# A retro shortwave dial for your pocket, built on Cardputer ADV

RADIO DAYS turns an M5Stack Cardputer ADV into a 1980s-style internet radio. A physical rotary dial tunes 42 stations across seven world locations.

- Category: Hardware (build)
- Device: [M5Stack Cardputer-Adv](https://afterware.xyz/d/m5stack-cardputer-adv)
- Made by: [kariagepompadour](https://www.hackster.io/hiakimoto) on Hackster.io
- Original: https://github.com/kariagepompadour/RADIODAYS
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-retro-shortwave-dial-for-your-pocket-built-on-cardputer-adv

## Can I build this?

- Difficulty: Intermediate
- AI-buildability: 4/5 (Nearly all the work is ESP32 firmware and UI code, which AI handles well, while the hands-on part is just a small encoder connection, some soldering and 3D printing.)
- Time: A weekend
- Cost: $50–80
- Parts: M5Stack Cardputer-Adv, M5Stack U135 rotary encoder, 3D-printed tuning knob, 3D-printed stand
- Tools: 3D printer, soldering iron

Estimates based on the original write-up. How the AI-buildability score works: https://afterware.xyz/ai-buildability

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "A retro shortwave dial for your pocket, built on Cardputer ADV" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-retro-shortwave-dial-for-your-pocket-built-on-cardputer-adv

Write Arduino firmware for an M5Stack Cardputer ADV that uses an M5Stack U135 rotary encoder as a radio tuning dial. Show a list of internet radio stations grouped by region, with a tuning scale and signal meter on the 240x135 screen. Turn the encoder to step through stations and stream the selected station over Wi-Fi.
```

## Story

The tuning knob is the hook. Instead of picking stations from a list, you turn a physical dial, and the Cardputer's screen answers with a tuning scale, a signal meter and animated radio towers. A globe interface groups the 42 stations into seven locations, and the sky shows day or night with a sun or moon.

The build pairs the Cardputer ADV with an M5Stack U135 rotary encoder. A 3D-printed knob sits on a 3D-printed stand that holds the Cardputer and encoder together. Firmware is on M5Burner for standalone Wi-Fi playback, and a companion relay app on macOS or Windows can play the stream through a computer over USB instead.

It started as a side effect of the author's Cardputer Media Jog project, which also uses the U135 as a media controller. The idea is simple to steal: any encoder on a small screen can become a dial, and a dial makes browsing feel like searching for a signal.

## Resources

- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/kariagepompadour/RADIODAYS)
- [RADIO DAYS Web version](https://kariagepompadour.github.io/RADIODAYS/radiodays-web.html)
- [Cardputer Media Jog hardware](https://github.com/kariagepompadour/Cardputer-ADV-Media-Jog/tree/main/hardware)

Tags: cardputer-adv, rotary encoder, internet radio, 3d-printed, esp32-s3, retro display

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