Introduction: Raspberry Pirate Radio
I've been looking around on Instructables but haven't been able to find a good Raspberry Pi Radio. So, with the inspration from Make: Raspberry PiRate Radio, i have decided to make one with their program. This is the first Instructable I've made, so please bear with me. All you need is an afternoon, a raspberry Pi, a radio receiver,a few extra tools and you will soon have your very own radio.
Step 1: Getting Things Together.
Before we get started, we need to get some things. Here are the parts:
- A Raspberry Pi
- A SD card With no less than 4 GB (mine was a Micro SD with an adapter)
- Wire Strippers
- About 1' 12 AWG wire (I used 14 AWG, but 12 is better)
- A Female pin
- Network cable
- Soldering Iron and Solder
- Heat Shrink Tubing (But you can use Electrical Tape)
- Optional: Helping Hands
You will also need a computer, a radio, and a few programs. But I'll get back to those.
**WARNING** If you want to use any of the images from NOOB's or ever want to use the raspberry pi for anyting other than a radio station, USE A DIFFERENT SD CARD. Don't use the one you've put all your time into because it will replace all data on the sd card.
**DISCLAIMER**IT IS NOT MY FAULT IF YOU GET IN TROUBLE WITH THE FCC. I TRUST YOU WOULD USE THIS WITH DISCRETION. IT HAS THE POWER TO REACH OUTSIDE OF THE FM BAND.
Step 2: Preparing the SD Card.
First we need to download the image, here. This may take a while, so lets get the other programs. We need to download and install Win32DiskImager, and WinSCP. After the image has downloaded, unzip the file and move it to the desktop. Put the SD card into the computer. Open the diskimager and select the correct Device and file. When looking for the file, make sure to change it from *.img to *.*. Then press write, and wait. Once done, eject SD Card and put it in the Raspberry Pi.
Step 3: Put Songs on the Card.
Connect the network cable to the RPI and to your router or modem and power it on. Open WinSCP. For Host Name, put the IP Address; for both username and password use "root". Once logged-in, go to the root folder, and open a folder called "pirateradio". Drag all the songs you want into this file. After, open a file called "pirateradio.config" and change the settings to your liking. Save the changes, an close that program.
Step 4: Make the Antenna.
Solder the wire to the female pin. This is easier with a Helping Hand. You should insulate the joint with heat shrink, but I didn't have any. This needs to be plugged into GPIO4 or Pin 7.
Step 5: Listen
Reconnect the power, tune the radio to your channel, and wait. It will take about a minute for the Raspberry Pi to start broadcasting, you should hear the static go away, then, the music will start playing. It's that easy.
Please support by voting, and thanks for reading.

Runner Up in the
Pi/e Day Contest

Participated in the
Explore Science Contest

Participated in the
DIY Audio and Music Contest
51 Comments
Question 3 years ago
Did anyone ever get this to work with a raspberry pi3?
4 years ago
I live next door to Nellis AFB.
I constantly see directly overhead A10 Warthogs, F15s,F22s,Blue Angel F16s,sometimes B1 and B52 bombers (feels like an earthquake when they takeoff), AWACS, C130 and C17s, etc.
I probably should not build this :(
8 years ago
Does it work with b+
Reply 7 years ago
No
7 years ago
Hi,
I have a Raspberry 3 and I do not get it to work. Does it work wth a Pi3?
THX!
Reply 7 years ago
As cited in the precious comment I made, no. It only works on the Pi1 Model A
Reply 7 years ago
I think that the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 are almost the same. 3 only has WiFi and Bluetooth chip diodes and moved elsewhere and has a processor with support of 64-bit instructions. The problem will probably be in the processor.
Reply 7 years ago
yes, and sorry for my bad english.
Reply 7 years ago
i was wondering this question also
Reply 7 years ago
I am also wondering if anyone got it to work. Been messing around and have no found anything to make it work. :/
8 years ago
does the project works same with raspberry pi 2 modB?Please tell me as soon as possible!
Reply 7 years ago
yes it does, this project will work on any RPi
Reply 7 years ago
You are very very wrong. It does NOT work on anything other than the very old Pi 1 model A. I found out the hard way.
7 years ago
Whenever I try to type "root" in the username and password it says access denied. I put the IP address in and I don't think there is any problem with that so I think that's alright but still not sure. Thank you to those who reply and are able to help me fix it :)
7 years ago
when i flash the new os i dont get the same file system as i get three files on is the radio file one is the program that lets it launch other things as if it where a radio station and thats it, no subdirs or config files, the problem im having is that it is playing to that frequency as i get pure silence but it wont play any of my mp3s, suggestions?
7 years ago
the piradio file got corrupted the os is not working.
8 years ago
will this work with regular speaker wire or is the 14 AWG neccassary?
8 years ago on Step 5
Whats is the IP address? is there some sort of default?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
It's the IP address of your computer. If you're running Windows, open the command prompt and type "ipconfig" without the quotation marks. Scroll down until you find "192.168.X.X" the X represents the last digits of the IP) for example 192.168.0.12
8 years ago on Introduction
That'sa nice project, but anyone knows if it is possible to put some text that can appear on the radio? Thanks!