Build Your Own Internet Radio with Touchscreen Interface

Internet radio, like audiobooks and ebooks from libraries, is an often-overlooked resource. There are thousands of radio stations available for streaming online and you can access them for free. No subscription fees or licenses needed. And unlike your local FM radio stations, many of them have very few ads — or none at all. But you can’t tune in using any old radio, which is why you may want to build this internet radio with a nice touchscreen interface designed by Arielhh.

This is a small, battery-powered device with its own built-in DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter), amplifier, and speaker. There is a handy touchscreen on the front face of the device through which users can change stations or adjust volume. Internet radio “stations” are streaming audio sources located at specific web addresses, so you’ll need to find and save those URLs. This device can store up to 512 stations, so you’ll never run out of audio content to enjoy. Just search for a list of stations, find some that you like, and then save them!

The heart of this device is a LilyGo T-Display-S3, which is an ESP32-S3 development board with an attached 1.9” full-color LCD touchscreen. That is very affordable at about $22. It pushes audio out through an Adafruit I2S 3W class-D amplifier module to a small speaker. Power comes from either USB or an 18650 lithium battery cell.

All of those components fit into a simple — but attractive — 3D-printed enclosure. The whole thing is about the size of your hand, so you can put it anywhere. Arielhh provides the firmware that you can install using Espressif’s free flash tool. They also provide the enclosure 3D files and instructions on how to assemble everything and get it working.

If you want to start taking advantage of internet radio, this seems like a great way to do it.