6 ms·

This is amazing - and incidentally has given me a solution to a very real problem. My grandmother is suffering from dementia, and within the last few months ha

This is amazing - and incidentally has given me a solution to a very real problem. My grandmother is suffering from dementia, and within the last few months has forgotten how to tune a radio. She's an avid radio listener, so I worked around this by buying her a few radios, tuning them, and labelling them - so she only has to hit the power button on the one she wants. Unfortunately, she's not thrilled by how much space the set of radios takes up, and she's also at the edge of the coverage area for her favorite FM station. Within the next few weeks, I'll definitely give this a shot with a Pi Zero W, and hopefully write something up on how workable of a solution this is for her.

itsyaboi 5y ago
A SDR + some sort of "stream deck" from the parent article could be a potential "offline" solution. You could even wire a couple mechanical keyboard switches to Rpi's GPIO pins for selecting preset channels and avoid the stream-thingy all together. RTL-SDR: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2 https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/PythonSupport https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/PythonSupport
- ThatPlayer 5y ago
  I also like the idea of this more because it means you do not have to worry about URLs changing. FM channels changing are much more rare.
- m463 5y ago
  There are linux libraries for the elgato streamdeck shown here
- voltagex_ 5y ago
  I have never ever been able to get a good FM signal out of the RTLSDR. I even have one of the expensive ones where they improved the shielding. Luckily this is less of a problem where I am as all of the stations I'm interested in are also broadcast via DVB-T.
dehrmann 5y ago
I think there's a business opportunity around people who aren't tech literate and want what tech they have to stay the same, but every time I think about what an ecosystem that could handle everything from photo sharing to email to even the TV, it seems like a fool's errand because the market seems small, it keeps shifting to people to are comfortable with somewhat newer things, and I don't think enough people would actually pay for it.
- irrational 5y ago
  I wonder if all the boomers would pay for this. Supposedly they are the ones with lots of money. The market might only be good for 20 years, but you could make a lot of money in those 20 years.
  - irrational 5y ago
    Why the downvotes? My parents are boomers, I'm not using the term pejoratively.
- walrus01 5y ago
  sort of in the same market: https://www.greatcall.com/phones/jitterbug-smart-smartphone-for-seniors https://www.greatcall.com/phones/jitterbug-smart-smartphone-... https://www.jitterbugdirect.com/ https://www.jitterbugdirect.com/ If you see the paper magazine published by the AARP, there are ads for phones and various technology things marketed for the age 65+ group in there.
- benhurmarcel 5y ago
  I think the last point is the most important. People who are not tech-literate usually don't want to spend much on tech, even if it solves their problems. Just the device shown in that article is worth €100. I don't know any older relative that would pay nearly that much to listen to the radio. Same reason why most people who don't care about tech struggle with a €200 Chinese Android rather than an easier-to-use iPhone.
old_radio 5y ago
Hi, I made an account so I could show you what I've been working on. Maybe it will give you some ideas and hopefully you won't have to reinvent the wheel. I "restored" an old Sears radio by gutting it and adding a pi Zero W, a DAC, and some rotary encoders. [1][2] It basically works like a radio (streaming NPR in the images), but it also has local storage. My goal was to have it working pretty much the way the stock radio did (with the notable exception of the screen). It is running MPD, which means that it can be controlled by a phone app or external hardware as well as the dials on the front. I have also rigged up a bluetooth "keyset" [3][4] after reading a how-to article about those.[5] I am currently using it to control zoom meetings, but it would be trivial to set it up so that the big clicky buttons switch the radio stations. If anyone indicates interest, I'll elaborate on the hardware and software details. [1] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/1.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/1.jpg [2] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/2.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/2.jpg [3] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/3.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/3.jpg [4] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/4.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/4.jpg [5] https://learn.adafruit.com/ble-hid-keyboard-buttons-with-circuitpython?view=all https://learn.adafruit.com/ble-hid-keyboard-buttons-with-cir...

itsyaboi 5y ago

A SDR + some sort of "stream deck" from the parent article could be a potential "offline" solution. You could even wire a couple mechanical keyboard switches to Rpi's GPIO pins for selecting preset channels and avoid the stream-thingy all together. RTL-SDR: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2 https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/PythonSupport https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/PythonSupport

ThatPlayer 5y ago
I also like the idea of this more because it means you do not have to worry about URLs changing. FM channels changing are much more rare.
m463 5y ago
There are linux libraries for the elgato streamdeck shown here
voltagex_ 5y ago
I have never ever been able to get a good FM signal out of the RTLSDR. I even have one of the expensive ones where they improved the shielding. Luckily this is less of a problem where I am as all of the stations I'm interested in are also broadcast via DVB-T.

dehrmann 5y ago

I think there's a business opportunity around people who aren't tech literate and want what tech they have to stay the same, but every time I think about what an ecosystem that could handle everything from photo sharing to email to even the TV, it seems like a fool's errand because the market seems small, it keeps shifting to people to are comfortable with somewhat newer things, and I don't think enough people would actually pay for it.

irrational 5y ago
I wonder if all the boomers would pay for this. Supposedly they are the ones with lots of money. The market might only be good for 20 years, but you could make a lot of money in those 20 years.
- irrational 5y ago
  Why the downvotes? My parents are boomers, I'm not using the term pejoratively.
walrus01 5y ago
sort of in the same market: https://www.greatcall.com/phones/jitterbug-smart-smartphone-for-seniors https://www.greatcall.com/phones/jitterbug-smart-smartphone-... https://www.jitterbugdirect.com/ https://www.jitterbugdirect.com/ If you see the paper magazine published by the AARP, there are ads for phones and various technology things marketed for the age 65+ group in there.
benhurmarcel 5y ago
I think the last point is the most important. People who are not tech-literate usually don't want to spend much on tech, even if it solves their problems. Just the device shown in that article is worth €100. I don't know any older relative that would pay nearly that much to listen to the radio. Same reason why most people who don't care about tech struggle with a €200 Chinese Android rather than an easier-to-use iPhone.

old_radio 5y ago

Hi, I made an account so I could show you what I've been working on. Maybe it will give you some ideas and hopefully you won't have to reinvent the wheel. I "restored" an old Sears radio by gutting it and adding a pi Zero W, a DAC, and some rotary encoders. [1][2] It basically works like a radio (streaming NPR in the images), but it also has local storage. My goal was to have it working pretty much the way the stock radio did (with the notable exception of the screen). It is running MPD, which means that it can be controlled by a phone app or external hardware as well as the dials on the front. I have also rigged up a bluetooth "keyset" [3][4] after reading a how-to article about those.[5] I am currently using it to control zoom meetings, but it would be trivial to set it up so that the big clicky buttons switch the radio stations. If anyone indicates interest, I'll elaborate on the hardware and software details. [1] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/1.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/1.jpg [2] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/2.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/2.jpg [3] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/3.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/3.jpg [4] https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/4.jpg https://c_return.u.blinkenshell.org/hn/4.jpg [5] https://learn.adafruit.com/ble-hid-keyboard-buttons-with-circuitpython?view=all https://learn.adafruit.com/ble-hid-keyboard-buttons-with-cir...