OTA — On The Air — Ordo Artificum

What is OTA?

OTA is a desktop application for Linux, Windows, and Raspberry Pi that helps amateur radio operators make contacts with active SOTA, POTA, WWFF, WWBOTA, and GMA activations. It pulls real-time spot data from each program’s API, displays active stations in a filterable table, and — if you have a Hamlib-compatible radio — tunes your transceiver to any spot with a single keypress.

What it does

►Aggregates live spots from SOTA, POTA, WWFF, WWBOTA, and GMA simultaneously
►Filters by band, mode, source program, spot age, and free-text search
►Detects linked activations — one operator working SOTA and POTA at the same time, or a group co-activating the same summit
►Tunes your radio automatically via Hamlib (optional)
►Tracks which stations you have heard, contacted, or could not hear
►Logs contacts and exports SOTA V2 CSV and POTA ADIF files
►Watchlists: highlight specific callsigns (green) or references (blue)
►Connects to DX cluster nodes for additional spots
►Text-mode TUI for headless or SSH sessions — ota --text (Linux only)
►Full WebSocket API on port 2103 for automation, scripting, and integration with other software

WebSocket API

OTA exposes a full WebSocket API on TCP port 2103 (configurable). Every operation available in the GUI — tuning, spot filtering, radio control, config changes — is accessible programmatically. The API uses plain JSON over WebSocket and is suitable for automation scripts, custom dashboards, and integration with other software.

View WebSocket API documentation →

OTA + CodeMonkey Integration

OTA integrates directly with CodeMonkey, our CW decoder and keyer application. When the CodeMonkey bridge is enabled (Radio → CodeMonkey Bridge…), OTA hands radio control to CodeMonkey entirely: frequency, mode, volume, and ATU are all routed through CodeMonkey’s Hamlib connection. When you select a CW spot, OTA passes the spot frequency to CodeMonkey, which automatically offsets the VFO so the incoming signal falls directly under the decoder’s tone marker — zero manual adjustment needed. If CodeMonkey exits, OTA automatically reverts to its own radio control.

►Select any CW spot; CodeMonkey tunes the radio and aligns the decoder automatically
►OTA’s spot selection auto-tunes the radio without clicking the Tune button
►Optional Auto ATU checkbox triggers the antenna tuner on every spot change
►Both applications show a live “linked” indicator while the bridge is active
►If CodeMonkey exits, OTA resumes controlling the radio automatically

Learn more about CodeMonkey →

Beta notice

OTA is currently in public beta. It is functional and used daily, but the interface and feature set are still evolving. Beta builds expire 30 days after their compile date — download a fresh build when yours expires. We'll automatically let you know when there's a new version available. Bug reports and feature requests are welcome.

Download

All builds are unsigned beta binaries. See platform notes below.

Linux

x86-64 • AppImage • Ubuntu 24.04+

Download AppImage

Windows

64-bit • Windows 10 / 11

Download ZIP

Raspberry Pi

aarch64 • Pi 4 / Pi 5 • 64-bit OS

Download tar.gz

Installation

Linux (AppImage)

1.Download the AppImage and make it executable: chmod +x OTA-*.AppImage
2.Run it: ./OTA-*.AppImage
3.No installation required. Hamlib and Qt are bundled inside the AppImage.

Windows

›Requires Windows 10 (64-bit) or Windows 11. 32-bit Windows is not supported.
1.Download and unzip the archive anywhere you like.
2.Run ota.exe from the deploy\ folder.
3.Windows may show a SmartScreen warning for unsigned binaries — click More info then Run anyway.
›All required DLLs (Qt6, Hamlib, MinGW runtime) are included in the ZIP. No separate installation is needed.

Raspberry Pi

Unlike the Linux AppImage, the Raspberry Pi build links against system-installed shared libraries. Install these before running OTA:

›Requires 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS on a Pi 4 or Pi 5. 32-bit OS images and earlier Pi models are not supported.

Install runtime dependencies:

sudo apt-get install -y libqt6widgets6 libqt6network6 libhamlib4 libncursesw6

›libqt6widgets6 / libqt6network6 — Qt 6 GUI and networking libraries
›libhamlib4 — Hamlib radio control library (optional; radio tuning is disabled if absent)
›libncursesw6 — required for text-mode (ota --text)
1.Download and extract: tar xzf OTA-*-raspberrypi-aarch64.tar.gz
2.Run: ./ota or for text/SSH mode: ./ota --text

Requirements

►An internet connection (for fetching spot data)
►Your amateur radio callsign (set in Preferences after first launch)
►A Hamlib-compatible transceiver is optional — OTA works without one

About Ordo Artificum

Ordo Artificum LLC is a small software company. OTA is our first amateur radio related product.