Use Raspberry Pi as a radio transmitter - this is how you build the pirate transmitter
You can use Raspberry Pi for a variety of things - for example, as your own radio station. The signals are sent via FM and can thus be received with a conventional radio device.
Radio station "Raspberry Pi" - your own pirate station
You need a Raspberry Pi with operating system, a 20 cm long wire for the antenna (jumper cables are best) and software. There is a free C program for this, which plays or sends WAV files with 16 bits and 22.05 kHz (mono). You also need a corresponding song and a radio to receive the signals.
- First you have to plug the wire into a free GPIO pin.
- Download the software and unzip the TAR archive.
- In the archive you will find the software "pifm", the program code "pifm.c", the Python script "PiFm.py" and a sound file in the correct WAV format.
- Call the Python script "PiFm.py" and enter: "sudo ./pifm sound.wav 100.0".
- 100.0 is the frequency on which you will be heard. To play other sound files, you must enter the corresponding file name.
Warning: prohibited in Germany
In some countries (including Germany), the use of the Raspberry Pi as a radio station is prohibited because the transmission power is above the permitted limit of 50 nanowatts. This corresponds to just a few meters, but with the Raspberry Pi you can easily send 100 meters in all directions.
Tip: This is how it works legally and with better transmission power
- You can get better sound quality with a USB FM transmitter. Price about 35 euros.
- Such VHF transmitters have a CE approval with a maximum radiation of 50 nW - their use is therefore legal.
- With the transmitter you can use all frequencies from 87.5 to 108 MHz. You can read the exact regulations at the Federal Network Agency (Vfg. 7/2006).
If you have a good hi-fi system but poor radio reception, you can record your favorite programs online and play them on your music system with a Raspberry.