How To Make A Cheap WiFi Radio
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- In this episode, I will show you how to create a cheap WiFi radio for under $50.
Downloads
Firmware direct download - wiki.openwrt.or...
Asus Restoration Utility -www.tinkernut.c...
Putty - the.earth.li/~s...
Ario MPD client - sourceforge.net...
GTK+ for Windows - gtk-win.sourcef...
Parts Needed:
Asus WL-520GU - www.amazon.com/...
USB Sound - www.amazon.com/...
Links:
MPC Commands - linux.die.net/m...
MPD Clients - mpd.wikia.com/w...
Reference Sites:
OpenWRT - www.openwrt.org
MightyOhm - mightyohm.com
Hey folks, before you berate this guy for the complex process, remember this was posted in 2010... Cheap Raspberry Pi, inexpensive bluetooth speakers... none of that stuff was available 5 years ago!
J Bishop They had computers and powered speakers though. That's what I used back then. However instead of using powered computer speakers, I just plugged the computer audio into my stereo system amplifier.
it is not even complicated
Ily
let alone most smartphone capabilities... but seriously there is a charm in this
J Bishop Actually, it was available more than 5 years ago. Cheap BT convertor was around $7CAD and the RasPi came out around 4-5 years ago. But interesting video (I gave it a like), gives me other ideas with the router and it's crazy how OpenWRT turns your router into a Linux machine...
Damn, this was 2010? I've been following this guy for 7 years.
You guys got to give this guy some credit;he put this all together for free,I would have done it if there were no other way.Thanks stranger!
This is a cool project and a really clear, concise video. It's well-edited too. But, wow, so many steps! I think that it's beyond my technical ability, but I still enjoyed watching. Thanks for sharing.
Good info! Audio quality is limited by USB vs S/PDIF or other digital connections. The USB "soundcard" will be important, a cheap one will pretty much limit you to a mediocre sound quality. Many USB DACs are limited to 16 bits / 48 kHz max. Do not confuse (USB 1,2 or 3) and the USB audio standard (1 or 2). USB Audio Class 1 (1998) allows for 24 bits / 96 kHz max. Windows does not natively support USB audio class 2. 3rd party USB class 2 driver on Windows is req. Search: "intro computer audio"
...hold on! what was step 2 again? hahahahha.
after watching this video, I think I'll just stick with listening to the voices in my head. I don't even need a wi-fi connection for that.
Just get a Chromecast Audio.
you have a point.
+nathan martin me neither
That tinfoil hat always does the trick. If you use gold foil you can get those golden oldies.
This is actually a great idea, but there are MANY ways to do it. I use a cheap FM transmitter which I plug into my comp. There are many ways to do this!
Would it be just easier to open a browser and play a radio station. Just saying.
OverkilledUnderdog it would be way easier
OverkilledUnderdog It would be too easy
OverkilledUnderdog And you would learn absolutely nothing.
Yeah, but where's the fun in that?
Irrespective of when it was recorded.....
I'm years behind on this tech geek talk. so much going on behind the scenes to make shit work. I mean.... who the fk thinks of this stuff and where to find it and how to make it all come together. ..
Brilliant stuff for a guy from a long time ago from a galaxy far, far away.
With that many steps the probability of errors creeping in increase exponentially! What is saved monetarily is offset with the amount of labor and frustration required. HOWEVER, great job! Your cyberskills are fantastic!
Phew! I don't have your skills even with the excellent tutorial. Love the idea of re-cycling an nice retro real piece of kit to make it 21st century. Well done, you can look justifiaby proud. A lead with two headphone 3.5 ends on will connect a mobile/cell phone with TuneIn radio, Spotify, Google selection etc from the phone to the external speaker inputs on many old radios, or new inexpensive FM/AM sets.
We need more people who care about innovation and creativity more than just lazy easy how to videos. I'm so sick of nontechnical do this or that automatically bull rgggg. I love this stuff more. This guy is great!!!
I hooked up a fm cartransmitter to my computer to listen to internetradio on all the radios in and around the house...including on cellphones and mp3/players with radio!!! Even the neighbours enjoy it!!!
Do people not understand the satisfaction that comes from doing a project like this? It's not just about the purpose of it.
A friend was diagnosed with a tumour earlier this year, she uses a cordless [800MHz-ish] home fone, but stays on it for looooong periods, so even though these low power devices may seem safe, their proximity in the home or next to our heads [= brain, eyes, ears etc] is a real cause for concern.
Love the fact that there are people out there doing this shit, there's no way I can do it, but love the fact that you're doing it :-)
Insane configuration . My brain is smoking just watching this video.
You guys are one step away from super villains .
This is awesome for whole home audio. Set one of these up in each room of your house.
wonder whats the success rate of this video?! these instructions seem overwhelming, i like the swap-tronics kind of hacking
Did not count exactly but I think around 10,000 steps here!
You are almost guaranteed a failure with so many detailed steps & troubleshooting could become very time consuming.
A programatic implementation is surely called for here.
i was able to do this on my old Apple Airport Extreme, and it works like a charm
Different stroke for different folks, but the persickity go through a lot of steps to be happy. Although in my day we bought 8 track car audio to make up for the lack of FM broadcasters in the rural boonies when the DJ on the AM clear channel stations ( not the conglomerate real clear channel) stations weren't making us happy
9 Years later in late 2019 am/fm radio looks pretty much alive. At least several stations on am/fm radio are not under big tech or media companies censorship..
I used an abandoned Motorola Droid on wi-fi only with powered speakers plugged into it. Works great on Pandora.
For all you (yawn zzz) lazy just buy this or that people for x listen this type of stuff is not about $ first. It really is about the fun of doing it and knowing you can create anything with electronics. Only people who love to make things and learn how things work enjoys these videos.
it's fun, I didn't know routers are programmable like this... it just isn't any useful, cause it's a lot easier to actually play stuff from your computer or smart phone which has internet connection anyway... so I don't really see the point, but it is definitely interesting what you did here
@RyHu FM signals can be produced using the RPs GPIO pins. It's not a radio in the traditional sense, but in a sense the RP is using pin 4 as an antenna and doing some PWM magic in the form of software to produce signals in line with FM standard.
This project was pretty neat at the time of it's posting. Pi or no pi.
Very interesting. I've got a Linksys E2100L that I picked up at a thrift shop for $7 with DD WRT installed, but I've never thought of using the USB port to hook up a soundcard. USB storage or printer maybe, but never a sound card; it's quite an interesting idea.
the raspberry pi simplified a lot of this - and it does FM transmissions with a lot less work lol
It does FM transmissions? What does it transmit?
wait a minute... FM now falls into 802.11? So you are saying that it transmits signal, in addition to receiving signal?
Yeah dude, what I was asking was if it pushed a signal, not just received one. FM is a form of radio frequency modulation, like AM.
In 2010 this was probably the easiest and cheapest solution. At home I have a second hand Apple Express Wifi (with build in headphone jack) and another setup with a Raspberry Pi with Volumio installed. Both work pretty good with both my macbook, ipad and iphone. the airport express was 35 incl transport and the pi is an old model B+ that was 20 euro.
I use a Bluetooth reciever I bought from walmart for $25. Its small. I can take it anywhere and use it on anything with a audio input.
Good job. This video is up to par man. Glad to see you redid this video.
The most infirmative instructions I have ever seen !!!
The ASUS WL-500gp v.1 works as well with the added benefits of a faster chip, more flash memory, and an additional USB port built in. I set it up using an OpenWRT Attitude Adjustment build from a year or so ago. I'll post a how to with links to an image as well when I have a chance to build on stable.
You can also restore ip using cmd, no need to take ethernet cable in and out. I just can remember command right now... it was something like this: ipconfig /renew or like that :)
Great ideea, I wish I can found more recently podcasts for the same application...an radio-online from an router with USB port. I don t have Asus WL-500gp , just RTN56u . . .
MPD is not only radio. You can configure it to read music from particular directory (on pendrive or network disc).
Cool idea. This would be much easier nowadays using a Raspberry Pi instead of a router box. No mucking around with networking settings, and it already has a sound card built-in.
I hope you changed the output volume on the wifi router, this is VERY IMPORTANT as you diddent mention it needs to be at or below line level of you can blow out the preamp for the cassette head and end up with loads of distortion.
That was piece of CAKE !!! next mission is to convert a cheap CRT monitor into a laptop with some rewiring !!! All you have to do is to follow the steps.. XD
I built one of these. It is not a problem depending on your level of geek and whether or not you have a social life.
So you dont need to make anything just buy the stuff you need. Whatever. Why dont you make a vid on how to make a mp3 player by buying one.
:D
First I want to see you doing something similar and educate me on the same level as he just did.
***** because generators are more fuel efficient than a car's engine. so, car engines are not ideal power generators for regular long term use. :)
Holy shit I'd rather spend $100 than go thru all that set up shit...
+Bman H its easy lol
I totally agree
+Bman H You'll have to spend at least that much . The router goes for $169.95
on Amazon at the moment...
+Myra Arcadia "its easy lol'
I'm sure it is, if you're used to doing all this every day. On the other hand, I can just use an old smart phone. Cheaper, recycles old hardware, and no programming gymnastics involved. Plus, when it's not being an internet radio, it can be a camera, calculator, web browser, and a platform for simple games. Oh, and it's completely portable.
What is this?
you are like a scientist.
this is very complex.
I wish you were here in Cleveland. I would love having some fun with electronics with you. Cool!
I just use a C Crane FM transmitter II - It was like sixty bucks and I can broadcast a quality FM signal all around my house and property. Any audio - my records or audio streaming from the internet.
Ohhhh this is from 2010... Damn how much has changed
This is what I'M talking about! Definitely a TO-DO on my list!
Even though it's 2015, i still like this video!
+Greg Peck oops.. 😂
+Greg Peck oops..
Ilysmmmm
@Wiejeben yep. that's why it's the easiest one to use.
I still love listening to FM radio:D 102.9 all day
lol I never knew that routers have a linux system under the hood. btw was that Angstrom?
casaverdero That's why linux rules.
Woah ur intro looks like its popping out of my iPod
Hi, nice presentation, which one software you was use for making this? Thanks
@gigafide your videos are the best and they have lots of stuff to do at home.
PLZ UPLOAD MORE!!!!
On the other hand RasPi do not have integrated WiFi card. Some people say that those cheap USB sound cards offer better quality and they are using them in RPis anyway. I do not hear any difference. Although using RPi only as Internet Radio may be considered overkill. ;)
Is it sad that everyone else is complaining about this, but I follow it and understand it fully?
meh whatever, im just that awesome lol
you deserve a grammy award!
@Christian Zelenuk
I know. I remember when it first posted lol. I'm simply suggesting that today it's a bit more work (open wrt is neat) than popping a raspian SD in, a 5v power supply and voila. One of the GPIO pins can be used to transmit fm.
The pi could be used to "super charge" this project and make it a lot more functional/customizable.
I really like this video and bringing up the raspberry pi I feel in ok way diminishes this project. :D
@MrShahrozButt A good computer science curriculum should cover most of it (digital electronics, circuit design, logic, software development, networking, operating systems, etc) and give you a good starting point for what it doesn't.
This video is still being recommended on the main page.
This video just blow my mind away. GREAT work!
that's the point, it's not for the normal user, it's for us, who were curious enough to get here
I feel like there has to be a way to do this for much cheaper! I've seen it done with a Raspberry Pi but that even seems like overkill. Isn't there some way of combining a USB WiFi dongle and a USB soundcard?
A2DP Stereo Bluetooth adapter & headsets are available from 2007. I have a Sony Ericsson HBH-DS200 from 2008, just sayin'.
@iRouRoui Yes... The little router that you have in your home may be running a really small Linux distribution named BusyBox that makes everything possible. OpenWRT ((the distribution that he uses) use Busybox. Everything in less that 4 MB of memory and 32 MB of RAM.
Far too complicated for me but serious respect to the creator!
This would be a great use of a rPi! But...
The rPi's analog audio out is pretty poor quality, so you will want to use a usb audio adapter, and you'll need a usb wifi adapter, and a high quality phone charger to make it all work reliably, and a SD card. All of that adds up to more than $50.
Also, it would have been pretty tough to get your hands on a Raspberry Pi in 2010 :)
At first I was a little disappointed that you didn't use an esp8266, then I noticed that this video was 8 years old.
MIND BLOWN
@TheComputerNerd0101 The 240p server is more packed than the 720p server. The different qualities are ran on different machines.
I 've made this with another firmware called gargoyle router. The advantage of that i f/w is that it has a full router management web interface ;)
Your right u could just get and old Android phone, or Tablet and load the apps on it like XiaLive Pro, Pandora, Last FM, etc.. but do remember this video was made in 2010, before a lot of people even had an extra Android phone/tablet laying around to use.
Analog radio will live forever that's where the magic is
i've bought myself a stereo-bleutooth receiver. It's cheap (30 euro) and you can plug it into any stereo or speaker, and just like this incredibly complicated project, you can use it with you computer or smartphone... But I understand the top comment. It's about the road, not the destination.
Those Speakers in the video are the EXACT same one's I had for my Windows 98SE!
Man.. you're a genius, I love it!
And here I am just buying a $20 Bluetooth audio dongle that does the job without the fuss. LOL :) (It is almost 4 years later, so I guess it makes sense that he had to do so much when this was made.)
Skills required:
Understanding command line operating systems.
Ability to plug in cables.
Ability to navigate GUIs with a mouse.
This is simple.
This defenately better than the old one :)
Good Job :)
@ForsakenThirteen Buddy, i've built electronic gadgets for 35 years, but i know when to just listen to music and not concentrate on my soldering iron, smell the roses man!
@RyHu The raspberry pi is capable of transmitting FM radio signals from pin 4 (could be wrong, I thought that was an rt or rx pin). It can play audio files that you specify to a program as a command line argument. Google it. ^_^
I have a WIFI radio app on my PSP, it works great and I didn't have to spend a penny!
I do not think you hooked in to the Tape Player "Head"(pickup) connections. Perhaps the line level after the tape player pre-amp??. The headphone signal level would be way to high for the head input, unless you added a resistor network.
Very interesting, although I agree that the instructions are a bit complicated. I'm thinking that a bluetooth speaker might be a better buy.
I had to subscribe, sharing such wonderful knowledge with the masses. thank you
I saw these thing at a store that you can stream music over Bluetooth to any speakers
Buy a $10 FM modulator and plug it into your headphone jack and tune that schiznit in on your radio.
I bought a cheap Asus tablet for 50 bucks, downloaded one of the radio program apps from the Google play store, and I stream it via Bluetooth to my television sound bar. Way easier quicker and better than all this rigmarole. Plus I can also load all my mp3s onto the tablet and stream them to the sound bar if I don't want to listen to the radio.
A Raspberry Pi can even run Programs that dowload the newest Music, and then send it to your phone when your back home.
what a waste of time. buy a bluetooth stereo adapter for 9 bucks and plug into old computer speakers
DONE
way to boring
MrDj200 lol yeah
Thanks for mentioning this! It really helped.
I'm sure this was made before Bluetooth speakers were around. So, cool tip for its time.
@R4Backup I removed it...and this one is in Windows.
If I remembered correctly, you have to forward your "radio router" through your Cable Modem/DSL Modem and connect with your Public IP address and that port.
Ohh complex! I just use a cheap bluetooth fob that I got from ebay for less than £10. Works perfectly from my phone or PC.
@gigafide awsome bro thank you for re-doing it i love this one
pretty nifty, but way more complex than I'd be comfortable with
I think you could do this with your old smartphone. I have a optimus S just sitting around that could do this job perfectly.
This is a REALLY GREAT tutorial! The steps are clear, and really not difficult when taken one a time. But does this material exist somewhere in text form? That would be a lot easier to follow.
Again, great job! Thanks!
clear idea and clean mind , very smart .
this is seriously awesome