# ChristopheJacquet/PiFmRds

FM-RDS transmitter using the Raspberry Pi's PWM

Repository: https://github.com/ChristopheJacquet/PiFmRds
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pifmrds
Language: C
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-02-01T10:52:49+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 62/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 65, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4539, "days_push": 213, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1587, forks 354 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:07.806154+00:00)

## What it is
Pi-FM-RDS is a C program that turns a Raspberry Pi into an FM radio transmitter, generating FM modulation with real-time RDS (Radio Data System) data such as station name and radiotext. It uses the Pi's PWM generator via DMA to emit VHF signals on GPIO 4 and supports monophonic or stereophonic audio from WAV files.

## Use cases
- transmit an FM radio signal from a Raspberry Pi
- broadcast RDS station name and radiotext data
- experiment with FM stereo audio transmission
- send audio from a WAV file over an FM carrier
- learn how FM/RDS modulation works with cheap hardware

## When to choose
- you own a Raspberry Pi (models 1-4, Zero, Zero 2) and want to experiment with FM/RDS transmission
- you need a software-defined FM transmitter without extra RF hardware
- you want to test RDS-enabled receivers with custom PS/RT/PI data

## When to avoid
- you need a legal, licensed broadcast solution - unlicensed FM transmission is illegal in most jurisdictions
- you want a media center or a way to stream music to your stereo
- you need a production-grade transmitter with proper RF filtering and range

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: audio-processing, embedded, cli
- domain: embedded-systems, hardware
- platform: embedded, cli
- tags: fm-transmitter, rds, raspberry-pi, radio-broadcasting, pwm, gpio, hardware-hacking, stereo-audio, audio, radio, linux

## Member repositories
- ChristopheJacquet/PiFmRds (main) score 62

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:07.806154+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:55:06.015468+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ChristopheJacquet/PiFmRds (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:07.806154+00:00, sha 2b49ed900d27)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.