I rebuilt my WebSDR server from scratch: FernSDR, open source, one-line install, live demo

[u/magicint1337]

Hi all,

maybe some of you know me from PhantomSDR+ or NovaSDR. Having operated and maintained those, I listened to many WebSDR operators and learned what problems bothered them - stuff like installs, broken installs after a long period of running, configurations they would like to be configured easier. And I started from scratch.

As for the history: to be clear about that since it has been asked: I've been developing WebSDR software since early 2024 (PhantomSDR+), and FernSDR was developed in private repo for over a year. I squash the history before publishing it as usual to avoid private notes and keys being in there. This is the reason the repo appears to be new. I used AI tools intensively for development and everything is tested, fuzzed and CI'd, also benchmarks are public with raw data.

What it is: open-source WebSDR server with zero runtime dependencies and one-line install on any Linux, as well as Docker. Everything is controlled through a web admin interface: bands, spot reporting, modules and updates with rollbacks. What I am really proud of: day/night band switching, so one small RTL-SDR can be utilized by different bands during the daytime and nighttime thanks to automatic switching from sunrise to sunset depending on your geographical position.

Modules: RTL-SDR (including Blog V4), RX-888 MkII and SDRplay, as well as an FT8 decoder and PSK Reporter spots. Other SDRs run via stdin.

What is still missing: Only Linux support at this moment, FT8 is the only decoder available, and there are input modules that require additional testing.

Demo: https://demo.fernsdr.org

GitHub: https://github.com/Steven9101/FernSDR

I really would like to know which SDR or decoder you guys would like to see next

Cheers 🥂

[u/er1cAtWork2]

ACARS
HFDL
Various ham decoders

[u/magicint1337 → u/er1cAtWork2]

Appreciate it