Anybody know electronics-and how to buid them?

Question

I have this idea for a "radio scanner". What this little device will do, is constantly scan the radio stations that are coming in, and let you know which ones come in. Its like a little device that will let you know when a "rock" station (or whatever your choice, ie: oldies, country, etc) is listenable.
For example, your in your car, listening to the oldies and it starts to fade out. You can look down at your device and it will tell you the other oldies stations that are coming in, so you can switch to that one without having to scan. Great for travelers that are not from the area.
Anyways, i have more on this, anybody want to help me?!?

Answer 1

The technology to scan for radio stations is already built into many car radios. The problem with your idea is that while telling the difference between a rock and an oldies station is easy for a person, it is a difficult problem for an electronic device. It could be done with a powerful enough computer and some properly trained AI software. These are not cheap.

A simpler approach would be to use a GPS locator and a data base of radio stations to select stations.

However, no matter how fancy the technology, you would find places where their are no rock stations (or whatever) to listen to with your scanner.

There is already a solution on the market, it's called satellite radio. Already proven in the market place and in wide spread use.