Detect radio station lock on

Sensors Sound & Audio
1

I want my project to appear old-school analog but I don’t care what circuits are inside to get the job done. One thing I’ve noticed on my old home stereo is when I use the tuner, a dot flutters on only when a radio station is detected. For example, if the station is 92.3 then the light is on. If I change the dial to 92.1, it will be nothing or even a distorted signal. What I want is to have an LED light up only when I have moved a knob to a clear station, like 92.3. When it’s unclear or nothing, i want the light off - though fluttering on a weak signal would be cool. I just don’t know which circuit module is right for this or if it’s even possible. I have considered if I could pull off the station ID info from the signal or not. I have seen that in the FM module with the display, but I don’t know if there is a way to tie that into a LED switch.

I have read up on some of the documentation but as this is my first time working with these products, I realize the answer might be rather complex. :slight_smile:

2

You’re going to need to get a hold of the schematics for your receiver and data sheets for any tuner IC’s it might have inside to do this. If the tuner IC has an output that toggles when it detects a station broadcasting in stereo, that would be an easy place to pickup a signal that does what you’re looking for. It’s mostly going to come down to what’s inside your particular receiver.

3

Thanks, that gets me going in the right direction. :slight_smile: