Thanks for reading this blog despite the 1.5 month gap since the last post.
Tonight, I'm listening to music (and noise) on my phone that isn't in local storage nor on the internet. I'm flipping through the radio frequency bands (my app goes from 87 to 108 MHz).
How does it work?
You need:
- A smartphone with radio support (like the Samsung Galaxy A20e I have) with a jack port. If it has a built-in FM radio app then you're good.
- Wired headphones
- Taste in music (nah just joking)
- If need be, the ability to orient the phone in new and exciting positions to get a better signal.
And now to go on an adventure and listen!
Isn't that medium obsolete as fuck and you can't choose the music and don't even know what you're listening to?
Yes! I did use the term "adventure". Also you can tune out of ads faster than on youtube.
In fact, you don't even need any internet connection. You can use old phones (I guess?). You can even use old pre-phone devices conveniently called FM radios, but I don't have such a thing in my apartment so that's why I write this specific post, and anyway they use loudspeakers, it's almost 10 PM, come on.
You can explore bands of random noise, the hidden alternative gem, boring news, 1970s british punk, soviet-era orchestral music, more random noise, and try to operate a microwave nearby and mess around.
Please turn off the phone's screen if you want better quality though.
I can kind of understand the physics side of things, but I have no idea of the software side of things. For once. It'd be fun if someone made a FM radio app that can go beyond the main frequency bands, or even an AM radio app.
Hopefully this is just demodulating the headphone's wire noise. Otherwise, if there is a firmware involved, things can get more complicated.
I guess it's great for emergencies too.
Thanks for tuning in
You know, maybe I'll make a game out of this. See ya in the next one.