HAMORA Bridge

• Reads your radio’s frequency, mode and the meters it reports, through Hamlib.
• Receives WSJT-X’s status, decodes and completed QSOs.
• Receives the APRS stations your radio hears, through Dire Wolf.
• Shares all of it with every phone you pair, over your own network, in real time.

It never stores your QSOs or reads your logbook. It works without a HAMORA account and without internet access.

What you need

• A station computer: a Raspberry Pi 3, 4, 5 or Zero 2 W with Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), a Debian or Ubuntu computer, or a Mac with macOS 13 or later.
• For your radio: its USB (CAT) cable, and a radio that Hamlib supports.
• Optional: WSJT-X for FT8 and FT4, and Dire Wolf with a receiver for APRS RF.
• Your phone on the same network as the computer.

Software the Bridge uses

• Raspberry Pi, Debian and Ubuntu: the installer adds Hamlib for you.
• Mac: the Bridge needs Python 3.11 or newer (from python.org (opens in a new tab)) and Hamlib, installed with brew install hamlib using Homebrew (opens in a new tab).
• WSJT-X and Dire Wolf are optional, and installed separately: see WSJT-X and APRS RF.

When the installer finishes, it shows the address of the Bridge’s setup page, such as http://raspberrypi.local:8765/, and a 6-digit setup code. Open the address in a browser on any device on the same network, enter the code, and follow the five steps:

1. Station computer: give your station a name, such as “Shack”.
2. Detect radio: plug in your radio’s USB cable and turn it on. The page shows what it found, for example “Possible radio: Icom IC-7300”. Press Test Radio; when it shows your frequency and mode, press Use This Radio. If rigctld already runs on the computer, choose Use it. No radio yet? Press Next and add it later.
3. Station software: WSJT-X appears by itself when it sends to the Bridge; otherwise the page shows the two settings to type into WSJT-X. Dire Wolf on the same computer is found by itself. Both are optional.
4. Pair HAMORA: see Pairing your phone.
5. Ready: a last check of everything. Press Finish.

Need a new setup code? In HAMORA, More→HAMORA Bridge→Open Bridge Setup shows a code and opens the page. On a Mac, open HAMORA Bridge Setup from Applications. On Linux, the installer prints the command to use.

Everything technical, such as Hamlib models, serial speeds, the WSJT-X port and KISS sources, is under Advanced on the setup page. You never need it for a normal setup.

• On the setup page, open Devices → Pair HAMORA. Scan the QR code with your phone’s camera: it opens HAMORA, which shows the Bridge’s address to compare with the page before you confirm.
• Or, in HAMORA, open More→HAMORA Bridge, choose the Bridge (it’s found on your network, or enter its address) and type the 6-digit code.

A code works once and expires after 10 minutes. Each phone gets its own pairing, kept in the phone’s secure storage. HAMORA connects to one Bridge per phone.

• Remove a phone: in HAMORA, Forget Bridge; or on the setup page, Devices → Revoke (or Revoke all). It takes effect at once.
• New address? If your router gives the Bridge a new address, HAMORA checks it’s the same Bridge and asks before switching.

Then choose the Bridge as your radio source on the Radio screen, and as your WSJT-X source in More→Digital modes. APRS RF appears in the APRS tab’s RF view by itself.

The setup page’s overview shows the Bridge’s health, Ready, Needs setup or Needs attention, and Check Station lists each part with what to do. For example: “Radio · Not responding — check that the radio is on and its USB cable is connected”. Optional things that are off, such as WSJT-X or MQTT, never count as problems.

In HAMORA, More→HAMORA Bridge shows the same health, your radio, WSJT-X and APRS RF, and anything to check.

For support, Advanced → Download diagnostics saves a file with the Bridge’s version, settings and recent log. It never contains passwords, codes, tokens or radio traffic.

If you use Home Assistant (opens in a new tab) at home, the Bridge can show your station’s status there, through MQTT. It’s off at first, and the Bridge works fully without it.

1. In Home Assistant, set up MQTT with the Mosquitto broker, as its MQTT guide (opens in a new tab) explains, and create a Home Assistant user for the Bridge.
2. On the Bridge’s setup page, open Integrations → MQTT / Home Assistant. Enter your Home Assistant’s address as the broker, port 1883, and that user and password. Leave Home Assistant discovery on, then press Test connection and Save.
3. A device named HAMORA Bridge appears in Home Assistant’s MQTT integration.

You get sensors only: Bridge health, radio connected, model, frequency, band and mode, the meters your radio reports, WSJT-X state and mode, and APRS RF counts. There are no switches, buttons or commands, so nothing in Home Assistant can key your radio or change its frequency.

Never published: callsigns, decodes, APRS messages or positions, and QSOs. The password is never shown or logged.

• Never expose the Bridge to the internet. Don’t forward its ports (8765 for phones, 2237 for WSJT-X) or Dire Wolf’s (8001) on your router. The Bridge never opens ports by itself.
• Use a network you trust. Traffic between your phone and the Bridge isn’t encrypted on your local network yet.
• Nothing before pairing. Until a phone is paired, the Bridge shows only its name, id and version.
• The setup page needs a one-time setup code. It refuses requests from other websites, and signs you out after an hour idle.
• Keep rigctld and Dire Wolf on the Bridge computer. Neither has a password, so don’t open them to your network or the internet.
• Lost a phone? Revoke it on the setup page, under Devices.

Found a security problem? See Security.