Listening to radio from distant countries used to take a shortwave rig, but thanks to the Internet we can now pull in streams from all over the globe from the comfort of our own desktop. With a few clicks you can switch between your local news station and the latest in pop trends from Casablanca. But as convenient as online streaming might be, some folks still yearn for the traditional radio experience.
For those people, the Raspberry Pi World Radio by [Abraham Martinez Gracia] might be the solution. Built into the body of a 1960s Invicta radio, this Internet radio uses a very unique interface. Rather than just picking from a list of channels, you use the knobs on the front to pan and zoom around a map of the world. Streaming channels are represented by bubbles located within their country of origin, so you’ll actually have to “travel” there to listen in. The video after the break gives a brief demonstration of how it works in practice.
We’ll admit it might become a bit tedious eventually, but from a visual standpoint, it’s absolutely fantastic. [Abraham] even gave the map an appropriately vintage look to better match the overall aesthetic. Normally we’d say using a Raspberry Pi 4 to drive a streaming radio player would be a bit overkill, but considering the GUI component used here, it’s probably the right choice.
Of course we’ve seen Internet radios built into vintage enclosures before, and we’ve even seen one that used a globe to select the station, but combining both of those concepts into one cohesive project is really quite an accomplishment.
Nice build, a modern version of the Ingelen Geographic.
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/ingelen_geographic_us837w.html
Absolutely amazing!
“…uses a very unique interface.”
As opposed to slightly unique?
…yes? Is there some reason you think there can’t be different levels of uniqueness?
What a great user interface! Bravo!
There must be countless internet radio stations. Something I did not see on the HAD.IO site, how is this data collected or imported into this project?
Radio stations and place locations are stored in a JSON file that initially was found in internet. User can add or remove stations using a form from any device connected to the same network that the radio.
Shoutcast/Icecast would be my first guess
Shut up and take my money!!