Little Bird
Pirate Radio - Pi Zero W Project Kit
A complete internet radio project kit based on the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Includes a Pi Zero W, the pHAT BEAT DAC and stereo amplifier, a 5W speaker, and a ret...
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A complete internet radio project kit based on the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Includes a Pi Zero W, the pHAT BEAT DAC and stereo amplifier, a 5W speaker, and a retro-styled blue acrylic enclosure. Assembly takes approximately 30 minutes and requires soldering.
The pHAT BEAT features dual MAX98357A I2S DAC/amplifiers (3W per channel), 16 APA102 RGB LEDs arranged as a VU meter, six edge-mounted buttons, and a DIP switch for mono/stereo mode selection. Three software projects are available: internet radio, Spotify streaming, and AirPlay speaker.
Key Features
- Pi Zero W Included – Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, no USB dongle needed
- pHAT BEAT DAC & Amp – Dual MAX98357A I2S DAC/amplifiers, 3W per channel
- 5W Speaker – 4Ω speaker with pre-soldered wires
- RGB VU Meter – 16 APA102 LEDs in two rows of 8
- 6 Control Buttons – Edge-mounted push buttons for audio control
- Mono/Stereo Switch – DIP switch to blend channels for single-speaker mono mode
- Blue Acrylic Enclosure – Three-layer retro design with sticker sheet for customisation
- Assembled Size: 135 × 85 × 70mm
Ideal For
- Building an internet radio or streaming speaker
- Spotify Connect or AirPlay audio projects
- Learning soldering with a practical, rewarding project
Package Contents
- 1× Raspberry Pi Zero W
- 1× pHAT BEAT DAC and stereo amplifier
- 1× Male and 1× female 2×20 pin headers
- 1× 5W 4Ω speaker (pre-soldered wires)
- 1× Blue acrylic enclosure (3-layer)
- 1× 50cm USB-A to Micro-B cable
- 1× USB-A (female) to Micro-B (male) adapter
- 1× Mini HDMI to full-size HDMI adapter
- 1× Sticker sheet
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- DAC
- A digital-to-analogue converter turns numbers from the microcontroller into a real analogue voltage. It matters if you want to generate simple waveforms, audio-style signals, or variable control voltages rather than just on/off outputs.
- DIP switch
- A DIP switch is a small set of physical on/off switches used to configure hardware settings without software. It matters because changing features such as auto power-on or charging limits may require moving these tiny switches correctly.
- HDMI
- HDMI is a common digital video and audio connection used by computers, media players, and many displays. If a display kit has HDMI input, it is usually much easier to test with a single-board computer because it can act like a normal monitor.
- Headers
- Rows of connector contacts on a fixed pitch (commonly 2.54 mm) used to link a board to a breadboard, jumper wires, or another board. They come as male pin headers and female socket headers; when a module ships with pre-soldered headers it can be used straight away, whereas bare pads require soldering the pins yourself.
- I2S
- I2S is a digital audio interface used to send sound data between chips, such as from a microcontroller to an audio amplifier or DAC. It matters if your project needs cleaner digital audio output than a basic buzzer or PWM signal can provide.
- pHAT
- A smaller add-on board format for Raspberry Pi, similar in idea to a HAT but usually not full-sized. It matters because pHAT compatibility can affect how neatly a board stacks or fits into a Raspberry Pi project.
- RGB
- Short for red, green and blue, the three primary colours of light that are mixed in varying amounts to make a wide range of colours. In electronics RGB can refer to an LED or pixel that blends these three colours, or to a colour signal or interface that carries separate red, green and blue channels.
Find this product in
Audio & Video
Brands
Raspberry Pi
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
