How do I make a pedal that picks up radio stations?

[Shawbrook]

Usually people see it as a problem when their pedal picks up a radio station, but I want to make one that does this on purpose.  How would I do this?

[R.G.]

Usually people see it as a problem when their pedal picks up a radio station, but I want to make one that does this on purpose.  How would I do this?

I would use the headphone output of a real radio with a volume control.

[mremic01]

Lack of shielding?

I've thought about this myself but never really looked into it. Most of the Rubies I've built seem to pick up radio when there's an issue with grounding, or when the board isn't inside of a grounded enclosure. I thought about putting a 'radio switch' on one that messed with the grounding scheme to get some radio noise mixed in with my signal, but I pedal that just feeds it into your amp is an even better idea. It would be really cool to incorporate into quieter parts of songs.

[LucifersTrip]

http://www.somerset.net/arm/fm_only_one_transistor_radio.html



...and install in a pedal

[Shawbrook]

Could I also buy a small, cheap radio, take the electronics out and put them in a pedal?

[anchovie]

You could, but there might be a lot of drilling/cutting/filing of your pedal enclosure depending on what the radio's controls are like. Make a little pedal that switches between bypass and a pot that mixes a second input jack with your guitar signal. You can plug any radio with a headphone socket into the other input, plus you have the versatility of being able to use other noise/sound sources in future!

[chi_boy]

Usually people see it as a problem when their pedal picks up a radio station, but I want to make one that does this on purpose.  How would I do this?

I would use the headphone output of a real radio with a volume control.

Why not go one step further and use the headphone out from a recording device or mp3 player.   Radio alone could be unpredictable based on location.   I mean if the effect you're after if a talk show in the background and all you can tune in is the local hip-hop station then the effect would be lost.   

[Paul Marossy]

Usually people see it as a problem when their pedal picks up a radio station, but I want to make one that does this on purpose.   How would I do this?

I would use the headphone output of a real radio with a volume control.

Not a bad idea. But I wonder if the OP wants it to be random or "always on"? And if always on, then it's stuck on one station.

[anchovie]

And if always on, then it's stuck on one station.

Not if you got the tuning capacitor out into an expression pedal! 

[Zipslack]

386-based circuits are very sensitive to radio signals...even found a project on Instructables.com one time for making a radio using a 386 chip.  Basically, just a smokey-amp type circuit using a long wire (antenna) at the input pin instead of a guitar signal.

[Paul Marossy]

And if always on, then it's stuck on one station.

Not if you got the tuning capacitor out into an expression pedal! 

Ha ha, great idea! 

[pinkjimiphoton]

build a high gain fuzz with no filtering on the power supply, and shield all connections backwards...ie with the shield connected to hot.

you'll pull in all kindsa noise.


or, just use planet waves cables...<j/k>

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=95996.0;topicseen

[artifus]

And if always on, then it's stuck on one station.

Not if you got the tuning capacitor out into an expression pedal!  

Ha ha, great idea!  

most of the cheap fm radios i've seen for sale recently have had push button scan up/down tuning buttons - an easy hack surely?  what you pick up at home/rehearsal space/venue/studio will vary greatly depending on the environment so much as i love random i'm not sure how much i'd rely on it for performance beyond improv.

also: silver apples, anyone?

[Joe Hart]

Build a Fuzz Face the way that I build them! I don't know what I do exactly, but I pick up radio stations!
-Joe Hart

[seedlings]

Build a Fuzz Face the way that I build them! I don't know what I do exactly, but I pick up radio stations!
-Joe Hart

Yep.  Everything I breadboard is an instant radio receiver.  I don't know if it's the enclosure, or blind luck so far, but the radio goes away once it's pedaled up.

CHAD

[armstrom]

Just use an integrated FM receiver module controlled by a small micro controller. Something like this would do nicely:
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Accessories/Sound/tabid/164/CategoryID/38/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/749/Default.aspx

It uses I2C to control the volume, tuning, muting, whatever...
-Matt