitted to HN 508 days ago unfortunately... but at least the link that I posted shows that you don't need any additional hardware to transmit on FM frequencies.

lifeisstillgood 12y ago

Appears to have breached hosting limits (or some other 500) Any caches? Seemed interesting

petecooper 12y ago
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://techzei.com/how-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-radio-transmitter/ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
jashjacob 12y ago
We've set up CloudFlare. The website should be accessible now. The post went up on reddit as well, we couldn't handle the sudden inflow of traffic.

Bob_Sheep 12y ago

I should point out that the pifm code is a bit of a hack and does not properly reset the DMA controller when you stop running it. It will leave the FM signal active until you reset the pi.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

BuffaloBagel 12y ago

Holy square wave harmonics Batman.

wwwwwwwwww 12y ago

fun semi-related EE design fact that readers may find interesting: one of the fastest ways to tell that someone didn't know what they're doing when they designed a board is that they placed the oscillator anywhere other than right next to the component it drives. the traces that connect the oscillator to the component are basically an antenna - the longer they are, the stronger they broadcast. This becomes an issue when there are multiple oscillators in close proximity - their broadcasts can interfere with each other and cause them to synchronize. I forget what this effect is called but here's a neat video that kinda illustrates it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFc4wriBvE&feature=kp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFc4wriBvE&feature=kp

startrak 12y ago

Anybody have information regarding the strength of the output signal? I know the FCC here in the US very touchy about radio broadcast strength...

synx508 12y ago
It's definitely above the part 15 limits of 150 μV/m at 3m I don't know the current drive capabilities of the Broadcom SoC, but let's assume it can perfectly drive a dipole antenna presenting around 72 ohms. The supply is 3.3V, I think. 3.3^2/72 = 0.15125W. In reality I doubt it's anywhere close to that, let's assume 50mW instead (it could be lower, I just don't know). According to a legit-looking field strength calculator I found online this works out to just over 0.5V/m at 3m! That sounds a bit high. Various factors would conspire to making even this much field strength unlikely, but it'd still exceed the FCC limits easily. The Pi's output is also a reasonably decent square wave, as pointed out elsewhere. So there are some harmonics that are, themselves, above the part 15 limits. In other words, don't do this, unless you have a spectrum analyzer, attenuator (don't forget to block DC). Actually, someone needs to do this with the right equipment just to find out how well it really performs.

cskau 12y ago

Does anybody happen to know if it's just as easy to read the pins at 91.25, 94.75, and 95.75 MHz? Lately I've been trying to find a way to do exactly that - initially using audio in - but so far without any luck.

th0ma5 12y ago
The $20 RTL-SDR sticks can do this.
esbonsa 12y ago
it appears that you can use any frequency (if you use a proper antenna for the chosen freq., you will get better transmitting range)

unoti 12y ago

I'm a Ham radio operator, and interested in building my own real 2m/70cm transceiver that I can put in my car, complete with a little display to impress my friends and such. So these Pi articles interest me, but I'm more interested in interfacing a microcontroller to a real quality transmitter that can operate at, say, 25+ watts. Ideally I'd like for this project to run Android, and drive my car stereo too, and do a bunch of other crazy things like GPS. There's surprisingly little information out there on how to approach such a project. I've looked for components I could use on Sparkfun, and there's not really anything that jumps out at me, for either building 2m/70cm transceivers, or even for doing the stereo amplifier part. I did find this fascinating article, though: http://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hacking-a-ham-radio/ http://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/hacking-a-ham-radio/

th0ma5 12y ago
Yeah I've been interested in the links out there around modifying the Baofeng radios and replacing the CPU in them with an Arduino or an generic computer interface.

zxcvgm 12y ago

A related hack: using the Pi to transmit at 433.92 MHz with minimal hardware [1]. This frequency is commonly used for remote controlled wall outlets and such. [1] http://www.skagmo.com/page.php?p=projects/22_pihat http://www.skagmo.com/page.php?p=projects/22_pihat