The previous day, an article was written about a 2-year-old open-source hardware project featuring an ESP32-based DAB+ receiver. Recently, a new digital radio project was launched for Raspberry Pi about three weeks ago.
The Digital Radio V1 HAT by Raspiaudio adds AM/FM, DAB/DAB+, and HD Radio capabilities to any Raspberry Pi SBC with a 40-pin GPIO header. It can be controlled using CLI or web-based software.
Specifications for the Digital Radio V1 HAT include:
– Supported SBCs: Raspberry Pi Zero 1/2, Raspberry Pi 4/5
– Digital radio receiver chip: Skyworth Si4689-A10
– Supports worldwide FM and AM bands, DAB/DAB+ Band III, advanced RDS/RBDS decoding, FM HD Radio with IBOC blend, WorldDMB Receiver Profile 1, integrated OFDM channel demodulator, de-interleaving SRAM, I2S digital audio, 97 dB stereo audio DAC, concurrent I2S/L-R stereo audio output, VCO/PLL/synthesizer, SPI and I2C interfaces, and a 48-pin QFN package.
– Antenna:
– SMA connector for digital radio, AM loop antenna support, and AM balun for impedance matching.
– Audio:
– Stereo audio jack output, 5W amplifier and speaker, screwless output for external speakers, switchable onboard speaker output, analog audio output, amplifier enable on GPIO17, and I2S audio for digital capture and recording.
– Other features: onboard 3-way navigation button and pHAT form factor.
While the board hardware is not open-source, the software is open source. Raspiaudio’s interface options include a browser-based Web UI and CLI, available on GitHub. The radio.py script offers a local Web UI to scan, browse, tune, adjust volume, manage favorites, and handle recordings without an Internet connection.
DAB/DAB+ is predominantly used in Europe, South Korea, and Australia, while HD Radio (IBOC) is mainly utilized in the United States.
To start using it:
“`plaintext
git clone https://github.com/RASPIAUDIOadmin/Digital-Radio-for-Raspberry-Pi.git
cd Digital-Radio-for-Raspberry-Pi
python radio.py serve –port 8686
“`
Access the web interface at http://piradio.local:8686/.
Raspiaudio’s Digital Audio HAT is more straightforward to set up than the previously discussed open-source hardware DAB+ receiver. It’s available for purchase or pre-order for 59.90 Euros, including the HAT, a telescopic antenna, and a riser for compatibility with Raspberry Pi boards. Simply insert the HAT, connect the antenna, install the software, and it’s ready to use.