# Pirate Radio: Help with AV meter and control with PHAT BEAT

**URL:** <https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [March 27, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420 "2017-03-27T17:39:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Babydalek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Babydalek](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/Babydalek)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/1 "2017-03-27T17:39:49Z")

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Hello all.

First time poster and Pi newbie. I have the Pirate Radio kit and while I can get it to attach as a airplay speaker, I can’t get the VDU or the controls to work.

No idea where to start troubleshooting, if this is a software or hardware issue :(

Any thought ???

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**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/2 "2017-03-27T17:47:15Z")

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you need to tell us what steps you’ve taken so far… we have a couple of tutorials and we trust they are correct, but if you are manually installing software then not knowing how far you’ve gone makes it impossible to help you get past that hurdle!

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**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/3 "2017-03-27T17:50:09Z")

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but in term of troubleshooting we have a suite of tests we _should_ be able to interpret the result of. Chevk `~/Pimoroni/phatbeat/test/`… if that directory does not exist you might have to clone it from the github repo (or re-run the `phatbeat` installer),

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**Author:** ![Babydalek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Babydalek](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/Babydalek)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/4 "2017-03-27T18:14:13Z")

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Hello. I have built the Pirate radio Kit as per instructions. A good friend of mine was able to solder the GPIO female and male pins.

I have used a NOOBs card to install Raspbian Jessie Lite. Run Sudo apt-get update & upgrade. Configured the WAN with my SSID

I then run the bash script for airdac. Didn’t get any errors and slected the Phat Beat option.

While I saw it install shairport-sync and Python3, i didnt see any thing for PIVUMETER. Will re try the whole process, but I suppose that could be the issue

JB

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**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/5 "2017-03-27T18:16:24Z")

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if you weren’t prompted to select your add-on board (the script support 3, including pHAT BEAT), then something went wrong, or you chose the wrong option… you can’t miss the `pivumeter` install it is a full compilation that will fill a few screens worth and take several minutes.

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**Author:** ![Babydalek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Babydalek](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/Babydalek)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/6 "2017-03-27T19:23:43Z")

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hello, it just got to PIVUMETER and then the screen went blank, and the green LED on the PI is no longer active, just solid.

I have tried a 3rd time and this time SUCCESS :)

The link is a bit flaky though. I will look for the test folder you suggested

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**Author:** ![RogueM](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/roguem/32/311_2.png) [@RogueM](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/RogueM)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-radio-help-with-av-meter-and-control-with-phat-beat/4420/7 "2017-03-27T19:42:17Z")

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compilation is a pretty CPU intensive process… if this is on a zero (W) then, yes, I’d expect it to become unresponsive for a little while.

can’t help you with the link, but it’s typically due to signal strength on the WiFi, may there’s some object around the radio that affect signal?
