The idea of creating your own TV network or a custom channel is not exactly new. Previously we have explored projects like the Mini TV that plays The Simpsons episodes on a loop, however, Shane Mason decided to build a more advanced alternative with «FieldStation42». This open TV simulator focuses on retro content from the '70s and '80s, combining a CRT television, a direction selector for old external antennas, two Raspberry Pis, and Python code.
Want to create your own TV channel? That's not complicated: All you need is an RF modulator, an amplifier, an external antenna, and for the authorities not to catch you (!). In fact, several YouTube tutorials remove the antenna to create a kind of closed circuit, limiting the content to all TVs in the home.
However, that method doesn't take into account the 'nostalgia factor'. Television brings back specific memories from our childhood: For example, a local channel aired 'Zorro' at noon. If the show ended and I stayed watching 'Inspector Gadget', I would inevitably be late for school… or not go that day. Something similar happened to Shane Mason on YouTube, and he decided to draw inspiration from old broadcasts (between 1978 and 1986) to create 'FieldStation42', an open TV simulator.
FieldStation42, simulating the TV of the '80s
Of course, the end user has absolute control over the type of content that will be played with this system, but the starting point is, logically, a CRT television. Nothing screams 'nostalgia' like a cathode ray tube, and Shane used an 1986 RCA ColorTrak, with a characteristic design of the era (hard angles, fake wood and gray plastic, 'retro-modern'?).
The most complex part is the software. If you have some background in Python, I imagine it won't cause many headaches, but Shane created a backend based on the MoviePy project to generate a catalog, and the programming for each week. On the hardware side, he chose the Raspberry Pi 5 for the best performance, and a Raspberry Pi Pico that coordinates channel changing.
For this last point, Shane preferred not to make any modification to the TV. Instead, he acquired an old direction selector for external antennas, and once connected to the Pico, each position of the selector corresponds to a different channel. Secondary effects and 'errors' in tuning are generated by software, and all the hardware was installed in what appears to be a cigar box. The result? Cartoons in the morning, Saturday Night Live at night. For Shane, pure nostalgia. For us, a solid project worth exploring more closely.
Access the project: Click here
Access the code: Click here
