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aethersdr

Linux client for FlexRadio transceivers

What it does

Connects to a FlexRadio SmartSDR transceiver over the network and provides the operating interface: panadapter and waterfall, slice receivers, filter and mode control, transmit, and the metering the radio reports.

Why you would want it

FlexRadio's own client software is Windows-only, and the radios are network-native -- the transceiver is a server and the front panel is software. That makes a Linux client the difference between using one from Linux and keeping a Windows machine on the desk purely to talk to it.

Before it will work

A FlexRadio transceiver reachable on the network. Discovery is by broadcast, so a router between you and the radio usually means it is not found.

How it installs

  • apt: aethersdr
  • Only Kali carries this, at 26.8.1+ds-1. No candidate on Debian 13, Ubuntu 26.04, Parrot or Mint (measured 2026-08-28). It is in the Blend's SDR task, which again tracks unstable rather than stable.

Known problems

Reproducing a commercial vendor's protocol means feature coverage lags the vendor client and can break when the radio's firmware is updated -- check before updating firmware rather than after. The maintainer does not own this hardware, so nothing here is maintainer-verified (D-027); it is carried because other operators have it. Absent from four of the six targets, as above.

Keeping it current

  • probe: apt policy
  • strategy: apt_upgrade

Where to get help with the software itself

The AetherSDR project. GitHub issues at the URL above.

Source: catalog/packages/aethersdr.yaml