Thread: FM/DAB digital radio - THAT WORKS!!

There are a lot of people currently working on this, investing time for the greater good and all of it would be dead in the water without the HW.

Chris31 put it in the public domain and nrgizerbunny is providing a service that is in demand, i myself like many others didn't have the ability to create the hardware and would not right now be facilitating further software dev if i didn't have the hw.

Nrgizer has devised his own pcb and psu and cost of the components considered he's not exactly raking it in.

Its narrow minded posts like this that castrate dev and cripple project enthusiasm.

Its not like Chris31 is being under cut, he doesn't provide a pcb service, what would you have nrgizer do? pay all contributors because he is covering his costs?

This is hardly mass production and with the limited availability of modules never will be.
When the software that i'm assisting production of is complete it will be free and chris31 can have it too, no charge.....who's paying me and the coder and for that matter the people who helped devise the psu components??

The answer is it, this is not profiteering this is enthusiasm, soon to be stifled it seems.

Not posted on mp3 in a while but....


I dont like ppl selling on work of others, so can I suggest a simple solution that may be ok by all..

NRB sells hardware with no software, ergo he is just provideing a building service/kit of parts, ppl download the software from somewhere else, after all some of it is (c) SONY ! lol

Yes I know the 'firmware' need to be flashed etc, but wahay, someone can sell flashing cables....

Originally Posted by Blues

We can't watch your linked pics without also being logged in to the Digital Car forum

Its the home of the project............

bit like ppl have to log into mp3 car to see something hosted on here...

does this tune to every station? as in odd and even numbered station?

If it does, I'm in.

Originally Posted by swordfishunter

does this tune to every station? as in odd and even numbered station?

If it does, I'm in.

yes it does, its not locked to american frequencies, it will tune to FM from 87 to 108Mhz

nrgizerbunny,

A few more comments on the subject.
I'm not happier now than when i found out about you selling these radio's. I do know for a fact that Chris31 will sleep better when the webpage is down and no radio's are publicly sold.

Whatever reason you have for charging the price you are, however small your profit, however large your own efforts, the fact remains that you are/were cannibalising on Chris31's work/initiative.

With or without your video eventually there would have been a RR plugin, there already was one for CF before that.

It's a thin line between gaining momentum for a project and taking advantage. I think you crossed it on the wrong side.

If your intentions were pure, you could have contacted Chris31 on DC before you started this. You did not.

Originally Posted by nrgizerbunny

2. People actually inquired through the PM system both on here and the digital car website about purchasing these radios because their electronic skills weren't up to it.
5. I have freely shared my schematics along with a huge post on the digital car website about how to make it and tips to do so..

Without the required SONY slave firmware available it's pointless for anyone to start making their own based on these schematics.
Unless they buy a SONY DAB radio with the right right slave firmware already installed on the Venice module. But these SONY radios are much more expensive than Alba and even Pure.
So even if you have the electronic skills to make your own, it doesn't make much sense to do so since it's more expensive to buy the right SONY DAB radio and build your own motherboard than buying an already flashed kit.

@gommer mainly

I am a bit of a lurker on here and don't generally post, however on this occasion i do feel that some injustice and libellous comments are being spread.

I wasn't sure about buying one of these radios so I contacted Nrgizerbunny who went out of his way to assist me. He even sent me a radio for Free so i could decide if it was suitable. I had some problems with it and he even sent me an aerial and other wiring, it turned out to be my fault but thats another story. The module functions first class.

I think its unjust that you have said its being commercialised, he provides a service to those people who do not have the technical info to do it themselves. When your furnace/boiler packs in do you expect someone to fix it for free?

the fact is chris (who has very similar spelling/grammar as ricky on this thread???) made his software public, if he wanted to make money out of it, he could have done so. He chose not too.If chris has a problem I suggest he contact the relevant party rather than you post on his behalf

There are a hardened few who are doing his utmost to make this popular and you are doing your level best to scupper all of that development. You don't realise the lengths that some people go to, to assist people because you don't see it.

@blue
the firmware is not sony firmware it is generic slave firmware, a number of different radios have this firmware in them. It is only called sony firmware because chris got it from there. I borrowed a hitachi radio, philips radio and bush radio, they all had the same firmware when i checked with a hex checker. These radios were by no means expensive.

the only exception to this is pure firmware which is different.

I have followed this project since the thread was started on DC and there was no such gentleman's agreement. Chris31 put his work into the public domain and many people including nrgizerbunny put in a lot of their own effort to build on that work.

Not everyone has the inclination or ability to build this project from scratch and I don't see any problem in nrgizerbunny offering a near cost service to build them for people or in fact charging whatever he likes. Anyone else has the ability to provide the same service and undercut him if they think they can do it cheaper.

I am very dissapointed in both Chris31 on trying to pull the rug out afterwards and in Gommer for supporting him. The fact that nrgizerbunny has been a contributing member of the projects development and not someone who just swooped in at the end makes it all the worse.