Video killed the radio star, but podcasts revived him. Roderick Mann combined his love for podcasts with the beauty and tactility of old radios in Podtique.
Podtique has the body of a 1936 Goldentone radio, but most of its guts have been replaced by modern components. Roderick used a BeagleBone Black to store and play podcasts. He also used an Audio Technica codec, a Sparkfun amplifier and a cheap 4″ speaker.
As I said, the Podtique doesn’t stream audio from podcast feeds. Instead Roderick loads podcasts as mp3 files organized into playlists on the BeagleBone Black, then “tunes in” to them using the frequency switch knob on the radio. The beauty of Roderick’s work is that he simulated the sounds of switching between radio stations. As you switch from one playlist to another, Podtique gradually reduces the sound of the current playlist, adds static noise and then gradually increases the sound of the next playlist.
Get off my lawn and head to Roderick’s blog for more on Podtique. For those interested in using a BeagleBone for a similar project, Roderick says he’s willing to make a custom cape (a BeagleBone add-on board) that has a DAC, amplifier, LED interface, power management and battery charging if he receives enough demand for it.
[via Evil Mad Scientist]
