This Raspberry Pi project recreates your favorite 90s TV channels, down to the timeslots

The era of 90s television may be over, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. It’s actually quite the opposite; there are plenty of resources out there for preserving all those cartoons, game shows, and PSAs you remember growing up with. Even the advertisements have been archived for eternity for toys, cereals, and locations that no longer exist.

All of that is really good, but it doesn’t quite emulate the experience of 90s television. You know, flicking through channels, seeing flashes of different cartoons and shows before eventually settling on one. Fortunately, we have a Raspberry Pi project that fixes that and recreates the golden age of 90s TV.

The FieldStation42 brings the late 20th century back to life

This cool idea is the invention of Shane Mason, who posted a video showing off the project on YouTube. It’s called the FieldStation42, and its main job is to recreate what 90s TV was like using a Raspberry Pi Pico and some 3D-printed components.

Of course, it can’t go back in time and fetch TV feeds; you need to download the video files yourself. However, the FieldStation42 is far more than just a media player. Its code tries to emulate the scheduling used at the time and plays the appropriate video file to match it. There are also multiple channels that play in unison, meaning you can surf the TV as if the channels were live broadcasts.

If you want to go the extra mile, the FieldStation42 supports optional remote control compatibility. Yes, you can actually make or use a remote control to flick through the channels on your little Pi TV. It’s really quite glorious.

Here’s a list of its features from the GitHub page:

• Supports multiple simultaneous channels
• Automatically interleaves commercial break and bumps into content
• Generates weekly schedules based on per-station configurations
• Feature length content – supports movie length show blocks
• Randomly selects shows from the programming slot that have not been played recently to keep a fresh lineup
• Set dates ranges for shows (like seasonal sports or holiday shows)
• Per-station configuration of station sign-off video and off-air loops
• UX to manage catalogs and schedules
• Optional hardware connections to change the channel
• Looping channels – useful for community bulletin channels
• Preview/guide channel with embedded video and configurable messages

• Flexible scheduling to support all kinds of channel types
  • Traditional networks channels with commercials and bumps
  • Commercial free channels with optional end bump padding at end (movie channels, public broadcasting networks)
  • Loop channels, useful for community bulletin style channels or information loops.

If you like the idea of making your own TV but you’re not a big fan of watching them, why not make one for your cat instead?