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flcluster

DX cluster client that feeds the rest of the W1HKJ suite

What it does

Connects to a DX cluster over telnet, shows the spots with filtering by band, mode and continent, and publishes them over XML-RPC so fldigi and the other suite members can act on a spot without a second connection to the cluster.

Why you would want it

Xdx does the same job standalone and does it well. The reason to prefer this one is integration: if you already run fldigi, flrig and fllog, this puts cluster spots into that same fabric, so clicking a spot moves the radio. One cluster login serving several programs is also better manners towards the node.

Before it will work

A cluster node to connect to and your callsign for the login. For the integration to be worth anything, other W1HKJ programs already running.

How it installs

  • source (autotools) from https://w1hkj.org/files/flcluster/flcluster-1.1.01.tar.gz
  • build dependencies: build-essential, pkg-config, libfltk1.3-dev
  • Build dependencies are MEASURED, not copied. Built in a Debian 13 container on 2026-08-28 with build-essential, pkg-config and libfltk1.3-dev and nothing else: configure exits 0, make exits 0, and the binary appears. AHRL lists extra packages for some of these (libpng-dev and libxft-dev for flcluster, libsamplerate0-dev for flnet); they are not needed, because libfltk1.3-dev already pulls what the build uses. This is the same over-specification the fldigi manifest records for libportaudio-ocaml-dev. The sha256 is ours. Upstream publishes checksums for its Windows installers only -- w1hkj.org/files/sha256vals.txt lists .exe files and no source tarballs -- so this digest was computed from the tarball fetched from the project's own site on 2026-08-28. It pins the exact bytes that were reviewed and built, which is the guarantee actually on offer; it is not an upstream signature and this manifest does not imply one.

Binaries this produces:

  • src/flcluster

Known problems

Spots are what people typed: busted callsigns and frequencies a kHz out are routine on any cluster and no client can fix that. Not packaged on any target, so source is the only route. Debian carries libflxmlrpc-dev at 0.1.4 and this build asks pkg-config for flxmlrpc >= 1.0.1, so the system library is NOT used: configure falls back to the copy bundled in the tarball and its summary line reads "Have flxmlrpc library ....... internal lib". Measured, not inferred. Installing libflxmlrpc-dev alongside would change nothing, which is why it is not a build dependency here.

Keeping it current

  • probe: none
  • strategy: rebuild
  • W1HKJ releases irregularly and announces on the linuxham list rather than through a tagged repository, so there is nothing to probe automatically. Check w1hkj.org/files/flcluster/ when something else in the suite moves.

Where to get help with the software itself

The W1HKJ suite. The linuxham group on groups.io is where questions are answered. Note that Debian's Homepage field for the packaged members of this suite points at w1hkj.com, which now redirects to an unrelated site -- .org is the project.

Source: catalog/packages/flcluster.yaml