Build a tiny web radio with your Raspberry Pi Pico 2W
Tune In
© Lead Image © yupiramos, 123RF.com
A Raspberry Pi Pico 2W has enough power to let you create a very usable web radio when you add a DAC chip and an amplifier.
Listening to music and news on the Internet instead of FM is very much in vogue. In the past, you needed at least a Pi Zero W to get started, but with performance increasing all the time, even microprocessors can now do this, making the web radio smaller, cheaper, and faster. I have already built various web radio projects, from a simple radio with a four-line LC display [1] to a web radio that's at home in any living room with a Raspberry Pi 4 and a large touchscreen for the stereo system. My current project is downsizing to the minimum: I'm using a Pico 2W, but an ESP32-S3 would just as easily do the trick.
Basic Functions
The radio only supports the most basic functions: It can output MP3 streams from Internet URLs and display the station logo, and it has buttons that let you browse the station list. This frugality keeps the hardware requirements manageable.
There are no limits when it comes to buttons and the screen, although screens with integrated buttons are the obvious choice for the application at hand. You do not need a particularly large screen as you only want the application to display a logo: 135x135 pixels should be fine. Most screens are based on an ST7789 or a similar chip, and there is no shortage of suitable drivers.
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