HAMDECK
FTDX-101MP

Remote station control · open source

Operate your station from anywhere

HamDeck puts your rig's front panel on a laptop and carries real two-way audio with it. Full CAT control, receiver and transmit audio, a system-wide PTT key — over your own network or the open internet, with nothing between you and the radio but software you own.

Download for Windows Source on GitHub MIT licensed · x64 & ARM64

What it does

The whole front panel, not a subset

Everything you reach for while operating is on the panel. Everything you reach for occasionally is one click behind a group. Nothing important is buried.

Rig control

VFO A and B, band and mode, tuning by step or typed frequency, RIT and XIT with the offset shown, antenna selection, filter width, AGC, preamp, attenuator, noise blanker and reduction, notch, split.

Two-way audio

Receiver audio and microphone over WebSocket — no plugins, no UDP, so it crosses a tunnel that only carries TCP. Pick your speaker and microphone independently of what Windows has set as default.

Push to talk

A system-wide key that works while the panel sits behind your logging software. Map it to a keyboard, a macro pad, or a footswitch. The receiver mutes while you transmit, so you never hear yourself delayed.

Antenna tuner

Tuner control with live status — you can see it tuning and see it finish. The station's external tuner and the rig's internal ATU stay separate and clearly named, so neither gets hit by mistake.

Saved stations

Keep several stations — a live rig and a test server — and pick one at login. The client remembers hosts, callsign, audio devices and window position. It never stores a password.

Memories & keyers

Memory recall, frequency presets, CW send with the host sanitising the text, voice memories, recording, and DX cluster spots — each appearing only when the host you are connected to actually provides it.

How it works

Two halves and one API between them

The host lives with the radio and owns the serial port and the sound card. The client owns nothing but the screen. Everything between them is a documented HTTP and WebSocket API — which is why a browser, a command line and a native panel can all drive the same station.

At the rig

Host

CAT over serial, USB codec for audio, REST + WebSocket API. Runs on Linux or Windows; a small always-on machine is enough.

→

In between

Your link

TCP only — a LAN, a VPN, or a tunnel with a real certificate. Sessions are authenticated; control and audio both require a login.

→

Wherever you are

Client

A native Windows panel, x64 and ARM64. A headless CLI exists for scripting, and the host serves an admin page in the browser.

The client asks the host what it can do when it connects, and controls the host doesn't provide are greyed out with the reason. A capability that isn't there is never a button that quietly does nothing.

Measured, not estimated

Numbers from a working station

Audio latency is the thing that decides whether remote operating feels like operating. These are figures read off a live FTDX-101MP, not targets.

PropertyValue
Transmit audio latency, steady state202–233 ms
Adaptive buffer range80–600 ms
Receiver audio22 050 Hz · 16-bit · mono
Transmit audio48 000 Hz · 16-bit · mono
Rig state refreshevery 200 ms
Host-side transmit timeout180 s, configurable
Client installer63 MB · x64 and ARM64

The buffer tunes itself

A cell link needs more cushion than a LAN, and a fixed buffer is wrong for one of them. The host watches for audio underruns and raises its target when the link is rough, easing it back down when things settle. It only trims between overs — never while you're talking.

Your last word gets out

Dropping PTT the instant you release it cuts off whatever audio is still queued — always the end of a word. The host asks the kernel exactly how much is left, waits that long, then unkeys. A hard ceiling means a stuck buffer can never hold the transmitter open.

Where the project is

Honest status

HamDeck was built for one station and is being opened up. It runs a real FTDX-101MP every day. It is not yet a polished product for every shack, and this page would rather say so.

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