Radio Setup Overview¶
The Radio Setup dialog is the central configuration window for your FLEX-8600. It brings together radio identification, network, GPS, transmit, audio, filters, transverters, USB cables, peripherals, antenna names, slice color themes, APD sampler configuration, SmartLink certificate management, and FlexControl serial settings in one place. Open it whenever you need to change anything about how AetherSDR interacts with your radio hardware.
Before you start¶
- The radio must be connected. Radio Setup requires an active radio connection.
How it works¶
Open Radio Setup from Settings > Radio Setup.... The dialog contains a row of tabs across the top; each tab covers a distinct area of configuration. Tabs other than Radio load their contents the first time you click them.
The dialog remembers its size and position between sessions using PersistentDialog. A title bar with the text "Radio Setup" appears at the top. You can drag the title bar to move the dialog.
You can also jump directly to specific tabs:
Settings > USB Cables...opens Radio Setup with the USB Cables tab active.Settings > FlexControl...opens Radio Setup with the Serial tab active (only available when serial port support is built in).
Tab scroll behavior¶
Tabs whose content may exceed the visible dialog height on small or high-DPI displays (Radio, Audio, Filters, Themes, Peripherals, SmartLink) automatically embed a vertical scroll area. The scrollbar only appears when needed — users on wide screens see no visual change.
Tabs at a glance¶
| Tab | What you configure here |
|---|---|
| Radio | Serial number, hardware version, region, licensed options, nickname, callsign, station name, license info, firmware update, and radio reboot. |
| Network | IP address (DHCP or static), network MTU, private IP enforcement, and the optional Agent Automation (MCP) bridge. |
| GPS | Live GPS status: latitude, longitude, altitude, time, and satellite count. |
| TX | TX hang/delay timings, interlocks, global power cap, tune mode, waterfall TX display, TX/slice follow behavior, and a shortcut to per-band settings. |
| Phone/CW | Microphone level meter, iambic keyer (mode A/B, swap, sideband), CWX, CW decoder, and RTTY mark default. |
| RX | Frequency offset calibration and 10 MHz reference source selection. Calibration controls are always visible; when a GPSDO is installed the status label confirms its presence. |
| Calibration | Manual host-side frequency calibration for radios that cannot calibrate themselves. Only visible on backends that report hostFrequencyCalibration capability (e.g. HL2). |
| Antennas | Display and rename antenna ports (ANT1, ANT2, XVTA, XVTB) as recognized by the radio. |
| Audio | Line out, headphone, and speaker levels; audio compression codec; PC audio device selection; audio boost; audio buffer size; recording mode, folder, auto-record on TX, and idle timeout; NVIDIA BNR container control. |
| Filters | Low-latency vs. sharp filter selection per bandwidth, and a separate option for digital modes. |
| XVTR | Per-transverter configuration; create or remove transverter entries. |
| APD | External Adaptive Pre-Distortion sampler configuration — per-TX-antenna feedback port selection and equalizer reset. Visible only on FLEX-8x00 radios reporting apd configurable=1 (SmartSDR 4.2.18+ firmware). |
| USB Cables | Assign USB serial adapters to CAT, BCD, bit, and PTT cable types and configure their serial parameters. |
| Peripherals | Manual IP connection to external devices: TGXL, PGXL, Antenna Genius, ShackSwitch, and ACOM amplifiers. |
| KiwiSDR | Public KiwiSDR receiver management — add, remove, browse, and configure up to 10 public receivers. |
| Themes | Slice color scheme: switch between built-in AetherSDR palette and custom per-slice colors (A–H). |
| Serial | FlexControl serial port selection, line parameters, pin function assignments (DTR/RTS), paddle swap, auto-open, and tuning knob detection. (Visible only when serial port support is built in.) |
| SmartLink | Pinned TLS certificate management — lists each pinned certificate with Forget and Forget All buttons. |
What each control does¶
The following controls have persisted settings keys or notable behaviors.
| Control | Tab | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Radio SN | Radio | Chassis serial number (read-only). Includes a clipboard copy button (tray icon) next to the value. |
| HW Version | Radio | Hardware version string (read-only). Includes a clipboard copy button next to the value. |
| Options | Radio | Shows licensed radio options (read-only). Includes a clipboard copy button next to the value. |
| Model | Radio | Radio model (read-only). Includes a clipboard copy button next to the value. |
| License Info (Subscription / Expiration / Radio ID / Licensed version) | Radio | Displays license details from the radio. Each field includes a clipboard copy button next to the value. |
| IP Address / Mask / MAC Address | Network | Read-only network addresses. Each includes a clipboard copy button. |
| Station Name | Radio | Identifies this AetherSDR client to other multiFLEX stations. Defaults to the OS hostname if left empty. Stored as StationName. Sent to the radio as client station <name>. |
| Select Installer... | Radio | 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 the 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. |
| Reboot Radio | Radio | Sends a reboot command to the radio. A confirmation dialog appears first. On LAN connections AetherSDR automatically reconnects once the radio finishes booting. On SmartLink/WAN connections you must reconnect manually. The button is disabled when the radio is disconnected, and also when the backend does not support a client reboot (e.g. HL2 is RX-only). |
| Network MTU: | Network | Sets maximum outgoing VITA-49 UDP packet size in bytes (576–9000). Default 1450 is safe for most VPN/SD-WAN tunnels. Stored as NetworkMtu. |
| Enforce Private IP Connections: | Network | Rejects non-RFC1918 peers. The toggle button reads "Enabled" when checked and "Disabled" when unchecked. |
| Agent Automation (MCP): | Network | Enables the in-app automation bridge so an AI coding assistant (via the MCP server) can introspect and drive the running app. Off by default; the operator opts in. New in v26.8.4 (#3646). Persisted via AutomationBridgeSettings. The AETHER_AUTOMATION launch environment variable force-enables the bridge regardless of this toggle and disables the control in the UI. Transmit-keying stays blocked unless AETHER_AUTOMATION_ALLOW_TX is set. |
| Access Token: | Network | Read-only display of the MCP access token. Paste it into the assistant's AETHER_MCP_TOKEN environment variable. Stored in the OS secret store. New in v26.8.4. Auto-mints a 128-bit hex token when the bridge is enabled without one. Placeholder (loading…) until the keychain read lands. |
| Copy (Access Token) | Network | Copies the access token to the clipboard. New in v26.8.4. |
| Rotate (Access Token) | Network | Generates a new token and applies it immediately, locking out any client still using the old one. New in v26.8.4. |
| Allow TX via MCP: Enable transmit control | Network | Lets an MCP client key the transmitter (MOX/PTT/TUNE/ATU/CWX). Off by default; first enable raises an operator-responsibility confirmation. New in v26.8.4. Enforced in the bridge; no client can flip it. Overridden by AETHER_AUTOMATION_ALLOW_TX (force on) and AETHER_AUTOMATION_NO_TX (pinned off). A force-unkey watchdog limits bridge-originated TX. |
| Observe only: Read-only (block all driving) | Network | Makes the bridge observe-only: MCP clients can read state but every mutating verb (set/invoke/connect/tune/capture) is refused. New in v26.8.4 (#4188). Enforced in the app, so a client cannot bypass it. AETHER_AUTOMATION_READONLY launch variable pins it on for headless/CI runs. |
| VITA-49 RX buffer: | Network | Snap-to-preset slider setting the kernel receive buffer (SO_RCVBUF) for the VITA-49 stream socket; larger absorbs panadapter/waterfall bursts so packets aren't dropped. New in v26.8.4 (#3810). Presets 256 KB to 4 MB. The system caps the grant at net.core.rmem_max; a live "granted: |
| granted: (VITA-49 RX buffer) | Network | Shows the buffer size the kernel actually granted (vs the requested preset). New in v26.8.4. Shows "(applies on connect)" when no connection is active. |
| TX Follows Active Slice | TX | TX follows the active slice. Mutually exclusive with Active Slice Follows TX. Disabled automatically during Split operation. Stored as TxFollowsActiveSlice. |
| Active Slice Follows TX | TX | Switches the active slice when TX moves externally (e.g. WSJT-X or CAT). Mutually exclusive with TX Follows Active Slice. Stored as ActiveFollowsTxSlice. |
| Iambic: | Phone/CW | Enables or disables the iambic keyer on the radio. |
| Iambic Mode: A / B | Phone/CW | Selects Curtis iambic mode A or B for both the radio and the local software keyer. Mutually exclusive pair. Default: A. |
| Decode: RX | Phone/CW | Enables the CW decode overlay on the panadapter for received CW. Stored as CwDecoder (nested JSON, rx field). Split from the legacy single toggle in v26.5.3. Legacy CwDecodeOverlay key auto-migrated on first read. Default: enabled. |
| Decode: TX | Phone/CW | Decodes the operator's own CW keying via client-side sidetone, useful as a self-training tool for paddle/bug timing. Stored as CwDecoder (nested JSON, tx field). New in v26.5.3 (#2417). Default: disabled. |
| 10 MHz Reference Source: | RX | Selects the oscillator reference source. The combo box is populated dynamically: Auto is always present; TCXO, GPSDO, and External 10 MHz appear based on what the radio reports as installed or currently active. If the radio sends ext for the oscillator setting or state, AetherSDR normalises it to external before displaying. When the setting is Auto and the radio has selected a specific source, the label shows the resolution (for example, "Auto -> GPSDO"). Lock status (Locked / Unlocked) is shown in green or red beside the combo and updates live. If External 10 MHz is selected but no external reference is detected, "(not detected)" is appended to the status text. |
| Calibration (tab) | Calibration | Manual host-side frequency calibration for radios that cannot calibrate themselves. Only visible on backends that report hostFrequencyCalibration capability (e.g. HL2). The page is hidden on FLEX radios, which |