May 22, 2026

Early Development Plans for Flipper One Announced

The team behind the wildly popular Flipper Zero product has just announced their development plans for a Flipper One device. If you were unaware, Flipper Zero is an extremely popular wireless hacking/research tool based on a STM32 microcontroller and TI CC1101 sub-ghz transceiver. While not an SDR, the CC1101 hardware radio chip is very capable at demodulating/transmitting many sub-GHZ OOK/ASK/FSK/GFSK/MSK protocols, and for capture/replay attacks. Flipper Zero also implements 125 kHz RFID, Bluetooth LE, 13.56 MHz NFC, Infrared RX/TX capabilities, and general GPIO/UART/SPI/I2C interfaces. Flipper Zero has been so popular that it has been seen in more mainstream media such as on Linus Tech Tips.

While Flipper Zero was extremely popular, the team outright makes clear that Flipper One is not a successor to Flipper Zero. Instead, it is a completely new project. Flipper One will be a full RK3576 ARM-based Linux computer (with computing power similar to a Raspberry Pi 5), with a Raspberry Pi RP2350 Microcontroller co-processor and PCIe M.2 expansion modules to add capabilities such as an SDR, a 5G modem, an SSD, or anything else. It will also include GPIO expansion modules, be a full Ethernet/WiFi multi-tool with MediaTek MT7921AUN, have a satellite NTN (non-terrestrial network) cellular modem, and, of course, come with a built-in NPU AI accelerator capable of supporting offline LLMs. On the more conventional side, they also plan to make Flipper One capable of running a full Linux desktop and serving as a portable TV media box.

Currently, they are in early development, still working through architectural and hardware choices, and developing software. The announcement post was created to announce that they will design and build Flipper One openly in public, and are actively seeking public support via their Flipper One development portal.

They note that building in public will be required to support their lofty ambitions to bring in full mainline Linux kernel support to the RK3576 ARM processor, push vendors to open up existing closed-source code and ditch binary blobs, build an unconventional CPU + Microcontroller co-processor architecture, build Flipper OS, a Debian layer with resettable user profiles, and design a Linux UI framework for small screens.

The closest competing existing devices appear to be the ClockworkPI uConsole and Vivid Unit, as well as the various Cyberdeck-type products.

An example of how a SDR module might be attached to Flipper One

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May 21, 2026

RPITX-UI: A Modernized, Easier to Use Fork of the RPITX Raspberry Pi Transmitter Software

Thank you to Ihar Yatsevich for writing in about his release of rpitx-ui, a modernized fork of F5OEO's popular rpitx project. If you were unaware, rpitx is software that turns a Raspberry Pi (most Pi hardware apart from the Pi 5 is supported) into a low cost RF transmitter by generating signals directly on a GPIO pin, requiring no extra hardware beyond a wire antenna. Ihar writes:

rpitx-ui started as a fork of F5OEO’s rpitx and has evolved into a modernized, easier-to-use version of the original Raspberry Pi RF transmitter project. The goal is to make rpitx easier to build, install, use, and extend on modern Raspberry Pi OS systems.

In rpitx-ui, the build system has been migrated to CMake, the project installs system-wide, and it has been adapted for 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (Debian Trixie). Most transmitter binaries have been rewritten in modern C++20 with shared DSP, audio, and CLI libraries. SSB and AM now use an internal DSP chain with direct DMA output instead of shell pipelines (removing the large SSB startup delay), NFM is a standalone transmitter with wide/narrow deviation presets, WFM with RDS has configurable PI, PS, RadioText and 50/75 us pre-emphasis, CW/Morse has safer parsing with adjustable WPM, and a new RFgen mode supports noise, sweep, and multitone generation. Audio modes also now accept any libsndfile compatible format rather than only WAV.

The UI itself has been improved with file selection for common modes, loop or once playback, custom messages for POCSAG/RTTY/CW, Opera call sign input, SSB sideband selection, NFM deviation selection, and RDS parameter setup. Full source and build instructions can be found on the rpitx-ui GitHub page.

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May 21, 2026

No-SDR: A New Open Source Multi-User WebSDR for RTL-SDR

Thank you to George (gbozo), who has just released no-sdr (named from No(de)-sdr), a new open source multi-user WebSDR for the RTL-SDR written in Go and node JS. A WebSDR allows users to run an SDR remotely and access it over a local or internet network connection. This is useful for bringing an SDR closer to an antenna, instead of running a long, lossy coax cable, and for sharing SDRs among multiple networked users.

The no-SDR software runs on x86 or Raspberry Pi, is Dockerized, and supports multiple RTL-SDR dongles being connected at the same time. On the DSP side, it currently implements WFM (stereo + RDS), NFM, AM, AM Stereo (experimental stereo C-QUAM), USB, LSB, CW, and raw IQ, with digital decoders like ADS-B, AIS, APRS, POCSAG, FT8, and WSPR planned. There is also an "Identify Song" button that uses the Audd API to ID currently playing tracks on WFM, NFM, and AM.

George also points out that he's implemented an innovative lossless FFT codec with a very high ~10:1 compression ratio, as well as the Opus codec for audio. The result is a 12-15 kB/s transmission rate with a 12 FPS FFT with 8192 bins and AM demodulation compressed audio.

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May 21, 2026

sdrrat: An SDR receiver Terminal User Interface for RTL-SDR & HackRF

Thank you to qewer33, who has written in to share the release of his new Terminal User Interface (TUI) program for RTL-SDR and HackRF SDRs. The program is called sdrrat, and it provides a complete TUI with FFT graph, waterfall spectrogram, VFO, and basic WBFM/NBFM/AM demodulation.

qewer33 notes that the software is built with Rust, Ratatui, and FutureSDR and is completely free and open source. The code is available on GitHub.

sdrrate: TUI based SDR software for RTL-SDR and HackRF

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May 20, 2026

Tracking Wildlife in South Africa with RTL-SDR And An Android App

Thank you to Gary Schneider from workingwithwildlife.org for writing in and submitting news about the release of his Android App called "SDR Direction Finder (RTL-SDR)" which currently costs US$9.99. Gary is a wildlife conservationist who has been using RTL-SDRs and his Android app to track animal beacons in the wild. Gary writes his story best:

I run a conservation project in South Africa conducting wildlife monitoring, and I’ve spent the past 7 years out in the field tracking wildlife. To make tracking more practical and affordable for researchers and NGOs, I’ve spent much of my time outside of fieldwork developing an Android app to replace traditional receivers, and I’ve recently published it on the Google Play Store.

While other apps exist, I’ve found them practically too difficult to use in field conditions and very limited in range. My focus was maximizing VHF range while keeping the interface simple.

By using the app’s custom IQ filter settings with an RTL-SDR V3 and LNA combo, my old spare Xiaomi phone now outperforms my $1,200 Comm Spec R-5000 receiver. The most challenging part of development was optimising the high-resolution waterfall to run smoothly at a high sample rate without any stuttering on low-end devices.

I added a built-in mapping feature to log bearings and automatically calculate estimated signal locations. The map also allows users to import their own custom KML/KMZ files. This has been incredibly helpful for me to quickly locate my tracked animals, and to subsequently export my data for further analysis. The waterfall makes it easy to handle signal drift or monitor multiple collars simultaneously (e.g. when I’m searching for a pack of African wild dogs which might have two or three working VHF collars fitted).

While wildlife tracking here is exclusively CW in the 148–152 MHz range, the app isn't limited to this. It also supports AM, NFM, WFM (Mono/Stereo), LSB, and USB across the full range.

Even though I developed this with wildlife tracking in mind, it should work equally well for falconry, fox hunting, or simply for general SDR enthusiasts.

The app is called "SDR Direction Finder (RTL-SDR)" on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wildlifetracker.vhf

SDR Direction Finder (RTL-SDR) Screenshots

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May 19, 2026

Spectrum SDR Android App Ported to iOS

Thank you to James Mainwaring of Knowle Consultants for submitting news about the release of an iOS port of his previously Android-only "Spectrum SDR" app for RTL-SDR. Knowle Consultants have previously released a range of RTL-SDR Android apps for FM, Airband, Ham FM and ADS-B reception. James writes:

As most people will be aware, it is not currently possible to connect an RTL-SDR dongle directly to an Apple mobile device. So the app is designed to be used with an instance of rtl_tcp running on a Mac, PC or maybe a raspberry pi.

It is also possible to install the app directly on an Apple Silicon Mac, so that is one with an M1, M2, ... etc. In that situation obviously rtl_tcp can be hosted on the same Mac too if needed.

Anyone needing help with this app or any of our existing Android SDR apps should contact [email protected]

For comparison, the Android version is available here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.jajae.spectrumsdr

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May 19, 2026

SDR ProTrack RTL-SDR Radio Direction Finding Android App Updated

Back in June 2025, we posted about SDR ProTrack, a radio direction-finding app that uses an RTL-SDR and directional antenna to determine a bearing towards a transmitter. Alex has recently written in to note some major updates to the app.

He notes that the app has been redesigned for user-friendliness and to be as relevant as possible for signal-tracking purposes. The main upgrades include:

New hardware compatibility: SDR Lime Mini & Airspy now supported.
Enhanced signal & pulse detection
New track states, UI and in-app guidance
Now available in 14 languages
Hunt sharing on social media with pictures and map included

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May 19, 2026

GopherTrunk: A New Pure-Go Trunked Radio Scanner Supporting P25, DMR, TETRA, NXDN and More

Thank you to Matt Cheramie, who wrote in to let us know about his new software called GopherTrunk, a new RTL-SDR compatible radio scanner that follows digital trunked-radio voice calls and decodes them into audio. Gopher Trunk runs on a pool of RTL-SDR dongles and ships as a single ~10 MB static binary for Linux, macOS, and Windows. There are no C dependencies, so neither librtlsdr nor libusb are required at build or runtime, which makes deployment on a fresh machine or Raspberry Pi very straightforward.

On the protocol side, GopherTrunk handles control-channel decoding for P25 (Phase 1 and 2), DMR, TETRA, NXDN, Motorola Type II, EDACS, LTR, MPT 1327, dPMR, D-STAR, and YSF. The voice path is written in pure-Go and implements IMBE and AMBE+2 vocoders directly, removing the dependency on external DVSI or mbelib. The interface is terminal-based, but also includes a full browser-based operator console. There is also a configuration importer that parses RadioReference.com PDF exports and CSV bundles straight into the daemon config.

Matt notes that while the engine is running end-to-end, he is looking for SDR enthusiasts to test it against real-air captures to help refine the on-air FEC layers and vocoder audio levels. Prebuilt releases and the quick start guide are available at gophertrunk.org/downloads, and the full source is on GitHub. Feedback and bug reports are very welcome if you give it a try.

Gopher Trunk: A New Digital Trunking Scanner for RTL-SDR written in Pure-Go — GopherTrunk: A New Digital Trunking Scanner for RTL-SDR written in Pure-Go

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