“This beautiful little “Flirt” transistor radio from 1970 has had a loving conversion using a Raspberry Pi Zero and modern microswitches, and now bangs out internet radio tunes in the bathroom, its dial (and case) glowing brightly from the LEDs of the inbuilt Pimoroni Speaker pHAT’s VU meter. It’s powered by a rechargeable LiPo battery and all of the original controls have been re-used.
The power switch does what you’d expect, boots up the Pi and points it at the stream for Soma FM’s Secret Agent, while the original volume and tuning dials have been upgraded with microswitches and now control the volume. Pop open the battery cover and there’s a micro-USB connector to charge up the battery - it’s as cute and functional as it was 50 years ago!
This was also my quickest ever Raspberry Pi project - from junk box to bathroom shelf in exactly a week.
Supplies:
- Flirt Transistor Radio
- Raspberry Pi Zero W
- Pimoroni Speaker pHAT
- Adafruit Micro Lipo
- Pimoroni Lipo Shim
- 2x Lever Microswitches
- 1x Latching Double Pole Double Throw Switch
- Sugru
- Jumper Cables
- Small Speaker”