ScoutMakes FM Radio Kit Assembly Instructions
Assembly steps for the ScoutMakes FM Radio Kit
The ScoutMakes FM Radio Kit can also receive and process Radio Data Service (RDS) content. RDS is a communications protocol for embedding small amounts of digital data within conventional FM radio broadcasts. Examples include the time, the station identification, and programming information. (If you have a modern car stereo, you’ve probably seen RDS used to display the name of the song that is playing.)
FM radio kit design files & radio example source code
Step 1
Unwrap the ball and lay out the various kit components. The provided USB cable will be used to program the Azul and can also be used to charge the Lithium Polymer battery. The Azul has the battery charging circuitry built in.
Step 2
Place and solder the headers on the Azul bluetooth board.
*** IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE ORIENTATION OF THE HEADERS ON THE AZUL BLUETOOTH BOARD. THE LONG SIDE OF THE HEADERS MUST BE UNDER THE BOARD ***
Step 3
Place and solder the headers on the FM board.
*** IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE ORIENTATION OF THE HEADERS ON THE FM BOARD.
THE LONG SIDE OF THE HEADERS MUST BE ON TOP OF THE BOARD ***
Step 4
Unfurl and solder the antenna wire on the antenna header hole on the FM board.
Step 5
Connect the headphones on to the FM board.
Step 6
Connect the Azul Bluetooth board to the FM board as shown in the picture. Ensure the headers line up correctly before pressing the 2 boards together.
The battery can be tucked in between the 2 boards.
Step 7
Power on the boards by sliding the ON/OFF switch to the ON position. LEDs on the Azul will come on indicating power.
By default, the FM kit will have a FM demo program loaded. This will tune to FM 99.5 MHz. If this is not a suitable channel for your area, you can scan for other stations by hitting the 1 button on the FM board.
By default, here are the button assignments on the FM board:
| Button number | Function |
| 1 | seek Up |
| 2 | seek Down |
| 3 | Mute Audio |
| 4 | Preset Up |
| 5 | Volume Up |
| 6 | Volume Down |
Step 8 (Optional Bluetooth Control of FM radio)
The Azul FM radio kit comes with a test program already loaded. So, when the slide switch is flipped to the ON position, the OLED screen will show the default frequency of 99.5 MHz.
Connect to the FM radio using the Adafruit Bluefruit Connect app available in Android or iOS.
Below are the steps 1-4 to connect to the FM radio via the app. Click on each highlighted button with the system powered on.
Step 9 (Additional instructions to hack the code)
Modify the CircuitPython code on the Azul.
Our favorite code editor is Mu.
In order to modify the code, simply connect the supplied USB cable to the Azul and Azul will show up as a drive on your computer as CIRCUITPY.
You can then load the code.py file onto your Mu editor to modify the program (click the Load button on the Mu menu and navigate to the Azul drive in your PC).
You can also view a user menu on the Mu serial console to further play with the various functions of the kit.
Press cntrl+C followed by cntrl+D to restart to show the menu.
? help
+ increase volume
- decrease volume
> next preset
< previous preset
. scan up
, scan down
f direct frequency input (e.g 99.5 MHz is entered ->f 9950 or 100.3 MHz ->f 10030)
i station status (provides the status of the FM module on what features are enabled)
s mono/stereo mode
b bass boost
u mute/unmute
r get rssi data (FM signal strength. Lower the number the better the signal strength).
e softreset chip
q stops the program