I’ve been having a great time exploring the latest developments in FreeDV, especially with the recent rollout of the new RADEV1 mode. The audio quality and robustness are genuinely impressive and it’s breathed new life into digital HF voice.
As I spent more time on the air, I found myself wanting a specific way to visualize network activity; something that fit my personal operating workflow. While the official FreeDV Reporter is excellent, I decided to spin up a “weekend project” to scratch my own itch.
Meet FreeDV Reporter+
This tool isn’t intended to be a 1:1 clone of the official reporter, nor is it an official product of the FreeDV team. Instead, it’s a personal dashboard built to highlight the data I find most useful when operating.
I’ve decided to make the interface public in case other operators find it useful for their own shacks.
What makes it different?
My goal was “context at a glance.” Here are a few features:
- AI-Powered Summaries: This is the big one. I integrated a local Large Language Model (LLM) that analyzes the raw traffic logs every hour. Instead of scrolling through endless lines of text, the system generates a natural language paragraph summarizing who is on the air, which bands are opening up, and what the propagation looks like.
- Activity Visualization: I added a real-time graph that separates Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) events. It helps me instantly see if the band is fading or if a net is starting up.
- Responsive Design: I wanted to monitor the band from my phone while away from the radio, so the interface scales (gracefully!) from desktop down to mobile.
A Note on the FreeDV Project
I want to be clear: FreeDV Reporter+ is an independent, unofficial project. It is not linked to or supported by the FreeDV team.
That said, I want to extend a huge thank you to the FreeDV developers and community. Their hard work on the codec – and specifically the incredible performance of RADEV1 – is what makes projects like this fun to build. They are doing the heavy lifting moving the state of the art forward; I’m just visualising their data.
73, Steve
