How I Hijacked FM Radio Using a Raspberry Pi Zero

2026-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

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Introduction</h2>

This guide shows how to set up PiFmAdv on a Raspberry Pi and broadcast FM radio using GPIO.

FM broadcasting may be illegal or regulated in your country. This demonstration is for educational and experimental purposes only. Keep transmission power low, range short, and avoid interfering with licensed stations. You are responsible for complying with local laws and regulations. </blockquote>
Requirements</h2>

Raspberry Pi: Zero, or Zero 2 (used here: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W)</li>
Jumper wire (one is enough for the antenna)</li>
PC/Laptop with any GNU/Linux OS (I use Arch, btw)</li>
USB adapter and microphone (optional, for mic input)</li> </ul>
Setup PiFmAdv</h2>
First, install Raspberry Pi OS on your Pi. This guide skips OS installation—there are plenty of guides available.
Access your Raspberry Pi terminal. Here, SSH is used.
Install dependencies</h3>
sudo apt update -y && sudo apt install git libsndfile1-dev libsoxr-dev -y</code></pre>Build PiFmAdv</h3> git clone https://github.com/Miegl/PiFmAdv.git cd PiFmAdv/src make clean make</code></pre>Install locally</h3> Rename and copy the binary to a local bin directory for easy access: mkdir -p ~/.local/bin cp pi_fm_adv ~/.local/bin/pifm</code></pre> Add it to your PATH</code> (based on your shell): export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin"</code></pre> Reload your shell or source the file. Antenna Setup</h2> Connect a jumper wire to GPIO4 on the Raspberry Pi. This wire acts as the FM antenna. Use the pin diagram above to identify the correct pin. Broadcasting radio signals</h2> using an audio file</h3> sudo pifm -f 103.2 --ps "DawnFM" --rt "SongName" -a "$HOME/Music/song.wav"</code></pre>Using a microphone</h3> Connect your microphone (USB dongle or USB mic).</li> Find the microphone device ID:</li> </ol> arecord -l</code></pre> You’ll see something like: card 1: USB [USB Audio], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]</code></pre> That means: card = 1 device = 0</code></pre> So the mic ID becomes: plughw:1,0</code></pre> Test the mic (important): arecord -D plughw:1,0 -f S16_LE -r 22050 test.wav aplay test.wav</code></pre> If you hear your voice, the mic is set correctly. Broadcast live audio:</li> </ol> arecord -d 0 -c 1 -f S16_LE -r 22050 -t wav -D plughw:1,0 - | sudo pifm -f 103.2 --ps "DawnFM" --rt "Live Broadcast" -a -</code></pre> Replace plughw:1,0</code> with your mic’s actual card and device numbers. Broadcasting MPD Music over FM</h2> This part is for when your music is playing on another computer and you want the Raspberry Pi to rebroadcast it over FM. MPD runs on your main machine, exposes an audio stream over HTTP, and the Pi simply listens to that stream and transmits it using PiFmAdv. MPD configuration</h3> Add this block to your mpd.conf</code>: music_directory "~/Music" auto_update "yes" bind_to_address "any" port "6600" restore_paused "yes" audio_output { type "httpd" name "Radio Stream" encoder "flac" port "5555" bind_to_address "0.0.0.0" always_on "yes" mixer_type "software" tags "yes" format "44100:16:2" }</code></pre> This tells MPD to: keep playing even with no listeners</li> expose a live audio stream on port 5555</code></li> include track metadata</li> </ul> Restart MPD after editing: systemctl --user restart mpd</code></pre>Streaming MPD into PiFmAdv</h3> Now use your favorite music mpd client to play music here i am using euphonica On the Raspberry Pi, connect to the MPD stream and broadcast it: ffmpeg -re \ -reconnect 1 -reconnect_streamed 1 -reconnect_delay_max 2 \ -i http://192.168.1.75:5555 \ -ac 2 -ar 44100 -f wav - \ | sudo pifm -f 103.2 --ps "DawnFM" --rt "Stereo Stream" -a -</code></pre> What’s happening here, in plain terms: MPD sends audio over your network</li> ffmpeg</code> keeps the stream smooth and converts it to WAV</li> PiFmAdv pushes it out over FM</li> </ul> As long as MPD is playing, your radio is live.

shadowe1ite - pi

How I Hijacked FM Radio Using a Raspberry Pi Zero

Setup PiFmAdv</h2>
First, install Raspberry Pi OS</strong> on your Pi. This guide skips OS installation—there are plenty of guides available.</p>
Access your Raspberry Pi terminal. Here, SSH is used.</p>

Antenna Setup</h2>
Connect a jumper wire to GPIO4</strong> on the Raspberry Pi. This wire acts as the FM antenna.</p>
</p>
</p>
Use the pin diagram above to identify the correct pin.</p>

shadowe1ite - pi

How I Hijacked FM Radio Using a Raspberry Pi Zero

Setup PiFmAdv</h2> First, install Raspberry Pi OS</strong> on your Pi. This guide skips OS installation—there are plenty of guides available.</p> Access your Raspberry Pi terminal. Here, SSH is used.</p>

Antenna Setup</h2> Connect a jumper wire to GPIO4</strong> on the Raspberry Pi. This wire acts as the FM antenna.</p> </p> </p> Use the pin diagram above to identify the correct pin.</p>

Setup PiFmAdv</h2>
First, install Raspberry Pi OS</strong> on your Pi. This guide skips OS installation—there are plenty of guides available.</p>
Access your Raspberry Pi terminal. Here, SSH is used.</p>

Antenna Setup</h2>
Connect a jumper wire to GPIO4</strong> on the Raspberry Pi. This wire acts as the FM antenna.</p>
</p>
</p>
Use the pin diagram above to identify the correct pin.</p>