Getting started

The pre-built image is the shortest path from nothing to a working transmitter. It is a full Raspberry Pi OS install with rpitx, the WiFi access point and the PIrateRF service already set up. If you would rather build everything yourself, read Installation from source instead.

What you need

  • A Raspberry Pi Zero 1 W (the original model) and an SD card of 4 GB or more.
  • A computer with an SD card reader.
  • A phone, tablet or laptop with WiFi and a browser to control it.

rpitx itself runs on the Pi 1, 2, 3, 3B+, Zero, Zero W and Pi 4, but the deployment scripts, the access point setup, the ARM build and the pre-built image all target the Pi Zero 1 W. Other boards may work with manual setup. I have not tested them.

Steps

  1. Download the image: PIrateRF image v2025-11-23.

  2. Flash it to the SD card. With Raspberry Pi Imager, pick “Use custom image” and choose the downloaded .img file. On the command line, replace /dev/sdX with your SD card device:

    sudo dd \
  if=piraterf_2025-11-23_22-18-49.img \
  of=/dev/sdX \
  bs=4M \
  status=progress
  3. Put the card in the Pi Zero W and power it on. Give it a minute to boot.
  4. Join the WiFi network 🏴‍☠️📡 with the password FUCKER!!!.
  5. Open https://piraterf.local in your browser. The certificate is self-signed, so the browser warns you once; accept it to continue.
  6. Pick a mode from the dropdown, fill in the frequency and the mode’s settings, and press start.

Default settings on the image

What Value
WiFi access point SSID 🏴‍☠️📡, password FUCKER!!!
SSH user fucker, password FUCKER, host piraterf.local
Web UI https://piraterf.local (plain HTTP on port 80 works too)

These are public defaults. Change at least the WiFi password before you take the Pi anywhere other people are; Security explains what an attacker on that network can do.

Sharing one transmitter

Any number of devices can join the access point and open the UI at the same time. Only one transmission runs at a time, because there is one GPIO pin to drive. Every connected device sees the transmission start and stop, sees the live output of the rpitx process, and can stop a transmission someone else started or start the next one.

Next steps

  • Transmission modes explains every mode and how to receive it with an SDR.
  • Legal and safety covers antennas, filters and the rules you are expected to follow.
  • Presets saves mode settings so you do not type them again.