Wifi Internet Radio

The Wifi Internet Radio Page

Ever wanted to listen to radio stations from around the world. If so, an Internet radio might just be for you. On this page I present the Wifi Internet Radio or WIR I designed and built recently. I've written an article for Nuts and Volts magazine (March 2012) describing the build. The article is available here if you would like to read it. This was not only a fun project to build, it is a Internet radio appliance that should last for years to come. This page shows my first WIR build, this page shows my second build.

I used Google SketchUp to design the Internet radio's cabinet. This is a great tool. Once you are finished with the design you can get accurate dimensions of all of the component parts.

I can provide the SketchUp design file to you if you would like to base your design on mine.

Here I've cut the bottom hardwood piece and the 1/2" MDF supports. The pieces of the cabinet will be held together with glue and biscuits.

Here I'm verifying that the Realistic Minimus 7 speakers fit into the cabinet. They will be epoxied into place later in the construction process.

Here the top has been set in place so I could see what the finished cabinet would look like. The speaker are splayed out at an eight degree angle; the same angle as on the front of the top and bottom pieces.

I stained the top and bottom and painted the support pieces black before gluing up the cabinet. At this point all of the biscuits have been glued in place and the clamps are being used to hold the cabinet together until the glue dries. The board clamped across the back was necessary to make sure both sections of the back were coplanar.

Another view of the gluing up stage.

Here is the front view of the cabinet after the glue has dried.

Rear view of the glued up cabinet. Here you can also see how pretty the walnut wood is.

A closeup looking into the rear of the cabinet. Here you can see the wooden strips on both sides of the rear panel cutout. These will be used to clamp the grill cloth in place and to screw on the removable rear panel. The small hole in the front support (upper right) will house the blue LED power indicator.

Here is the rear panel of the cabinet with the electronics mounted in place. The two power supplies were epoxied on while the amplifier module was mounted with standoffs and wood screws. The ASUS router is shown on the left. This was a test to be sure everything still worked and thankfully it did.

Here, I've finished staining the cabinet and have epoxied the speakers in place.

In this photo you can see that the grill cloth has been stretched around the cabinet and clamped into position by the wooden rear panel mounting strips. Also, the electronics are all connected and a final test is being made before putting the rear panel in place and closing up the cabinet.

Front view of the finished Wifi Internet Radio. What you cannot see in this picture is the blue power indicator which is located in the upper left of the center support.

Rear view of the finished Wifi Internet Radio. The only control on the radio is the red power switch seen here.

This is the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app I wrote for controlling the Internet radio. This app is available in the Apple App Store. More information about this app is available here.