OnAir: new open-source SDR receiver supports 120 modes across platforms
Kristijonas Adomaitis released OnAir, a GPL v3+ SDR receiver supporting 120 modes including digital TV, DAB+, satellite, and amateur radio protocols across macOS, Windows, Linux and Android.
Summary
OnAir is a new free and open source software-defined radio receiver available as prebuilt binaries for four operating systems. It unifies reception of broadcast, satellite, aviation, cellular and amateur radio signals in a single application, with broad hardware compatibility from low-cost RTL-SDR dongles to professional USRP equipment. Users without hardware can analyze recorded IQ samples or run a demo signal tour.
What OnAir covers and what it skips
- 120 modes in one program: DVB-T/T2, DVB-C, DVB-S/S2, ATSC, ISDB-T, DTMB, DAB+, FM, DRM, ADS-B, ACARS, VDL2, satellite protocols, GNSS, FT8, PSK31, CW, pagers, cell tower decoding, spectrum analyzer
- Hardware support: HackRF, RTL-SDR, Airspy, SDRplay, BladeRF, LimeSDR, Pluto, USRP, Fobos, RX888, RFNM, network radios, sound cards, Hamlib rigs
- File formats without hardware: cs8, cu8, cf32, ci16, cu16, SigMF, two-channel WAV
- LTE Cells mode: decodes cells, queries OpenCelliD, plots on map with offline caching
- TV channel scanner: feeds crowd-sourced channel list
- Missing codecs: AMBE, IMBE, HDC excluded due to patents/proprietary status; digital voice and HD Radio require user-supplied libraries
- License: GPL v3 or later
Why it matters
OnAir consolidates a fragmented SDR tool landscape into one cross-platform application, lowering the barrier for radio experimentation. Its prebuilt binaries and broad hardware support make it accessible to hobbyists with cheap RTL-SDR dongles as well as researchers with professional gear.
Original reference: blog.adafruit.com →