Awesome Ham Radio

A curated list of useful amateur / ham radio resources — licensing & societies, band plans, SDR, digital modes, logging, antennas, contests, satellites, APRS, and the Japan (JARL) scene. Prefer durable official / project URLs. ⭐ badges show live GitHub star counts (via shields.io); last-commit badges show live commit activity (via shields.io).

Organizations & licensing

National and international bodies; start here for rules, exams, and advocacy.

International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) - Worldwide voice of amateur radio; spectrum advocacy and Region coordination.
IARU Region 1 - Europe, Africa, Middle East, northern Asia.
IARU Region 2 - The Americas.
IARU Region 3 - Asia-Pacific (includes Japan).
ARRL - US national association; licensing study, LoTW, contests, QST.
JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League) - Japan’s national society (English).
ITU Amateur Service - International Radio Regulations context for the amateur service.

Band plans & spectrum

IARU Region 1 band plan - HF / VHF / UHF band-plan documents for Region 1.
IARU Region 2 band plan - Band-plan resources for the Americas.
ARRL band plan / frequency allocations - US amateur allocations and notes.
JARL band plan (Japanese) - Japan amateur band plan (current edition effective 2025-07-17, PDF).

Software-defined radio (SDR)

Receive (and often transmit) software and hardware ecosystems.

GNU Radio - Free & open-source toolkit of signal-processing blocks for software radios. (GitHub)
SDRangel - Multi-platform Rx/Tx SDR application (Airspy, BladeRF, HackRF, LimeSDR, PlutoSDR, RTL-SDR, and more). (GitHub)
SDR++ - Lightweight, cross-platform open-source SDR receiver with broad hardware support. (GitHub)
Gqrx - Open-source SDR receiver powered by GNU Radio and Qt. (GitHub)
CubicSDR - Cross-platform SDR application. (GitHub)
OpenWebRX+ - Extended fork of OpenWebRX: browser-based multi-user SDR receiver with many built-in decoders. (GitHub)
SoapySDR - Vendor- and platform-neutral SDR support library (hardware abstraction).
RTL-SDR Blog - News, tutorials, and drivers around low-cost RTL2832U dongles.
Osmocom rtl-sdr - Classic open-source RTL2832U SDR stack.

Digital modes

Weak-signal and keyboard modes popular on HF and VHF.

WSJT-X - Official home of FT8, FT4, WSPR, JT65, Q65, MSK144, and related modes (K1JT / WSJT Development Team); 3.x series (since 2026) adds parallel FT8 decoding and full-duplex operation. (Downloads) · (GitHub)
FT4 / FT8 protocol paper (QEX) - Design notes for FT4 and FT8.
JS8Call - Keyboard messaging built on a robust FSK layer inspired by FT8; now developed by the JS8Call-Improved team (original repo archived), 3.x series. (GitHub)
fldigi - Multi-mode digital modem suite (PSK, RTTY, Olivia, CW, and more) by W1HKJ.
FreeDV - Open-source HF digital voice over ordinary SSB rigs, including the ML-based RADE mode. (GitHub)
GridTracker - Companion map, alerts, and logging bridge for WSJT-X / JTDX style apps. (Docs)
M17 Project - Open-source digital radio protocol for VHF/UHF voice and data (Codec 2), with open hardware and gateway software.
OpenRTX - Modular open-source firmware for handheld radios (e.g. TYT MD-380/390, Module17) with native M17 support. (GitHub)
ft8_lib - Lightweight C library for FT8 encoding/decoding.
Morse Code World - Browser-based Morse encoder/decoder (text, audio, photos).
Online Morse Code - Free browser-based Morse code translator with adjustable-speed CW audio, WAV download, audio decoding, printable chart and learning guides.

Logging, QSL & awards

Station logs, electronic QSL, and award tracking.

Logbook of The World (LoTW) - ARRL’s electronic QSO confirmation system (TQSL certificates; DXCC / WAS credit).
Club Log - Log analysis, DXCC tracking, and LoTW Trusted Partner uploads.
Wavelog - Modern open-source web logbook (Cloudlog lineage); LoTW / eQSL sync, club stations, contest logger. (GitHub)
Cloudlog - Original PHP web logbook (still maintained); Wavelog is its community fork.
QLog - Open-source cross-platform desktop logger (Qt) with Hamlib rig control, LoTW / eQSL / Club Log sync, and WSJT-X integration.
Ham2K Portable Logger (PoLo) - Free mobile logger for POTA / SOTA / WWFF and portable operation (iOS / Android). (GitHub)
Swisslog - Feature-rich Windows logging suite.
zLog - Popular Japanese contest / general logger for Windows (JR8PPG lineage).
eQSL.cc - Electronic QSL card exchange.
QRZ.com - Callsign lookup, bio pages, and logbook features.

Radio control & CAT

Hamlib - Portable radio-control library and rigctl / rigctld daemons used by many apps. (GitHub)
flrig - Rig-control companion to fldigi (XML-RPC / CAT).
qdmr - Open-source codeplug editor / programmer for many low-cost DMR (and M17) radios on Linux, macOS, and Windows. (GitHub)

APRS & packet

Automatic Packet Reporting System and related TNCs.

aprs.fi - Classic APRS-IS tracking map (OH7LZB).
aprs.world - Live worldwide APRS map with messaging and multi-language UI.
Dire Wolf - Software TNC, APRS digipeater, and iGate.
Pat - Cross-platform Winlink email client (Go) with web UI; supports AX.25 packet, ARDOP, VARA, and PACTOR; reached v1.0 in 2026. (GitHub)
APRSdroid - APRS client for Android.
APRS Track Direct - Tools to run your own APRS website.

Satellites

AMSAT - Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation — news, status, and educational resources.
SatNOGS - Open global network of ground stations for observing satellites. (Wiki)
Gpredict - Real-time satellite tracking and orbit prediction with Hamlib radio / rotator control (Doppler correction).
Look4Sat - Ad-free Android satellite tracker and pass predictor inspired by Gpredict (Celestrak / SatNOGS data, offline prediction; Google Play / F-Droid).
SatDump - Generic satellite data processing software: live SDR reception and decoding of weather and other satellites (NOAA APT, Meteor LRPT, GOES, and more); 2.0 in development. (GitHub)
CubeSatSim - AMSAT CubeSat Simulator: low-cost Raspberry Pi based satellite model that transmits real telemetry, for education and STEM demos.
IARU satellite frequency coordination - How amateur satellite frequencies are coordinated.
JARL — Fuji / amateur satellites (English) - Japan amateur-satellite notes via JARL.

Antennas & propagation

ARRL Antenna Book (shop / overview) - Long-running reference series on antenna theory and practice (editions sold via ARRL).
4nec2 - Free NEC-2 based antenna modeler / optimizer for Windows.
EZNEC - Graphical NEC antenna modeling; now a free download (EZNEC Pro/2 v6), no longer sold or supported since W7EL retired.
AntennaSim - Free browser-based NEC2 antenna simulator (new in 2026): 3D radiation patterns, SWR / impedance / Smith charts, optimizer, NanoVNA .s1p overlay; runs fully in WebAssembly or via Docker. (GitHub)
NanoVNA-Saver - Cross-platform desktop app for capturing, displaying, and saving NanoVNA sweeps (Smith chart, SWR, return loss, calibration, Touchstone export).
PSK Reporter - Near-real-time digimode reception reports — great for checking antennas and propagation.
VOACAP Online - HF propagation prediction (Point-to-Point and coverage tools).
NOAA SWPC - Official space-weather forecasts, alerts, and solar / geomagnetic indices relevant to HF.

Contests

ARRL Contest Calendar - Official ARRL contest dates and links.
WA7BNM Contest Calendar - Comprehensive worldwide contest calendar.
Perfect Clock – contest calendars - HF, VHF/UHF, RTTY/FT8 and weekly CW contests on a timeline.
IARU HF World Championship - Annual IARU HF event (often hosted via ARRL pages).
CQ World Wide DX Contest - Major DX contest series (CW / SSB / RTTY).
N1MM Logger+ - Widely used free Windows contest logger for CW, phone, and digital modes.
JARL contests (Japanese) - National contest calendar and rules via JARL.

Spotting & alerts

HamAlert - Configurable alerts from DX cluster, RBN, SOTA/POTA, WWFF, PSK Reporter, and more.
DX Summit - Popular web DX cluster.
Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) - Skimmer-based CW / RTTY spotting network.
SOTAWatch - Summits on the Air spotting.
Parks on the Air (POTA) - Parks activation program and spotting tools.
ShackScreen - Free, open-source (MIT) launcher dashboard for the shack TV (Android TV, Google TV, Fire TV): POTA and DX spots, space weather and band conditions, satellite passes, and your radio web apps.
OpenHamClock - Open-source, community-maintained successor to HamClock (the original stopped working in June 2026 after its creator WB0OEW became a Silent Key): real-time dashboard with DX cluster spots, propagation, space weather, and maps; runs in a browser, on a Raspberry Pi kiosk, via Docker, or as a Snap.

DSP & developer libraries

Useful when building your own demodulators, SDR apps, or audio tools.

liquid-dsp - Digital signal processing library aimed at SDRs. (GitHub)
FFTW - Fast Fourier Transform library. (GitHub)
Kiss FFT - Small, simple FFT implementation.
RtAudio - Cross-platform realtime audio I/O API. (GitHub)
morse-code-audio - Dependency-free JavaScript library to encode Morse, build ITU and Farnsworth timing, render WAV audio and decode CW from audio. (Demo)

Japan

Licensing, society, logging, and local software of particular interest to JA operators.

Licensing & administration

総務省電波利用ポータル — アマチュア無線 - Official MIC portal for amateur radio.
アマチュア局の申請・届出 - Application / notification forms for amateur stations.
電波利用電子申請 - Electronic radio-station application system.

Society & events

JARL - 日本アマチュア無線連盟（ハムフェア、コンテスト、アワードなど）.
JARL English - English menu for international visitors.

Software & community (JA)

zLog - Contest / general logger popular in Japan.
nextzlog - Related Japanese logging / contest tooling.
jr8ppg · StudioZaigo · ji1udd - Active Japanese amateur-radio developers on GitHub.

ACARS & aviation data (JA references)

acarsdec - Multi-channel ACARS decoder (original repo archived; actively maintained fork: f00b4r0/acarsdec ).
JAERO - Aero satcom / ACARS related decoder.
Avicom — ACARS overview (Japanese) - Industry notes on ACARS data-link use in Japan.

Radio-specific tooling

FT-991A interoperability tools - Unofficial docs and tools for Yaesu FT-991A.
RALF FT-991A ExMenu Utils - Backup & restore for FT-991A extended menu.

Related lists

sindresorhus/awesome - The Awesome meta-list.
kyleterry/awesome-radio - Broader radio / SDR awesome list.
Awesome Search - Quick search across Awesome lists.

Contributing

Contributions welcome — open a pull request to add a resource, fix a broken link, or suggest a category.

Prefer durable official / docs URLs, short blurbs, and actively maintained projects. Keep product and organization names; mark language or region when helpful. Update both README.md and README.ja.md when you can.