AetherSDR

COLLECTIVE

Open source

c++

ham-radio

software-defined-radio

Fiscal Host: Open Source Collective

AetherSDR brings FlexRadio operation to Linux and macOS without Wine or virtual machines.

This is AetherSDR's page AetherSDR

Contribute

All ways to contribute

Budget

About

Contribute

Become a financial contributor.

Financial Contributions

Membership

Beacon

Buy us an evening of compile time on Github.

$3 USD / month

Membership

QSO

A quick contact every month.

$7 USD / month

Membership

DXer

Support cross-band features.

$15 USD / month

Membership

Contester

Power users who push the limits

$20 USD / month

Custom contribution

Donation

Make a custom one-time or recurring contribution.

AetherSDR is all of us

Our contributors 5

Thank you for supporting AetherSDR.

jensenpat

Core Contributor

Jeremy Fielder

Admin

CJ WT2P

Core Contributor

Ryan - NF0T

Core Contributor

Robbie Foust

Core Contributor

Budget

Transparent and open finances.

View all expenses →

ChatGPT Pro Subscription

About

What is AetherSDR?

AetherSDR is a Linux-native and macOS-native client for FlexRadio's SmartSDR-controlled transceivers — the FLEX-6000 and FLEX-8000 series. FlexRadio ships an excellent client, but only for Windows. AetherSDR mirrors the full SmartSDR experience on the operating systems FlexRadio doesn't reach: native Qt6, GPU-accelerated rendering, no Wine, no Parallels, no compromises.

If you've ever booted a Windows VM just to run your radio, this project exists for you.

Why it exists:

The FLEX-6000 and FLEX-8000 series are some of the most capable amateur radio transceivers ever made. Their SmartSDR protocol is well-documented, their hardware is open to anyone who can speak it. But the official client only runs on Windows — and a lot of operators run Linux desktops, work from a MacBook, or simply prefer a UNIX-native rig control experience.

AetherSDR closes that gap. It speaks the SmartSDR protocol directly, parses VITA-49 streams natively, and renders the panadapter on your GPU. It's not a wrapper, not a translation layer — it's a from-scratch Linux/macOS implementation of the same operator workflow Windows users get.

Why we joined Open Source Collective:

A growing number of operators have asked how to support the project. Until now there was no transparent way to accept funds, reimburse infrastructure costs (AI subscriptions, Apple Developer Program, code-signing certificates, CI hardware), or recognize community contributors with more than a thank-you. Open Collective lets us do all three with a public ledger every backer can audit.

If you operate a Flex on Linux or macOS — or you'd like to — your support goes directly back into making that experience better.

What AetherSDR does today:

RX & spectrum

Multi-panadapter spectrum + waterfall (GPU-accelerated via QRhi)
All filter modes, AGC, squelch, NB/NR, DSP flags, antenna switching
Slice management with click-to-tune, frequency-stepping, RIT/XIT
VITA-49 audio + meter streams

TX & DSP

Full TX chain: mic → channel strip → compressor → EQ → ALC
Aetherial Audio: DAW-grade voice processing built into the radio chain
CW keying via netcw (sidetone, weight, break-in)
FreeDV / RADE digital voice integration

Multi-Flex (multi-client)

Connect simultaneously with the Windows client; AetherSDR honors slice ownership and client_handle filtering at every layer

Hardware integrations

Stream Deck (Elgato + StreamController) for tactile control surfaces
HID encoders (Griffin PowerMate, Contour ShuttleXpress, ShuttlePro v2)
MIDI control surfaces with full mapping
Serial-port FlexControl
Antenna Genius (1×8 and 2×8)
PG-XL & TG-XL amplifiers + ATU automation

Beyond the rig

DX cluster, WSJT-X bridge, POTA/SOTA spotting, propagation forecast
TCI server, RigCtl server, MQTT publishing, SmartLink WAN
DAX (digital audio exchange) — RX & TX

Compatible hardware:

FLEX-6300/6400/6400M/6500/6600/6600M/6700
FLEX-8400/8400M/8600/8600M
PG-XL amplifier
TG-XL amplifier | latest
Antenna Genius 2×8 | latest

A few numbers:

474 source files, ~7,300 named C++ symbols
26 calendar-versioned releases shipped (currently v26.5.1)
Weekly builds for x86_64 Linux, arm64 macOS, x86_64 Windows
Signed releases — GPG for Linux source/AppImage, Apple-notarized for macOS, Authenticode for Windows

Get the software:

Source & releases: github.com/aethersdr/AetherSDR
Issues / requests: github.com/aethersdr/AetherSDR/issues
Contributing: see CONTRIBUTING.md in the repo

73,
Jeremy Fielder · KK7GWY
Project maintainer

Our team

jensenpat

Core Contributor

Jeremy Fielder

Admin

CJ WT2P

Core Contributor

Ryan - NF0T

Core Contributor

Robbie Foust

Core Contributor