Settings Reference

Settings Reference

The plugin's settings are under Plugins > Installed Plugins > FM/DAB Radio > Settings. Each section has a switch that shows or hides its contents; the switch itself changes nothing else.

The plugin works without any setting being changed, except the FM region outside Europe.

Radio Station Management

Setting	Meaning
Open in Current Window	Opens the Station Manager inside Volumio's page
Open in New Tab	Opens it in a browser tab of its own

Radio Station Management Configuration

Setting	Meaning
Hostname/IP Override	The address the two buttons above use. Empty: the player's .local name. Where that does not resolve, enter the player's IP address: the address only, without http:// and without a port.
Create Full Backup	Makes a full backup (stations, settings, block list); the same as in the Station Manager
Restore Latest Full Backup	Restores the most recent full backup; playback stops

Backups are kept in /data/rtlsdr_radio_backups/. See Backup and Restore.

FM Radio Region

Setting	Meaning	Default
FM Region	Band, channel raster and de-emphasis for your part of the world. Custom opens the last three fields of this table for anything else.	Europe
FM Scan Offset	Shifts the scan raster by 0, 50 or 100 kHz. Set 100 kHz where stations sit at 88.1, 88.3, 88.5 ... on a 200 kHz raster.	0 kHz
FM De-emphasis	The curve the treble of FM is taken down by: the region's own, 50 µs, 75 µs, or off. Choose one where your country differs from its region. Off, FM sounds harsh and overly bright	The region's own
FM Lower Frequency	Lower end of the band (Custom region only): 76.0, 87.0, 87.5 or 88.0 MHz	87.5 MHz
FM Upper Frequency	Upper end of the band (Custom region only): 74.0, 95.0 or 108.0 MHz	108.0 MHz
FM Channel Spacing	Scan raster (Custom region only): 30, 50, 100 or 200 kHz	100 kHz

The regions are listed under Scanning.

FM Radio Settings

Setting	Meaning	Default
Automatic FM gain	The gain is measured for each station and set to the highest step that does not overload the receiver	on
FM Gain	The gain used when automatic gain is off, 0 to 100	50
FM Scan Sensitivity	How far a station's stereo pilot must stand above the noise to be listed: +15, +10, +8, +5 or +3 dB. A station without a pilot is judged by its carrier, the same at every setting	Balanced (+8 dB)
FM Scan	Fast: listens to the channels that stand out and to the stations already in the list; finds all stations received well. Detailed: listens to every channel; also finds weak stations that do not stand out, and takes about 10 seconds longer on a Raspberry Pi 5, more on slower boards. The Station Manager's Rescan dialog offers the same choice and sets it	Fast
FM Sample Rate	How wide the receiver listens, half the rate either side of the station: 171 kHz (best for RDS; keeps a strong neighbour 200 kHz away out), 200, 240 or 300 kHz (a little more treble; the neighbour comes in)	171 kHz
FM Level	How loud FM plays: 0 dB (full level, as DAB and most music) down to -12 dB. Applies from the next station played.	0 dB
Scan FM Stations	Starts an FM scan

See Gain, Frequency and Loudness and Scanning.

DAB/DAB+ Radio

Setting	Meaning	Default
Automatic DAB gain	The gain is measured every time a station is tuned	on
DAB Gain	The gain used when automatic gain is off, 0 to 100	80
PPM Correction	Correction for the dongle's crystal, in parts per million. Leave at 0: the decoder finds and follows the error by itself up to about 140 ppm.	0
DAB Level	How loud DAB plays: 0 dB (as the station sends it) down to -12 dB. Applies from the next station played.	0 dB
Scan DAB Stations	Starts a DAB scan (about three minutes)

Song Recognition

Setting	Meaning	Default
Song recognition	On or off. Off keeps the token	on
AudD API token	The token from your account at audd.io, shown in clear. Without one nothing is sent anywhere. The same token can be set under Station Manager > Maintenance > Song Recognition	none
Ask	When the station's text names no song, or Always, song after song	When the station's text names no song

See Artwork and Metadata.

Artwork Settings

Setting	Meaning	Default
Best Effort Artwork	Reads the stations' text for artist and title and looks covers up	on
Confidence Threshold	How clearly a text must read as artist and title before a lookup: 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 or 95 %	60 %
Artwork Persistence	Keep until artist changes, Keep until track changes or Always refresh	Keep until artist changes
Artwork Timeout	Returns to the station's logo after this time without a new artist: disabled, 2, 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes	Disabled
Artwork Cool-off	The shortest time a picture stays on the screen: off, 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 seconds	2 seconds
Artwork Debug Logging	Writes every lookup to the player's log	off

See Artwork and Metadata.

Diagnostics

Tools for trying one station directly, without a scan: useful with a new dongle, or when nothing is found.

Setting	Meaning
FM Frequency (MHz)	A strong local FM station, for example 94.9
Test FM Station	Plays that frequency
Ensemble	The DAB channel that carries the service, for example 12B
Service Name	The service's name exactly as broadcast ("BBC Radio1", not "BBC Radio 1")
Test Gain	Gain for the test, 0 to 100
Test PPM	PPM correction for the test; normally 0
Test DAB Station	Plays that service

A test plays through Volumio like any station; stop it with the player's stop button.

Settings kept in the Station Manager

A few choices are made in the Station Manager and not on the settings page: the update channel, Automatic backup before uninstall (on unless switched off), and the artwork block list.