A modern, modular, operator‑first amateur radio suite. One JavaFX application that runs your whole shack — docked in a single window, or with each module loose in its own window sharing one background hub. One config, one cluster connection, one set of credentials.
WM3J‑ARS‑Suite is a complete, integrated software ecosystem for the modern ham. Logging, mapping, digital modes, WSJT‑X integration, satellite tracking, inventory, an in‑app reference library, and antenna design — all written in Java, all GPLv3, all in one application instead of a dozen separate programs.
Just want to install it? → INSTALL.md — focused step‑by‑step setup for Linux and Windows (git, Java, Maven, build, run).
Already installed? → USER_GUIDE.md — app walkthrough, per‑module setup notes, troubleshooting, and an architecture map.
Wiring your radio, rotator, amp, or antenna switch? → docs/HARDWARE_GUIDE.md — beginner‑friendly guide to USB‑to‑serial adapters, Hamlib daemons, USB hubs, stable port names, and common gotchas.
Curious what's coming next? → docs/ROADMAP.md — phased plan of work in flight + features explicitly not on the roadmap, with reasons.
Want to write a contest or award plug-in? → docs/PLUGINS.md — JSON schemas with worked examples for both surfaces. No code, no rebuild.
One app, these modules — each a surface you can dock or float in its own window.
| Module | What it does |
|---|---|
| J‑Hub | The control surface: dashboard, station identity, callsign lookups, macros, DX cluster + RBN, log uploaders, antenna workshop, and all settings. Reached from the dock (docked) or the ⚙ gear (loose). |
| J‑Log | Dual‑purpose QSO logger: everyday log and full contest mode. Real‑time validation, multipliers, JSON contest plug‑ins. |
| J‑Map | Real‑time DX map with grayline, propagation overlays, weather, aurora, and great‑circle paths to spotted DX. |
| 〰 J‑Digi | Classic keyboard‑to‑keyboard digital modem: RTTY, PSK31, Olivia, MFSK, Feld Hell. (FT8 lives in J‑Bridge.) |
| ⇄ J‑Bridge | WSJT‑X integration. Forwards QSOs, spots, status, and frequency back into the suite over UDP. |
| J‑Sat | Satellite tracker with Doppler correction and rotor control. |
| J‑Vault | Shack inventory + first‑call contacts so your family knows who to call when you're SK, with CSV export. SQLite‑backed. |
| J‑Learn | Embedded amateur‑radio reference library — ~200 sections covering propagation, antennas, RF safety, troubleshooting, formulas, operating practice, emcomm. Searchable; markdown source seeds to ~/.j-learn/content/ so you can edit content without rebuilding. |
| Morse Trainer | Learning and practicing CW — Koch‑method letter trainer, QSO simulator, sending trainer with real‑time decoding, analytics, and optional Arduino / Pi keyer hardware support. |
A shared j‑log‑engine library underpins logging across J‑Log, J‑Digi,
and J‑Bridge so everything writes to one set of databases under ~/.j‑log/.
In loose mode the per‑module windows share live state (spots, rig, rotor,
station identity) through a small background hub in the system tray; in
docked mode they all share one process.
A questionnaire‑driven antenna recommender + 13 live calculators:
- Recommender — answers a handful of questions about your QTH, HOA status, bands, height, stealth needs, and budget, then ranks antennas that actually fit.
- Calculators — flat dipole · inverted‑V · fan dipole · trapped dipole · OCF/Windom · EFHW (with and without traps) · J‑pole · Yagi‑Uda · vertical · loading coils · trap design · magnetic loop · NanoVNA trim workflow.
- Per‑formula calculators for J‑Learn's Formulas chapter — Ohm's law, power, reactance, impedance, resonance, wavelength, SWR, ERP, feedline loss, decibels, Q factor, bandwidth, Smith chart, RF exposure.
Click a chapter card in J‑Learn → it opens the matching calculator pre‑filled with sane defaults.
When an operator becomes a Silent Key, families inherit a shack of expensive gear they don't recognize. J‑Vault keeps a categorized equipment inventory (make / model / serial / value / disposition / location) alongside first‑call contacts — the people who should be called, priority‑sorted, and the gear each is interested in — and exports it to CSV for sharing or print. (A one‑click formatted estate‑handoff document is on the roadmap.)
Twenty‑two chapters, ~200 sections, written for operators who already have their license. Searchable, with an Advanced toggle for engineering depth. Cross‑references jump straight to the calculator or sub‑section you need. Bundled into J‑Hub — no separate install, no internet required.
Every operator preference lives in J‑Hub inside the app — callsign, grid, rig backend, Hamlib host/port, IARU region + country (for bandplan captions), PTT method, CW WPM, DX cluster, log uploaders, macros. Reach it from the dock (docked) or the ⚙ gear in any window's top bar (loose). One place, no per‑app duplicate config files; in loose mode the change reaches every window through the background hub.
UI strings across every module are translatable — English, Spanish,
German, French, Italian, Portuguese. EN + ES ship embedded; the
other four ride as drop-in .properties packs under i18n-packs/
so native speakers can polish translations without rebuilding Java.
See i18n-packs/README.md for details.
Every app uses the same macro engine. {MYCALL}, {CALL}, {RST_S},
{RST_R}, {NAME}, {EXCH}, {SERIAL}, {NR}, {FREQ}, {BAND},
{MODE} — the values come from the live rig + the QSO entry pane in
J‑Log/J‑Digi, not from per‑app duplicates.
Push QSOs from J‑Log to eQSL.cc, Club Log, QRZ Logbook, and HRDLog with one click. Credentials are encrypted on disk (AES‑GCM, key tied to this machine). Already‑uploaded QSOs are tracked so subsequent runs only push the new ones.
Real‑time grayline + DX spots + ITU/CQ zones + Skywarn / aurora / geomagnetic alerts + tropo + lightning + weather radar. Shares one DX‑cluster connection with the rest of the suite (one telnet connection serves every module). Runs loose on a second machine as a dedicated shack display.
Doppler‑corrected satellite tracking with rotor control. ISS APRS, FM birds, linear birds. Pass prediction with editable keplerian elements.
Ham radio operators deserve modern, ergonomic, integrated tools that work consistently across all platforms.
Most existing amateur‑radio applications are:
- platform‑specific
- visually inconsistent
- difficult to integrate
- built on aging UI frameworks
- not designed for contest‑grade workflows
WM3J‑ARS‑Suite takes a different approach: one Java application with cockpit‑style module surfaces, unified configuration, and universal backend support. One DX cluster connection shared by every module. One station identity. One macro engine. One inventory. One reference library. Dock it all in a single window, or float the modules you want — your choice.
Full step‑by‑step instructions are in INSTALL.md. The 30‑second version:
# Debian family: sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git openjdk-21-jdk maven
# Fedora family: sudo dnf install -y git java-21-openjdk-devel maven
git clone https://github.com/skip17331/WM3J-ARS-Suite.git ~/ARS_Suite
cd ~/ARS_Suite
./install.sh # builds the app + adds menu shortcuts
./ars-fx/ars-fx.sh # docked; or --module log (loose) / --hub (tray)Shortcuts appear in your system menu under Network / HamRadio — ARS Suite (docked) plus a window per module and ARS Suite Hub. Arch / openSUSE / other distros — same flow, see INSTALL.md for the package-manager line.
One command. Install Git if you don't have it, clone, then run —
or just double-click — install.bat. It installs Java + Maven,
builds every module, and adds Start-Menu shortcuts.
winget install --id Git.Git -e # skip if you already have Git
git clone https://github.com/skip17331/WM3J-ARS-Suite.git $HOME\ARS_Suite
cd $HOME\ARS_Suite
.\install.bat # ~5–10 min first run; or double-click itThen press the Windows key, type ARS Suite, and press Enter (or open a
single module's shortcut). Re-running install.bat after a git pull is the
upgrade path. JavaFX is bundled into the jar automatically — no SDK download.
If anything fails it writes install-log.txt — attach that to a GitHub issue.
Full walkthrough in INSTALL.md.
brew install --cask temurin@21
brew install maven git
git clone https://github.com/skip17331/WM3J-ARS-Suite.git ~/ARS_Suite
cd ~/ARS_Suite
./install.sh # detects Apple Silicon vs Intel
open ~/Applications/ARS\ Suite.app./install.sh builds the matching jar for your Mac and plants a .app bundle
per shortcut in ~/Applications/ (ARS Suite.app, J-Log.app, …). First
launch may need a Gatekeeper unblock — see INSTALL.md.
Re-run after any git pull to upgrade. Per-window logs go to
~/Library/Logs/ARS-Suite/.
The entire suite is free to use, free to modify, and free to redistribute under the GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3).
- the suite will always remain open and community‑driven
- improvements made by others stay open
- operators can customize for their own stations
- the codebase cannot be taken closed‑source
Same license as Hamlib, WSJT‑X, and fldigi — maximum compatibility, long‑term openness.
- Java 21+ — the suite is pure Java; no native code.
- JavaFX 21 — clean, responsive, cross‑platform UI; one app, all modules.
- Maven — one shaded jar per OS, built from the
ars-fxmodule over the shared engine library (j-log-engine). - Java‑WebSocket — in loose mode a small background hub (port 8090) shares live state (spots, rig, rotor, station) with each module window, and with a J‑Map/J‑Sat display on a second machine.
- SQLite — local persistence for QSOs, contests, macros, inventory, callsign cache.
- Hamlib (
rigctld/rotctld/ampctld) — universal rig / rotor / amp backend. - WSJT‑X integration via J‑Bridge UDP listener.
- JSON contest modules — drop‑in plug‑ins for new contests.
- Estate handoff — J‑Vault produces a printable inventory + first‑call contacts document for your family.
Runs on:
- Linux (every flavor with Java 21+)
- Windows 10 / 11
- macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel)
- Raspberry Pi 4 / 5 (great as a loose J‑Map shack display)
- Provide a modern, unified ham‑radio software suite.
- Maintain cross‑platform compatibility — same code, same UI, Linux / Windows / macOS / Raspberry Pi.
- Support universal tools like Hamlib and WSJT‑X — not vendor‑locked.
- Deliver fast, ergonomic, contest‑ready operator workflows.
- Keep the codebase modular, maintainable, and open for community contribution.
- Offer a single logging solution (J‑Log) for both everyday QSOs and high‑speed contest operation.
- Treat the station as one system — not a binder full of incompatible tools — through one shared configuration and live state.
- Ensure the entire suite remains free and open‑source under GPLv3.
Pull requests, issue reports, contest plug‑ins, antenna calculators, and documentation tweaks are all welcome. The codebase is intentionally modular: pick a module, build it, hack on it independently. See CodeOfConduct.md.
For broader context on what's planned next and what's in flight, see docs/ROADMAP.md — and the architecture appendix in USER_GUIDE.md § Interconnection Map.
73 — WM3J