trx-rs

trx-rs is a modular amateur radio control stack written in Rust. It splits radio hardware access from user-facing interfaces so you can run rig control, SDR DSP, decoding, audio streaming, and web access as separate, composable pieces.

The project is built around two primary binaries:

• trx-server: talks to radios and SDR backends
• trx-client: connects to the server and exposes frontends such as the web UI

Web UI Demo

GIF placeholder: add an animated walkthrough of the website here.

What It Does

• Controls supported radios over networked client/server boundaries
• Exposes a browser UI, a rigctl-compatible frontend, and JSON-based control
• Supports SDR workflows with live spectrum, waterfall, demodulation, and decode
• Streams Opus audio between server, client, and browser
• Runs multiple decoders including AIS, APRS, CW, FT8, RDS, VDES, and WSPR
• Supports multi-rig deployments and SDR virtual channels
• Loads backends and frontends via plugins

Architecture

At a high level:

1. trx-server owns the radio hardware and DSP pipeline.
2. trx-client connects to the server over TCP for control and audio.
3. Frontends hang off trx-client, including the HTTP web UI.

This separation is intentional: it keeps hardware access local to one host while making control and monitoring available elsewhere on the network.

Workspace Layout

• src/trx-core: shared types, rig state, controller logic
• src/trx-protocol: client/server protocol types and codecs
• src/trx-app: shared app bootstrapping, config, logging, plugins
• src/trx-server: server binary and backend integration
• src/trx-client: client binary and remote connection handling
• src/trx-client/trx-frontend: frontend abstraction
• src/decoders: protocol-specific decoder crates
• examples/trx-plugin-example: minimal plugin example

Supported Pieces

Backends

• Yaesu FT-817
• Yaesu FT-450D
• SoapySDR-based SDR backend

Frontends

• HTTP web frontend
• rigctl-compatible TCP frontend
• JSON-over-TCP frontend

Decoders

• AIS
• APRS
• CW
• FT8
• RDS
• VDES
• WSPR

Build Requirements

You will need Rust plus a few system libraries.

Common dependencies

• libopus
• pkg-config or pkgconf
• cmake

SDR builds

• libsoapysdr

Audio builds

• Core Audio on macOS, or ALSA development packages on Linux

Configuration

Both trx-server and trx-client read from a shared trx-rs.toml.

• Default lookup order: current directory, ~/.config/trx-rs, /etc/trx-rs
• Use --config <FILE> to point at an explicit config file
• Use --print-config to print an example combined config

Start from trx-rs.toml.example.

Quick Start

1. Build

cargo build

2. Create a config file

cp trx-rs.toml.example trx-rs.toml

Adjust backend, frontend, audio, and auth settings for your environment.

3. Run the server

cargo run -p trx-server

4. Run the client

cargo run -p trx-client

5. Open the web UI

Open the configured HTTP frontend address in a browser.

Web Frontend Highlights

• Real-time spectrum and waterfall
• Frequency, mode, and bandwidth control
• Decoder dashboards and history
• SDR virtual channels
• Browser RX/TX audio
• Optional authentication with read-only and control roles

Authentication

The HTTP frontend supports optional passphrase-based authentication.

• rx: read-only access
• control: full control access

When exposing the web UI beyond a trusted LAN, run it behind HTTPS and enable secure cookie settings in the config.

Audio

Audio is transported as Opus between server, client, and browser.

• trx-server captures and encodes audio
• trx-client relays audio to the HTTP frontend
• Browsers connect over /audio

Plugins

Both binaries can discover shared-library plugins through:

• ./plugins
• ~/.config/trx-rs/plugins
• TRX_PLUGIN_DIRS

See examples/trx-plugin-example/README.md.

Documentation

• OVERVIEW.md: architecture and design overview
• CONTRIBUTING.md: contribution and commit rules

Project Status

This is an active project with evolving APIs and frontend behavior. Expect some rough edges and ongoing refactors.

License

Licensed under BSD-2-Clause.

See LICENSES for bundled third-party license files.