wfview version 1.1 released

wfview is a program that allows many modern Icom ham radio transceivers (such as the IC-7300, IC-9700, IC-7610, IC-R8600, the IC-705, and many others) to be controlled via a computer. wfview shows the gorgeous spectrum display on whatever display is connected, including projectors, touch screens, and TVs. wfview allows for full radio control from a computer keyboard and basic control from a numeric keypad. wfview can run on hardware ranging from the $35 Raspberry Pi to laptops to desktops. wfview is designed for the Linux operating system but could probably run with minimal modifications on other platforms. wfview supports rig control over ethernet/wifi as well as over the traditional USB serial CIV bus.

The project’s goals are simple: Develop a free and open-source program for ham radio and SWL users to enjoy using modern radios on modern operating systems, free of charge, and with open source code.

wfview development started in 2016, by Elliott (W6EL) as a simple way to view the waterfall on linux, for the purpose of displaying these data on large screens. Since then, it has evolved to support a number of radios, and it has gained considerable functionality (including network connections) thanks to a growing group of enthusiastic developers. wfview is, quite simply, a program that we (the developers) all wanted to use, and as such, it has grown rapidly as we continue to pour our ideas into the roadmap.

As of March 2021, the following radios have been tested and are known to work well (these are our “target” platform radios):

IC-705, IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-R8600, IC-7850, and IC-9700

We are also working to provide full support for the Icom IC-R8600 SDR receiver.

wfview has code to support the following additional radios on a best-effort level. Obviously, many of the more modern features (such as the waterfall display) are not available on these older radios:

IC-706, IC-7100, IC-7600, IC-7700

Please read the User Manual for a complete overview of all functions of wfview. The Getting Started page is where to begin.

Please see the User FAQ, Screenshots, Appearance Customization, and Programmer’s FAQ for more information.

Don’t forget to check the README.md and INSTALL.md files in the repo.

For radio setup, see here (old wiki) or here.

To run fldigi (or other programs) at the same time, please see this.

wfview running with the Icom IC-7300 over USB

 

 

wfview lan_alpha running on an IC9700 over the network cable on Ubuntu 20.04.2

 

Version 1.1 release notes:

 added IC7700, 718, 7100. (more testing needed)
 fixes and improvements to audio
 ability to choose between rtaudio and qtmultimedia (default) as compile time option
 fixes and lots of improvements at the usb-server end
 waterfall length can be adjusted now
 no need to restart to change CIV address
 seamless changing rigs without restart
 started support for older rigs like the 718
 wf display disappears when there is no wf capable rig
 IC R8600 support improved
 for older rigs added a polling timing box to keep stuff keeping smooth 
 Local af gain now has anti-log audio pot taper.
 you can select a second meter in the UI 
 bug fixes

 

wfview is available for free download at https://wfview.org/download/