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Reviews For: Fldigi - Digital Mode software

Category: Ham Software/Apps - Other than logging

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Review Summary For : Fldigi - Digital Mode software
Reviews: 98MSRP: free
Description:
A digital mode program for PSK31, RTTY, and many other operating modes. Available as free & open source software, coded in C++ for Linux.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.w1hkj.com/Fldigi.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
35984.5
KB1UJS Rating: 2011-09-09
Love it Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been running fldigi for the last six months in conjunction with my IC-718. I'm currently using fldigi under Ubuntu 11.04 with a Behringer UCA202 USB audio interface and an xggcomms audio and CAT interface (IC-Cable-8). I have also used fidigi and the xggcomms cable with the internal audio input and output on my MacBook Pro under OSX.

I am very impressed by the ease of use of this program. After gleaning the information I needed to configure the hamlib interface to my 718 from the web, I was able to get on the air with very little trouble. I like the simple interface and find it very easy to switch between sending macros and typing. The help available is detailed and clear.

I find that fldigi meets my needs very well. I use the built-in PSK browser a lot for finding cqs, and have also used the pskreporter logging function to send reception reports. I use cqrlog for logging, and fldigi will pass data to cqrlog in the background if cqrlog is configured to accept it. Rig control works great with my 718. It's reached the point where I don't have to think about what needs to be tweaked to get on the air with digital modes. I just turn on the radio, fire up fldigi and cqrlog, and hit the air.

Most of my experience has been with psk, but I've made successful RTTY contacts as well. Fldigi's decoding ability is very good, and there are customizable options in the settings to make use of more hardware-demanding processing algorithms if you want. I saw considerable improvement in the clarity of signal vs. noise on my waterfall after tweaking some of the display and processing settings.

I have run into a couple of issues with the software that are easily avoidable. If you have the choice, run fldigi and cqrlog on a 32 bit version of Linux even if you have a 64 bit cpu. There are a few hoops to jump through to get the 32 bit rig hamlib libraries needed by cqrlog for rig control to install under a 64 bit install. It's easier to avoid the issue entirely. I also had an issue with the onboard sound on my shack machine. I thought it was an fldigi issue until changing some audio settings fixed the very slow waterfall display I was seeing. It seems that the sound card did not support full duplex operation. I replaced the onboard sound with the Behringer adapter mentioned above (which was part of the original plan anyway) and the issues went away.

All in all, fldigi was a great fit for me and my shack. Windows was not an option, and with this software available it doesn't have to be. The same author has written many other useful tools as well that I use on a regular basis.
WD7E Rating: 2011-09-04
works well for me Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This digital modes software worked very well for me right from the start and is my everyday RTTY/CW/PSK software. I prefer N1MM/MMTTY for RTTY contesting because for me that combination is smoother for working multiple stations and logging them quickly, but fldigi is my go-to for everything else. And, fldigi seemed to install with less fuss than the contest software. It decodes cw pretty well, so if you're looking for a crutch it works. And there are plenty of slots for robust but easily edited macros.

I'm a big fan of "run what works for you" and know there is plenty of software out there, but this package does so much so well for me that I have to recommend you give it a try.
W5SL Rating: 2011-08-07
Too complicated to set up and won't work for me Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
It has a very professional layout and clear screen. It is advertised to run many digital modes and keep logs. My initial attempts to get it to work months ago were so frustrating that I didn’t continue to try. Since then I discussed it with friends that along with the reviews on this site that say it works well and easy to set up. So although what I have been using is working quite well, I decided to try it out again.

I still couldn’t get it to work and after several hours of frustration I have deleted it. I tried setting it up on different radios, K3 and FTdx9000D each with its different computer. I never got it to work with the K3 at all, and with the FTdx9000D I did make some progress but never made it useful at all, related below.

At first I had a time getting it to copy anything. After several sessions of fiddling with the settings according to the instructions and not really sure what I did do right it finally began to print out information from the radio on the receive screen. PTT caused no response, ie, transceiver did not go to transmit. No frequency readout, meaning no CAT control.

Then I concentrated on setting up CAT control. After giving up after several sessions, I decided to delete the program and reload it for a fresh clean start. Re-read and followed the instructions to the letter and initially got nowhere. At this point I began to think something must be left out in the instructions but after several re-reads I couldn’t figure out what. Finally, still not sure exactly what I did, I tried experimenting with the setup and suddenly CAT started up correctly, following and addressing frequency, mode, etc. My setup turned out to be different from what the instructions say to do. Then, in spite of getting reception before, at this time it would not print out anything on the screen from the receiver even though the signal appears on the waterfall and the cursor is set such as to copy it. Then when I would try the PTT to the radio, got no output even though the transceiver would go into transmit mode. RTTY was a single tone, no information, heard in the monitor regardless of what was typed. On CW, the information that I typed in the transmit window printed across the receive screen but no keying or output from the radio at all. I am at a loss as to what to do next.

In short, it didn’t work, so therefore is useless to me. And in my opinion it is too complicated to set up. After all this frustration, I don’t intend to try again. Back to MMTTY MIXW, and Digipan, and simple easy to set up and reliable logging programs, N1MM Logger and DX4win which have full CAT control and rotor control, etc, along with integrated RTTY programs themselves. The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” saying seems to apply here.
former_K5OOL Rating: 2011-07-15
Great Software Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
An excellent software for most all digital modes. Reasonably easy to set up and not over burdened with useless bells and whistles. Was very easy to set up with my FT-1000MP MV. Highly recommend this program.
KY6R Rating: 2011-07-09
Easy to set up Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Within a couple of minutes I had this very nice program working with my K3 - via a Signalink USB. Plug and play. The program is very logically laid out - and got started just by clicking around.
K9MHZ Rating: 2011-04-16
The Finest! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is THE best software for digital modes that I've ever used...period. Just hoping for a JT65 add-on soon. Documentation is superb. Plug and play simple ....downloads loads directly from Ubuntu's Software Center, and then hooked it up to the IC-7700 through a SignaLink USB.....on the air immediately. You won't be disappointed with fldigi!
KC2WQW Rating: 2011-02-07
Probably the best DigiMode software out there Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
At first I looked at HRD and the first thing I thought was what a horrible mess of a UI it has which made it useless for me. FLDigi's UI is a simple, clean, and straight forward making it easy for someone new to digital modes to be able to dive in head first without breaking their neck. It supports a wide variety of digital modes and has an extremely well written CW decoder. The only digital modes its missing from what I see is JT65a and SSTV. Plus it will run on older PC's that would otherwise get junked and it is multi-platform.
M0OIC Rating: 2011-02-07
fldigi on a iMac i7 OS X Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Only been using it for a few days with my iMac running under Snow Leopard OS X. It is great not to have to rely on Windows. I have found it to be very easy to set up and use. Using a Yaesu FT1000MP Mk5 Field, SL-USB and 27" iMac i7 and the reading of even the weak stations is very accurate. I have received good reports from other stations and it has been used with PSK31, 63 and 125 - RTTY - Hell and nearly Olivia (station went QRT before I could respond to his call)

Very stable, with CAT cable accurate logging, and straight forward macros.

Highly recommended
KD8ME Rating: 2011-01-04
Solid, Reliable & Features Galore! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am using the current version 3.20.34, and I have to say it combined with flrig on Mac OS X 10.6.5 running on multiple Mac Book & Mac Book Pros.

Primarily I use it for PSK, Hellscreiber, Olivia modes & I use it to monitor CW.

There are other digital mode sw out there for Mac, but this one has a nice modern interface. It may not be for "Mac GUI purist" however HRD & DM780 isn't either.

I like the idea, that whether you use Linux variants, Windows variants, Free-BSD or Mac OSX (which is BSD unix flavor) it's the exact same software only compiled for your favorite OS.

I use it as well on Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Win-XP, same version, and I keep my macros on a USB thumb drive so that I can always use my latest between.

The list of supported modes is massive, as well as all of the permutations for each of those modes.

The Logbook feature provide more than I need, as well as Fldigi has some fantastic contesting features & associated macros.

Oh, I still forgot to mention the other builtin tools, flrig for CAT control, flarq for ARQ file transfer.

There is such a proliferation of software to support many of the various modes, and learning all of the different version is pain. However with Fldigi, here we have the almost perfect digital suite for 95% of us.


I would like see some sort of auto mode detection. I've become pretty decent at recognizing many of the modes, but occasionally I have to dig through some of the esoteric mode options to figure out what the other party is using.

While it's easy for us using fldigi to broadcast our mode in the waterfall, for other's it's a challenge.

And with all of the new activity of JT65, I assume it will only be a matter of time, before fldigi support this increasingly used mode as well.

However, I don't consider either of those as cons against fldigi, since no one else even comes close to what fldigi supports on various platforms.

Kudos to W1HKJ and those that have been assisting him, you have a killer software suite.
K5BB Rating: 2010-12-14
Super Program, Fast Accurate and Supports Linux + Windoz Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've successfully used Fldigi with an IC-706MII, an IC-730 and a Ten Tec Pegasus. I'm a Linux fan and have operated Fldigi on Puppy Linux 4.3 and 5.1 as well as SUSE 11.2. All work great! I use a Rigblaster and a Donner's Digital Interface.

I use Hamlib, but RigCat is available, or you can manually control (my old IC-730).

Unlike some Windoz programs which are giant, do it all program collections with serious hardware requirements. Fldigi and it's related programs are small and FAST, no memory/resource hogs here. Runs great on an old PII 400 MHz box.

In a moment of weakness I booted into Windoz XP and Fldigi worked great with Pegasus on Bill Gate's software.

Since I'm off grid my computers are energy efficient laptops. I've run Fldigi on a Dell 400 MHz, a Dell 2 Ghz, and an HP Duo. All worked great.

I use PSK and Olivia mostly. Fldigi allows easy calibration of your sound card. Decodes very well. Support from W1HKJ (Dave) is excellent. Dave is developing a group of programs. My favorite (besides Fldigi) is the "new" rig control program Flrig.

Kudos Dave !!