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Connect to a Radio

Use the connection panel to connect AetherSDR to a FLEX-8600. You can connect to a radio on your local LAN, a remote radio through SmartLink, or a radio at a manual IP address (for VPN or routed network connections).

The connection panel opens automatically when AetherSDR starts and no radio is connected. You can also open it at any time via Settings > Connect to Radio....

Before you start

  • The FLEX-8600 must be powered on and reachable on your network.
  • For LAN connections: Confirm that no VPN, guest Wi-Fi isolation, or host firewall is blocking mDNS/discovery traffic on your local network.
  • For SmartLink: Ensure you have a valid FlexRadio SmartLink account.

Connection modes

The connection panel has three modes, selected by the radio buttons at the top:

  • Local — Discovers and connects to radios on your local LAN.
  • SmartLink — Connects to remote radios through FlexRadio's SmartLink service.
  • Manual — Connects to a radio at a specific IP address, useful for VPN or routed network connections.

The panel remembers your last mode and restores it on next launch.

Local mode steps

  1. Click Local.
  2. Wait a few seconds for the Available radios list to populate. AetherSDR listens for discovery packets from the radio; this normally completes within a few seconds.
  3. Click your radio in the Available radios list to highlight it.
  4. Click Connect Selected Radio.

The status label at the bottom of the panel updates through searching, connecting, and then connected states as the link is established.

Setting a custom nickname for discovered radios

Right-click any radio in the Available radios list to open a context menu with the option Set Nickname.... This is useful for radios that do not have an on-radio name store (such as HL2 or simulation backends). The nickname is persisted keyed by serial number and displayed on subsequent discovery sweeps.

For FlexRadio radios, the radio name is set from the radio's own Radio Setup menu while connected; the nickname feature is not offered for Flex radios to avoid two sources of truth.

  1. Click SmartLink.
  2. Enter your SmartLink account email in the SmartLink account: Email field.
  3. Enter your account password in the SmartLink account: Password field.
  4. Click Sign In.
  5. Wait for the Remote radios list to populate with radios available to your account.
  6. Click a radio in the list to highlight it.
  7. Click Connect Remote Radio.

To sign out of SmartLink, click Sign Out.

Manual mode steps

  1. Click Manual.
  2. Enter the IP address or host name of the radio in the Radio IP address field.
  3. You can also click the drop-down arrow to select a previously used address.
  4. (Optional) Select the radio type from the Radio type drop-down (FlexRadio / Icom / HL2). The panel remembers the type for each address you enter.
  5. (Optional) Click Advanced: Source path to select a specific network interface.
  6. (Optional) Check Use low bandwidth mode if you are on a slow or metered link.
  7. (Optional) Check Enable adaptive frame-rate throttle to automatically reduce FFT/waterfall frame rate when network quality degrades.
  8. Click Connect by IP (manual).

The status label shows the connection result, and the Manual result label provides additional detail.

Host names in Manual mode

The Radio IP address field accepts both numeric IP addresses and host names. This is important for radios that are documented with a host name rather than an IP — for example, the IC-705's default address is ic-705.local. Previously, host names were silently dropped from the recent-addresses list; in v26.8.4 and later they are remembered and reused just like numeric addresses. Host names are validated conservatively (letters, digits, dots, hyphens, underscores, with alphanumeric ends, up to 253 characters) before being saved.

What each control does

Control What it does Persisted setting
Local / SmartLink / Manual Switches the panel among the three connection modes. Default mode on first launch is Local. ConnectionMode
Available radios Lists FLEX-8600 radios discovered on the LAN via mDNS. Populated automatically; no input required. Right-click a radio to set a custom nickname (for non-Flex radios only). —
Connect Selected Radio Connects to the highlighted LAN radio. Enabled only when a radio is selected in the list. —
No local radios found yet Callout shown when discovery returns no results. Replaces the list until a radio is found or discovery is retried. —
Retry Discovery Re-runs LAN discovery immediately. Appears inside the empty-state callout. —
Remote with SmartLink Shortcut to the SmartLink mode. Appears inside the empty-state callout. ConnectionMode
Connect by IP Shortcut to the Manual mode. Appears inside the empty-state callout. ConnectionMode
Open Network Diagnostics Opens the network diagnostics window. Appears inside the empty-state callout. —
SmartLink account: Email Email address used to sign in to SmartLink. Saved between sessions. SmartLinkEmail
SmartLink account: Password Password used to sign in to SmartLink. Not saved between sessions; stored in the OS keychain when the Icom backend is used. —
Sign In Authenticates with SmartLink using the supplied email and password. —
Sign Out Logs out of the current SmartLink session. —
Remote radios Lists SmartLink WAN radios available to the signed-in account. —
Connect Remote Radio Starts a WAN connection to the selected radio in the Remote radios list. —
Radio IP address The IP address or host name used for a manual or VPN connection. The field accepts typed input and also shows up to three recently used addresses in a drop-down for quick reuse. Addresses are normalised and deduplicated before being saved. ManualRadioIp / RecentConnectByIpAddresses
Radio type Selects the radio family for the manual connection (FlexRadio, Icom, or HL2). The panel remembers the type for each address you enter. Older profiles without a type default to FlexRadio. ConnectByIpRadioFamily
Network Diagnostics Opens the network diagnostics window from the Manual page. —
Connect by IP (manual) Starts the manual or VPN connection to the address entered in Radio IP address. —
Advanced: Source path Selects the local network interface used for the manual connection. Use this when the computer has multiple NICs and AetherSDR is binding to the wrong one. ManualBindSource
Use low bandwidth mode Enables reduced-rate audio and data streams. Use this on slow or metered links. LowBandwidthMode
Enable adaptive frame-rate throttle Automatically reduces FFT/waterfall frame rate when network quality degrades, helping maintain connection stability on unreliable links. Unchecked by default. AdaptiveThrottleEnabled
Connect to last radio on start up When checked, AetherSDR automatically connects to the last used radio on startup and whenever a broadcast-discovery or routed-radio probe succeeds. When unchecked, the connection screen opens at startup and you must pick a radio manually each session. Defaults to checked so existing users keep their current behaviour. AutoConnectToLastRadio
Disconnect Disconnects from the currently connected radio. —

Recent IP addresses (Manual mode)

The Radio IP address field is a drop-down combo box that remembers the last three addresses you connected to successfully. Click the arrow to see the list and select a previous address, or type a new one directly in the field.

Addresses are normalised (trimmed, and canonicalised if numeric) before being stored so that equivalent forms of the same address are not saved as duplicates. Host names are also accepted and stored as typed. The list is written to the RecentConnectByIpAddresses setting as a compact JSON array.

If you are upgrading from a version prior to v0.9.7, the single address previously stored under LastRoutedRadioIp is automatically carried forward as the first entry in the new list. No manual migration is required.

Radio type selection (Manual mode)

The Radio type drop-down next to the Radio IP address field lets you specify which radio family you are connecting to: FlexRadio (the default), Icom, or HL2. The panel remembers the type you chose for each address, so switching between a FlexRadio and an Icom at different addresses does not require re-selecting the type each time.

Profiles written by versions before the selector existed carry no type information and are treated as FlexRadio, preserving the behaviour you had before.

Window appearance

The connection panel is a frameless dialog with a custom title bar. The title bar shows "Connect to Radio" and includes standard window control buttons. This appearance can be controlled by the FramelessWindow setting.

When the panel is hidden during a frameless mode toggle, its geometry is preserved only if the panel was visible at the time of the toggle.

Radio list sizing

The Available radios list has a bounded height (minimum 120 px, maximum 240 px) with an always-available vertical scrollbar. This prevents the list from growing past the dialog on small displays such as 1024×600 Raspberry Pi panels, ensuring the Connect button and lower controls remain reachable.

Tips

  • If the list is slow to populate, wait at least 10–15 seconds before using Retry Discovery. The radio sends periodic discovery packets and AetherSDR may not have received the first one yet.
  • If your computer has multiple network interfaces, AetherSDR may be listening on the wrong one. If discovery consistently fails, consider switching to Manual mode and specifying the interface with Advanced: Source path.
  • If you share a computer and do not want AetherSDR to connect to a radio before you have a chance to choose one, uncheck Connect to last radio on start up.
  • Enable adaptive frame-rate throttle is useful on links with variable latency or packet loss, such as cellular hotspots or shared Wi-Fi. When enabled, AetherSDR automatically reduces visual data rates to preserve connection stability.
  • If your radio is documented with a host name (for example, ic-705.local for the IC-705), you can type that name directly in the Radio IP address field — it will be remembered just like a numeric address.

Troubleshooting

  • "No local radios found yet" appears and does not go away — The radio's discovery packets are not reaching AetherSDR. Common causes: the radio and computer are on different VLANs or subnets, guest Wi-Fi AP isolation is enabled, or a software VPN is intercepting multicast traffic. Click Open Network Diagnostics for details, or switch to Manual mode if you know the radio's IP address.
  • Connect Selected Radio is greyed out — No radio is selected in the Available radios list. Click a radio in the list first.
  • The status label shows an error after clicking Connect Selected Radio — The radio was discovered but the TCP connection failed. Check that no firewall is blocking the SmartSDR protocol port, and that no other SmartSDR-compatible client holds the exclusive connection.
  • The Radio IP address drop-down shows an old or unreachable address — Type a new address directly in the field. The old entry will age out of the list once three newer successful connections have been made.
  • The Radio type selection keeps reverting — The panel remembers the type per address. If you are connecting to a different radio at the same address, select the correct type from the drop-down before connecting; it will be remembered for that address.
  • AetherSDR connects to the wrong radio at startup — Uncheck Connect to last radio on start up. AetherSDR will then open the connection screen on every launch so you can choose the radio manually.
  • SmartLink login fields do not auto-fill with a password manager — Ensure your password manager is set to recognise the form as a SmartLink account login. The email and password fields are labelled appropriately in the accessibility tree for macOS Passwords, Windows Authenticator, and KDE Wallet.
  • Right-click menu does not appear on the radio list — Only the Local mode Available radios list supports the right-click context menu. The SmartLink Remote radios list does not offer this feature.
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