AetherSDR — Open-Source Linux Client for Flex Radios

Hey all,

I've been building a native Linux client for our Flex radios and wanted to share it with the community. It's called AetherSDR — it's free, open-source (GPLv3), and available today for anyone to build and run.

If you've ever wanted to operate your Flex from a Linux box without Wine or a VM, this is for you.

What's working today (v0.2.0):

Full panadapter with FFT spectrum and waterfall
RX audio, S-meter, click-to-tune
All operating modes (SSB, CW, AM, FM, RTTY, Digital)
Complete RX controls — filters, DSP, AGC, squelch, RIT/XIT
TX controls — power, profiles, ATU, TUNE/MOX
Mic TX, EQ, VOX, compression metering
FM duplex with CTCSS and repeater offset
Band memory (per-band settings persist across sessions)
4o3a TGXL tuner support
Auto-discovery and auto-connect
Currently tested on a FLEX-8600 running SmartSDR v4.1.5.

We're still in early development, but everything you see above was built in the last 3 days. I've been pair-programming with Claude (Anthropic's AI) as a co-contributor, which has been a massive force multiplier — expect continued high-velocity feature development as we work toward full SmartSDR feature parity.

This is a community-driven FOSS project — the source is on GitHub, PRs and feedback are welcome. I'd love to get more eyes on it, especially from folks running other Flex models who can help test compatibility.

GitHub: https://github.com/ten9876/AetherSDR

73,
KK7GWY