Main Content

This portable cassette player is now an ambient IoT weather display with early 80s style, displaying a “current conditions” animation, scrolling temperature and rain probability graph through the tape window. When the weather condition changes the servo-controlled headphones on top jiggle back & forth as a subtle alert.
Opening the functional tape door we can see that the dusty original components have been replaced with a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a Pimoroni Unicorn Hat HD (LED Matrix) and a small servo. The weather data is sourced using a Python script that queries the ultra-accurate Dark Sky Weather API, tailored to my specific location.
It’s a simple but lovely-looking and functional IoT build that sits on the opposite desk speaker to my YouTube counter, quietly keeping me up to date with the weather.
Supplies:
- Raspberry Pi Zero
- Pimoroni Unicorn HAT HD
- Small Servo
- 1984 Hitachi SP-1 Personal Stereo & Headphones
- USB WiFi Adaptor
- 2mm Threaded Rod
- Sugru (Black & Grey)
- GeoMag magnet”

Link to article