New Project Idea: Internet Radio
A few weeks ago, I completed the Art Deco FM Radio project. It is by far my favorite project so far. There are many reasons that make this project so special to me. First of all, I like the design of it. Next, it is the most complex project I have ever built from scratch. Next, I learned many things while building this project. This project transformed me in many ways. You can watch the project video below.
The project works fine and really love how it looks. At first, I was so excited about it that it was always on playing some music from some local radio stations. Unfortunately, since I live in a small Greek town, there are not many radio stations available, so the music options are limited. That’s when I need project came to mind. We can build an Internet Radio and tune in to any radio station in the world regardless of our location.
With the experience gained from the FM Radio project, it won’t be more difficult to build an Internet radio. I have seen that many people have achieved that, so we can start planning it.
I plan to use the following parts:
- An ESP32 board
- An MP3 player decoder
- A PAM8403 amplifier
- 2 speakers (yeah, we are going to have stereo sound this time)
- A 2.8” color TFT display
- A 18650 lithium battery
- Lithium battery charger
The electronics of the project cost around 30$.
Instead of the ESP32 with an MP3 player decoder, we could use a Raspberry Pi. I prefer the ESP32 solution even though it is harder to build. The ESP32 needs less power, it loads up instantly and last but not least it is less expensive than the Raspberry Pi.
When I finish with the electronics and the code of the project I will need to design an enclosure for the Internet Radio project. If you follow my channel, you probably now that I love the art deco style. I searched the book about the most beautiful radios ever made I discovered an impressive radio. I think I am going to use this radio to design the enclosure. I will replace the radio dial with the display to add a high-tech feel to it. I think it is going to look great printed with a wood filament.
What do you think about this project idea? I would love to read your thoughts in the comments section below.
Hi Nick,
That will be a great project.
I look forward to it when you have finished the project.
We will continue to follow you.
Greeting
Rolf
Hi Nick,
Would it be possible to decode MP3 in software and send it out via bluetooth?
I have such a system up running now using one Raspberry Pi Zero with wifi dongle and BT-dongle.
using esp-32S instead of RaspiZero would be great.
That is using no VS 1053 mp3 decoder.
brg
Dag