Radio Setup Dialog

The Radio Setup dialog is the master per-radio configuration window. It provides access to all radio-level settings including radio identification, network configuration, GPS, transmit parameters, phone/CW settings, receive calibration, audio configuration, filters, transverters, USB cables, peripherals, APD sampling, themes, SmartLink certificate management, and serial port configuration.

Before you start

• AetherSDR must be connected to the radio. Most controls are not available without an active connection.

Opening the dialog

1. Open Settings > Radio Setup....
2. The dialog opens as a persistent window. Its position and size are saved automatically when you close it and restored the next time you open it. The geometry is stored in AppSettings under the key RadioSetupDialogGeometry.

Tab scroll areas

Some tabs (Themes, Audio, Filters, Peripherals) contain more controls than fit vertically on small or high-DPI displays. These tabs are automatically wrapped in a vertical scroll area so you can scroll down to reach all controls without resizing the dialog beyond the screen edge. The scrollbar appears only when content exceeds the visible area.

Radio tab

The Radio tab displays radio information, identification, license info, remote on, firmware update, and reboot controls.

Radio Information

The radio information section shows read-only indicators for:

Control	Description	Notes
Radio SN	Chassis serial number (read-only).	Includes a clipboard copy button (tray icon) next to the value.
Region	Radio regulatory region (e.g., USA).
HW Version	Hardware version string.	Includes a clipboard copy button next to the value.
Model	Radio model.	Includes a clipboard copy button next to the value.
Options	Shows licensed radio options.	Includes a clipboard copy button next to the value.
FlexControl	Detected state of FlexControl hardware.
multiFLEX	multiFLEX enabled state.
License Info (Subscription / Expiration / Radio ID / Licensed version)	Displays license details from the radio.	Each field includes a clipboard copy button next to the value.

Radio Identification

Set a human-readable nickname, your callsign, and a station name on the connected FLEX-8600. These values identify the radio and this client to other multiFLEX stations on the network.

Control	Description	Default
Nickname	User-friendly label for the radio. Sent to the radio as the radio name.	Radio's reported name
Callsign	Your station callsign, stored on the radio.	(blank)
Station Name	Identifies this AetherSDR client to other multiFLEX stations. Stored in AppSettings. Sent to radio as 'client station '.	OS hostname

Steps to set radio identification

1. Open Settings > Radio Setup....
2. Click the Radio tab.
3. In the Nickname field, type the nickname you want to assign to the radio.
4. Press Tab or click away from the field to confirm. AetherSDR sends the new name to the radio immediately.
5. In the Callsign field, type your station callsign.
6. Press Tab or click away from the field to confirm.
7. In the Station Name field, type the name that identifies this client to other multiFLEX stations.
8. Press Tab or click away from the field to confirm.
9. Click the window's close button or press Escape to dismiss the dialog.

Remote On

Click Remote On to enable remote wake / remote-on capability.

Reboot Radio

The Reboot Radio button restarts the connected radio. This is useful after firmware updates or configuration changes that require a reboot.

• The button is enabled only when the radio is connected. It disables automatically on disconnect or reconnect.
• A confirmation dialog appears before rebooting.
• The warning text differs by connection type:
• SmartLink/WAN: "Reboot the connected radio now? AetherSDR will disconnect. SmartLink/WAN sessions do not auto-reconnect today — you will need to reconnect manually once the radio finishes booting."
• Direct/LAN: "Reboot the connected radio now? AetherSDR will disconnect and automatically reconnect once the radio finishes booting."
• Click OK to confirm. The dialog closes and AetherSDR disconnects.
• The button has a styled disabled appearance (#3334 follow-up) so it remains visible but clearly greyed out when the radio is not connected.

Steps to reboot the radio

1. Open Settings > Radio Setup....
2. Click the Radio tab.
3. Click Reboot Radio.
4. Read the confirmation dialog that appears.
5. Click OK to confirm. AetherSDR disconnects and the dialog closes.
6. Wait for the radio to finish booting. On direct/LAN connections, AetherSDR reconnects automatically.

Firmware Update

Use the firmware update controls to check for and apply firmware updates to the radio.

Control	Description
Check for Update	Queries for firmware updates.
Select Installer...	Opens a file picker that accepts .msi (FlexRadio v4.2+ WiX installer), .exe (older self-extracting installer) or a pre-extracted .ssdr firmware file. The firmware stager auto-detects format from the first 8 bytes (OLE/MSI magic vs PE/COFF MZ) and extracts the .ssdr without external tools. Label changed from 'Browse .ssdr...' in v26.5.3.
Upload Firmware	Starts firmware upload with progress bar and status.

To check for a firmware update

1. Open Settings > Radio Setup....
2. Click the Radio tab.
3. Click Check for Update.
4. If an update is available, the status label shows the available version number and instructs you to download the SmartSDR installer from flexradio.com, then use Select Installer... to stage it.
5. If firmware is up to date, the status label confirms the current version in green.

To stage and upload firmware

1. Download the SmartSDR installer from flexradio.com. AetherSDR accepts .msi (FlexRadio v4.2+ WiX installer), .exe (older self-extracting installer), or a pre-extracted .ssdr firmware file.
2. Click Select Installer...
3. The file picker opens with the filter set to *.msi *.exe *.ssdr.
4. Select the downloaded file and click Open.
5. AetherSDR begins preparing the firmware automatically. The status label shows "Preparing firmware from \<filename>..." and the progress bar appears.
6. The firmware stager auto-detects the file format from the first 8 bytes (OLE/MSI magic for .msi, PE/COFF MZ for .exe, or CTRL+Z for .ssdr) and extracts the .ssdr without external tools.
7. Wait for preparation to complete. The status label shows "Ready to upload \<filename>".
8. Click Upload Firmware.
9. A confirmation dialog appears: "This will restart the radio. Are you sure you want to upload \<filename>?"
10. Click Yes to confirm.
11. The upload begins. The status label shows "Uploading... (X%)" and the progress bar updates.
12. The radio restarts after upload completes. The status label shows "Upload and reboot successful."
13. Click the window's close button or press Escape to dismiss the dialog.

Network tab

The Network tab displays radio network information and provides advanced network options.

Control	Description	Default
IP Address / Mask / MAC Address	Read-only network addresses. Each includes a clipboard copy button.	—
Enforce Private IP Connections:	Rejects non-RFC1918 peers. Toggle button shows "Enabled" / "Disabled".	—
Network MTU:	Sets maximum outgoing VITA-49 UDP packet size in bytes. Range 576-9000 bytes. Default 1450 is safe for most VPN/SD-WAN tunnels. Stored in AppSettings.	1450
DHCP / Static	Switches between DHCP and Static IP modes.	—
IP Address: / Mask: / Gateway:	Static IP configuration fields.	—
Apply	Pushes the network config to the radio.	—

To configure static IP

1. Open Settings > Radio Setup....
2. Click the Network tab.
3. Click DHCP / Static to switch to Static mode.
4. Enter the IP Address, Mask, and Gateway values.
5. Click Apply to push the configuration to the radio.

GPS tab

The GPS tab displays GPS presence and live latitude, longitude, altitude, time, and satellites information.

TX tab

The TX tab provides transmit timing controls, interlocks, max power, tune mode, waterfall display, slice/TX follow behavior, and a shortcut to TX Band Settings.

TX Band Settings

Click TX Band Settings to open the dedicated per-band power/tune dialog.

Timings

The timing controls include fields for interlock delays and timeout. The timeout field is displayed in seconds for readability, but stored and transmitted to the radio in milliseconds.

Control	Description	Default
ACC TX:	ACC transmit delay in milliseconds.	—
TX Delay:	TX delay in milliseconds.	—
RCA TX1:	RCA TX1 delay in milliseconds.	—
Timeout (sec):	Interlock timeout displayed in seconds. The radio stores this value in milliseconds internally.	—

Interlocks

Control	Description
TX REQ: RCA	Enables RCA interlock input.
TX REQ: Accessory	Enables accessory interlock input.

Power and Tune

Control	Description	Default
Max Power:	Sets radio-level TX power cap (0-100%).	—
Tune Mode:	Selects how the tune button behaves.	—
Show TX in Waterfall:	Draws TX signal in the waterfall.	—

Slice/TX Follow Behavior

Control	Description	Default
TX Follows Active Slice	TX follows the active slice. Mutually exclusive with 'Active Slice Follows TX'. Disabled automatically during Split operation.	False
Active Slice Follows TX	Switches the active slice when TX moves externally (e.g. WSJT-X or CAT). Mutually exclusive with 'TX Follows Active Slice'.	False

Phone/CW tab

The Phone/CW tab provides microphone, CW keyer, and RTTY default settings.

Control	Description	Default
Enable/Disable the Level Meter During Receive	Shows mic level meter even in RX.	—
Iambic:	Enables or disables the iambic keyer on the radio.	—
Iambic Mode: A / B	Selects Curtis iambic mode A or B for both the radio and the local software keyer. Mutually exclusive pair.	A
Swap:	Swaps dit/dah.	—
Sideband:	Selects CW pitch sideband (LSB or USB).	—
CWX:	Enables CWX macro keying.	—
Decode:	Enables the CW decode overlay on the panadapter.	True
RTTY Mark Default:	Default RTTY mark frequency.	—

RX tab

The RX tab provides GPSDO frequency offset calibration and 10 MHz reference source selection.

Control	Description	Default
Cal Frequency (MHz):	Frequency used for manual calibration.	—
Start	Starts the frequency calibration sweep.	—
Freq Offset (ppb):	Manual frequency offset in ppb.	—
10 MHz Reference Source:	Selects oscillator reference source. Options depend on hardware installed (TCXO/GPSDO/External). Lock status (Locked/Unlocked) is shown alongside the combo and updates live.	Auto

Audio tab

The Audio tab provides radio audio outputs, compression, PC devices, boost, buffer, recording, and NVIDIA BNR container controls.

Control	Description	Default
Line Out:	Line-out gain slider.	—
Mute (Line Out)	Mutes line-out.	—
Headphone:	Headphone gain slider.	—
Mute (Headphone)	Mutes headphone.	—
Front Speaker: / Mute	Mutes front speaker (model-specific).	—
Audio Compression (SmartLink): Auto / Uncompressed / Opus	Selects audio codec for SmartLink/LAN. Stored in AppSettings.	Auto
Prevent system sleep while connected	Keeps OS awake while radio is connected to prevent audio/TCP/UDP stream drops during idle.	False
PC Audio Devices: Input: / Output:	Picks host audio in/out devices.	—
Audio Boost:	Enables extra gain on the client audio path. Stored in AppSettings.	—
Audio Buffer:	Increases audio buffer in milliseconds for VPN/SmartLink jitter. Range 50-1000 ms. Stored as `